Rebirth of the Empire (Part 1 of 2) (cont)
Pombaline Cabinet (1762 - 1777) (Cont)
Ministry of Army & Foreign Affairs (5 of 6)
Royal National Guard
“Church?! Goodness, gracious, I do not wish to make it a church! I wish to make it a police department!”
-Count William, to Jacome Rattan and the Marquis of Pombal, regarding the restoration of the convent of Carmo
The Count of Lippe did more than rebuild the armed forces; he also sought to improve national policing capacity as a whole. He also believed in the possibility of strengthening national blood as a whole by turning those unsuited for the military life to the police.
According to legend, it was around 1766, as the final pieces of rubble of the Earthquake were finally cleaned, that the Count, strolling with Saint Verney along the historical churches of Lisbon, came across the ruins of none other than the Convent of Carmo. The religious structure, according to the encyclopedic man who would be critical towards from the new state church, had been around in the country since shortly after the legendary battle of Aljubarrota, as it was erected by none other than Nuno Alváres Pereira himself.
After learning from the future Patriarch of Portugal the details of the national hero’s story, Lippe decided to know more about the Constable, but, alas, according to Louis Verney, the tomb of the general had been lost in the same destructive event that tumbled the convent; the Earthquake of Lisbon.
It is said that Lippe, left to his privacy by Verney and intrigued by the whole story, stared at the ruins of the convent for a full day, mincing about some mystery no one else saw in the ruined stone. The following day, however, the German Count appeared in cabinet with a proposal to Minister Rattan to get funds to rebuild the convent. Both the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister denied vehemently. They had enough resource problems as it was to waste time and money restoring some old church.
Preserved sector of the Carmo ruins (left) attached to GNR’s HQ (right)
The Count, as it turned out, intended to occupy the convent not with nuns, but royal guards. William made the ruins of the holy place the site of the new HQ of none other than the Royal National Guard, the iconic police force that would maintain order and respect through example and enforcement throughout the continental territory.
The Royal National Guard, a semi-militarized police force, was established and installed in all the major towns and cities as a means of maintaining law and order. The size of the royal guard was initially set at 8,000 and would be typically made up of off-duty soldiers (infantry and artillery), recruits who wished to pursue law enforcement instead of combat and part time militia (citizen volunteers who received six months of training and served for 1 month a year.
Equipped with blue uniforms that alluded to the ‘bluecoat’, swords, bayoneted muskets, carbines and their own stables, the Royal National Guard would go on to make a name for themselves as exemplary police force dedicated to basic protection of the citizen, fiscal vigilance, maintenance of order and law enforcement. A strict norm of the force would be its detachment from all other institutions, including the army and the PRP, so as to ensure purity of interest as well as a personal answering to the king himself by the top head.
Other important characteristics were the military training every member was subject to and the responsibility of each detachment to answer to the local magistracy. The institution of the Guard, just by nature, then played an important role in shifting power from informal leaders to government appointees as the primary agent of law in each region now answered only to the magistrates.
They also participated in military missions, maneuvers, demonstrations and honors. The close sharing of training and dazzle with the soldiers quickly allowed them to impose a forceful and intimidating image to the people, who found themselves quickly coming to terms with the new authority as the agents showed off their strength and discipline.
Unlike most other divisions and forces, the Royal National Guard would pass the test of time. Though internal evolution was inevitable, the force itself remained largely intact as the decades rolled over, instead building reputation and position while most other government forces, including the PRP, found themselves curbed, chained or even deleted as constitutionalism, socialism and liberalism rolled over with the centuries
Royal Volunteer Regiment (RVR)
The Portuguese Army became one of the first of its time to develop and advance light infantry doctrines. In 1763, Count William took the 8,000 Portuguese veterans of the Fantastic War and formed one of the first professional Light Infantry forces, the Royal Volunteer Regiment (por. Regimento de Voluntários Reais).
As the precursors to the legendary ‘Caçadores’ of the Napoleonic Wars, the RVR showed off their mettle as soon as they set foot in the Undeclared War for Uruguay. Their task was not to be part of the main action, but instead use the experience gained in the Fantastic War to assist the main forces. This meant that they often took indirect approaches to the battlefield and detached maneuvers from the army core. Forming whole regiments of their own, the light soldiers of the RVR caused nigh-chirurgical damage to the enemy while the Line soldiers took them from the front.
