French Garde Regiment

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French Garde Regiment

Rég Gardes-Françaises 1691.png

Ordonance flag 1691–1789
active 1563 to 1789
Country Royal Standard of the King of France, svg France
Armed forces Army of the Ancien Régime
Branch of service infantry
Type reinforced infantry regiment
Strength 9600
Insinuation Grand Royal Coat of Arms of France.svg Royal Guard
Location Paris
commander
commander Last: Louis Marie Florent du Châtelet

The Régiment des Gardes françaises was one of the two infantry regiments of the Royal Guard ( Maison militaire du roi ) in France. It was set up in 1563 under the name "Garde du Roi".

The regiment "always marched at the head of the French infantry".

List and renaming in chronological order

  • August 1, 1563: Establishment of the Régiment de la Garde du Roi from five enseignes each of the "Régiment de Richelieu" and the "Régiment de Charry", both of which were dissolved.
  • 1566: Renamed the Régiment de Strozzi with loss of guard status
  • 1566: The Regiment de la Garde du Roi was dismissed.
  • 1569: Establishment of the Régiment des Gardes françaises from parts of the "Régiment de Strozzi", which was dissolved.
  • 1573: cashed
  • 1574: The Régiment des Gardes françaises is re-established
  • September 1, 1789: dissolution

Furnishing

Flags

Since 1691 there was a new orderly and body flag. There were now 41 golden lilies in each of the neighborhoods.

  • Ordinance flag from 1569 to 1691

  • The Colonel's body flag from 1569 to 1691

  • Ordinance flag from 1691 to 1789

  • The Colonel's body flag from 1691 to 1789

uniform

  • The uniform was blue, with red badges and white trimmings

  • Sergent, piquier and musketeer of the Régiment des Gardes françaises under Louis XIII. 1630

  • Uniform of the Régiment des Gardes françaises 1697

  • Uniform of the Régiment des Gardes françaises 1757

history

Hôtel de Montmorency , Dépôt of the Gardes Français

At the suggestion of Pierre de Bourdeille, called Brantôme, in 1563 the "Regiment de la Garde du Roi" for King Charles IX. set up. The “French” in their name was only chosen when they were renamed in 1569 to distinguish them from the other royal guards, the Garde écossaise and the Gardes suisses . The Gardes françaises were gradually strengthened. It was an elite group that, together with the Swiss Guard, formed the “Garde de l'extérieur” (ie the Guard “outside”) and therefore guarded the royal palaces from outside. The Gardes françaises preceded all other infantry units, including their old rivals, the Swiss Guard.

The best people in the line regiments were recruited. These were mostly non-noble soldiers, which is why it was not possible for them and also the "bas-officiers" (corresponding to today's NCOs) to become officers. The officers came from the privileged class and were preferably lured away by the musketeers , for example the Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan .

The officers of the Gardes françaises had the privilege of addressing their affairs directly to the Parliament in Paris.

Some of the companies were stationed in Paris to ensure public peace and order in the capital when necessary. The barracks in the Rue de Babylone in the 7th arrondissement was built in 1780 for the Gardes françaises. Today it houses a unit of the Garde républicaine .

The regiment was closely related to the Parisian population, which was also due to the large number of guards manned by the Gardes françaises.

Changes

  • 1563: at the time of formation there were 10 companies of 50 men each
  • 1574: at the second deployment, there were 12 companies
  • 1600: Increase to 20 companies
  • 1601: Reduction to 18 companies
  • 1612: Increase to 20 companies
  • 1635: Increase to 30 companies
  • 1689: Increase to 32 companies, including two grenadier companies. Total workforce: 9,600 men
  • 1701: On April 16, there was a change by royal decree. Colonel of the regiment became the Maréchal la Feuillade, to whom he left it to assign all officer positions of the personal company, which was reinforced by his Majesty. In addition to the captain-lieutenant , the company would have three lieutenants , three sous-lieutenants and two ensignes , one of whom was to carry the flag and the other a spontaneous one. After the death of la Feuillade, the post of Colonel passed to the Maréchal de Boufflers. At the same time it was decreed that the income from the sale of the officer positions should in future go to the Crown. This deprived Boufflers of a not inconsiderable source of income, where enormous sums of money had been accrued to la Feuillad.

As a change, he suggested to the king to reduce the body company - as in the other companies of the regiment - to four officers and to double the number of officers in the two grenadier companies. The king was not uncomfortable with this, as the officer positions in the grenadiers were associated with a higher purchase price than in the Leibcompanie.

The king then selected the officers for the grenadier companies from the entire regiment:

  • For the Saillant company: Fontlebon as Lieutenant , Blorac as Sous-lieutenant and Caderset as Enseigne
  • For the Montgeorge Company: Mistral as Lieutenant, Chaponay as Sous-lieutenant, and the Chevalier de Montsorea as Enseigne.
  • In 1719 the regiment consisted of 33 companies, including three grenadier companies.
  • By decree of the king of November 10th, 1733, the Régiment des Gardes françaises had to exist as follows:
1 colonel
1 lieutenant colonel
1 major (responsible for administration)
6 Aides-major (assistants of the major)
6 Sous aides-major (subordinates of the major)
33 Capitaines (company commanders)
36 lieutenants (first lieutenants)
36 sous-lieutenants (lieutenants)
66 Enseignes (Ensigns)
33 gentilhommes (nobles with no rank in the officer class) - together: 218 officers.
198 sergeants - six per company
132 tambours (drummers) - four per company
30 flags
  • Six battalions of five ordinary companies of 140 men each and half a grenadier company of 55 men. So 755 men per battalion and a total of 4530 men in the regiment.

