4 e régiment de cuirassiers

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Régiment la Reine-Mère Cavalerie
Régiment la Reine cavalerie
4 e régiment de cuirassiers

Insigne régimentaire du 4e régiment de cuirassiers.jpg

Regimental badge of the 4 e régiment de cuirassiers with the insignia of Queen Marie Antoinette
active 1643 to 1997
Country Armoiries république française.svg France
Armed forces Flag of France.svg French armed forces
Armed forces Flag of France.svg Armée française de terre
Branch of service Armored force
Type Cuirassier Regiment
Insinuation 1st division blindée (1st Panzer Division)
Location Bitche
Patron saint Saint-Maurice d'Agaune
motto In gemino certamine
commander
commander Last: Lieutenant-Colonel Trinquand
Trumpeter of the 1803 regiment

The Régiment la Reine-Mère Cavalerie - most recently "4 e régiment de cuirassiers" (4th cuirassier regiment) was a cavalry unit of the Ancien Régime and a tank regiment of the armies blindée et cavalerie in the 1st re division blindée (1st armored division) of the French army . According to old French military records, it is said to have been set up as Mestre de camp as early as 1635 with the Marquis de Nantouillet . However, in the existing lists of regiments neither for 1635 nor 1638 the name “La Reine” or “Nantouillet” can be found.

After the death of Louis XIII. His wife, Anne d'Autriche took over the reign of France and the ownership of this, her new body regiment. It was put into service on July 4, 1643 with the designation "La Reine-Mère régiment" to twelve companies. In addition to the staff under Mestre de camp-lieutenant Maugiron, the following companies existed:

Fruges
Saillant,
Bailleul
Saint-Hérem
Vic
Lénoncourt
Vaucellas
Baradat
Maugiron fils
Saint-Martin,
Polignac
Boury.

It was assigned the regimental ranking number "13". With the reform of 1761/62 several noble regiments were given the title "Royal", so that the regiment "la Reine" was placed in 18th place. On January 1, 1791, the ranking of the regiments was redefined again, the regiment now received the ranking number 4.

In 1762 the personnel of the disbanded cavalry regiment "de Sainte-Aldégonde" was incorporated.

List and renaming in chronological order

  • 1643: established as "Régiment la Reine-Mère"
  • 1666: Renamed "Régiment la Reine"
  • 1791: Renamed "4 e régiment de cavalerie"
  • 1803: Renamed to "4 e régiment de cuirassiers"
  • 1814: Renamed "Cuirassiers d'Angoulême"
  • 1815: Renamed "4 e régiment de cuirassiers"
  • 1816: Renamed "Cuirassiers de Berry"
  • 1830: Renamed to "4 e régiment de cuirassiers"
  • 1916: Converted to "4 e régiment de cuirassiers à pied" (cavalry rifle regiment with delivery of horses)
  • 1919: Converted to "4 e régiment de cuirassiers"
  • 1927: Disbanded
  • January 1933: Re-established as "4e Groupe d'Auto-Mitrailleuses" (4 e GAM)
  • July 1936: Converted to "4 e régiment de cuirassiers"
  • 1940: dissolved
  • 1944: The Marne Security Battalion of the ( FFI ) took over the tradition of the "4 e cuirassiers" when Reims was liberated
  • 1944: re-establishment as "4 e régiment de cuirassiers" in the "3 e division blindée" (3rd Panzer Division)
  • 1964: Disbanded
  • 1964: re-establishment of the "4 e régiment de cuirassiers"
  • June 1997: Disbanded

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.

Mestre de camp lieutenant

Claude, Comte de Maurigon - July 4, 1643
Pierre, Chevalier de Baradat - October 18, 1651
Comte de Roussillon - November 10, 1652
Marquis de Nantouillet - 1656
Marquis de Villers - January 20, 1666
Comte de Rochebonne - 1676
Jean-Baptiste-Gaston, Marquis de Choiseul-Praslin - June 14, 1688
François du Rozel de Cagny, commandeur du Rozel - August 29, 1693
de Poujols, Comte de Trézan - November 1, 1693
Marquis de Baschi 1706
François de Baschi de Sausan, Marquis du Cayla - September 22, 1706 (brother of the previous one)
Louis-Charles-Antoine, Marquis de Beauvau - February 20, 1734
Philippe-Christophe Amateur, Comte de Galiffet - March 6, 1743
Louis-Aubert, Marquis de Tourny - February 10, 1759
Jean-Baptiste-Guillaume-Nicolas, Chevalier du Barry - March 13, 1771
Jacques-Henri-Salomon-Joseph, Comte de Roucy - June 17, 1776
François-René Hervé de Carbonnel, Viscount de Canisy - September 21, 1788
Charles-Ignace, Chevalier de Raincourt March 5, 1792
Pierre de Roux - April 13, 1792
François-Louis de La Goublaye - November 4, 1792