The regiment was comprised almost entirely of medium cavalry and light infantry fit for speedy maneuvers. Very rarely they were also tasked with the escort of artillery to strategic points, but only ever a few pieces and only when a shift of fire focus was truly necessary. Equipped with bayonet muskets for the infantry and Crespi carbines for the cavalry, their task was mainly to pepper the foe away from undesired directions, leading them to the main Portuguese force. They also conducted pursuit orders to capture the enemy soldiers, but stayed mostly out of the way of the heavy action.
This force was short-lived as advances in musket technology and rifles, as well as reforms passed in the 1800s by General Miguel on the Portuguese Cavalry, arrived, rendered smoothbore-musket-based skirmishing nearly obsolete in the Portuguese Army. Thirty years after its forming it would be replaced by the ‘Hunters’, an elite division fully comprised of rifle infantry, and the Sharpshooter Cavalry, a specialized carbine support unit. The regiment’s usefulness also relied extensively on unit experience, meaning it was not easy to maintain it at peak strength across generations.
During its day, however, it formed an important crutch for the first few years of the reformed oversea armies. Their interference in the South American theater in the Undeclared war was vital, as the Atlantic Army was nowhere near ready to step in yet, and their skillful harassing of the La Platen forces allowed them to completely control enemy movement and lead them to positions vulnerable to the Brazilian troops.
Mariner Act
“The young boy at the Lisbon shore; dared dream to be a Marine; Little did he recall, intelligently bore; That he needed to know how to swim;”
-Portuguese poem, by anon
Throughout the 1760s, the Count of Lippe struggled greatly with a major problem; his fellow cabinet member Ambassador Castro of the Navy & Colonial Ministry. Though the two men went along well and shared many interests, their work together was made infamous by the incessant tug of war for Portugal’s limited economic and manpower resources. Soldiers and cannon balls were a particular problem; both ministers had perfectly good arguments for needing a bigger share of the country’s supply as both ships and armies made extensive use of them. Currency for fortress and ship building were another; the ministers could not come to terms over which production was the most urgent each year.
The two usually settled disagreements by seeking favor from other cabinet members, especially Duke John of Lafões. The Minister of Education was deeply involved in the process of training new soldiers and sailors as he authorized and funded which universities and colleges offered shooting and sailing degrees, so he often had the final word on manpower. Jacome Ratton, on the other hand, being in charge of industrializing national production, offered the Prime Minister good advice over which of the two had better capacity to carry out their projects at any given time. Knowing whether Portugal had enough money and material for a new musket factory or shipyard allowed the French industrialist to carry the final word on many fights the Duke of Lafões did not.
By 1766 the problem had gotten out of hand as Navy Minister Castro’s naval expansion programs grew ever more ambitious. The escalating need for qualified sailors and long nines had finally surpassed that of military officers and howitzers, an impressive feat considering the country was at the height of its equally needy ‘Portugal Seguro’ project. Not only that, but the number of candidates who preferred to join the Navy rather than the Army was increasing (Ambassador Castro was a master of propaganda).
Count William, growing ever more frustrated with his fellow cabinet, sought support from the Prime Minister, who, as a man of economics, famously advised him ‘to find common ground’.
The Army Minister did and, together with Minister Castro, enacted one of the most drastic reforms yet; the Mariner Act.
The Portuguese Marine Corps
The Portuguese Marines dated their existence to 1618 when, based on the Spanish Tercio, the elite infantry unit was formed for the first time. The Navy Terço was quick to gain renown, being eventually appointed as part of the King’s personal guard, but it was not until the early 18th Century that it was properly organized and recognized. Even so, by 1760, it had reached the same situation of stagnation and neglect as the rest of the army, hitting all-time size lows and activity.
The Count, however, was not interested in creating yet another elite infantry corp. Instead, he wished to tie Army and Navy resources more closely together. As such, with the help of Navy Minister Castro, one of the first major conjoint acts in the Pombaline Cabinet was passed by the two departments in 1768 which stipulated the following:
- Combat Training for Sailors: Navy men would undergo professional battle and sailing training in ship-to-ship, ship-to-beach and ship-to-harbor combat.
- Navy Training for Soldiers: Apt soldiers would undergo a second 40 week training period that would educate them in sailing, coastal and amphibious operations, effectively turning them into marines.
- Advancement as Marines: Soldiers and Sailors who completed their secondary training would be immediately recognized as Marines, earning them superior salaries and promotion priority.
These three points meant that the trained sailor and elite soldiers ceased to be entirely different groups and instead became one cohesive force. Mariners became more than soldiers capable of properly disembarking; they turned into musket men who could operate ships as if sailors.
This changed manpower reality in Portugal as the same regiment that took the ship to a colony, fired the cannons at enemy vessels and docked in the harbor would then on carry out the land operation as well. Marines thus formed a third division of the military manpower (the others being soldiers and sailors) who could carry out the same task as the other two combined.
