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LEGION (Lat. legio)

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 378 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LEGION (See also:Lat. legio) , in See also:early See also:Rome, the See also:levy of citizens marching out en masse to See also:war, like the See also:citizen-See also:army of any other See also:primitive See also:state. As Rome came to need more than one army at once and warfare See also:grew more complex, legio came to denote a unit of 4000-6000 heavy See also:infantry (including, however, at first some See also:light infantry and at various times a handful of See also:cavalry) who were by See also:political status See also:Roman citizens and were distinct from the " See also:allies," auxilia, and other troops of the second class. The legionaries were regarded as the best and most characteristic Roman soldiers, the most trustworthy and truly Roman; they enjoyed better pay and conditions of service than the " auxiliaries." In A.D. 14 (See also:death of See also:Augustus) there were 25 such legions: later, the number was slightly increased; finally about A.D. 290 See also:Diocletian reduced the See also:size and greatly increased the number of the legions. Throughout, the dominant features of the legions were heavy infantry and Roman citizenship. They lost their importance when the See also:Barbarian invasions altered the See also:character of See also:ancient warfare and made cavalry a more important See also:arm than infantry, in the See also:late 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. In the See also:middle ages the word " legion " seems not to have been used as a technical See also:term. In See also:modern times it has been employed for organizations of an unusual or exceptional character, such as a See also:corps of See also:foreign See also:volunteers or mercenaries. See further ROMAN ARMY. (F. J.

H.) The term legion has been used to designate regiments or corps of all arms in modern times, perhaps the earliest example of this being the Provincial Legions formed in See also:

France by See also:Francis I. (see INFANTRY). See also:Napoleon, in accordance with this precedent, employed the word to designate the second-See also:line formations which he maintained in France and which supplied the Grande Armee with drafts. The term " Foreign Legion " is often used for irregular volunteer corps of foreign sympathizers raised by states at war, often by smaller states fighting for See also:independence. Unlike most foreign legions the " See also:British Legion " which, raised in See also:Great See also:Britain and commanded by See also:Sir de See also:Lacy See also:Evans (q.v.), fought in the Carlist See also:wars, was a regularly enlisted and paid force. The term " foreign legion ' is colloquially but incorrectly applied to-See also:day to the Regiments (drangers in the See also:French service, which are composed of adventurous See also:spirits of all nationalities and have been employed in many arduous colonial See also:campaigns. The most famous of the corps that have See also:borne the name of legion in modern times was the See also:King's See also:German Legion (see Beamish's See also:history of the corps). The electorate of See also:Hanover being in 18o5 threatened by the French, and no effective resistance being considered possible, the British See also:government wished to take the greater See also:part of the Hanoverian army into its service. But the See also:acceptance by the Hanoverian government of this offer was delayed until too late, and it was only after the French had entered the See also:country and the army as a unit had been disbanded that the formation of the " King's German See also:Regiment," as it was at first called, was begun in See also:England. This enlisted not only ex-Hanoverian soldiers, but other Germans as well, as individuals. Lieut.-See also:Colonel von der Decken and See also:Major See also:Colin See also:Halkett were the See also:officers entrusted with the formation of the new corps, which in See also:January 1805 had become a corps of all arms with the See also:title of King's German Legion. It then consisted of a See also:dragoon and a See also:hussar regiment, five batteries, two light and four line battalions and an engineer See also:section, all these being afterwards increased.

Its services included the abortive German expedition of See also:

November 1805, the expedition to See also:Copenhagen in 1807, the See also:minor sieges and combats in See also:Sicily 1808-14, the Walcheren expedition of 18o9, the expedition to See also:Sweden under Sir See also:John See also:Moore in 1808, and the See also:campaign of 1813 in See also:north See also:Germany. But its title to fame is its part in the See also:Peninsular War, in which from first to last it was an acknowledged corps d'elite—its cavalry especially, whose services both on See also:reconnaissance and in See also:battle were of the highest value. The exploit of the two dragoon regiments of the Legion at See also:Garcia Hernandez after the battle of See also:Salamanca, where they charged and See also:broke up two French infantry squares and captured some 1400 prisoners, is one of the most notable incidents in the history of the cavalry arm (see Sir E. See also:Wood's Achievements of Cavalry). A See also:general officer of the Legion, See also:Charles See also:Alten (q.v.), commanded the British Light See also:Division in the latter part of the war. It should be said that the Legion was rarely engaged as a unit. It was considered rather as a small army of the British type, most of which served abroad by regiments and battalions while a small portion and See also:depot See also:units were at See also:home, the See also:total See also:numbers underarms being about 25,000. In 1815 the See also:period of service of the corps had almost expired when Napoleon returned from See also:Elba, but its members voluntarily offered to prolong their service. It lost heavily at See also:Waterloo, in which See also:Baring's See also:battalion of the light infantry distinguished itself by its gallant See also:defence of La Haye Sainte. The strength of the Legion at the See also:time of its disbandment was ltoo officers and 23,500 men. A See also:short-lived " King's German Legion " was raised by the British government for service in the See also:Crimean War. Certain Hanoverian regiments of the German army to-day represent the units of the Legion and carry Peninsular battle-honours on their See also:standards and See also:colours.

End of Article: LEGION (Lat. legio)

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