Chef de brigade

Joseph d'Alban - February 9, 1794
Dominique Martin la Meuse - July 5, 1794
Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Laplanche - October 2, 1794

Colonel

Fulgent Herbaut - August 31, 1803
Prince Aldobrandini Borghèse - June 25, 1808
Michel Menou baron Dujon - January 23, 1812
Jean Nicolas Habert - May 11, 1815
Jacques Guillaume Frédéric de Labachelerie - 1832
Jean-Simon de Hody - 1851
Achille Deban-Laborde - 1861
Auguste Billet (fallen 1871)
Huguet - 1907
Poupel - 1941
Perrin - 1961
Paris - 1963
Boyer - 1965
Spaeth - 1967
Brossollet - 1969
Pommeret - 1971
Gossot - 1973
Bourgogne - 1975
Leblanc - 1977
de Gatellier - 1977
de Ballore - 1981
Hintzy - 1983
Nielly - 1985
Britch - 1987
Ponroy - 1989
Perrodon - 1992
le Porquier de Vaux - 1994
Trinquand - 1996

18th century uniforms

  • Uniform 1757–1762

  • Uniform 1762–1767

  • Uniform 1767–1776

  • Uniform 1776–1779

  • Uniform 1779–1786

  • Uniform 1786–1791

  • Uniform 1791–1792

Battle calendar

Thirty Years' War

After the merging of the companies, the regiment moved to Thionville that same month , then to Germany, where it was involved in the capture of Rottweil and the battle of Tuttlingen .

  • 1644: Eight companies remained in Germany, the other four (companies: Bailleul, Vic, Lénoncourt and Vaucellas) moved to Flanders where they were involved in the siege of Gravelines , Menin and Béthune . The companies remaining in Germany took part in the battle near Marienthal and the battle of Nördlingen , as well as the siege of Heilbronn and Trier .
  • 1646: Return to France to serve in Normandy . After refusals to obey, order was first restored and the association moved to the Guyenne . Here it remained to be ordered to the "Armée d'Italie". It was there in the fighting for Orbitello and Piombino . 60 "Maitres" (horsemen) were sent to the expedition to the island of Elba , where the detachment was used to take away Porto-Longone.
  • 1647: Storming of Cremona and fighting in the area the following year

Revolt of the Fronde

  • 1649: Relocation to the Guyenne to suppress uprisings here.
  • 1650: The six companies that made up the regiment were in Berry for part of the year. In autumn they joined the army of Marshal César de Choiseul, Comte du Plessis-Praslin, who fought against the rebels Turenne in Champagne . It successfully participated in the Battle of Rethel , where it was severely decimated.
  • 1651: After the exile of Cardinal Jules Mazarin , the "Régiment de La Reine-Mère" was reformed from February 15th. The Premier Capitaine (commander), the Chevalier de Baradat, was ordered to bring the regiment back to the level of six companies from October 18. Under the new commanding officer it was used in Berry during the blockade of Montrond.
  • 1652: Ordered to Paris, it fought under Turenne in the Battle of Faubourg Saint-Antoine. After this action it was placed under the command of the Comte de Roussillon.
  • 1653: The regiment was in Guyenne and Champagne
  • 1654: Garrison in Guyenne and Champagne, then relocation to Piedmont , based in Casal

Anglo-Spanish War

  • 1655: Relocation to Flanders, storming of Landrecies

Franco-Spanish War

  • 1656: return to Piedmont, then takes part in the siege of Valencia . After this action the Marquis de Nantoillet became the new Mestre de camp lieutenant.
  • 1657: fighting in Italy
  • 1658: Relocation to Flanders, participation in the Battle of the Dunes
  • 1659: Garrison in Bergues
  • 1661: With General Order of April 18, the regiment was the du mestre de camp Compagnie reduced
  • 1665: The Marquis de Nantoillet received the order on December 7th to bring the regiment back to full strength.
  • 1666: After the death of the Queen Mother, the Queen became the new owner of the regiment. With a stock of 9 companies, it was under the command of the Marquis de Villiers in Flanders and Franche-Comté .
  • 1668: Like all cavalry regiments, the "la Reine" was reduced to just one company.

