The Admiral and the Marshal
Thanks to Unknown for editing the original text.
Domingos de Lima, the 7th Marquis of Niza and Admiral of the Royal Portuguese Navy, stood in the harbor, appreciating the view of the Adamastor and the Príncipe D. Pedro, the newest acquisitions of the Navy.
They were the first two of the seventy-fours that he had ordered five years ago, with the other two, the Luso and the Serpente, receiving their last preparations before being launched in two to three months.
As the Adamastor left the harbor on its way to India, the admiral was filled with a sense of pride. He had worked these last few years for the purpose of watching the navy of his nation reaffirm its position on the world stage.
The navy might be far away from its glory days, when the Portuguese pendant inspired fear in both friend and foe alike but, with the Spanish and French navies destroyed and demoralized and with the British having stolen the Danish ships, he had no doubt that he commanded the most powerful war fleet of Europe, after the British Royal Navy.
As he kept contemplating the ships, he heard steps approaching from behind him.
"A beautiful sight, isn't it?" he said, without looking to see the approaching man.
"Indeed it is." answered the newcomer in a slow, accented voice. Even after living almost six years in Portugal, he still didn't have domination of Portuguese and he spoke it in a slow and heavily accented way.
"And they are just the first two." continued the admiral. "In a couple of months, two more will be ready to set sail."
As the other man stood after his last remark, Admiral de Lima took one last view at the ships and turned to face the elderly Prussian marshal.
"It is always a pleasure to see you, Marshal but, from what I’ve heard, you didn't come all this way from the border just to see my new ships."
As the Prussian pointed at a nearby bench for them to sit down in, he confirmed that he had come in a urgent business that only he and him could knew.
"Secrecy and hidden plans?" mocked the admiral. "I thought the Prussian way was to press forward until the enemy was crushed."
"I'm afraid we might have some serious business coming from France."
"What?"
"Marshal Soult has gathered a new corps-size force in France; they are mostly green recruits and conscripts, from what I heard, but fifty thousand men could turn the tide."
"My Naval Fusiliers are at your disposal."
"We will need something more than just the naval brigade."
At this comment, von der Gotlz fell silent, as if thinking how he should phrase his next thought.
"How long would it take for you to bring soldiers from Brazil?"
At this, de Lima was caught off guard. Colonial soldiers on the continent; who had ever heard of such a thing, he thought but, then, it was brilliant. If what the Marshal said was true, then the Army might hold for some time but, eventually, the Corsican Ogre would turn his eyes to the peninsula.
"It depends on how many men we need to bring."
"Ten battalions."
de Lima was speechless. If bringing a company of colonials to Europe was unheard off, then to bring ten thousand colonial soldiers into Europe would be unthinkable. Ten thousand wouldn't be enough to face the French but, then, the idea that Portugal would resort to its colonies for manpower would put its enemies off guard.
"If we begin preparations now, I might have them here by late August." he said, after a while. "But how the hell do we have so many men in a bloody colony?"
"After the war began, I sent word to the army staff in Brazil with orders to recruit and equip fifteen battalions."
"If I am to bring ten thousand colonials here ,I must go back to the Arsenal to begin preparations."
As the admiral was preparing to leave, Marshal von der Goltz signaled for him to stay.
"Those won't be the only men you will have to bring from the colonies."
Now de Lima froze.
The Marshal certainly couldn't be thinking about them!! They were scoundrels, scumm and traitors. Those kind of men had no right to step foot on the sacred Portuguese soil.
"von der Goltz you must be kidding. The Black Coats are not the type of the men we want where."
"They are exactly the type of men we want here." As the Admiral looked at him in disbelief he explained. "Desperate? Yes. Traitors? Some of them are. But they are the toughest and meanest sons of bitches we have in the entire empire. After four years in Angola, the weak are all dead and the remaining ones are the type of soldiers we want."
"But, according to the law, no Penal Battalion may steep foot in the lands of the Kingdoms of Portugal and the Algarves."
