Division bleue
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The Blue Division (French: division bleue ) is the division d'infanterie de marine , which was formed during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 from regiments of marine infantry and naval artillery on the French side . The division, under the command of General de Vassoigne, consisted of two brigades . The 1st Brigade, under the command of General Reboul, was formed from the 1st Marine Regiment from Cherbourg and the 4th Marine Regiment from Toulon . The 2nd Brigade under the command of General Martin des Pallières consisted of the 2nd Marine Regiment from Brest and the 3rd Marine Regiment from Rochefort, as well as three batteries of the 1st Marine Artillery Regiment from Lorient .
The Blue Division was subordinate to the 12th Army Corps under the command of Barthélémy Louis Joseph Lebrun , which arrived as the last unit in the Battle of Sedan after a final attempt to withdraw with General de Wimpffen had failed. The division fought in Bazeilles on August 31st and September 1st, 1870. The city changed hands four times, 2,655 French and 5,200 Bavarians died. Inspired by this, Alphonse de Neuville created the patriotic painting Les dernières cartouches (The last cartridges). Every year the Marines celebrate the anniversary of the battle. At the end of the ceremony, the battle cry of the marines sounds: Au nom de dieu, vive la coloniale ( In the name of God, long live the colonial ; the marines served as a colonial force in the 19th century). God himself has unity as patron saint.