In 1833 Spain found itself in the flames of a civil war. The king of Ferdinand VII had died leaving his wife Isabella on the throne. The latter attempted to reform the archaic structures of the Spanish state. But he was faced with the reaction of many ethnic groups, but also of traditional forces in Spain – fanatical Catholics and landowners.
All these groups found representation in the person of the dead king's brother, don Carlos, who proclaimed his adherence to traditional social structures. Thus the war broke out. Don Carlos was mainly supported by the Navarrese and the Basques, although rebellions in his favor also took place in Aragon, Catalonia, and even in Castile.
The central government attempted to suppress the rebellions. But it failed, particularly in the Basque country. In 1834 don Carlos managed to escape from Britain, where he was and reach Spain, assuming the leadership of the rebels.
Faced with the inability of the Spanish government to suppress the rebellion, Britain, France and Portugal were willing to support it. The three countries concluded the Quadruple Alliance with Spain. However, the allies of the Spanish government could not officially strengthen it, without provoking the reaction of the other major European powers, Prussia, Austria and Russia.
So they found a middle ground. Both France and Britain would send troops to Spain, but they would join the Spanish Army and form an organic part of it. The French decided to send the Foreign Legion.
Arrival at the "Spanish hornet's nest"
On June 28, 1835 the Legion was granted to the Spanish Army by royal decree. The expendable legion was the ideal solution. Besides, as early as 1834 the French had secretly sent 439 Spanish legionnaires to Spain , to be used by Isabella's army.
Despite the reactions, however, the foreign legionnaires were forced to go to Spain, along with a few French and foreign officers. Ultimately 123 officers and 5,000 non-commissioned officers and soldiers went to the "Spanish hornet's nest".
The commander of the Legion, Colonel Bernay, refused to abandon his men and on August 17, 1835, he landed with them in Spain. The Legion remained in southern Spain until the beginning of 1836, without developing much action. In the first days of 1836, however, he was ordered to settle in Vitoria, a small town south of Bilbao.
There, the Legion would undertake the duties of guard and pursuit of the Carlists, as the followers of don Carlos were called. The inhabitants turned out to be hardly friendly. Most of the men were Carlists and fought in the mountains, leaving behind their families, who provided them with "accounting" support.
The Legion participated on January 16 in an attack against the Carlists in the mountains around Vitoria. The Legion remained as a garrison in Vitoria, until February 1836. He was then ordered to station in Pamplona.
Life in Pamplona was completely different from Vitoria. However, the Legion was not to know the quiet life of Pamplona. Once there he was ordered to deploy to a series of strongholds around the city, in the valley of the Arga River.
The Legion thus overextended on a wide front, could not exploit the virtues of its men. He was reduced to a passive role, carrying out dangerous patrols in unknown territory, in an area infested with rebels. On March 6, a legionary company was sent to the village of Leranioth.
Battles and savagery
However, the village was suddenly occupied by the Carlists, who, being fortified, opened fire. The legionnaires responded with a dashing attack, which succeeded in driving the Carlists out of the village. Suddenly, however, the village was surrounded by at least four times as many Carlist forces, who began to charge against the blockaded company of legionnaires.
Fortunately the situation was noticed by the Legion command and a company of legionnaire grenadiers was sent to lift the siege of Leranioth. The elite legionnaires managed to break through the cordon and reinforce the besieged company. The two companies of legionaries fought bravely all day and held their positions until evening, when the Carlists withdrew. One non-commissioned officer and six legionnaires were killed in the battle. Two others were captured and massacred by the Carlists.
On March 24, however, the Legion would fight its first major battle on Spanish soil. That morning the 4th Battalion of the Legion was ordered to occupy the heights beyond Thumbiri , to ensure the safe movement of troops through the valley. The battalion was marching in the middle of a heavy snowstorm, which significantly reduced visibility. Suddenly the vanguard company was attacked by Carlist horsemen.
Taken by surprise, the legionnaires staggered for a moment. But the courage of the Swiss Sergeant Berset saved the company. The sergeant, despite the fact that he had already received 20 wounds, managed to regroup his men and repel the attack. Nevertheless the Carlists returned, in great force, now threatening the entire 4th Battalion.
Bernay, however, was on the alert and immediately ordered the 5th Battalion to attack the Carlists. This time it was the rebels who were surprised and fled, leaving behind 170 dead and 30 prisoners.
