2 ^e regiment de cuirassiers

Régiment Cardinal-Duc cavalerie Régiment Royal cavalerie 2 e régiment de cuirassiers
Internal association badge
active	1635 to 1991
Country	France
Armed forces	French armed forces
Armed forces	Armée française de terre
Branch of service	cavalry
Type	Cuirassier Regiment (Panzer Regiment)
Insinuation	1 re division blindée 3 e brigade mécanisée 5 e division blindée
Location	Sankt Wendel , Reutlingen and Tübingen
Patron saint	Saint Georges
motto	Nec pluribus impar
commander
commander	Last: Lieutenant-Colonel Brochet De Vaugrigneuse

The 2 ^e régiment de cuirassiers (short: 2 ^e RC ) was a cavalry association of the French land forces that was part of the arm blindée et cavalerie when it was dissolved . The then "Régiment Cardinal-Duc" as the first unit in the tradition stood at the head of the twelve permanent cavalry regiments that had been set up by decree of May 16, 1635. For this reason it was one of the oldest regiments of armored cavalry at all when it was disbanded .

Lineup and renaming

• May 16, 1635: Establishment of a permanent regiment, Régiment Cardinal-Duc cavalerie
• August 1, 1643: Renamed the Régiment Royal Cavalerie
• December 1, 1761: incorporation of the Régiment de Vogué cavalerie
• January 1, 1791: Renamed to 2 ^e régiment de cavalerie
• September 24, 1803: Conversion to 2 ^e régiment de cuirassiers
• 1814: Renamed the Régiment de cuirassiers du Dauphin
• 1815 ( Reign of the Hundred Days ): renamed the 2 ^e régiment de cuirassiers
• 1815: dissolution
• 1815: Restoration : Cuirassiers du Dauphin (in the course of the second restoration of the Bourbon monarchy)
• 1830: Renamed to: 2 ^e régiment de cuirassiers during the July monarchy .

Mestres de camp / Colonels / Chefs de brigade

Mestre de camp was the rank designation for the regimental owner and / or the actual commander. Should the Mestre de camp be a person of the high nobility who had no interest in leading the regiment (e.g. the king or queen), the command was given to the Mestre de camp lieutenant (or Mestre de camp en second). The name Colonel was used from 1791 to 1793 and from 1803, from 1793 to 1803 the name Chef de brigade was used . From 1791 there were no more regimental owners.

Ancien Régime

• Mestres-de-camp:
  • 1635: Cardinal De Richelieu as regiment owner
  • 1643: Louis XIII. (then always the king) as regiment owner

• Mestres de camp-lieutenant or Mestres de camp en second:

1. May 16, 1635: François de Barthon, vicomte de Montbas
2. January 13, 1654: Jean-François de Trémollet-Buccelli, marquis de Montpezat
3. April 1666: François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld.
4. 1670: du Saillant, comte d'Estaing
5. February 4, 1672: Roger de Guénégaud, marquis de Plancy.
6. April 1674: Chenoise, François-Philippe alias François-Pierre 2 ^e marquis de Castille
7. August 29, 1675: Nicolas Auguste de La Baume, marquis de Montrevel
8. July 22, 1677: Léonor Marie du Maine, comte du Bourg
9. December 1701: Claude Léonor du Maine, comte du Bourg, son of the previous one.
10. December 19, 1706: Maximilien-Henri de Béthune, duc de Sully.
11. 1712: Louis II de Melun, prince d'Épinoy.
12. 1724: Jean Alexandre Théodose comte de Melun, prince d'Épinoy, second cousin of the previous one
13. February 15, 1738: Anne Pierre d'Harcourt, comte de Beuvron.
14. March 6, 1743: Auguste Louis Hennequin marquis d'Ecquevilly
15. February 10, 1759: Armand-Louis marquis de Sérent
16. February 15, 1771: Armand François Hennequin comte d'Ecquevilly
17. March 10, 1788: Ferdinand de Châtillon, marquis de Moyria.
18. September 21, 1788: Henri-Thomas-Charles de Preissac-Fézenzac, duc d'Esclignac.

