Career
He entered the service of the king of France in the Royal Swedish Regiment (Royal Suédois) in 1761, and in 1769 was transferred to Lord Clare"s Regiment of the Irish Brigade (French) and served in Europe and Mauritius until 1778. Then he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel and transferred back to the Royal Swedish Regiment, with which he saw action at the siege of Portuguese Mahon and at the Great Siege of Gibraltar. "At Gibraltar he was on board one of the famous floating batteries and was severely wounded." He was later appointed Colonel Commander of the Salm-Salm Regiment, and was created a Chevalier of the Order of Saint Louis.
He also was appointed to a military committee charged with revising French infantry tactics.
Daniel Charles O"Connell was created Count O"Connell by Louis XVI in 1785. He became an officer in the French king"s Irish Brigade.
O"Connell left France for England after the French Revolution. The laws against Catholics were weakening, and in 1794, at the instigation of British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, he now joined the British army and raised the Fourth Brigade of the Irish Brigade of the British army, which he commanded until the corps was disbanded.
