3rd Line Infantry Regiment 'Principe Reale'

The 3rd Line Infantry Regiment (In Italian: 3o Reggimento Fanteria di Linea) was one of the line infantry units of the Kingdom of Naples. It was one of the least combat-effective regiments of the Army and was led by officers of dubious quality throughout its service. It was officially raised during Joseph I’s reign yet not fully constituted until 1809, during the reign of Joachim Murat. The regiment served poorly in Calabria against British raids, and for this was never deployed in Spain, Russia or Germany; it was still a generally inexperienced regiment in 1814. In the Kingdom’s final campaign, it fought with distinction and remained generally intact during the army’s retreat to Capua.

It was given the title “Principe Reale” or Royal Prince’s Own in 1810 as an honorary formality.

Formation

The original formation of the 3rd Line was never officially decreed, but orders were given to Colonel Louis de Gambs (son of the lieutenant general of the same name) to raise a third Neapolitan line infantry unit from deserters and the captured Bourbon garrison of Gaeta in 1806. These few men were merged with the 2nd Line on 17th September 1806, and for the next two and a half years the 3rd Line was non-existent. Only on 10th March 1809, a year into Joachim Murat’s reign, was the reraising of the 3rd Line decreed, and the command of the regiment given to Luigi Arcovito, an experienced officer and patriot. Arcovito had served in the Swedish, Parthenopean, and Bourbon armies and had seen much combat over the years, before being employed in Murat’s army as a Colonel.

Unfortunately for the regiment, they would have little time to bond with their new colonel as Arcovito was transferred to lead the 5th Line that September and was replaced by Giuseppe Rosaroll. It was composed almost completely of conscripts, still generally better quality than the convicts and brigands in the other line regiments. At the strength of three battalions the regiment was deployed to the Papal States that September as part of the occupation force supporting the French but saw great numbers of desertions – apparently the recruits believed they would go blind for invading the Pope’s territory. The regiment returned to the Kingdom in February 1810 and was immediately sent to Calabria as part of the planned invasion of Sicily.

Imperial Service

Service in Calabria

The regiment, under Rosaroll’s command, was present in Calabria from mid-February 1810 and remained there until April 1813. It was first present in Lower Calabria in the invasion force assembled for the landings in Sicily planned to occur that year. Murat, tired of the disastrous naval war against the Anglo-Sicilian fleet, decided to launch the invasion on the night of the 17th of September. The planned force of 10,000 men was never assembled, as General Paul Grenier refused to grant a single French soldier to the King, and hence a half-hearted attack was made composed only of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Corsican Regiment, six companies of the 2nd Light, and six companies each of the 1/3rd and 1/4th Line. The 3rd Line landed around Santo Stefano, six miles south of Messina, where it found the ground before them crawling with armed peasantry who were soon reinforced by the British 21st Foot and 3rd Battalion Kings German Legion, volleying the hapless Neapolitans and forcing them back to the beach. A stand there proved unsuccessful as the British turned the Neapolitan flank and a general retreat was sounded, in which many of the invasion force were captured. The 3rd Line and 2nd Light escaped relatively unscathed, and managed to return to the other side of the Straight of Messina the next day without losing too many men. The other regiments had suffered great losses, and Colonel D’Ambrosio alongside a number of officers (and the standard of the Corsican regiment) had been captured. The invasion force had suffered some 1,000 total casualties in killed, wounded and captured.

Following the disaster at Santo Stefano the regiment remained deployed in Lower Calabria to guard the coast and fight brigands. Its men were part of several mobile columns during General Manhes’s repression of brigandage in 1811, and on the 23rd of April the regiment’s command was transferred to Henri Roche, a Frenchman. Roche was a man of dubious military competence and most probably gained his rank as a result of favouritism with Murat. The regiment remained in Calabria and on the 21st of July 1812 some 400 men under Capobattaglione Patrizio were present at Pietrenere, where an armed British demonstration took place. The coastal batteries there consisted of six 36-pounder guns implanted on a hill overlooking the beach; a sizeable British force under Captain Sir Robert Hall was attempting to land there on the morning of the 21st, under the fire of the battery. The British gunboats proceeded to silence the coastal battery and land some 350 men onto the beach, who beat the 3rd Line (deployed on the hill) back and forced it to abandon the guns after a sharp bayonet fight in which the 3rd Line lost several prisoners, including three deserters. While the 3rd Line withdrew and rallied further back, the British proceeded to spike the guns and burn several provision-laden boats, before pulling back to their own vessels.

