 |
As for all other aspects, also in
the fundamental sector of the armed forces  ,
the event that led to the establishment of a real
national army was the accession to the throne of Charles
of Bourbon in 1734, although in the first decades
the core of the forces was constituted by the gift
made by Philip V, who gave half of the Spanish army
and almost all Spanish artillery (about 30,000 men
belonging to infantry and cavalry; after the conquest
of the Kingdom, only 18,000 of them remained) as a
present to his son.
Military Manoeuvres
before the square in Gaeta on 19 May 1787 (F.
Hackert) |
Their
Captain General was the Spanish Duke of Charny,
and only in 1740 was the Neapolitan Francesco
d’Eboli, Duke of Castropignano, appointed
to this position. However, Charles started to
recruit and train so-called “national”
units, so that already in 1744 the “national”
regiment of Terra di Lavoro stood out in the
battle of Velletri against the Austrian forces
.
As concerns the navy forces, Charles did not
find any vessel, since they had all been given
to Emperor Charles VI by Marquis Pallavicini; |
therefore he immediately began
the construction of his fleet, also moved by the need
of protecting the kingdom from the attacks of the
Barbaresques (see the heading dedicated to the “Navy
Fleet”).
|
Charles began his military
reconstruction by establishing Institutes to
train officers, such as the “Real Academia
de los Guardias Estendartes de las Galeras”,
established on 5 December 1735, and followed
in 1745 by the '“Artillery Academy”
and in 1754 the“Academy of the Military
Engineers Corp”.
The first reforms were made during the early
years of the Kingdom of Ferdinand IV: in 1765
the burdening Spanish regulations were modified,
all regiments were put on an equal stand, and
the “Corse” regiment was suppressed;
|
Military Manoeuvres
in the Square of Sessa in May 1794 (F. Hackert) |
in 1769 the Royal Artillery Academy
was merged with the Engineers Corp to form the “Royal
Military Academy”, located in the Panatica building
at Santa Lucia; in 1771 a Corp of Selected Cadets
was established and called “Ferdinand Royal
Battalion”, whose colonel was the Sovereign
himself.
Officer Redingotes
in use at Swiss Regiments
|
However,
this was not enough to satisfy the King’s
idea of a complete training for young military
people. Therefore in 1774 a general reform was
implemented foreseeing the suppression of the
“Royal Military Academy” and the
reorganisation of the “Ferdinand Royal
Battalion”, that had to include cadets
from all armed forces; the Battalion was therefore
named “Royal Academy of the Ferdinand
Royal Battalion”, and the cadets increased
from 270 to 810 and from three companies to
nine companies .
Mention must be also made to the “Royal
Pagers”, established by Charles at the
beginning of his kingdom to educate the young
people that had to serve at Court and the “Military
College”, established to educate the youth
to the elements of military art.
Only when Acton became Prime Minister, however,
were the first great reforms of 1786 and 1788
launched. Acton paid more attention than Tanucci
to military questions and the above mentioned
reforms marked the definitive emancipation from
the Spanish influence.
Some foreign regiments were abolished and the
distribution of officers and petty officers
among the different regiments became homogeneous;
|
all administrative services were
put under a single General Office of the Army, whereas
many officers were sent to France and Prussia to make
their studies and foreign teachers were invited to
Naples (the idea of the Nunziatella found its origin
from this event, as we will see later on).
|
Further reforms involved
the Infantry (armed according to the Prussian
model) and the Cavalry (whose Dragons where
abolished), that formed 14 brigades, in turn
divided into 7 divisions. The Artillery was
organised according to the French model.
By Charles’ “Prammatica” of
1796, foreseeing a new form of recruitment,
the army was divided into 20 Infantry regiments.
Every national regiment included 600 soldiers
from the provincial militia, each group divided
into 3 battalions. |
Royal Mounted Guards
of the King (Aloja and Morghen) |
In total, in war times, each regiment
was made by 1700 men.
Each cavalry regiment
was formed by 4 squadrons and half squadron as reserve
(a squadron was made by 142 men, of which 120 were
mounted soldiers). The General Staff and the lower
ranks were formed by 21 men. |
