On August 12, 1744, during the War of the Austrian Succession between Austria and the Kingdom of Naples, the Irish Brigade of Spain fights at the Battle of Velletri, in Italy, against an Austrian army commanded by Irishman Field Marshal Count Maximillian Ulysses Browne, of Limerick.

On June 17, as darkness falls, 12,000 troops move toward the fortifications of Monte Piccolo. At dawn the Walloon grenadiers of the Spanish regiments occupy the battery of Monte Piccolo, while other troops occupy the Artemisio Male, La Fajola and set fire to the Pratoni del Vivaro, the commander of the Monte Piccolo garrison, Jan. Pestaluzzi, is captured, probably drunk in a farmhouse of winemakers. The next day, Jean Thierry du Mont, comte de Gages, gives the order to withdraw and preserve only the Artemisio ridge line.

The surprise nighttime attack of Browne’s Austrians on Velletri on August 12 overruns the advanced Irish picquets commanded by Lt. Burke, who is killed, and capture much of King Charles III of Spain‘s royal entourage. But Burke’s men rally to make a fighting retreat, joined by members of the relief guard commanded by Capt. Slattery. The delaying tactics of the picquets allow the rest of the Brigade, along with a regiment of Walloons, to form a line to meet the Austrians. Still, the Irish are heavily outnumbered and suffer tremendous casualties as the Austrians push them. At Velletri’s gates they make a stand. Col. MacDonald of the Hibernia regiment and over 40 other Irish officers are killed, along with several hundred of the red-coated Irish soldiers. But they exhaust the Austrians, as well. With the rest of the Spanish army now rallied behind them, the remaining Irish and Walloons lead a bayonet charge that drives the Austrians from the field. So impressively did the Irish fight, the King of Spain awards each regiment a motto for their flags: “In Omneim Terram ex hivit sonos corum” (Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth). And to each regiment he also grants a sobriquet: To Irlanda, “El Famoso“; to Ultonia, “El Immortal“; and to Hibernia, “La Culumna Irlanda” (“The pillar of Ireland”).

Raimondo di Sangro takes part in the Battle of Velletri, distinguishing himself for his courage and skill. Act 3 of the drama Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino by Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas, and the opera La forza del destino by Giuseppe Verdi, based on Saavedra’s play, is set during the Battle of Velletri.

(Pictured: Charles VII of Naples at the Battle of Velletri by Camillo Guerra, oil on canvas, 1850)