"That's why they are going to be renamed the Foreign Legion."
"I still think is wrong to bring them. But you are the Marshal and the Prince trusts your judgment and, as such, I will oblige. The colonials will be here by August or September and I will have the others here by April. Now, if you excuse me, I must go back to make all the arrangements."
As the Admiral left to go to the Naval Arsenal, the Prussian Marshal stayed on the harbor.
For a while, he felt all of his sixty-seven years.
I’m too old for this shit. Fe thought for the hundredth time.
But he didn't stand idle for long.
For war doesn't wait for anyone.
The Penal Battalions or Black Coats are the original regiments that were sent to West Africa after the military coup of 1803.
They were broken as Army regiments and reformed as Penal Battalions (PB).
The nickname Black Coats comes from their black uniforms, a way to remember them of their treason.
Over time african tribesmen and diseases killed many members of the PB and both Portugal and Brazil begun to send men, the most brutal offenders, to them as way of death sentence.
Because of this the prisoners begun to be offered a choice either serve their time on jail or serve the same amount on the PB.
As more and more prisoners begun to chose the latter the PB begun to receive many numbers of foreigners that had committed some crime and preferred to serve their time on the PB.
In 1807 at least a third of the PB are composed of foreign nationals.
When von der Goltz decides to bring them to Portugal, and as the law forbids the PB to step foot on Portuguese soil (they could serve in the colonies but not on Portugal or the Algarves), they were renamed the Foreign Legion (Legião Estrangeira).
The name was inspired by the several Legions of foreigners the french had and also by the KGL. Because their were men from multiple nationalities it was decided to keep the four PB together and amalgamate them into a single Legion [while the both the French legions and the KGL kept the men according to their nationality (ex: Polish Legion, German Legion, etc...), the Foreign Legion had no such divisions, with Americans, Swedes, Portuguese, Spanish, etc... all fighting on the same battalion].
*****
The Admiral and the Marshal
5th January 1807
The Admiral and the Marshal
5th January 1807
Domingos de Lima, the 7th Marquis of Niza and Admiral of the Royal Portuguese Navy, stood in the harbor, appreciating the view of the Adamastor and the Príncipe D. Pedro, the newest acquisitions of the Navy.
They were the first two of the seventy-fours that he had ordered five years ago, with the other two, the Luso and the Serpente, receiving their last preparations before being launched in two to three months.
As the Adamastor left the harbor on its way to India, the admiral was filled with a sense of pride. He had worked these last few years for the purpose of watching the navy of his nation reaffirm its position on the world stage.
The navy might be far away from its glory days, when the Portuguese pendant inspired fear in both friend and foe alike but, with the Spanish and French navies destroyed and demoralized and with the British having stolen the Danish ships, he had no doubt that he commanded the most powerful war fleet of Europe, after the British Royal Navy.
As he kept contemplating the ships, he heard steps approaching from behind him.
"A beautiful sight, isn't it?" he said, without looking to see the approaching man.
"Indeed it is." answered the newcomer in a slow, accented voice. Even after living almost six years in Portugal, he still didn't have domination of Portuguese and he spoke it in a slow and heavily accented way.
"And they are just the first two." continued the admiral. "In a couple of months, two more will be ready to set sail."
As the other man stood after his last remark, Admiral de Lima took one last view at the ships and turned to face the elderly Prussian marshal.
"It is always a pleasure to see you, Marshal but, from what I’ve heard, you didn't come all this way from the border just to see my new ships."
As the Prussian pointed at a nearby bench for them to sit down in, he confirmed that he had come in a urgent business that only he and him could knew.
"Secrecy and hidden plans?" mocked the admiral. "I thought the Prussian way was to press forward until the enemy was crushed."
"I'm afraid we might have some serious business coming from France."
"What?"
"Marshal Soult has gathered a new corps-size force in France; they are mostly green recruits and conscripts, from what I heard, but fifty thousand men could turn the tide."