As a result, if the operation was ideally-phased, the required number of men for it was reduced dramatically should it be carried out by Marines. It is no understatement that this revolutionized Portuguese military reality. Veteran soldiers could now defend both land and sea interests, as well as carrying out entire invasions on their own. This would become vital to protect Portuguese Atlantic interests with its small amount of available soldiers.
Mariner training, however, was harsh and difficult on both student and teacher. Even if it was required for inactive soldiers, it still needed highly qualified trainers knowledgeable of amphibious combat. Moreover, the lack of technology minimized the distinction of the troops, who carried the same smoothbore musket and saber as the traditional infantry and sailor. Military teaching institutions were expanded to accommodate this new special degree and specialized instructors were hired, mainly from Britain.
The Portuguese Mariner Training, however, still became one of the harshest of its day. Sailing was a tough life, after all, and the mariners, or Portuguese Fusiliers as they also became known as, were subjected to a very demanding physical regiment that prepared them for rapid operations in heterogeneous terrain. The Mariner had to be mentally prepared to move between water, mud and rock without any impediment to their organization and morale.[1] Anyone who could hold their own in a Line Infantry, however, was at the time expected to be able to pass the Mariner Course as well.
Portuguese Mariners quickly established themselves as important regiments of the colonial armies, which conducted amphibious movements on a daily basis. By the time of its completion, 40% of the soldiers in the Atlantic Army were Mariners. Combat wise they behaved mostly like Elite Line Infantry, thought light troop combat involving them was not a strange sight, either. The Mariner Corps also became known for their slight inclination towards the bayonet; being the most physically prepared, Mariners were often the first choice in infantry shock orders. The American Mariners who eventually became one of the most feared military division in the world began their early days assaulting Algerian and Tunisian positions alongside their more experienced Portuguese counterparts in the simultaneous Portuguese and American Barbary Wars of 1802.
In terms of equipment the mariners were, obviously, outfitted with the ‘Bluecoat’, though it was modified to an even more practical form for sailing and water crossing that included lighter clothes and stronger boots. As said above, they were armed with bayoneted smoothbore muskets, sabers and firearms depending on rank, task and unit specialty. Evolution in technology and battle doctrine would add slight changes over time to it, but the brutal elegance of their status never left them.
Early reformed Mariner Uniform
The mariners could also be attributed some of the responsibility for the cultural revitalization in Portugal between 1760 and 1850. Once again, Ambassador Castro was a master of propaganda and had a talent for understanding how the slightest things could be used to shape the civilian’s mindset. As such, he was quick to turn the mariners into a symbol of heroism for the youths. As a visual incarnation of the things the Portuguese were most proud of having become, the brave and adventurous conquerors that sailed the world from battle to battle were turned into a tool of aspiration to not only motivate national morale but inspire the men to join the ranks and take the extra training regimen.
It then became common to see the mariners depicted in recruitment posters. Aspiring recruits however would soon have their dreams crushed as, not only could they apply only after they passed the basic soldier or sailor training, but the mariner regimen itself was heartbreakingly harsh, often passing only a third of the applicants.
[1] The Portuguese Marine Corps, one of the Empire’s most prestigious Military division’s moto the “Best of Best” has made it the elitist division of the Portuguese Armed Forces from day one. Training has always been an integral aspect of the Marines. In the first few decades training took approximately 12 weeks and only 40% of recruits able to complete the training and graduating. In the middle 19th century the training increased to 24 weeks and percentage graduating dropping to 25%. This was in part due to their changing role and the increasingly difficult situations many marines found themselves in. Starting in 1905 the training increased to 38 weeks. Currently only approximately 15% of all marine recruits graduate.
Note:
As mentioned before the Ministry of Army and Foreign Affairs section deals with several important topics that were fundamental to the modernization of the Portuguese armed forces not only within Metropolitan Portugal but the Empire as well, (note Navy is under Ministry of Navy and Colonial Affairs) to that effect we are posting it in six separate posts. This post deals three of the most institutions in the Portuguese Empire. The GNR continues to this date protecting the Empire borders, and providing protection to all its citizens from the Americas to the Far East and all points in between. While the RVR was short lived it provided such an important boost in Portuguese military morale and would pave the way for more substancial and permanent structure. As for the Marines, they have been instrumental in almost every major battle since their inception and spawning many copies throughout the world. Comments / questions???.
Please return Sunday May 7 as we post the last chapters of the Ministry of Army and Foreign Affairs "Fortress & Cartography Acts", & "Death & Legacy"
