List of military legions

This list of military legions is in chronological order where possible. In modern times, most units using the name "legion" were composed of soldiers from a specific ethnic, national, religious or ideological background, and that background is often specified in the legion's name.

Military organization
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Typical units Typical numbers Typical commander
fireteam 2–4 lance corporal /
corporal
squad /
section		 5–14 corporal /
sergeant /
staff sergeant
platoon /
troop		 15–45 second lieutenant /
first lieutenant /
lieutenant
company /
battery /
squadron		 80–150 first lieutenant /
captain /
major
battalion /
cohort		 300–800 lieutenant colonel /
major
regiment /
brigade /
legion		 1,000–5,500 colonel /
brigadier general
division 10,000–25,000 major general
corps 30,000–50,000 lieutenant general
field army 100,000–300,000 colonel general /
general
army group /
front		 2+ field armies field marshal /
general /
admiral
region /
theater		 4+ army groups marshal of the air force /
general of the army /
admiral of the fleet

Ancient Rome

18th century
  • Western Legion and Eastern Legion, Greek rebel forces under Russian command in the Orlov Revolt (1770)
  • Lee's Legion (1776–83), an infantry and cavalry unit of the American Continental Army
  • Armand's Legion (1778-83), an American dragoon unit
  • British Legion (American Revolution) (1778–83), made up of Loyalist American infantry and cavalry
  • Lauzun's Legion (1778–82), composite corps of the French Army comprising cavalry, infantry and artillery elements, mostly recruited from foreign mercenaries
  • Pulaski's Legion (1778-80), one of the few cavalry regiments in the American Continental Army, later merged into Armand's Legion
  • Legion of the United States (1792–96), an early United States land force commanded by Anthony Wayne
  • French Revolutionary Legion of the Mississippi, a French commissioned force of Americans commanded by George Rogers Clark

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

19th century

20th century

World War I
  • Czechoslovak Legions, Czech and Slovak volunteer forces fighting on the Triple Entente side
  • French Armenian Legion, part of the French Army; also involved in the Franco-Turkish War of 1918–21
  • Georgian Legion (1914–1918), a unit of the German Army recruited from Georgians
  • Infantry Regiment of the Academic Legion, formed by volunteer Polish students in 1918, later taken into the regular Polish Army
  • Italian Legione Redenta, an Italian military formation that participated in the Siberian Intervention during the Russian Civil War
  • Jewish Legion, in the British Army at Gallipoli and Palestine
  • Polish Legion in Finland, fighting for the Finns against the Russians
  • Polish Legions in World War I, part of the Austro-Hungarian Army
  • Puławy Legion, a Polish formation that was part of the Imperial Russian Army
  • Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, a corps of the Austro-Hungarian Army

Interwar period

World War II
  • Armenian or Armenische Legion, name given to the 812th Armenian Battalion of the German Army, made up largely of Armenian Red Army prisoners of war
  • Azərbaycan legionu (Azerbaijan legion), made up largely of Azerbaijani Red Army prisoners of war
  • Blue Legion, Spanish volunteers fighting against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front
  • Condor Legion, a unit of "volunteers" from the German Luftwaffe serving with the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War
  • Crna Legija (Black Legion), the name given to the 1st and 5th Croatian Ustaše Brigades
  • Croatian Legion
  • Croatian Air Force Legion
  • Croatian Naval Legion
  • Czechoslovak Legion in Poland, 1939
  • Estonian Legion, a unit in the Waffen SS created in 1942, mainly consisting of Estonian soldiers
  • Flemish Legion (Dutch: Vlaams Legioen), recruited among Dutch-speaking volunteers from German-occupied Belgium, notably from Flanders.
  • Légion française des combattants (French Legion of Fighters), a pro-Nazi Vichy French unit
  • Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism (LVF), pro-Nazi French
  • Georgian Legion (1941–1945), a unit of the German army recruited from Georgians
  • Indische Legion, also known as the Free India Legion or Tiger Legion, an Indian unit raised in 1941 and attached to the German Army
  • Latvian Legion, a formation of the Waffen-SS created in 1943 and consisting primarily of ethnic Latvians
  • Legion of St. George, the original name of the British Free Corps
  • Ostlegionen (literally "Eastern Legions"), conscripts and volunteers from the occupied eastern territories recruited into the German Army
  • La Légion Tricolore, a pro-Nazi French unit which was absorbed into the LVF after six months
  • Volga Tatar Legion, one of several units formed by the Wehrmacht out of Soviet prisoners of war according to their ethnicity
  • Walloon Legion (French: Légion Wallonie), recruited among French-speaking volunteers from German-occupied Belgium.

Other
  • Arab Legion (al-Jaysh al-Arabī) (1920–56), the regular army of Transjordan, predecessor of the present Jordanian Army
  • Foreign legion (disambiguation)
    • French Foreign Legion, a unit of the French Army mainly composed of foreigners wishing to fight for France (1831-present)
  • Polish Legions (disambiguation), eleven units at different times between the 18th and 20th centuries (some of which are listed separately above)
  • Spanish Legion, an elite unit of the Spanish Army (1920–present)

See also
  • National Legion, a far right Belgian paramilary and political movement in the 1920s and 1930s, headed by Paul Hoornaert
  • Légion Belge, a far right but anti-Nazi World War II Belgian Resistance movement
  • White Legion, a Georgian guerrilla group in Abkhazia after the Georgian regular army's defeat in the War in Abkhazia
  • Caribbean Legion, active in Central American politics of the 1950s

References
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