22. The Badass Wild Geese
The Wild Geese took service as mercenaries, and for the next century, the French army included an Irish Brigade whose nucleus was the exiles of 1691, its ranks constantly replenished by new arrivals from Ireland. French ships smuggling brandy and wine into Ireland usually smuggled out recruits for the Irish Brigade, who were often listed in the ship’s log – in a nod to the 1691 core – as “Wild Geese”.
Many new recruits sought adventure, others simply wanted to make a living, and most were looking for an opportunity to fight the English. Thousands of Irishmen thus served France, fighting in her numerous wars, and proving instrumental in some notable victories against the British, such as at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745. After the French Revolution, the unit’s existence as a separate entity came to an end, when foreign regiments were integrated into the French army’s line infantry.
