Following observance of the wars between Castile and the Emirate of Granada in 1548, ‘Spanish Squares’ became a popular tactical concept. This idea, formed by the great Spanish general Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba, saw the combination of pike and arquebus soldiers into a lethal organisation that was near impossible to destroy by enemy cavalry but which also had the “tactical reach” to engage the enemy from range. The RÉGIMENT was issued with their arquebuses in January 1549 (one of the last to receive them) and was considered fully operational almost 12 months later in early 1550 following a series of training activities and manoeuvres. However, these tactics had not yet been tested, by the French at least, in combat.
Such a test would soon arise for the Corps du Nord and the RÉGIMENT though as on the 10th of March 1550, Jean Huerriell, a minor Flemish noble in Calais, raised the province in revolution seeking to establish Calais as an independent principality. The RÉGIMENT was quickly concentrated and joined other Corps’ regiments on the march with both forces arrayed before each other on the night of the 14th of March. In the early hours of the following day, the Corps surged forward from their lines aiming to catch the poorly equipped and under-skilled rebels off-guard but the Marechal had not counted on Huerriell’s leadership nor the esprit de Corps for which the rebels held.
The RÉGIMENT was deployed on the far right flank of the battle and had a small rise to climb before engaging with the rebels. This meant that the arquebusiers would be firing uphill which made accuracy difficult, particularly given the limited light offered by the still-rising sun at the time. As such, all the firing achieved was to alert the rebels that the RÉGIMENT was near and gave them enough time to stand-to and prepare. The leading pikemen of 1st through 4th Companies crashed into the semi-prepared rebel line and a general battle was formed.
To the surprise of Colonel Blouet, the rebel line failed to give way and he quickly found more and more of the RÉGIMENT’s men returning to the rear wounded. Reports of similar experiences were received at the Marechal’s headquarters but were treated largely with contempt and ignored. Soon enough, the unit to the left of RÉGIMENT began falling back which exposed the RÉGIMENT to flanking assaults from the rebel line. In an instant, the Corps’ line was in retreat as regiment after regiment reacted to their neighbour’s departure; the 2E was amongst those forced to withdraw. The rebels, perhaps surprised by the unexpected result, hesitated to pursue which allowed most of the Corps to reform in their original starting positions. The safety of this position would not remain as rebel horse began threatening the Corps’ flanks. More soldiers would die here before the Marechal was able to affect a proper withdrawal to the safety of the fortress at Ardres.
While the Corps du Nord was occupied, the Guarde had also deployed and was able to catch up and force battle with the rebels on the 4th of July. In a few hours work, the rebels were comprehensively defeated, Huerriell being slain on the field. Despite overall success, the failure on the 15th of March did not bode well for the Corps du Nord’s Marechal. He was swiftly replaced as were a number of Colonels; Colonel Blouet was found innocent of incompetence and remained in command. To finalise the punishment, the Corps was ordered to commence preparation for deployment back to North Africa and to conduct a relief-in-place with the Armee de l’Afrique. To many this was far from desirable but others saw the opportunity to restore the previous good name of the RÉGIMENT and the Corps.
On the 31st of March 1555, the RÉGIMENT commenced the march to Narbonne and on the 15th of July they sailed with a full complement of 1000 officers and soldiers. The fleet arrived in Mostaganem on the 23rd of August and, just as they had some 20 years earlier, commenced acclimatisation activities ahead of the handover of command ceremony on the 30th.
Perhaps as a test of the resolve of the new French forces in the country, Tunisian separatists rose-up in rebellion in the province of Oran on the 4th of September. The RÉGIMENT, accompanied by the 3e Alencon, 3e Roussillon and 4e Berry regiments quickly combined and moved to engage these separatists before they had time to organise. With the memories of the defeat in earlier in the year fresh in the mind of Colonel Blouet, careful appreciation of the enemy’s ability and deployment were made before committing troops to battle. Thus despite a slow, cautious engagement, victory was assured on the 17th as the separatists were swept away through not just a combination of superior tactics and firepower but the desire of the men of the RÉGIMENT to eliminate any memories of that previous battle. Following the battle, the RÉGIMENT was permanently stationed in Oran to provide security for the French provincial government. They would remain in North Africa, in large part, until September 1612.
