The following panels include the regiments that served for more than five years in the pay of the United Provinces, listed by province or foreign origin, with their colonels’ names and dates. Except where two or more colonels came from the same family, they are identified only by family name. Note: ‘kia’ means killed in action in the battle named; ‘in the field’ indicates a lieutenant-colonel or sergeant-major who led the regiment on campaign in place of an absent or elderly nominal colonel-proprietor. If a unit began as a colonelcy, the word ‘formed’ shows when it was taken into service by the States General as an official regiment. Of course, many more corps, regiments and independent companies also served, usually for only one or two campaigns (e.g. Mansfeld’s 10,000-strong corps in 1622).
Guards:
(1) 1643 Gleser. The regiment included the formerly independent companies Prince’s Guards, Friesland Guards, Groningen Guards (which had already been deployed together on the battlefield for decades) and Bouman’s flintlock company.
In 1572, the first unit of guards had been paid by the rebels to protect William of Orange; this was the traditional halberdier bodyguard of a stead-holder, drawing on much older origins. That unit was ‘inherited’ by Maurice, then by Frederick Henry, and finally absorbed into this new Guards Regiment.
Gelderland:
(2) 1576 Bossu, 1578 Steinbach, 1579 Hegeman, 1582 Berg, 1584 Turck, 1584 Nieuwenaar, 1589 vacant (in the field, 1589 Arent Brienen, kia Ostend), 1602 Lalaing, 1604 Heeckeren, 1607 Dorth, 1625 Varick, 1628 formed, 1639 Wolter Brienen, 1646 Dohna.
Holland:
(3) North Holland Regiment: 1572 Sonoy, 1578 formed, 1588 vacant, 1590 Dorp (kia Steenwijk), 1592 Duijvenvoorde, 1593 Frederick Henry of Nassau (in the field, Duijvenvoorde, kia Ostend), 1602 split into Zuijlen (and new Hornes), 1608 Dorp, 1628 Rijswijk, 1631 Hanau (kia Maastricht), 1632 Rijswijk again, 1636 Henry of Nassau. It suffered 80 per cent losses at Hardenberg in 1580.
(4) 1580 Thiant (kia Antwerp), 1583 Justinus of Nassau, 1585 Philip of Nassau, 1595 Egmond, 1609 decommissioned.
(5) 1586 Hornes, 1605 (in the field, Swieten), 1613 decommissioned.
(6) 1580 IJsselstijn, 1589 Brederode, 1599 vacant (in the field, Ghistelles, kia Ostend), 1604 vacant, 1623 Brederode.
(7) 1602 Charles, 1625 Hornes, 1625 Grenu, 1629 Solms,1630 formed, 1641 Hornes.
(8) 1632 Pijnsen, 1637 vacant, 1640 Huygens (kia Gennep),1640 Does. First ‘vuurroer’ (flintlock) regiment.
(9) 1632 Rosencrants (kia Venlo), 1635 formed, 1635 Beverweerd.
Zeeland:
(10) 1572 Alexander Haultain, 1586 Sidney, 1587 Solms,1596 Maurice of Nassau, split in three new colonelcies: Piron, Dorp and Noot; 1614 (in the field, Philip Haultain), 1627 William Haultain, 1637 vacant.
Utrecht:
(11) before 1584 Villers, 1586 Nieuwenaar, 1590 Groenevelt,1599 Huchtenbroek (kia Ostend), 1601 Loon (kia Ostend), 1604 Utenhove, 1626 Dieden, 1628 formed, 1641 Brant, 1641 Renesse.
Friesland:
(12) 1577 Rennenberg, 1580 Hohenlohe, 1580 formed (in the field, Rummen), 1584 William Louis of Nassau (in the field, Sedlnitzky, 1591 Hettinga, 1603 Eijsinga), 1620 Ernst Casimir of Nassau (in the field, Eijsinga), 1631 split into Emminga (and new Roussel), 1635 Oenema, 1646 Schwartzenberg. In 1580 Rennenberg had switched sides and handed Groningen over to the royalists.
(13) 1631 Roussel, 1637 Aysma, 1637 Potter, 1637 Aylva.
(14) 1639 Schwartzenberg, 1647 Hettinga.
Overijssel:
(15) 1632 Wijnbergen. Second ‘vuurroer’ (flintlock) regiment.
(16) 1647 Ittersum.
Groningen (aka Stad en Lande):
(17) 1594 William Louis of Nassau, 1620 Maurice of Nassau,1625 Ernst Casimir of Nassau, 1633 Eussum (who had been field commander from the start), 1639 Starkenborch, 1646 Isselmuden.
