Sunday 28 April 2013

Minden French Flags Project - Regiment Vastan

First raised 1674. This was a two battalion regiment. At Minden it was in the first line of the left wing infantry as part of the Aquitaine Brigade, with the senior two battalion Aquitaine Regiment. It suffered heavy casualties at Minden; its colonel Aubery Marquis de Vastan was wounded and taken prisoner. The remainder of the regiment was sent back to France to be rebuilt and returned to Germany in 1761. On the 3rd October 1761 one entire battalion was captured at its camp at Oëlper near Brunswick in an attack led by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick and Colonel Lückner, losing 250 men wounded and killed. Vastan himself was killed in the action. This was clearly an unlucky regiment! The remains of the regiment were then given to Marquis de Bouillé. It was renamed after the province of Vexin in 1762.




It seems likely the same pattern of colours as shown here was carried from at least 1749 to 1791.

And this plate shows the uniform and flags in 1757: