This regiment came to my attention entirely by chance. In fact, it does not appear at all in the order of battle in my possession, nor in the lists of regiments that took part in the Battle of Turin and, above all, in the siege of Turin in 1706. How, then, did I manage to identify it?
The answer lies in the fact that I am currently trying to reconstruct the uniforms of all the French regiments stationed in the salient between the Dora and the Po: precisely those units that were directly involved in the siege operations, but did not take a direct part in the Battle of Turin itself. In the list of regiments deployed on that front, while a was making my researches, I found that this Regiment partecipated to the Battle of Turin. I began then by checking the Bourbon Regiment and immediately found, in every source, that it had taken part in the siege of Turin.
On 30 December 1698, the regiment incorporated the disbanded La Mothe Infanterie, which had originally been raised in 1695. At the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession, it consisted of a single battalion, but on 1 February 1701 it was expanded to two.
The regiment had been commanded since 4 November 1690 by Guillaume-Alexandre, Marquis de Vieuxpont. On 26 October 1704, the colonelcy passed to N., Comte de Vieuxpont, and in 1705 to Guy-Claude Roland, Comte de Montmorency-Laval, who retained command until 6 March 1719.
In 1701, the first battalion campaigned in Flanders, brigaded with Picardie Infanterie. By July it had joined Rosen’s army, and in October it was encamped at Argenteau before taking up winter quarters at Liège. At the beginning of 1702 it was still attached to the Army of Flanders, but at the end of April it was transferred to the Army of the Rhine under Maréchal de Catinat. By June, it was deployed in the second line of the infantry centre as part of De Vieux-Pont’s Brigade.
The second battalion, meanwhile, formed part of the garrison of Landau. From June to September 1702, it participated in the defence of the fortress. When Landau finally surrendered on 10 September, the garrison was permitted to march out with the honours of war, colours flying and drums beating. Two days later, the fortress was formally handed over to the Margrave of Baden, while the French garrison was escorted towards Billigheim and Weissenburg.
In 1703, the first battalion served under Maréchal de Villars. It took part in the Siege of Kehl during February and March, then accompanied Villars into Bavaria, participating in the combats of Hornberg and Munderkirchen. On 20 September, it fought at the Battle of Höchstädt and afterwards occupied Ulm and Augsburg.
On 13 August 1704, while serving under Marsin, the first battalion fought at the Battle of Blenheim. During the action, Grenadier Captain de Ricousse was struck by a musket ball that passed through his body. After the collapse of the Franco-Bavarian army, the battalion withdrew to Alsace and undertook garrison duties at Schlestadt and later at Kehl, where it was rejoined by the second battalion.
On 3 July 1705, the reunited regiment took part in the attack on the Lines of Weissembourg. It was then sent towards Dauphiné and later contributed to the capture of Soncino and Montmélian. In December, it played an active role in the Siege of Nice. During the siege, the Colonel-Lieutenant, Comte de Montmorency-Laval, was severely wounded by a cannonball that passed between his body and one of his arms. He survived the injury and would eventually be promoted to Maréchal de France in 1747.
After Nice capitulated on 4 January 1706, the regiment marched into Piedmont. On 7 September, it fought at the Battle of Turin, which ended in a disastrous defeat for the Franco-Spanish army. Following the battle, the regiment withdrew to France.
In 1707, it helped relieve Toulon before being transferred once again to the Army of the Rhine. In July 1708, after the defeat at Oudenarde, the regiment was sent from Germany to reinforce the Army of Flanders. During the Siege of Lille, from August to December, it formed part of the troops assembled at the camp of Meldert under the Marquis d’Hautefort.
In 1709, the regiment took part in the defence of Tournai, where it stubbornly held the hornwork of Sept-Fontaines for eighteen days. On 18 July, its major was killed by shell splinters, while another fragment crushed the left hand of the colonel. Later that year, on 11 September, the regiment fought in the bloody Battle of Malplaquet, during which Captain de La Brunie was wounded.
The regiment remained in Flanders in 1710. In 1711, it distinguished itself in the attack on Fort Arleux, where it captured a considerable number of prisoners, before taking up garrison duty at Valenciennes.
On 10 July 1712, the regiment made a sortie from Valenciennes against an Allied foraging force that had occupied the village of Beuvrage. Around 3,000 Allied soldiers had entrenched themselves in the gardens and cemetery, but they were driven out and 250 prisoners were taken. After the French victory at Denain, the regiment participated in the Siege of Marchiennes, the Siege of Douai, where it stormed the gorge of a demi-lune, and the siege and capture of Le Quesnoy, where it later remained in garrison.
In 1713, the regiment was transferred to the Army of the Rhine. It took part in the submission of Speyer, Worms and Kaiserslautern, and later served at the Siege of Landau, where it stormed the position known as the “Pâté” and captured the counterguard protecting one of the bastions. On 20 September, it participated in the victory over General Vaubonne before taking part in the Siege of Freiburg.
 |
| Drapeau d'Ordonnance |
No comments:
Post a Comment