The following were responsible for internal service and supply matters:

The commissaire général
2 commissaires-aides (assistants)
2 Maréchaux des logis (Maréchal de logis - mounted sergeant)
1 Aumonier (regimental chaplain)
1 Sergent d'ordre (approximately: Sergeant on duty)
1 auditor (clerk)
1 Médecin (regimental doctor)
2 Aide (medical assistant)
2 surgeons (field scissors)
1 apotiquaire (pharmacist)
1 drum major
1 aide (assistant)
6 contrôleurs
1 Prévôt général (General Profess)
1 Lieutenant de prévôt (Profoss First Lieutenant)
1 Greffier (protocol writer)
12 Archers (actually archers, a kind of military police)
1 Executeur de justice (hangman)
  • Under Louis XV. the regiment still consisted of 4,100 men

Campaigns

In the 18th century, the Gardes françaises formed an infantry brigade with the Gardes suisses .

The regiment in the battle of Fontenoy, 1745 (not contemporary picture by Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux)

War of the Palatinate Succession

War of the Spanish Succession

War of the Polish Succession

War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748)

Seven Years War

French Revolution

revolution

Action by the Gardes françaises on July 12, 1789 against the Régiment Royal-Allemand cavalerie, commanded by the Prince de Lambesc

On July 12, 1789, the Gardes françaises sided with the Parisians against the Royal-Allemand cavalry regiment , which was supposed to disperse a crowd. The cavalrymen did not take up the fight, however, but withdrew, with three wounded after an exchange of fire. On July 14, 1789, six companies of the regiment were in Paris, where five of them allied themselves with the people and took part in the assault on the Bastille .

The Garde nationale , newly established in 1789, consisted largely of former members of the Gardes françaises. Among them was the Colonel of the Galiot Mandat de Grancey regiment, who in 1792 succeeded La Fayette as commander of the National Guard.

Colonels

Personalities who served in the regiment

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The regiments leading the lilies in their flags, such as B. “du Roi”, “de la Reine” or “la Couronne” also had elitist status, but were not part of the Guard
  2. ↑ "rank règles" by Louis XIV. From March 26, 1670
  3. ↑ Lemau de la Jaisse, "Abrégé de la carte générale du militaire de France" 1734 p. 88
  4. ↑ Simon Lamoral le Pippre de Nœuville "Abrégé chronologique et historique de l'origine du progrès et de l'état actuel de la maison du Roi et de toutes les troupes de France" Everard Kints Liège 1735 chap. 3 Section 3
  5. ↑ The dishonorable dissolution is collected, for example because of cowardice against the enemy, mutiny or similar offenses
  6. ↑ they themselves always used “aux gardes” (roughly “belonging to the guard”) to stand out from the other guards whose officers were only “des Gardes” - ie “the guards”
  7. ↑ Gabriel-Jules de Gosnac et Edouard Pontal: “Mémoires du marquis de Sourches sur le règne de Louis XIV”, Chapter 7, 1888
  8. ↑ Lemau de la Jaisse, "Abrégé de la carte générale du militaire de France" 1734 p. 89.
  9. ↑ Guerres de religion-Miquel p. 348
  10. ^ Mémoires de la Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Île-de-France , 1874, p. 143
  11. ↑ de Courcelles, "Dictionnaire des généraux français", section 1 p. 8

literature

  • Lemau de la Jaisse "Abrégé de la carte générale du militaire de France" Paris 1734
  • Capitaine Noël Lacolle "Histoire des Gardes-Françaises" Paris, 1901.
  • Simon Lamoral le Pippre de Nœuville "Abrégé chronologique et historique de l'origine du progrès et de l'état actuel de la Maison du Roi et des troupes de France" Editeur Everard Kints Liège 1735 Volume 3 ( online )
  • de Courcelles "Dictionnaire historique et biographique des généraux français" Paris 1820
  • Gabriel-Jules de Gosnac & Edouard Pontal "Mémoires du marquis de Sourches sur le règne de Louis XIV" Editeur Librairie Hachette Paris 1888 ( online )
  • Liliane Funcken , Fred Funcken : Historical uniforms. Volume 1: 18th century. French Guard and Infantry, British and Prussian Infantry. Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1977, ISBN 3-570-04361-4 , p. 38 ff.
  • Adrien Pascal, Jules François Le Comte, Germain Nicolas Brahaut, François Sicard: Histoire de l'armée et de tous les régiments depuis les premiers temps de la monarchie française jusqu'à nos jours. Volume 1. Barbier, Paris 1847, pp. 300–306, ( online )

Web links