The engagement ended with the British escaping along with their prisoners and leaving the battery in ruins and Neapolitan morale crumbling. According to the British, four officers and thirty-six privates from the 3rd Line and the coastal battery crew had been taken prisoner. Patrizio had not been captured and was recommended for cashiering, although this never happened. A second engagement occurred at Pietrenere on the night of 14/15th February 1813 and proved even more disastrous:

A strong Anglo-Sicilian force, once again under the command of Sir Robert Hall, set out to attack a large grouping of French boats assembled at Pietrenere on the 14th. Due to bad winds, only a detachment of the 75th Foot was present for the attack on the morning of the 15th. This force, some 150 men of the 75th and a detachment of seamen, proceeded to land at the same spot as that of the previous attack in 1812; they charged up the heights again and there found the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Line with two troops of cavalry and two guns. Roche was there personally to command, and upon being charged by the impetuous British the battalion broke and fled, leaving 163 men and officers prisoner, including Colonel Roche and Capobattaglione Patrizio. The French boats were later burned by the Royal Navy and the British withdrew victoriously again.

Following Roche’s capture, the command of the regiment went to Bernardo Palma, who had previously served in Spain as a battalion chief in both line regiments deployed there. Palma would be the final Colonel of the 3rd Line and would lead the regiment capably until the end of Murat’s regime.

Italian Campaigns of 1814-15

1814 Campaign in Northern Italy

At the end of 1813 the regiment was grouped into General Carlo Filangieri’s brigade of Michele Carrascosa’s first division of the Kingdom’s Army. Filangieri was replaced with Luigi Nicola de Majo in early 1814, and the division united in Reggio on 15th February before setting out for war. The division marched through the Roman States in January, linking with the Austrians in February around Parma and approaching Piacenza on the 16th.

Carrascosa’s Division was present behind Parma when on March 2nd the French under General Grenier attacked FML Laval Nugent’s forces in the city itself; the battle caused a sizeable portion of the Austrian force to end up trapped inside the city and forced to surrender. The retreating Austrians were only allowed to regroup thanks to the deployment of the Neapolitans on the heights behind Parma – in this occasion, the 3rd Line was in the reserve. The Neapolitans withdrew and would next be engaged at Reggio Emilia.

The 3rd Line was among the leading Neapolitan elements approaching the city and deployed in front of the San Nicolò Gate, although it did not advance into the city itself. The French at this point were holed up inside the city, as Colonel Palma had, with great initiative, taken the regiment to occupy the banks of the Naviglio stream, cutting the French line of retreat. This advantageous position was unfortunately not put to use, as an armistice was signed shortly after enabling the French to withdraw unmolested.

The 3rd Line remained in the second line of Carrascosa’s division and participated in the Battle of the Taro River although was not clearly engaged.

Neapolitan War

Sometime in the period between the two campaigns the command of the 1st Division’s 2nd Brigade was given to Raffaele de Gennaro, a capable officer. Under de Gennaro’s leadership the 3rd Line began the 1815 Campaign, once again grouped in Carrascosa’s division. As the advance guard of the main army, the First Division reached Senigallia first and then proceeded to Pesaro, Cattolica, across the Rubicon and to Rimini, where Murat’s famous proclamation was made. The division entered Bologna on the 2nd of April and on the 3rd the Army was engaged at the Battle of the Panaro, east of Modena.

