Flags carried by Dutch Swiss Infantry Regiment Tscharner, Montmollin, Stürler 1694-1714

First raised 3rd May 1694. It was a Berne regiment of two battalions. The first colonel was Nicolas Tscharner from Berne to 1697, then it was Charles de Montmollin who died 22/12/1701 and then Vincent Stürler (1662-1734) from Berne who was made brigadier in 1709.

Lieutenant Colonel Francois de Montmollin was killed at Blenheim in 1704. There were horrendous casualties at Malplaquet in 1709 (see below).

The flags were captured at Le Quesnoy, according to the Triomphes Louis XIV; the flags may therefore only relate to the later regiment under Vincent Stürler.

Service (extracted from Hall ):

1703 Capture of Trabach; defence of the Stolhofen-Buhl lines; battle of Stekene; battle of Eckeren; defence of Augsburg (all only one battalion)
1704 Battle of the Schellenburg - 523 all ranks present with 54 casualties; battle of Blenheim - 469 all ranks present with 41 killed in action and 57 wounded
1706 Battle of Ramillies - one battalion with 37 killed in action and 60 wounded; one battalion at the siege of Ostend - 2 killed and 8 wounded
1708 Battle of Oudenarde - two battalions with 2 killed and 4 wounded
1709 Siege of Tournai; battle of Malplaquet - two battalions with 258 killed and 435 wounded
1710 Siege of Saint Vernant - one battalion with 8 killed and 44 wounded
1712 Siege of Quesnoy one battalion (where both flags were  captured and then featured in the Triomphes Louis XIV)
1712 Defence of Douai - two battalions

And this was the uniform after 1704:

"Give Them A Second Chance" Units - French Infantry Regiments Destroyed At Blenheim 1704 Number 2 - Infantry Regiment Albaret

Raised 6th January 1702 by the Chevalier d'Albaret.

Initially with the Army of the Rhine
1704 Army of Bavaria; part of the Brigade Trecesson with infantry regiment Robecque (which was captured), it was one battalion strong at the battle of Blenheim where it was destroyed and the colonel killed

 

And this was probably the rather dull uniform in 1704; not a trace of colour!: 

 

 

"Give Them A Second Chance" Units - French Infantry Regiments Destroyed At Blenheim 1704 Number 1 - Infantry Regiment Chabrillant

I find myself fascinated, for some strange reason, by the French infantry units destroyed or captured at Blenheim in 1704. Perhaps it's the underdog thing. So here we have the flags of the first of these units, reborn here and so providing wargamers with the chance to give them a more glorious and long-lived service. Vive la France! Vive Chabrillant! :-)

Raised 5th January 1702 by N. de Moreton, Marquis de Chabrillant.

1702 Army of the Rhine
1704 Army of Bavaria; battle of Blenheim, where it was destroyed and the colonel killed

Of the flag design, Hall says: "The Maltese cross design was probably based on the colonel being a Knight of Malta according to Père Daniel, “Histoire de la Milice Française”, Livre XI p.429 (Y. Roumegoux)".

At Blenheim Chabrillant was one battalion strong and brigaded with Auxerrois (which I have already depicted here: https://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/2024/07/flags-of-french-regiments-disbanded.html). It was one of the nine regiments of French foot crushed by the Allied attack on the Franco-Bavarian centre late in the battle. At the end of the battle Chabrillant had only 91 men, 17 NCOs and 4 officers left.

The uniform in 1704 was probably like this: