"The Most Famous French Line Regiments?" Topic

Hi All,

I'm not much of an expert on the Napoleonic French (Unit Histories) – but which Ligne Regiments would have been considered the best, most famous, most valiant, etc – I know the 57th had the honour of being the top dog due to all the awards and it's nick name and such – but were there any other Regiments that were considered similarly as above or well above average for their performance and/or awards received or such. I'm also curious if there were any such Regiments if any were amongst those present in the 100-Days campaign (i.e. could be considered _possibly_ above the masses on the basis their veterans had all rejoined in 1815)?

Appreciate any insights & thoughts,
   
John
Wargaming.info

84th Infantry… perhaps as famous as the 57th, or a very close #2.

The 84e Ligne, which had "Une contre Dix" added to their colors for their stand at the Battle of Graz, 1809. Most of the long time regiments of Davout's Corps, namely 48e, 111e, 17e, 30e Ligne among others.

Also the 10e Legere (although not "Ligne") was among the most famous of those regiments.

Peter

27th Ligne seems pretty popular link

Awesome – thanks Guys – lots of units for me to go away and research & read up on…

9th Legere was pretty good too and I think it was the 11th Legere that incorporated the Tirailleurs Corses and Tiralleurs d'Po.

In the cavalry arm the best light regiment was the 1st Chasseurs with the 5th & 7th Hussars considered elite as well.

1st, 4th, 14th, 21st, 45th and 46th I've all seen mentioned alot. All seem to have been quite well regarded.

After 1812 not enough of the army survived to make any regiment stand out. Only the Garde Ancien retained that distinction because they stole all of the remaining good material from everyone else.

for light infanterie : 9e légère l'incomparable

for line infantry – plenty of units like 18e de ligne – or 21e or 32e or ….

Thanks Chaps (& Chapettes if any) – great stuff. I've also had this link pointed out elsewhere too FWIW: The best regiments of French infantry

After 1812 not enough of the army survived to make any regiment stand out. Only the Garde Ancien retained that distinction because they stole all of the remaining good material from everyone else.

Yes that was my impression @Femeng2 – however with all the Vets (e.g. ex-POWs) who returned to the ranks even with the best culled for the Guard I was curious if any regiments might have retained enough good men to have been considered still above the norm in the Hundred Days. e.g. what would have been considered the best Line Regiment in the Armee du Nord?

I realise even the best Regiment would not be comparable to the 1805-1812 units but in relation to the rest, in 1815, did any of those elite pre-1812 Regiments still stand out?

Not every regiment went into Russia. Several armies were still in Spain and then France would have had to kept some men as garrisons and defense.

I swore the 5e was pretty famous… Maybe I'm thinking the 57e.

another vote for the 9e Legere during the Ulm campaign

Hi gents!

The story is also that some regiments look "famous" to us only because famous painters and illustrators of those days gave us reliable informations on their uniforms reproduced again and again by all the authors since.
Best exemple is the 57th.

If you are looking for Elite among the french army, still think in terms of seniority of the regiment: the lesser numbers having been given to the older regiments.
ie; 1st former "Picardie", 9th former "Normandie" etc….

Still a common expression in french military language about "règiments à trois chiffres", means far from Elite.

And, as there was no true combat records nor regimental awards by this time, beside of the battle honours worn on the flags, it is hard to tell what particular unit has been the most "glorieuse".

Naturally, my vote goes to, guess who?…. the Tirailleurs Corses, lately 11th Léger (agregated with Tirailleurs du Pô, Battaillon Valaisan (Swiss), and Légion du Midi in 1811).

Nicknamed the Emperor's cousins, they fought pretty hard in Sokolnitz on Austerlitz day.

"Vive L'Empereur!"

The 36th delivered an ass-whippin' at Austerlitz….

Although not French but a steady regiment that did not get much chance for glory – Regiment Irlandaise. IIRC the only foreign regiment Napoleon gave a eagle too.

link