(18) 1647 Beyma, 1647 Gockinga.
Foreign – English:
(19) 1578 Norris (Noureys), 1587 Willoughby, 1589 Morgan,1590 Francis Vere, 1599 formed, 1605 Cecil, 1632 Packenham, 1635 Culpeper, 1640 Craven.
Between 1573 and 1584 Morgan tried several times to raise his own English regiment for Dutch service, but to no avail. Until 1599 part of the troops were in Dutch pay and part in English pay, but all under English authority. In 1589 those in English pay mutinied and handed over the city of Geertuidenberg to the royalists. In 1598–99 the force was reorganized, all in Dutch pay and solely under Dutch authority.
(20) 1599 Horatio Vere (in the field, 1605 Sutton, 1606 Meetkercken),1633 Goring, 1647 Killegrew.
(21) 1605 Ogle, 1622 Morgan, 1642 Cromwell.
(22) 1616 Sidney, 1623 Harwood (kia Maastricht), 1632 Herbert, 1644 Knightly, 1646 Aubrey Vere.
Scottish:
(23) 1573 Ormiston, 1574 Henry Balfour (who killed Ormiston in a duel), 1580 Preston (killed by his own men), 1583 Renton (Benton?), 1583 Boyd, 1584 Bartholomew Balfour, 1594 Murray (kia Bommel), 1595 formed, 1599 Edmond (kia Rijnberk), 1606 Brogg, 1635 Sandilands, 1639 Erskine.
(24) 1574 William Stewart of Houston, 1577 went to serve in Danzig, 1579 returned, 1583 merged with Preston (see above).
(25) 1604 Walter Scott of Buccleugh, 1612 Robert Henderson (kia Bergen op Zoom), 1622 Francis Henderson, 1628 Halkett (kia ’s Hertogenbosch), 1629 David Balfour, 1639 Douglas, 1639 Kirkpatrick.
(26) 1629 Walter Scott of Buccleugh, 1633 Livingstone,1640 Philip Balfour, 1646 Drummond.
French:
(27) 1599 Noue (taken prisoner), 1600 Henri Coligny (kia Ostend), 1602 split into Leonidas Bethune (and Hallot), 1603 Gaspard Coligny (Marshal of France), 1638 Maurice Coligny, 1644 Gaspard Coligny, 1648 Hautcourt.
(28) 1602 Hallot (kia Muelheim), 1605 Syrius Bethune, 1613 St Simon (kia ’s Hertogenbosch), 1629 Perponcher, 1645 Rechine.
(29) 1615 L’Aubespine.
(30) 1625 Nogaret, 1639 Fleury, 1641 D’Estrades.
(31) 1634 Charnace (kia Breda), 1637 Plessis.
German:
(32) 1599 Ernst Casimir of Nassau, 1625 formed, 1631 Henry Casimir of Nassau, 1641 John Albrecht of Solms, 1646 Henry Trajectinus of Solms.
(33) 1622 William of Nassau, 1642 Puechler.
(34) 1625 Hatzfeldt, 1625 Merwede, 1626 Neuhoff (kia Dessau), 1626 into Danish service; loaned to Mansfeld, destroyed at Dessau 25 April 1626.
Walloons:
(35) 1600 Frederick Henry of Nassau, 1602 Hertaing, 1606 John Ernst of Nassau-Siegen, 1617 Philip Levin Famars, 1627 William Levin Famars (kia ’s Hertogenbosch), 1629 John Maurice of Nassau, 1644 William Frederick of Nassau. As the royalist garrison of a surrendered fort they had chosen to enter Dutch service, led in the field by Hertaing. They were then known for a while as ‘new beggars’, taunting their royalist ex-comrades by still wearing red sashes but over the left (wrong) shoulder.
Others, all decommissioned 1647:
(36) 1629 Thomas Ferentz.
(37) 1629 Loo, 1635 vacant, (in the field, Enno Ferentz),1640 Enno Ferentz.
(38) 1631 Walraven.
(39) 1631 Erentreyter.
(40) 1632 Henry of Berg (23 companies), 1634 formed (12 companies),1641 Frederick of Berg.
To be continued: The forthcoming second volume MAA 513 will cover the cavalry, artillery, and engineers; it will examine how all branches worked together on the field of battle, and will include a chronology of sieges. It will conclude with remarks on the legacy of the army of Maurice of Nassau. The following selected list of source works applies to both volumes.