54th Infantry Regiment | |
---|---|
Active | 1657 – present |
Country | France |
Branch | French Army |
Type | Infantry |
Role | Line infantry |
Size | Regiment |
Patron | Saint-Maurice |
Engagements |
Seven Years' War |
Decorations |
Croix de guerre 1914-1918 with 3 citations in army orders 1 citation in army corps orders 1 citation in divisional orders il a right to wear the colours of the croix de guerre 1914–1918 on its forage cap. |
Battle honours |
Valmy 1792 Alkmaar 1799 Austerlitz 1805 Friedland 1807 Kabylie 1857 La Marne 1914 Éparges 1915 Verdun 1916 L’Escaut 1918 |
Seven Years' War
French Revolutionary Wars
Napoleonic Wars
World War I
The 54th Infantry Regiment (54e régiment d’infanterie or 54e RI) is a line infantry regiment of the French Army.
It was formed in 1657 during the Ancien Régime as the régiment Mazarin-Catalans, being renamed the régiment Royal Catalan in 1661 then the régiment Royal Roussillon in 1667. The regiment was recruited in the regions of Perpignan, Roussillon and Catalonia. The regiment served at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession.
A second battalion of the Royal Roussillon served in Germany (1756–1762). In 1756, the 54th Infantry Regiment's uniform was white with blue facings, five gilded buttons for the linings and three buttons on each pocket. Its first battalion fought in Canada during the French and Indian War from 1756 to 1761, under the command of général Louis-Joseph de Saint-Veran, Marquis de Montcalm, with M. de Sennezergue as its colonel. The battalion arrived in New France in May 1756, and was originally posted to Montreal, with the exception of a detachment that was sent to Fort Carillon. It fought at the Battle of Fort William Henry. After that victory, the regiment took part in the 1758 Battle of Carillon. It then went to Quebec City to defend the city. At the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, it was broken and forced to flee by steady fire from the British 35th Foot, whose members are traditionally held to have picked up the 54th's plumes and placed them in their own headdress (the Roussillon Plume being formally incorporated into the badge of the 35th Foot in 1881).