Sunday 3 January 2021

Flags of French Regiment Saintonge

 First raised under Louis XIV in 1684. 1 battalion.

Ranked 77th in 1756.

Flags carried 1684-1791.

The pattern of the colours seems a bit variable depending on the source; I have chosen to use the 1721 French manuscript volume as I feel it is probably more authoritative than many.



Saintonge was called, in 1755, to the camp of Aimeries sur Sambre. It was stationed at Brest at the beginning of the Seven Years War and was in Brittany for the duration of the war. In 1759, when France made its great effort to attack Britain on its home territory, it was embarked in the fleet of M de Conflans, who did not live up to the promise of such a mission. After a deplorable combat [presumably Quiberon Bay?] the expedition returned to Brest.

The ordonnance of 10th December 1762 put Saintonge in the service of ports and colonies. It had been sent the preceding year to Guiana and had lost several companies in an appalling shipwreck. Lieutenant Vicomte de Berlaymont had survived four days with some of his men in the open sea on the wreckage of a ship. The regiment left Guiana in 1766 for Guadeloupe and returned to Brest in France on the 11th of April 1768.

And this is the uniform in 1756:



[The text is largely from Susane again; I'm sure you will note the somewhat pro-French bias! :-) This is yet another French regiment which saw far more activity in the War of the Spanish Succession than in the SYW; it fought at Blenheim and Malplaquet, for instance.]


Flags of French Regiment Limousin

 First raised 1622 by Louis XIII. 2 battalions. Took the name of the province of Limosin (Limousin) in 1684.

Ranked 25th in 1756.

Flags carried 1684-1791.



In 1756 Limousin was in the camp of Cherbourg. The regiment served on the coasts of Normandy during the four following campaigns and then in the campaigns in Germany in 1761 and 1762. It was distinguished on the 16th July 1761, along with Piemont Infantry, in the combat of Schedingen, whose happy result was annulled by the check of Villingshausen. At the peace of 1763 Limousin went into garrison in Douai.

And this is the uniform in 1756:



(Again, this is largely from a somewhat pro-French piece from Susane so YMMV! As with Angoumois and Saintonge, the regiment seems to have been far more actively engaged in the late 17th century and then the War of the Spanish Succession than in the SYW. It was initially very busy in the Italian Theatre, including the battle of Turin, and afterwards in Flanders including the battle of  Malplaquet.)