Army of the Two Sicilies
It was the land armed force of the new independent state created by the settlement of the Bourbon dynasty in southern Italy following the events of the War of the Polish Succession.
The captains, belonging to the best feudal nobility of the Neapolitan and Sicilian provinces, were able to frame and prepare the subjects of the two vice-kingdoms for war, obeying the firm political direction given by the monarchs of Spain.
In the later Bourbon period, however, with the reconquest of independence, the nobility gradually lost this military character, giving way to the new centralizing policy of a dynastic imprint.
The goal of the Bourbons was in fact to replace loyalty to the old noble commanders, who had served the Habsburgs for over 200 years, with an exasperated fidelity to the new national crown.
[3] 1734, the year in which the expeditionary force of Charles of Bourbon conquered the Neapolitan provinces and the following year the Kingdom of Sicily, tearing them from the Austrian viceroyalty, also marked the creation of the first entirely "national" regiments, flanked by the Spanish regiments with which Infante Don Carlo had descended in Italy.
The officers' salaries consisted of a monthly "penny" which included "housing and furniture", and an "supersold" varying according to the weapon or body to which they belonged.
Of course, the officer could also retire early for health reasons: in this case the pension was paid in a reduced form, depending on the length of service.
The economic treatment of the troop, on the other hand, was mainly based on a "daily pay"; varying according to the bodies, and on "monthly checks" for "clothing" and "maintenance": these checks, however, were not paid directly to the military, but only to the Boards of Directors of the regiments to which they belonged, who managed the clothing and maintenance on behalf of each military.
Soldiers employed in armed services received a "mobile column diary", varying according to the rank and use of the department to which they belong.
The military with at least 10 years of service was also entitled to a seniority allowance, which consisted of a gradual increase in the "daily pay" directly proportional to the period spent under arms.
On the basis of the conversion from Two Sicilies ducats into Italian lira of 1862 (1 duchy = 4.25 lire) it is obtained that the "pay" of Bourbon soldiers was in line with that of the Sardinian soldiers, but already the non-commissioned officers of the Royal Army received a much better pay than Sardinian non-commissioned officers (about 20%.
The oldest source able to give us an idea of the first Neapolitan uniforms is the Ordinance of 1744 on the constitution of the 12 provincial regiments: the soldiers of these regiments had to be equipped with a knee-length "jacket", a "jaguar" (waistcoat with sleeves) just short of the javelin, knee-length breeches, gaiters that exceeded knee height (the cavalry was equipped with spur boots), a white shirt and a black tie.
Some details of the uniforms (buttons, lapels, embroidery, buffeterie, type of turban, and colours in general) varied depending on the rank and department (the officers, for example, were traditionally equipped with a goliera on which the Bourbon lilies were imprinted).
[6] The innovations brought by Murat were partly preserved after the Napoleonic Wars, undergoing evolutions dictated mainly by the Germanic fashions of the time.
From 1830, the Bourbon uniform was redesigned on the basis of the French "Luigi Filippo" (Louis Philippe I) style; the son-in-law of the late King Ferdinand.
[9][page needed] Each regiment in accordance with Bourbon regulations consisted of a general staff of 20 officers, a headquarters of 17 soldiers in support of two battalions, each consisting of 24 officers and 684 soldiers divided into 4 fusilier companies and 2 elite companies, 1 of Grenadiers and the other of light infantry.