Revolution and Empire

Colonels and chiefs de brigade

• 1792: Colonel Louis de La Pinserie d'Hauboutet
• 1792: Colonel Edme Henri de Beaujeu
• 1793: Chef de brigade De Marne, Xavier-Frederic
• 1793: Chef de brigade Magron, Jacques
• 1794: Chef de brigade Radal, Jean-Antoine-Étienne
• 1799: Chef de brigade Yvendor, Jean-Frederic
• to VIII: Chef d'Escadron. Alix, Jean-Baptiste
• 1805: Colonel Baron Chouard, Claude-Louis
• 1809: Colonel Fiteau, Edmé Nicolas
• 1811: Colonel Baron Rolland Pierre
• 1813: Colonel Morin, Léonard
• 1814: Colonel Baron de Labiffe, Louis
• 1814: Colonel De Lacroix.
• 1815: Colonel Baron Grandjean, Louis-Stanislas-Francois
• 1815: dissolution.

After 1815

I.	II.	III.
1816: Colonel Marquis De Breuilpont. 1821: Colonel De Salomon de Feldeck, Jean-Baptiste-Étienne-Ignace 1828: Colonel De Niceville, François-Hyppolite-Théophile 1839: Colonel Reibell 1848: Colonel Dard d'Espinay, Corneille-Albert 1851: Colonel d'Oullembourg, Bertrand-Eugène 1854: Colonel Taffin, Victor-Marie-François 1859: Colonel Yvelin de Beville, Charles-Alphonse-Aimé-Alexandre 1864: Colonel Baron Rossetti, Gustave-Victor-Scipion-Marie 1870: Colonel Bore, Verrier. 1871: Colonel Baron Rossetti, Gustave-Victor-Scipion-Marie 1873: Colonel Comte de la Loyere, Alberic-Ferdinand-Marie 1880: Colonel Braun, A	1886: Colonel Verdun 1894: Colonel De Clauzade de Mazieux, Marie-Paul 1899: Colonel Casimir-Bonabes-Marie 1905: Colonel Lamy MJVE 1905: Colonel Chabaud 1913: Colonel du Fretay 1914: Chef d'Escadron, Clolus 1914: Colonel De Mareuil 1915: Colonel De Canchy 1917: Colonel De Francolini 1917: Colonel de Canchy 1918: Colonel De France 1918: Colonel Chassou. 1919: Disbanded July 7, 1939 - May 29, 1940: Colonel Touzet du Vigier 1940: dissolved 1943: Colonel Durosoy, Maurice-Armand 1946: Colonel De Montaudoin 1950: Colonel Ballot	1951: Colonel Oberlaender 1953: Colonel Jobelot 1957: Colonel De Cherge 1959: Colonel Deturbert 1961: Colonel De Favitski 1963: Colonel Boscals De Reals 1965: Colonel Perre 1967: Colonel Pelletier 1969: Colonel Rouger 1971: Colonel De Galbert 1973: Colonel Jutel 1975: Colonel Loubens 1977: Colonel Nouan 1979: Colonel Aurousseau 1981: Colonel Rozier De Linage, Maurice 1983: Colonel Mannin 1985: Colonel Denoncin 1987: Colonel Lenoir 1989: Lieutenant-Colonel Brochet De Vaugrigneuse 1991: dissolved

Garrisons and combat calendar of the 2 ^e RC

• A first permanent garrison took the regiment in April 1817 in Nevers then in Vesoul and in April 1821 in Épinal .
• Lille was garrison from 1871 to 1873, then Commercy , Lunéville , Niort , Versailles and Paris from 1874 to 1876 and from 1892 to 1914. After the armistice of 1918, it moved shortly to Saarlouis , from where it was on 25 November to France returned and was stationed in Héricourt and then in Lyon .
• In 1945 it was in Bellheim ( Belgium ) and then moved to Manderscheid . On October 3, 1945, the regiment left Germany again to initially be stationed in Châtellerault and Angoulême . After returning to Germany, it was relocated to Sankt Wendel and Reutlingen . In 1978 the newly established "Escadron d'éclairage divisionnaire - EED5" (Divisions-Aufklärungsschwadron 5) was assigned, which was stationed in Tübingen .

