Belgian Veterans in Galicia: Materials from the Muster Roll of the 30th Walloon Line Infantry Regiment 'De Ligne'

1801 traditionally marks the end of the Walloon troops in Austrian service. Signed in February that year, the Peace of Luneville forced the Habsburg Monarchy to finally accept the loss of the southern Netherlands to France. Within a few months the bulk of the former military establishment of the now lost provinces was moved to Galicia where they were allocated with new permanent conscription districts. Netherlandish officers continued to serve in the Habsburg army in disproportionately large numbers until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. However, we are told that the regiments themselves lost their connection to their homeland, and that while the Walloon designation was formally retained as late as 1816, the former Netherlandish régiments nationaux were no longer seen as such. Indeed, extant published histories of the Walloon units cut off in 1801. The current dataset shows that the collective presence of Walloons in the Austrian Army was, in fact, far from over. Drawing on the entire papers of the annual muster of 1803 of the 30th Line Infantry Regiment ‘De Ligne’, 431 individual entries have been collated. These comprise all Walloon members of the regiment, from its proprietor, the Prince De Ligne, up to the last private soldier. This group comprised almost one fifth of the regimental strength. Half were veterans of the Old Walloon establishment and dominated the upper ranks of both officers and NCOs. More significantly, for each of these ‘Old’ Walloons there was at least one ‘New’ Walloon. The latter derived from three sources. Firstly, sons of serving and former Walloon officers formed a dominant group among the subalterns. Secondly, sons of Walloon veterans mustered from the regimental boys' school were over-represented among the junior NCOs, some of whom rose to become officers. Finally, enlistment of men from the former Austrian Netherlands and other traditional recruitment areas of the Walloon troops was maintained. In spite of the possibility of raising foreign mercenaries more closely and more cheaply, the New Walloons comprised the majority of foreigners taken by the ‘De Ligne’ regiment after it had moved to Galicia. The dataset shows clearly that the regiment favoured recruits from the former Habsburg Netherlands, supplemented by other foreign French and Dutch speakers. At least during the immediate aftermath of its re-classification as a Galician unit, the 30th Line Infantry Regiment was actively trying to maintain its original composition and regimental identity.1801年通常被视为为奥地利帝国服役的瓦隆驻军走向终结的标志性节点。当年2月签署的《吕内维尔和约（Peace of Luneville）》迫使哈布斯堡君主国最终承认将南尼德兰割让予法国的既成事实。数月之内，原属这片新失领土的绝大多数军事力量被调往加利西亚，编入新的常设征兵辖区。直至拿破仑战争终结前，尼德兰籍军官在哈布斯堡军队中的占比始终远超常规。然而史料记载，这些军团本身已与故土切断联系：尽管“瓦隆”这一称谓直至1816年仍被正式保留，但原尼德兰国家团（régiments nationaux）已不再具备原有的属性。现存关于瓦隆部队的公开史料均在1801年戛然而止。 本数据集显示，瓦隆人在奥地利陆军中的集体服役实则远未终结。研究人员以1803年第30线列步兵团“德·利涅”（30th Line Infantry Regiment ‘De Ligne’）年度兵员点验档案的完整文献为基础，整理出431条个人服役记录，均为该团中的瓦隆籍官兵，上至拥有该团冠名权的德·利涅亲王，下至最普通的列兵。这一群体占团总兵力的近五分之一，其中半数为原瓦隆驻军体系的老兵，在军官与士官（Non-commissioned Officers）的上层梯队中占据主导地位。更值得关注的是，每一位“旧”瓦隆老兵身后，至少对应一名“新”瓦隆新兵。后者主要来自三个渠道： 其一，现役与退役瓦隆军官的子嗣构成了下级军官群体的核心； 其二，从团属子弟学校征召的瓦隆老兵之子嗣，在初级士官群体中占比偏高，其中部分人最终晋升为军官； 其三，该团仍持续招募来自原奥地利属尼德兰地区，以及瓦隆部队传统征兵区域的兵员。尽管当时招募更为贴合需求、成本更低的外籍雇佣兵并非难事，但当该团调往加利西亚后，“新”瓦隆籍兵员仍是该团外籍兵源的主力。 数据集清晰表明，该团优先招募来自原哈布斯堡属尼德兰地区的新兵，并辅以其他法语、荷兰语背景的外籍兵员。至少在其被重新归类为加利西亚驻防部队的初期，第30线列步兵团仍在积极维系其原有的兵员构成与团属身份认同。