The destruction of the Carlists would have been complete if the Spanish divisions which had been disposed of as the bodyguard of the Legion, had dared to engage. The Legion, for its part, had 40 dead and 32 wounded. The large number of dead of both factions is justified by the fact that prisoners were not captured, usually!
In fact, Bernay, inspecting the battlefield, saw the bodies of five legionnaires so abused, that he could not stand it and ordered the execution of the 30 Carlist prisoners, which raised a storm of protests in France. In Spain, however, horror was a tradition.
Thus in an operation in April 1836 legionnaires suddenly attacked a Carlist camp. There they found two of their colleagues with their lips cut, their cheeks torn with a knife, their eyes gouged out and the skin of their skulls scraped off! "Nevertheless, these poor people were still alive", reported Barney in Paris, which, however, pressed for "humane" treatment of the prisoners.
On April 25, 800 legionnaires, with four cannons, were attacked by 3,500 Carlists. The battle lasted all day and finally the legionnaires, led by Bernay, retreated leaving behind 20 dead, but taking with them 70 wounded. The Carlists had 80 dead and 200 wounded.
Hunger…
From August 1836 onwards, however, the position of the Legion began to deteriorate continuously. Replacements stopped arriving, as did material and supplies. By then the Legion had 497 dead in Spain, not counting the wounded.
Bernay made a series of overtures to the French military command. But none was listened to. So Bernay resigned, along with 12 other officers. He was replaced by Colonel Lembo. But beyond that, France "forgot" the existence of the Legion.
The Carlists were confined to their mountains and there was no danger of their revolution spreading. So France decided to disengage from the "Spanish Question", practically abandoning the Legion to its fate . LeBeau, unable to react, also resigned three months later, leaving command to Colonel Joseph Conrad. But the situation of the Legion had turned tragic.
The officers and men had months to get paid. The food supply had also been cut off and the legionnaires, having no money to buy, began to sell their supplies. Many others deserted, while many more ended up in the hospital, with severe signs of starvation. Among the latter were eight officers.
In December 1836 a whole company was halted before fleeing with its armament to the Carlists, just to secure some food. But the food situation did not improve and desertion became a daily phenomenon. At the beginning of February 1837 the Legion had lost 1/3 of its men. By June it was equal to a meager infantry battalion.
Nevertheless the legionnaires who remained proved truly invincible. They were the men who ultimately created the legend of the Foreign Legion.
One of them was the German captain Jahan Albert Hebich. The Württemberg officer's company was trapped on a hill during an operation in March 1837, by two Carlist battalions. Conrad's attempts to free the company were fruitless. Hebich, however, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, but also of the Greek Revolution of 1821 , he did not belong to the category of warriors who resigned.
He continued to fight with his men around a stable on top of the hill. When help finally arrived after two hours, Conrad saw him standing, ignoring the enemy fire, and directing the fire of his men. His company had lost only seven men. But the corpses of the enemies had covered the slope of the hill.
Dissolution
In May 1837 the Spanish decided to attack the Carlists in Huesca. The Legion as usual attacked first and after overturning the enemy penetrated deep into his position. But the Spanish departments did not move to strengthen and support her. Fatefully the Carlists launched a fierce counterattack against her, forcing her to fight very hard.
Conrad managed to unhook the Legion in order, taking his wounded with him. But when the battle was over, the Legion no longer existed. More than 350 legionnaires and 28 officers had been killed or wounded.
But the worst happened in the battle of Barbastro when the legionnaires were confronted by the Legion of don Carlos, a division that had been formed by their deserting colleagues. The legionnaires engaged their former colleagues in an unprecedented hand-to-hand conflict.
Before long the Carlists managed to put to flight the Spanish bodies flanking the Legion, with the result that the latter was now under overwhelming pressure. The legionnaires began to bend. Then Conrad advanced, with his staff aloft and his hat upon it, shouting "Legion onward." A musket rattled and the brave colonel fell.
His death also marked the end of the old legion. Nevertheless, his men honored his death. Of the 800 Carlists who had attacked them, only 160 returned to their lines! After the battle the Legion was reorganized into a battalion of 350 men, including 100 officers! These 350 men fought in Navarre against three enemy battalions and defeated them on September 10, 1837.
Finally when the Legion returned to France, in January 1839, it numbered a total of 63 officers and 159 non-commissioned officers and soldiers. The legionnaire Gallant, in his diary, closed the Spanish campaign with the following words:"Whenever a military body is caught between politics, diplomacy and guns, it sacrifices itself".