Ancien Régime

Between 1635 and 1636, at the beginning of the last phase of the Thirty Years' War , the regiment made its first appearance (one of the companies was commanded by Abraham de Fabert , later Maréchal de France ).

The regiment fought with the "Armée de Flandre" (Flanders Army) for 23 years in northern France and the southern Netherlands against Spain without leaving this theater of war - not even during the uprising of the Fronde and the related internal French problems, for example at Caen , Avranches 1639, La Rochelle in 1651 and in the Paris region in 1652.

It distinguished itself in several sieges, so of Corbie , Landrecies , Maubeuge , La Capelle (Aisne) , Aire Saint-Lys and in numerous battles - so under the command of Louis II. De Bourbon-Condé where it was on May 19, 1643 contributed decisively to the victory in the Battle of Rocroi . Then it fought gloriously under Turenne in the Battle of the Dunes , which ended with a decisive French victory, under whose impression peace negotiations were initiated, which ultimately led to the conclusion of the Peace in the Pyrenees .

In 1643 the regiment was given the name "Royal Cavalerie", which it was to carry until the Revolution . It was stationed in Boulonnais , where it participated in the suppression of a peasant uprising in 1662.

• In 1742 it was one of the defenders of the siege of Prague .

It fought in the Seven Years' War with Austria and Russia, against Prussia and the English allied with it.

• 1760: Battle near Korbach

Revolutionary Wars and Wars of the First Empire

• In 1800 the regiment's standard received an initial inscription for participation in the Battle of Marengo
• Until 1805 the regiment took part in the fighting in Germany and Italy.
• 1805
  • Battle of Austerlitz
• 1812
  • Russian campaign
• 1813: Campaign in Germany
  • Battle of the Nations near Leipzig
• 1814
  • Battle of Vauchamps

1815 to 1848

After Napoleon's reign of the Hundred Days and the Battle of Waterloo , the regiment was reduced to about a hundred officers and horsemen. It left Neuilly on July 6, 1815 and marched to Saumur . In August 1815 it was on the banks of the Loire and arrived in Rennes in February 1816 , where it remained for recreation. On July 16, it was given its new name "Régiment du Dauphin".

France had received a mandate from the Holy Alliance in the Verona Congress to support the Spanish King Ferdinand VII . With the French invasion of Spain , the "Cuirassiers du Dauphin" marched out and left on February 8, 1823 Epinal with the aim of Bayonne . They reached Orthez at the end of March and crossed the Bidassoa on April 27th . This was followed by a military walk through Vittoria, Burgos , Valladolid and Madrid to Toledo , which was reached at the end of May. Then it went back via Madrid, Talavera de la Reina and Aranjuez to Bayonne.

Second empire

The regiment was not involved in the great campaigns of the German Empire (Algeria, Crimean War, Italy, Mexico) but was involved in the first combat operations in the Franco-German War . It formed along with the one ^he régiment de cuirassiers a brigade in the "Division de Cuirassiers" of General de Bonnemains.

Cuirassiers in the Franco-German War

It fought gloriously in the Battle of Wörth , where it lost 6 officers and 141 NCOs and horsemen. The commander was taken prisoner. After this battle, Alsace had to be surrendered, the regiment withdrew and passed through Zabern , Sarrebourg and Blamont (Lorraine). The high command now assembled an army to act as relief for the enclosed Metz.

→ Main article : Siege of Metz

This relief army, however, was destroyed in the battle of Sedan . The regiment went into captivity and was disarmed.

1871 to 1914

On March 29, 1871, the regiment in Orange was reorganized and remained without combat activity for more than 40 years, with the exception of 1908, when there was a riot in Vigneux and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges , to which the regiment deployed a detachment .