"My Naval Fusiliers are at your disposal."
"We will need something more than just the naval brigade."
At this comment, von der Gotlz fell silent, as if thinking how he should phrase his next thought.
"How long would it take for you to bring soldiers from Brazil?"
At this, de Lima was caught off guard. Colonial soldiers on the continent; who had ever heard of such a thing, he thought but, then, it was brilliant. If what the Marshal said was true, then the Army might hold for some time but, eventually, the Corsican Ogre would turn his eyes to the peninsula.
"It depends on how many men we need to bring."
"Ten battalions."
de Lima was speechless. If bringing a company of colonials to Europe was unheard off, then to bring ten thousand colonial soldiers into Europe would be unthinkable. Ten thousand wouldn't be enough to face the French but, then, the idea that Portugal would resort to its colonies for manpower would put its enemies off guard.
"If we begin preparations now, I might have them here by late August." he said, after a while. "But how the hell do we have so many men in a bloody colony?"
"After the war began, I sent word to the army staff in Brazil with orders to recruit and equip fifteen battalions."
"If I am to bring ten thousand colonials here ,I must go back to the Arsenal to begin preparations."
As the admiral was preparing to leave, Marshal von der Goltz signaled for him to stay.
"Those won't be the only men you will have to bring from the colonies."
Now de Lima froze.
The Marshal certainly couldn't be thinking about them!! They were scoundrels, scumm and traitors. Those kind of men had no right to step foot on the sacred Portuguese soil.
"von der Goltz you must be kidding. The Black Coats are not the type of the men we want where."
"They are exactly the type of men we want here." As the Admiral looked at him in disbelief he explained. "Desperate? Yes. Traitors? Some of them are. But they are the toughest and meanest sons of bitches we have in the entire empire. After four years in Angola, the weak are all dead and the remaining ones are the type of soldiers we want."
"But, according to the law, no Penal Battalion may steep foot in the lands of the Kingdoms of Portugal and the Algarves."
"That's why they are going to be renamed the Foreign Legion."
"I still think is wrong to bring them. But you are the Marshal and the Prince trusts your judgment and, as such, I will oblige. The colonials will be here by August or September and I will have the others here by April. Now, if you excuse me, I must go back to make all the arrangements."
As the Admiral left to go to the Naval Arsenal, the Prussian Marshal stayed on the harbor.
For a while, he felt all of his sixty-seven years.
I’m too old for this shit. Fe thought for the hundredth time.
But he didn't stand idle for long.
For war doesn't wait for anyone.
*****
The Penal Battalions or Black Coats are the original regiments that were sent to West Africa after the military coup of 1803.
They were broken as Army regiments and reformed as Penal Battalions (PB).
The nickname Black Coats comes from their black uniforms, a way to remember them of their treason.
Over time african tribesmen and diseases killed many members of the PB and both Portugal and Brazil begun to send men, the most brutal offenders, to them as way of death sentence.
Because of this the prisoners begun to be offered a choice either serve their time on jail or serve the same amount on the PB.
As more and more prisoners begun to chose the latter the PB begun to receive many numbers of foreigners that had committed some crime and preferred to serve their time on the PB.
In 1807 at least a third of the PB are composed of foreign nationals.
When von der Goltz decides to bring them to Portugal, and as the law forbids the PB to step foot on Portuguese soil (they could serve in the colonies but not on Portugal or the Algarves), they were renamed the Foreign Legion (Legião Estrangeira).
The name was inspired by the several Legions of foreigners the french had and also by the KGL. Because their were men from multiple nationalities it was decided to keep the four PB together and amalgamate them into a single Legion [while the both the French legions and the KGL kept the men according to their nationality (ex: Polish Legion, German Legion, etc...), the Foreign Legion had no such divisions, with Americans, Swedes, Portuguese, Spanish, etc... all fighting on the same battalion].
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