It is rather fortuitous now that the RÉGIMENT is in Africa as much and more can be learned of their operations and activities. This is in large part due to a culture of record keeping present amongst the noble native North Africans. Many served as secretaries and notaries for the French Governor and as such, many despatches, reports and other official correspondence were archived in the library of Oran. We learn first of the RÉGIMENT’s troop dispositions in the province through Colonel Blouet’s orders to his company commanders:
“In accordance with the direction provided to me by the Corps Commander, the 2E Régiment de Normandie will secure the province of Oran through a dispersal of forces to key nodes. Companies will be responsible to ensure peace and stability within their Areas of Operation and are given liberty towards the execution of those duties. Regimental Headquarters will be quartered in Oran-proper with Nos. 3 and 10 Companies responsible for security. Capitaine Marchessault will command.
Nos. 1 and 2 Companies will be based to the South-West in the village of Beni Saf, commanded by Capitaine de Ros. Companies 4 and 5 will be located in the far south of the province at Sidi Bel Abbes; Capitaine Longchamp commanding. Companies 6 and 7, under the command of Capitaine Verney, will control the vital crossroads at Zaghloul. Lastly, Nos. 8 and 9 Companies shall be responsible for the township of Mascara, led by Capitaine l’Ivry.”
The province of Oran is large and those dispositions would see the Companies substantially isolated from each other as well as from the headquarters. For instance, Beni Saf was 98 kilometres from Oran; a travel time of over 20 hours. The Companies were expected to liaise directly with local village chiefs or elders to ensure that the King’s peace was maintained and to put down, with force if necessary, any riots or guerrilla activity. A report from Capitaine Longchamp in Sidi Bel Abbes highlighted some of the difficulties the RÉGIMENT had in engaging with the local population:
“…at once, I directed the men to release their captive and, through the interpreter, sought to ascertain why the man had been lingering outside the compound. I believe the interpreter misinterpreted my question as at once the man fell to his knees, crying, hands clasped as in prayer and appeared to be asking for my mercy. He believed that I had just ordered him killed!”
Companies 8 and 9 were particularly busy in Mascara with a number of minor uprisings occurring, largely as a result of the significantly hostile Bedouin population in the area. Only three days after their arrival in Mascara, Capitaine l’Ivry reported on a brief engagement a platoon had been involved in:
“5 Platoon had been patrolling the Eastern outskirts of the township at approximately one o’clock upon which they received a brief flurry of shots from the dunes. Lieutenant de Lisieux immediately ordered the platoon to find cover while he searched for the source of the musketry. While no trace of the assailants was identified, the platoon did identify a number of Bedouin observing them from a distant sand dune. No casualties were sustained.”
And again, a week later on the 30th of September:
“Upon reaching the crest of the dune, I observed a camp of approximately 50 Bedouin men, women and children with countless tents, camels and accoutrements set about in haphazard formation. I ordered the men into line and had intended to sweep down slowly upon the camp to inspect for weapons however we were soon sighted and a great cry went up amongst them. Swiftly, the tents were pulled down, camels loaded up and the camp began to disappear. A number of Bedouin men were seen with weapons thus I ordered the men forward intent on capturing these fellows. Alas, we were too slow and they escaped. I suspect this is not the last we shall see of this Bedouin tribe.”
He was not wrong. Three days later on the 3rd of October during an extended range patrol to Froha, the company came across the same Bedouin tribe encamped outside the township. The element of surprise was with the Normans this time and they wasted little time in moving upon the Bedouin to capture those with weapons. As soon as the troops entered the ring of tents, shots from Bedouin sentries rang out although they were far too late to warn the tribesmen who had not immediately seen the troops. Men, women, children and animals scattered in all directions although at least 12 men of “fighting age” were detained and escorted back to the Company position for questioning. More arrests were made subsequent to the actions of the 3rd of October but more importantly, weapons and ammunition were seized and confiscated.