First World War

→ Main article : French cavalry in World War I

The regiment lay in Paris in a peace garrison and was part of the 2 ^e brigade de cuirassiers (2nd cuirassier brigade) in the "1 ^er division de cavalerie" (1st cavalry division). It remained in this association until the end of the war and was permanently mounted until then.

• from July 31 to August 3, 1914, the regiment was retained in Paris to maintain order.

Battle of Charleroi: After a short refresher, the cavalry was deployed here on the morning of September 7th on the Ourcq , where it earned the second inscription on the standard with "Ourcq". The cavalry began to pursue the retreating Germans, as far as the condition of the horses allowed.

Paris, August 1914.

Released from this on October 31, the cavalry corps was immediately thrown into the First Battle of Flanders . On November 1, 1914, the "one moved ^he division de cavalerie" against the Kemmelberg before to support the English, who were here in trouble. From November 2nd to 4th it was used at Werlverghen on the "Höllenkuppe" (croupe de l'enfer). After that the regiment was withdrawn and the horses were kept available. In February 1915 it was relocated to the Vitry-le-François region and in April to Verdun . During the Allied offensive in May / June 1915 it was used as a reserve by the II Army northeast of Amiens . It was also parked in Artois during the Champagne offensive in September / October 1915 for the disposition of the X Army. From July to September it took part in the summer battle . At the beginning of March 1917 it was at Hamel and Contoire when the Germans withdrew to the Siegfried position . On March 31, the second battle in Picardy, also known as the Battle of the Avre, ended in which the Germans were prevented from advancing further on Amiens. The heroic behavior of the 2 ^e Cuirassiers brought them a sixth name on the standard, "L'Avre". In the Second Battle of the Marne , the regiment was again able to distinguish itself and was praised in the army order (Citation à l'ordre de l'Armée)

Interwar period

On August 15, 1919, the regiment was disbanded as part of the downsizing of the army. The remaining staff was handed over to the 12th ^e régiment de cuirassiers .

Second World War

After the outbreak of war, the regiment was re-established under the command of Colonel du Vigier and, together with the 1 ^er cuirassiers, formed the "5 ^e brigade de combat" (5th combat brigade), which at the same time as the "3 ^e division légère mécanique". 3rd Light Mechanized Division) was established. The regiment was equipped with Somua S-35 and Hotchkiss H-35 tanks .

1940 followed the campaign to Belgium, participation in the battle of Hannut and further fighting in France. On August 1st the "2 ^e cuirassiers" was dissolved. The unit received an honorable mention in the army report for the fighting in Belgium.

On September 16, 1943, the regiment was re-established in Mercier-Lacombe near Oran by delivering half of the 2 ^e régiment de chasseurs d'Afrique . Assigned to the Armored Division of Général Jean Touzet du Vigier, (the former regimental commander at the beginning of the war), it formed Combat Command 1 with the 3 ^e régiment de zouaves and the 1st battery of the "68 ^e régiment d'artillerie" (Combat Command 1 ). On August 10, 19144, the regiment, consisting of a company of light tanks and three companies of M4 Sherman , embarked in Oran and entered French soil on August 16 at Nartelle in the Bay of Saint-Tropez . It belonged to the associations of the 6th US Corps.