Dutch War

  • 1672: The Marquis de Villiers recruited five more companies and in the same year marched to Holland and Germany, where they joined the Turenne army.
  • 1674: In the army of the Prince de Condé , takes part in the Battle of Seneffe
  • 1677: Fights under the Duc d'Orléans near Cambrai and Cassel

War of the Palatinate Succession

  • 1689: "La Reine" was in the army of Marshal Roussillon and took part in the siege of Campredon and the fighting at Walcourt
  • 1690: Fighting in Belgium, Battle of Fleurus
  • 1691: In Flanders with fighting at Leuze and Neer winds
  • 1692: Participation in the Battle of Steenkerke
  • - 1696: Fights in the Palatinate War of Succession. Then garrisoned on the Meuse .

War of the Spanish Succession

  • 1701: Campaign on the Rhine
  • 1706: Campaign to Italy. The regiment distinguished itself in the battle of Luzzara, as well as under the Marquis du Cayla at Castiglione.
  • 1707: Under the latter's brother, the association moved to the Dauphiné and Flanders
  • 1708: Campaign to Spain
  • 1709: Campaign to Flanders, Battle of Malplaquet
  • 1712: Under Marshal Villars in Denain
  • 1713: Campaign to Germany with fighting near Landau and Freiburg im Breisgau

Quadruple Alliance War

  • 1719: Commanded to campaign in Spain
  • 1727: Garrison in the camp on the Sambre
  • 1732: garrison in Alsace

War of the Polish Succession

War of the Austrian Succession

Seven Years War

The regiment fought on the campaign to Hanover , in the Battle of Hastenbeck , the Battle of Roßbach , the Battle of Krefeld and the Battle of Minden .

Standard of the 1st Escadron 1791

Wars of the Revolution and the Empire

From 1815 to 1848

  • 1814: Disbanded after Napoleon's first abdication , it was immediately reorganized as the "Régiment de Cuirassiers d'Angoulême No.4".
  • 1815: The return of the emperor led to the renaming in "4 e Régiment de Cuirassiers".

In the battle of Waterloo, the regiment lost two thirds of its population. Then it again lost the name "4 e de Cuirassiers" and was renamed "Régiment de cuirassiers de Berry No.4"

After the abdication of King Charles X in 1830, the regiment was again given the name "4 e régiment de cuirassiers".

Second empire

Attack at Reichshoffen

In the Franco-German War led the regiment under his commander, the Colonel Billet in the Battle of Wörth an extremely costly attack against the Prussian lines. It was given the honorable nickname "Cuirassiers de Reichshoffen" after the location.

Peace garrisons

First World War

The regiment moved out of its garrison in Cambrai and was united with the 9 e régiment de cuirassiers to form the "4 e Brigade de Cavalerie" under Général Gouzil. This brigade was part of the "3 E Division de Cavalerie" under Général Dor de Lastours.

The regiment was composed of:

4 escadrons of 4 moves each (pelotons)
1 escadron out of turn with 1 peloton with 2 mitrailleuses
30 officers , 650 NCOs and cuirassiers

At the command of the commander, the riders temporarily took off their cuirasses in October 1914, as they were only a hindrance in combat on foot. Taking into account the horse losses, an escadron was first converted entirely into a cavalry rifle unit, then the cuirasses were finally laid off in the winter of 1914/15. On May 27, 1916 the regiment was dismissed and was converted into an infantry unit "4 e Régiment de cuirassiers à pied" (4th cuirassier regiment on foot). It was assigned to the "1 re division de cavalerie à pied" - 1 re DCP (1st cavalry division on foot) and won laurels in Champagne (at the mill of Laffaux ) on the Aisne in 1917 , then again in Champagne and in 1918 in the Argonne .

Two honorable mentions in the army command were rewarded with the award of the Fourragère in the colors of the Croix de guerre .

Interwar period

  • Participation in the occupation of the Rhineland
  • Disbanded in 1927
  • In January 1933 in the "Quartier Jeanne d'Arc" as "4 e Groupe d'Auto-mitrailleuses - 4 e GAM" (4th Motorized Machine Gun Group - Armored Reconnaissance Unit) set up again.
  • In July 1936 the association was transformed into the "4 e Régiment de Cuirassiers". It was part of the "1 re Division Légère Mécanique" (1st Light Mechanized Division) and together with the "18 e Régiment de Dragons" (18th Dragoons Regiment) formed the "1 re Brigade Légère Mécanique" (1st Light Mechanized Brigade) .

