List of French Royal Army units (1776)


Below is the List of French Army regiments . Also included are the changes from the supplemental 1778 ordnance. Flags next to each unit represents what the majority of its members come from.

Cavalry regiments

In 1776, the French Royal Army's cavalry regiments were divided into five different types: line cavalry, hussars, chasseurs à cheval, chevau-légers and dragoons.

Line cavalry regiments

Hussar regiments

Dragoon regiments

Infantry regiments

In 1776, the French Royal Army's infantry regiments were divided into five groups: guard regiments, French line regiments, chasseur regiments, colonial line regiments and foreign line regiments.

Guard regiments

French regiments

Princes' regiments

The Princes regiments were regiments which were either raised or funded almost entirely by a French prince or duke. The only difference between these regiments and other French Royal Army regiments were their funding and exclusion from the regimental uniform grouping.

German regiments

Swiss regiments

  • Ernest's Regiment
  • Salis-Samade Regiment
  • Sonnemberg Regiment
  • Castellas Regiment
  • Waldner's Regiment
  • Châteauvieux Regiment
  • Diesbach's Regiment
  • Courten Regiment
  • Salis–Marschlins Regiment
  • Steiner's Regiment
  • Eptingen's Regiment

Irish regiments

Italian regiments

  • Royal Italian Regiment
  • Savoyard Regiment

Legions

Under the 1776 ordinance, all legions were disbanded and contributed a new mounted chasseurs company into each regiment of the cavalry, while the infantry components were absorbed into the new infantry garrison battalions. Before 1776 these legions composed of a company of grenadiers, eight companies of fusiliers, and eight companies of dragoons, after the Peace of Versailles the volunteers were reduced to:
Legions
Following the 1776 ordinance, all of the legions' infantry companies converted to infantry chasseurs and were incorporated into every regiment of the army, thereby providing every infantry regiment with a left–wing chasseur company. The cavalry of the legions were themselves also converted to chasseurs, but mounted and dispersed throughout the cavalry, thereby providing every cavalry regiment with a mounted squadron.
After the former legions were disbanded, three more were raised from foreign volunteers for service during the Anglo–French War, these included:

Provincial Troops

Under the 1776 ordinance, the provincial volunteers were due to be disbanded, but by order of the King this was reduced. The provincial troops were divided into 4 categories: Royal Grenadiers, Infantry, État Major Regiments, and provincial artillery.

État Major

  • 1er Régiment d'État Major
  • 2éme Régiment d'État Major
  • 3éme Régiment d'État Major
  • 4éme Régiment d'État Major
  • 5éme Régiment d'État Major

Grenadiers

By ordinance of 30 January 1778, the Corps des Grenaiders Royaux was re–constituted, but were formed as a result of the 1776 ordinance, therefore are presented on this page for convenience. These new regiments were formed by grouped the old garrison battalions' grenadiers companies from regiments of a certain area. The regiments consisted of:
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux de la Picardie in Lille, companies from the Régiments de Picardie, Cambrésis, Hainaut, Vermandois, Flandre, Artois, and two companies of the 3éme Régiment de État Major
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux de la Champagne in Valenciennes, companies from the Régiments de Brie, Orléans, Neustrie, and La Marine, two companies of the Régiment Provincial d'Artillerie de La Fère, and two companies of the 1er Régiment d'État Major
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux de la Normandie in Rouen, companies from the Régiments de Perche, Beauce, Vexin, Normandie, Boulonnais, Dauphin, La Couronne, and Penthièvre
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux de la Guyenne in Blaye, companies from the Régiments de Guyenne, Aquitaine, Médoc, Forèz, Bresse, Armagnac, Agénois, and Aunis
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux du Lyonnais in Vienne, companies from the Régiments de Auvergne and La Sarre, one company from the Provincial Artillery Regiment of Auxonne and from Artillery Regiment of Grenoble, and 2nd and 4th État Major regiments
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux de la Touraine in Saumur, companies from the Régiments de Bourbonnais, Limousin, Touraine, La Reine, Conti, Maine, Anjou, and Rohan
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux de l'Île de France in Mantes la Jolie, companies from the Régiments d'Isle de France, Beauvoisis, Royal, Bourgogne, Chartres, and Soissonnais
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux de l'Orléanais in Orléans, companies from the Régiments de Blésois, Maréchal de Turrene, Auxerrois, Gâtinais, Bassigny, Bassigny, Berry, Poitou, and Angoumois
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux de la Bretagne in Rennes, companies from the Régiments de Bretagne, Monsieur, Royal Vaisseaux, Royal Marine, Savoie Carignan, La Fère, Saintonge, and Foix
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux de la Lorrainen in Nancy, companies from the Régiments d'Austrasie, Lorraine, Champagne, and Barrois, and the provincial artillery regiments of Strasbourg and Metz
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux du Languedoc in Montpellier, companies from the Régiments de Piémont, Royal Roussillon, Languedoc, Provence, and Dauphiné, and the 5th État Major Regiment and Provincial Artillery Regiment of Grenoble
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux du Comte de Bourgogne in Besançon, companies from the Régiments de Condé, Royal Comtois, and Enghien, also the Provincial Artillery Regiments of Besançon and Toul, and a company of the Provincial Artillery Regiment of Auxonne
  • Régiment des Grenadiers Royaux du Quercy in Montauban, companies from the Régiments de Viennois, Vivarais, Rouergue, Beaujolais, Lyonnais, Bourbon, Navarre, and Béarn

Infantry

With the exception of the Régiment de la Ville de Paris, all provincial battalions were assigned to an infantry regiment, becoming their "3rd or Garrison Battalion", except for the Régiment du Roi which had their provincial unit as the 5th and 6th battalions respectively.

Artillery

New regiments and their predecessor battalions shown in order of precedence.
  • Régiment Provincial d'Artillerie de La Fère
  • Régiment Provincial d'Artillerie de Metz
  • Régiment Provincial d'Artillerie de Besançon
  • Régiment Provincial d'Artillerie de Grenoble
  • Régiment Provincial d'Artillerie de Strasbourg
  • Régiment Provincial d'Artillerie d'Auxonne
  • Régiment Provincial d'Artillerie de Toul

Artillery

In 1776 the French artillery consisted of 7 regiments, of which all held the number 64 in regimental precedence.
  • Régiment de La Fère
  • Régiment de Metz
  • Régiment de Besançon
  • Régiment de Grenoble
  • Régiment de Strasbourg
  • Régiment d'Auxonne
  • Régiment de Toul
  • Battalion d'Ingénieures – forms part of the Royal Corps of Artillery

Admiralty

Until 1890, all colonial affairs were controlled by the Secretary of State of the Navy, though the below regiments were part of the French Royal Army. They are only shown under the Admiralty as they were under the operational command of the organisation, not the administrative.

Colonial Regiments

  • Régiment du Cap – Saint Domingue
  • Régiment de Port au Prince – Saint Domingue
  • Régiment de Martinique – Antilles
  • Régiment de Guadeloupe – Antilles
  • Régiment d'Île de France – Indian Ocean
  • Régiment d'Île de Bourbon – Indian Ocean
  • Régiment de Pondichéry – French India