On August 20th it was again subordinated to the "1 ^re division blindée". On August 23, the cuirassiers entered Marseille with the 2nd Escadron at their head . On August 31, the regiment crossed with parts in Vallabrègues and Avignon , the Rhone and rejoined in Bagnols-sur-Cèze . The further route led through Viviers , La Voulte , Tournon , Annonay and Saint-Étienne . On September 3, the unit participated in the liberation of Lyon . This was followed by the capture of Chalon-sur-Saône , Dijon and Is-sur-Tille on September 11th and Langres on September 13th, for which there was heavy fighting. On the same day in the northeast near Chaumont the meeting with the "2 ^e division blindée" took place, which then moved into Paris . The associations of the "1 ^re division blindée" turned east towards Colmar and penetrated into Alsace. The Swiss border was reached on November 20 and Altkirch and d ' Illfurth were taken on November 21 . After that it was involved in the capture of Mulhouse . The conquest of the Colmar basin followed. From January 20 to February 9, fighting for Illzach , Kingersheim and Richwiller , with the "2 ^e cuirassiers " supporting the "9 ^e division d'infanterie coloniale". After the Rhine was reached at Chalampé on February 6, the regiment returned to Mulhouse, where it remained until April 14, 1945. On April 16, there was a last attack, which led to Strasbourg. Then the regiment crossed the Rhine at Rastatt . It then moved on towards the Danube , taking in the towns of Messkirch , Krauchenwies , Mengen and Sigmaringen . On April 23, the "2 ^e cuirassiers" penetrated Ulm and turned south from here towards Austria, reaching Immenstadt on April 30. On May 3rd it turned around and moved towards Strasbourg, crossed the Rhine in Kehl on May 9th and moved into its first peace garrison in Rheinzabern . On June 18, 1945, the regiment's standard received the inscriptions “Marseille” and “Ulm”.

With army orders of October 1, 1945, the regiment was granted the right to wear the Fourragère in the colors of the Croix de guerre 1914–1918 with the olive for the Croix de guerre 1939–1945.

1945 to 1991

During its stationing in Baden-Württemberg, the regiment first changed from the "1 ^re division blindée" (1st armored division) to the "3 ^e division blindée". With the reorganization of the French armed forces in Germany in 1978, the regiment then came to the "5 ^e division blindée" (5th Armored Division).

Initially equipped with the M4 Sherman tank , the cuirassiers were converted to the Patton M47 in 1952/53 . Between 1960 and 1969 the 4th Escadron drove the AMX-13 tank destroyer, which was equipped with the SS.11 anti-tank guided missile and which was added to the "Center d'Entretien des Tireurs de Missiles des FFA " to support it . The regiment was garrisoned in Reutlingen, together with the "73 ^e régiment d'artillerie blindé" (73rd tank artillery regiment ). Together with the 12 ^e régiment de cuirassiers and the 24 ^e groupe de chasseurs portés (24th reinforced hunter group - formerly the 24e bataillon de chasseurs à pied), both stationed in Tübingen, they formed the "5 ^e brigade blindée" (staff in Tübingen ), which in turn belonged to the "3 ^e division blindée" with staff in Freiburg. In 1969 the regimental structure was changed, it was now planned to be fully equipped with the AMX-30 B battle tank : 4 escadrons of 13 tanks, an Escadron porté and an Escadron des Commandements et Services (staff and supply squadron). The AMX30B were supplied in the spring of 1971. With the reorganization of the army in 1984, the regiment lost the 4th Escadron and the Escadron porté, the remaining three combat companies now had 17 tanks each. For the 350th anniversary of the “Royal Cavalerie”, it was converted to the AMX 30B2 main battle tank. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 led to a reorganization of the French armed forces in Germany. In 1991 the regiment was one of the first to be disbanded. The standard and regimental insignia were brought to the cavalry museum in Saumur.

Standard

The outstanding battles and campaigns in which the regiment took part are listed in gold letters on the standard :

• Marengo 1800
• Austerlitz 1805
• La Moskova 1812
• Vauchamps 1814
• L'Ourcq 1914
• L'Avre 1918
• Marseille 1944
• Ulm 1945

The ribbon (cravate) of the standard is decorated with the croix de guerre 1914–1918 with a palm branch - and with the croix de guerre 1939–1945 with a palm branch.

Motto

Nec pluribus impar
"Not even inferior to several"

Uniforms of the Ancien Régime

• 

  Uniform 1740–1757

• 

  Uniform 1757–1762

• 

  Uniform 1762–1767

• 

  Uniform 1767–1776

• 

  Uniform 1776–1779

• 

  Uniform 1779–1786

• 

  Uniform 1786–1791

• 

  Uniform 1791

Standards of the Ancien Régime

• 

  Regiment de Royal Cavalerie

• 

  Standard during the Seven Years War (front)

• 

  Standard during the Seven Years War (back)

Uniforms and armaments

When they were set up, the riders wore light gray uniforms with red trimmings. In addition, a black tricorn with a silver braid and a cuirass, which was later replaced by a breastplate under the uniform skirt. The armament consisted of a saber , a musket and a pair of pistols attached to the saddle .