Second World War

  • In March 1939 the regiment was ready for action.
  • 23 August: After reaching readiness level A, the escadrons moved to the Berru – Nogent-l'Abbesse region.
  • August 26th: The call of the reservists to meet in the "Quartier Jeanne-d'Arc" in Reims, according to mobilization orders 1, 3, 6, caused an enormous onslaught. At the same time, the extremely successful requisitioning of automobiles and motorcycles began.
  • September 1st: Readiness level B was reached.
  • September 11th: The "4 e cuirassiers" left, now completely, the Champagne and marched via Suippes, St. Ménéhould and Clermont-en-Argonne to Souilly, but found no accommodation here and moved to the upper Meuse the next day. A short stay in the Woëvre plain followed .
  • September 19: The regiment reached its destination in Sommedieue on the Meuse. It remained in this strategically important place for two months.
  • November 10: The unit was placed on alert and moved to the Belgian front within 13 hours. The armored vehicles were loaded into Dugny ; the light forces formed a column of marches which took up quarters in Mesnil-Annelles, not far from Rethel . At dawn the next day, the unit moved to Saint-Amand-sur-Fion without incident , and the armored vehicles were unloaded in Saultain.
  • November 12th: After the alarm condition was lifted, the cuirassiers moved to Cambrai on November 22nd, where they took up winter quarters.
  • In mid-January 1940 the general situation came to a head, which led to the regiment being alerted again.
  • On the night of January 14-15, 1940, the unit moved its escadrons to Valenciennes in ice, fog and light snowfall , and then moved into Douchy-les-Mines and the area around Noyelles-sur-Selle. After the alarm ended, they moved into accommodation in Esnes, Haucourt and Lesdain.
  • On March 27, 1940, the "1 re division légère mécanique" joined the "VIIe Armée" under Général Giraud and marched via Cambrai , Arras and Saint-Pol to Fressin.
  • On April 22nd, the unit reached the coast and garrisoned in the Montreuil-sur-Mer region . The squadrons found sufficient space for training purposes in the dunes of Berck-Plage.
  • May 1940: fighting in Belgium and French Flanders. The 1re DLM, just consisting of four squadrons with Somua S-35s , moved northwards towards the Dutch border as part of the "VIIe Armée (Général Giraud)".
  • An attack in the direction of Mont-Saint-Éloi followed on May 22nd. After a break in combat, the units were in the line from Dyle to Gembloux, with the staff of the "2 e  DLM" in the forest of Mormal, the 18 e régiment de dragons in Quesnoy and the 4 e  cuirassiers in Landrecies. The last tanks fought successfully to the end. With Dunkirk already in mind, the crews then destroyed their last armored vehicles.
The services of the regiment during the campaign in France and Belgium in 1940 earned it a third honor by order of the army:
«Under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Poupel, it was continuously involved in operations in Belgium and Flanders from May 12 to May 31, 1940. It showed a high quality of bravery and fighting spirit as well as a willingness to carry out every order immediately. Special mention should be made of the efforts in the Quesnoy region on May 17th and 18th and on the Lys on May 27th and 28th. It came out of the battle on May 31st in excellent order and shows a wonderful example of exemplary behavior. It confirmed its combat value in operations in eastern France in June 1940. »
  • 1943–1944 the regiment was reorganized in North Africa and assigned to the "3 e  division blindée" (3rd Panzer Division).

1945 until today

  • 1945: French occupation forces in Germany (Force française en Allemagne)
  • 1951: Relocation to Reims
  • 1968: Garrison in Wittlich then in Bitche with the 1 re division blindée (1st armored division)
  • May 1969 amalgamation of the regiment with the "3e Régiment de lanciers" (3rd Uhlan Regiment)
  • While the last restructuring was in progress, the commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Trinquand, had to leave the regiment on June 17, 1997 at 11.00 am to officially announce the dissolution.

"Notre régiment fait partie de ceux qui doivent être dissous dès 1997." (Our regiment is one of those that have to be dissolved in 1997.)

345 years after it was founded, its 850 soldiers, including 200 officers and non-commissioned officers, left their last garrison in Bitche .

Capitaine Pinon was given the honorable task of rolling up the regiment's glorious standard.

Motto

In gemino certamine
( In a double struggle )

Standard

Standard of the Ancien Régime

Standard of the regiment as "La Reine Cavalerie"
Reverse side (last version as a royal regiment with the insignia of Queen Marie-Antoinette )
The Fourragère in the colors of the Croix de Guerre

From its formation until the French Revolution , the unit belonged to the royal regiments. The colonel owner was always the queen (or at the beginning the queen mother). The obverse showed the sun as a sign of Louis XIV, on the reverse the lilies of the House of Bourbon with the queen's monogram in the four corners. (The picture shows the initials of the last queen, Marie-Antoinette.)