The 3rd Line initially helped force the Austrians to abandon the right bank of the Panaro; later during the battle, following General Filangieri’s heroic charge, the 2nd Brigade under De Gennaro energetically charged across the bridge once the enemy flank had been turned at Spilamberto and forced the Austrians to withdraw and lose several prisoners. The regiment then remained between Modena, Reggio and Carpi for the next few days, not taking part in the battles of Occhiobello or Carpi. On the 13th the entire division pulled back over the Panaro, occupying the positions it had fought to take earlier that month.

Later that week, the Austrians routed the 1st Line positioned at the ford at Spilamberto and turned the flank of the Neapolitan positions. The division was forced to retreat further back across the Reno, where in front of Bologna they made a stand on the stone bridge there. In the advanced posts was Pepe’s brigade, while de Gennaro’s brigade remained in the reserve. The Austrians, numerous in number, attacked with both infantry and cavalry, forcing Pepe to call reinforcements from both the 3rd Line and 5th Line. The day ended in a Neapolitan victory, as the Austrians failed to dislodge the Neapolitans in the face of sharp musketry. Following the battle, the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Two Sicilies was given to Colonel Palma for his bravery that day.

The division continued to retreat. It continued down the high road and deployed in front of Cesena on the 22nd. No serious combat occurred here as the Austrians failed to attack (they themselves being outnumbered), and the 3rd Line was not engaged in the next few weeks of the retreat. It probably was minorly engaged at the 1st Division’s rear-guard action at Pesaro and pulled back south with the rest of Carrascosa’s force. The division was not engaged at the decisive battle at Tolentino and was forced to retreat with the rest of the Army south towards Capua and Naples. The Austrians caught up with the rear-guard at Castel di Sangro, thirty miles from Campobasso; here, Carrascosa deployed his division in order of battle on the main road and feigned a retreat. Then, turning about in the right moment, Carrascosa personally advanced at the head of the 3rd Line (and two elite companies of the 5th) against the Austrian N.5 Radetzky Hussars that were threatening the centre of the line. The regiment formed into battalion squares and repulsed a charge by the Austrian hussars; the 3rd Line then deployed in line to repulse an Austrian infantry attack on the right of the line. This was achieved with great success, and the Austrian regiment was forced to pull back in disorder, ending the action. Carrascosa pulled back after the battle after receiving orders from Murat to continue south. Among others, Colonel Palma was singled out for bravery and even mentioned in the Monitore Napoletano’s report on the action.

Thus ended the last combat action of the 3rd Line. Like the rest of the army, it reached Capua on the 18th of May and generally ceased to exist after the signing of the Treaty of Casalanza. The majority of the men deserted rather than being employed in Austrian service, while the rest remained garrisoned in the fortress of Capua.

Like in the other line regiments, many officers remained in Bourbon service, including Colonel Bernardo Palma, who continued to lead regiments until the end of his military career.

Uniforms

Coming soon.

Colours

Owing to the regiment’s late formation, it missed Joseph’s reign and hence was never given the 1806-pattern colours. The regiment probably had tailor-made battalion fanions, and the actual regimental standard was issued on 15th February 1811. The flag consisted of a white and amaranth checkerboard square on a light blue background, alongside a gold inscription on the obverse and the Kingdom’s lesser arms on the reverse. It is probable that the regiment took the flags on campaign in 1814-15, as depicted in contemporary prints of Neapolitan troops.

1810-Pattern Drapeau:

• Field: blue

• Red and Amaranth checkerboard surrounding

• Obverse (right): Green laurel/holly wreath topped with “GN” and crown; inscription “Al/REGGto/D’Infanteria/3o Di Linea

• Reverse (left): Shield of the lesser arms of the Kingdom of Naples under Joachim Murat alongside two mermaids, a royal crown of five hoops and the Order of Two Sicilies.

List of Colonels

Date Appointed	Name
18th March 1809	Luigi Arcovito
15th September 1809	Giuseppe Rosaroll
23rd April 1812	Henri Roche
12th April 1813	Bernardo Palma