ABSTRACT
Foreign service or active service overseas was a major concern for the Restoration Army, implying the hire of British forces by foreign states. When such troops left the British Isles they ceased to be part of the British army, but came under the armies of the hiring powers for their pay, food, clothing and equipment. Within this general principle there were differences of detail. The corps which served in Portugal and the United Provinces, the ‘Anglo-Dutch Brigade’, were composed of new soldiers specially raised for those theatres, whereas the brigade which fought for Louis XIV during the Third Anglo-Dutch War was a semi-official expedition drawn from the British standing army. Other than these special forces there were a number of individual regiments permanently fighting for foreign governments: the Irish ‘Wild Geese’ fought for Spain, as did a Scottish regiment under Colonel Gage; Lord George Douglas's was a part of the French army, and after 1678 Thomas Dongan and then Justin Macartie commanded a large Irish regiment in France forming the foundation of the later Irish Brigade.