Other standards

From the beginning of the French Revolution to the end of the Second Empire , the regiment changed standards several times:

  • Réglement de 1791 (still as the king's regiment)
  • Réglement de 1793 (Regiment of the First Republic)
  • Réglement de 1794 (Regiment of the First Republic)
  • Réglement de 1804 (Regiment of the Empire)
  • Réglement de 1814 ( King's Regiment in the First Restoration )
  • Réglement de 1815 ( Regiment of the Emperor )
  • Réglement de 1815 (King's Regiment in the Second Restoration)
  • Réglement de 1848 (Regiment of the Second Republic)
  • Réglement de 1852 (Regiment of the Second Empire)
  • Réglement de 1871 (Regiment from the Third Republic to its dissolution)

Last standard

On the standard in the French national colors in the white field in gold letters are the names of the battles in which the regiment has fought gloriously since the revolution:

  • Valmy 1792
  • Fleurus 1794
  • Heilsberg 1807
  • Wagram 1809
  • Dresden 1813
  • l'Aisne 1917-1918
  • Champagne 1918
  • Argonne 1918

Awards

The banner of the standard is decorated with:

  • the Croix de guerre 1914-1918 with two palm branches.
  • the Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with a palm branch.

The regiment has the right to wear the Fourragère in the colors of the “Croix de guerre 1914–1918” ribbon.

Known members of the regiment

  • Edgar Clarke (1799–1852), 2nd Duc de Feltre, 2nd Comte d'Hunebourg, as captain in the regiment
  • Arthur Clarke (1802–1829), Comte de Feltre, brother of the previous one, as a Sous-lieutenant in the regiment, member of the Legion of Honor
  • Alphonse Clarke (1806–1850), Comte de Feltre, brother of the previous one, as a sous-lieutenant in the regiment, opera composer

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The regiment owner was the king's mother (Anna of Austria, 1601–1666) - it was her cavalry body regiment
  2. ↑ Since the queen herself was the head of the regiment, it was commanded by the deputy commander, the Mestre de camp lieutenant
  3. ↑ after the name of their captain
  4. ↑ The ranking was related to the reputation of the regiment and was often hotly contested
  5. ↑ Queen's Regiment - After the Queen Mother's death that year
  6. ↑ Only pro format
  7. ↑ At that time there was no queen, only the king's wife in a morganastic marriage
  8. ↑ with the then draconian means
  9. ↑ who has since been rehabilitated
  10. ↑ All information about the combat activity during the Ancien Régime comes from: “Histoire de la cavalerie francaise - Regiment de la Reine” Librairie J. Hetzel et Cie - Paris 1874
  11. ↑ Who was killed in this attack.
  12. ↑ Quarters is another name for barracks in France, so it is primarily used by cavalry or hunters.
  13. ↑ JOURNAL DE MARCHE DU 4th REGIMENT DE CUIRASSIERS - CAMPAGNE CONTRE L'ALLEMAGNE.
  14. ↑ Here again French Flanders is meant.
  15. ↑ That should actually be called Northern France.
  16. ↑ This is the verbatim translation of Latin. This does not make sense (or no longer!)
  17. ↑ So the mother of the king
  18. ↑ Since the regiment did not exist during the time of the so-called Vichy regime , no standard was issued with the motto "Honneur et Patrie".
  19. ↑ Décision 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 , n ° 27, November 9, 2007.
  20. ↑ 2nd Duke of Feltre
  21. ↑ 2nd Count of Hunenbourg (near Zabern )

literature

  • Général de brigade Philippe Peress, 31 rue Hoche, 49400 Saumur .
  • Musée des Blindés ou Association des Amis du Musée des Blindés, 1043 route de Fontevraud, 49400 Saumur.
  • Général SUSANE: "Histoire de la cavalerie francaise - Regiment de la Reine" Librairie J. Hetzel et Cie - Paris 1874.
  • Pajol, Charles PV, "Les Guerres sous Louis XV", vol. VII, Paris, 1891, pp. 341-342.
  • Mouillard, Lucien "Les Régiments sous Louis XV", Paris 1882.
  • Rogge, Christian; "The French & Allied Armies in Germany during the Seven Years War", Frankfurt, 2006.

Web links

JOURNAL DE MARCHE DU 4th REGIMENT DE CUIRASSIERS CAMPAGNE CONTRE L'ALLEMAGNE