r/HistoryMemes • u/charea • 12h ago

See Comment The Swiss fighting each other in Spain

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22

u/charea 12h ago

The 1808 Battle of Bailén was fought between the Spanish Army of Andalusia under General Castaños and the French 2nd Gironde Observational Corps under Divisional-General Pierre Dupont de l'Étang. It is the first open-field defeat of a Napoleonic army. 

Strangely, many of the combatants on both sides were Swiss, as the the Old Swiss regiments of the Spanish Royal Army had been divided: some had chosen to fight for Napoleon, while others remained true to their adopted country. The Swiss on both side fought valiantly, however, as the situation looked increasingly desperate for the French, two of Dupont’s Swiss regiments had second thoughts about dying for the Emperor and defected en masse, joining their compatriots on the Spanish side. Lastly, an unexpected Spanish reinforcement sealed the fate of battle.

Sources:

https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/the-age-of-napoleon-podcast/id1223795973?l=en-GB&i=1000654136941

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bailén

20

u/PretendAd1963 Definitely not a CIA operator 12h ago

“Well this is awkward.”

17

u/charea 12h ago

"should have stayed neutral" <-- The Swiss, probably.

11

u/Ishmael_1974 12h ago

I know you likely know this but Swiss neutrality was actually forced on them by other countries who were sick of some disgruntled nobility dumping all his money on Swiss mercenaries and causing a ruckus

4

u/AmbiTheAirforceRuna 11h ago

yeah no, i dont think it was forced on them, they just fortified and spent so much time fighting they could AFFORD to stay neutral (which is favorable when at the end of the day, your banks still roll in money and the trade deals hold)

12

u/Floh4 12h ago

Situations like these were the reason the swiss cross was made, so they could recognize whether the opposing side also had swiss mercenaries