Capitaine l’Ivry would go on to make many reports on the actions of his command particularly in regards to the actions of the local Bedouin. The Companies would suffer 12 casualties related to enemy action between them; a number of reports also noted deaths from climatic and other “exotic” conditions.
In Sidi Bel Abbes, Companies 4 and 5 had a far more tumultuous deployment with a number of open engagements against formed bodies of rebels. Second only to Oran, Sidi Bel Abbes was a major township with a population of well over 2000. Capitaine Longchamp was met with challenges from the outset as he arrived outside the town; a low wall of rubbish and burned out wagons had been dragged across the road while an envoy of village elders awaited them some few hundred metres from the blockage. Capitaine Longchamp reported:
“A most peculiar Gentleman stood apart from the rest, a brightly coloured yellow turban adorning his head and a long white unkempt beard running down to his navel. He held his hand aloft as if to make us stop, which I duly ordered, before I approached along with the CSM and the interpreter. This fellow, he gave his name as Mohammed al Razak, told us in no uncertain terms that we were not welcome or required that his “brothers” were keeping the peace. I believed him to be disingenuous so wheeled my horse around, ordered the Detachment into extended line by fours and sent them forward towards the debris.”
As the two Companies came forward, the envoys turned and darted back towards their comrades that soon became visible from behind the wall/blockage. Shots rang out yet the distance was still too great for them to have any effect although it certainly saw to alerting Capitaine Longchamp that he was in for a hot afternoon.
“Their attempt was futile and the detachment kept stolidly marching on. I kept two platoons back on the flanks to keep a ware eye on any movement that might threaten the formation. A few more shots came from the debris as we came within 100 yards but they were poorly aimed and flew high, as is the norm with irregular forces. At 75yds, I halted all but the three middle platoons that proceeded another 25yds forward, halted, aimed and fired in volley at the debris. The effect was instantaneous as 15 or 20 rebels burst from the debris and followed the envoys back into the town-proper.”
Longchamp had the Companies pull down the blockage and put out a series of fires that had been lit and which had been pouring a thick black smoke across the town. The force then moved forward in skirmish order to commence clearance of the town and return French order, supported by the local leaders. Shots rang out at irregular intervals as the troops drew near and did little but to inform where the enemy were hiding in ambush. Once the edge of the town had been breached, Longchamp dispersed the platoons to various sectors in order to clear each dwelling or building, circling around until they would reform at the town centre where Longchamp himself would meet with the elders once more.
This clearance process took the majority of the afternoon. A number of rebels were shot and captured; three soldiers were also unfortunately killed before the town was declared as back under control. Longchamp reported a sense of uneasiness amongst his troops though, particularly with night falling and was wary of a counter-attack.
“Sergeant-Chef Maillieu noted the queasiness of the men as they loitered in the plaza; they stood or sat, fingering their weapons and peering through the deepening darkness at the huts surrounding us. I called in the Platoon Commanders, assigned sectors for their control and ordered them to keep a watch through the night. The men would rest indoors; another sweep would be conducted at dawn.”
Fortunately, the troops’ nerves were unfounded and the night passed without incident. The second sweep of the town was conducted at dawn with another number of rebels captured as they slept. Capitaine Longchamp impressed upon the town elders the need for peace and submission to French command and would impress hardships upon the populace should they not comply. It would take many months and multiple deaths before Sidi Bel Abbes was truly under control.
It is a similar story for the experiences of the other Companies with little to note regarding particular deeds or casualties save the death of Capitaine Verney in Zaghloul in 1570. Verney was commanding a detachment of soldiers at a food distribution point when a small riot broke out. He was hit in the side of the head by a rock and fell dead instantly.