Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment
| Régiment Royal-Deux-Ponts | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Active | 1757-1791 |
| Country |
 Palatine Zweibrücken |
| Allegiance |
 France
|
| Branch | Infantry |
| Type | Infantry of the line |
| Size | 2-4 Battalions |
| Engagements |
Seven Years' War American Revolution |
The Régiment Royal Deux-Ponts, (Zweibrücken/Two Bridges) was a French foreign regiment of Foot, created under the Ancien Régime in 1757.
The regiment was raised on 1 April 1757 by the duc de Deux-Ponts (Herzogtum Zweibrücken) in his estates as well as in Alsatian bailiwicks. This family owned the Petite-Pierre county, the bailiwicks of Bischwiller, Guttemberg, Seltz and Hagenbach. Outside France, it also owned the bailiwicks of Neucastel, Barbelroth, Cleeburg and Weylenbourg in Alsace.
The regiment initially counted 2 battalions but was soon increased to 3 battalions. In February 1758, the regiment was increased to 4 battalions. On January 18, 1760, when the German Infantry was reorganised, the regiment was reduced to its original strength.
Somewhere between August 23 and September 6, 1757, the regiment joined the Army of Saxony, led by Charles, Prince of Soubise, in the area of Erfurt and Eisenach. Soubise considered the regiment as of a particularly bad quality. On 27 September it was combined with Royal Roussillon Infanterie in the first line of the left wing of the Franco-Imperial Army. On 5 November the regiment was at the Battle of Rossbach, brigaded with the Royal Roussillon Infanterie in the first line of the centre. At the end of the year, it took winter quarters on the Kinzig River in Hessen.
At the end of January 1758, the regiment was assigned to the army that Louis XV planned to send to Bohemia for joint operations with the Austrian Army. However, when Ferdinand of Brunswick launched his surprise offensive in Western Germany, the regiment retreated towards Düsseldorf and Deutz with the bulk of Broglie's army. It passed the Rhine on 3–4 April. In the first days of June, Soubise's army assembled near Friedberg for an offensive in Hesse. The regiment was part of a detachment under the command of Broglie who followed up Ysenburg during his retreat. On 23 July 1758, the regiment took part in the Battle of Sandershausen where one of its battalions was placed in the first line of the centre to support Royal Bavière Infanterie, while another battalion guarded the defiles at Sandershausen and the two remaining battalions guarded the town of Kassel. Three of its grenadier companies fought against the Hessian force occupying the Ellenbach woods on the French right wing.
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