1725

The cuirassiers were now given a blue uniform, as is customary for the royal regiments. The badge color was red, pants and waistcoat were white with a three-cornered hat as before, but the hat received an iron calotte to catch saber blows. The breastplate was only worn on parades and in the field. (However, details changed several times until the revolution.)

1779

From 1779 the uniforms were cut more tightly (l'habit à la française) and the regiment received the badge color bright orange. The trousers were a pale yellow-brown, the buttons were white metal. The officers wore no badges of rank until 1763 , after which the Mestre de camp received two epaulettes, the "Lieutenants" ( lieutenants ) and "Sous-lieutenants" (sub-lieutenants) wore an epaulette on their left shoulder. They were made of spun silver and mixed with red silk. The trumpeters wore a royal livery (richly decorated)

Cuirassier around 1805

After 1791

With the decree of 1791 and during the time of the revolution, nothing serious changed in the uniform apart from small things (the badge color was now red again). Only after the renaming to "Régiment de curassiers" did the riders receive a short blue jacket and were again equipped with chest and back armor. Short scarlet fur in the shape of a vest was put on under the armor. The hat was replaced by the characteristic helmet with the horse's tail.

In 1805 the helmet was additionally decorated with a feather trim, and red epaulettes were put on by the teams and NCOs . The red cuffs were decorated with blue garnets, the symbol of the elite associations.

The regiment wore this uniform almost unchanged until the outbreak of war in 1914 and for some time afterwards.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Order of December 1, 1761, État militaire de France pour l'année 1762 , p. 380
2. ↑ So the actual commanders
3. ↑ Regimental commanders and regiment owners did not exist at this time
4. ↑ Le 2e cuirassiers en Belgique
5. ↑ n ° 12350 / SGA / DPMA / SHD / DAT du 14 septembre 2007 relative aux inscriptions de noms de batailles sur les drapeaux et étendards des corps de troupe de l'armée de terre, du service de santé des armées et du service des essences des armées, Bulletin officiel des armées, numéro 27, 9 novembre 2007 Arrêté relatif à l'attribution de l'inscription AFN 1952-1962 sur les drapeaux et étendards des formations des armées et services, du 19 novembre 2004 (A) NORDEF0452926A Michèle Alliot -Marie (regulation no. 12350 / SGA / DPMA / SHD / DAT of September 14, 2007 regulates the inscriptions on the standards of the troops of the army, the medical service and the fuel supply service (Service des essences des armées). The basis is the “Bulletin officiel des armées », numéro 27, 9 November 2007)

Web links

• www.2emecuirassiers.com
• Histoire de la Cavalerie française (1874)
• French Cuirassier Regiments and the Colonels who Led Them: 1792 to 1815
• www.ordredelaliberation.fr

literature

• Cinquième abrégé de la carte générale du militaire de France, sur terre et sur mer - Depuis novembre 1737, jusqu'en décembre 1738 . Lemau de la Jaisse, Paris 1739
• Montandre-Longchamps, chevalier de Montandre and de Roussel: État militaire de France pour l'année 1762 . 5th edition. Guyllin, Paris 1762.
• Chronique historique-militaire , Pinard, tomes 2, 4, 5 et 7, Paris 1760, 1761, 1762 et 1764
• Louis Susane: Histoire de la cavalerie française. Royal Cavalry Regiment . Hetzel, Paris 1874.
• Brochure de Musée des Blindés ou Association des Amis du Musée des Blindés 1043, route de Fontevraud, 49400 Saumur.
• Serge Andolenko : Recueil d'historique de l'arme blindée et de la cavalerie. Eurimprin, Paris 1968.