Regiment of the Crown (France)

The Régiment de La Couronne (Regiment of the Crown) was an infantry regiment of the Kingdom of France, created in 1643.

Lineage

 * 1643 : creation of the Régiment de La Reine-Mère (Regiment of the Queen Mother)
 * 1666 : renamed Régiment de Genlis
 * 1666 : renamed Régiment d’Artois
 * 1673 : named Régiment de La Couronne (Regiment of the Crown)
 * January 1, 1791 : renamed the 45th Line Infantry Regiment
 * December 3, 1794 : the 1st Battalion was incorporated into the 89th Battle Demi-Brigade (89e demi-brigade de bataille) when that demi-brigade formed.
 * 1795 : the 2nd Battalion was incorporated into the 86th Battle Demi-Brigade (90e demi-brigade de bataille) when it formed.

Regimental Colors
During the Siege of Maastricht (1673), the Régiment d’Artois was renamed La Couronne (The Crown) as a reward for valor, and awarded new regimental arms, a white cross on an azure background with the motto Dedit hanc Mastrika coronam "Maastricht [lui] a valu cette couronne" (Maastricht won this crown).

9 regimental colors out of which one "white", Colonel and eight for ordinance, "all blue with the French Crown in gold in the middle of each white cross".

Colonels and mestres de camp

 * June 25, 1643: François-Marie de l’Hôpital, Duke of Vitry, Colonel
 * June 7, 1757: N. Bruslard, Marquis de Genlis
 * June 1673: N. Bruslard, Marquis de Gelis-Bethancourt
 * September 1675: N. Bruslard, Marquis de Genlis
 * March 12, 1677: Hardouin Bruslard, Chevalier de Genlis
 * March 30, 1693: N. de Prunier, Marquis de Saint-André
 * July 26, 1698: Louis, Marquis de Polastron
 * May 11, 1707: René-François de Froulay, Chevalier de Tessé
 * February 17, 1712: Jean François Gabriel, Count of Polastron
 * March 10, 1734: Armand Louis de Béthune, Marquis de Charost, killed in 1735 near Trèves
 * November 11, 1735: Louis-Ferdinand-Joseph de Croi, Duke of Havré, Colonel-lieutenant
 * Mars 14 1758: Marie-Alexandre-Léonor-Louis-César de Saint-Mauris, Count of Montbarrey
 * November 30, 1761: Pierre-Constantin Le Vicomte, Count of Blangy
 * June 22, 1767: Claude-Antoine de Béziade, Marquis d’Avaray
 * November 11, 1782: Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste, Count of Choiseul-Gouffier
 * January 1, 1784: Augustin-Louis-Charles, Marquis de Lameth
 * October 21, 1791: Joseph-Marie-Anne de Moyria
 * March 8, 1793: François Goulu

Campaign and battles

 * Régiment de La Couronne
 * The Regiment de la Couronne was garrisoned in Bonn during the Siege of Bonn (1703) (siège de 1703). On October 13, 1703, the marquis Yves d'Alègre, governor of the city, sent the regiment in a counter-attack. Colonel de Polastron was wounded in action during this operation.

The 45th Line Infantry Regiment participated in the 1792-1793 campaign with the Army of the North (France), and in 1794 with the Army of Sambre and Meuse (armée de Sambre-et-Meuse).
 * 45th Line Infantry Regiment

Sources and bibliographies

 * Jean Churchill de Marlborough, Histoire de Jean Churchill, duc de Marlborough, vol. 1, Jean Imprimerie Impériale (Paris), 1808, 409 p. (lire en ligne [archive]).
 * Oscar, vicomte de Poli, Le Régiment de La Couronne : (1643-1791), Paris, Conseil héraldique de France, 1891, 370 p.