Touraine Regiment
Encyclopedia
Founded in 1625, the Régiment de Touraine was a French infantry regiment raised in the province of Touraine
Touraine
The Touraine is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, the Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher and Indre.-Geography:...

.

Origins

At the end of 1624, the protestant stronghold of La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...

 sent an expedition and besieged Port Louis
Port-Louis, Morbihan
Port-Louis is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France.-Demographics:Inhabitants of Port-Louis are called in French Port-Louisiens.-References:* * -External links:* * *...

 in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

. As no troops were stationned in this province at this time, Louis XIII
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...

 sent Marshal Bassompierre, which, from Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....

, urged Baron du Plessis-Joigny, governor of this city, to create an infantry regiment. The protestant expedition on Port-Louis was cancelled, but the newly raised regiment victoriously took part to the siege of the rebellious city
Siege of La Rochelle
The Siege of La Rochelle was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627-1628...

 between 1627 and 1628.

In May 1636 the regiment received the name of Touraine and its regimental flags. During the Fronde
Fronde
The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisian mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin....

 the colonels profited from the weakening of royal authority and did away with the provincial title of their regiments and a regiment was thereafter called according to the name of the colonel. Subsequently, the Touraine regiment appeared as the Régiment d'Amboise, de Kercado or de Chambellay.

Franco-Spanish War

During the Franco-Spanish War, the Regiment de Touraine participated to the Italian campaign where it successfully attacked Spanish possessions in Northern Italy, including Ceva
Ceva
Ceva, the ancient Ceba, is a small Italian town in the province of Cuneo, region of Piedmont, 49 km east of Cuneo. It lies on the right bank of the Tanaro on a wedge of land between that river and the Cevetta stream.-History:...

, Pianezza
Pianezza
Pianezza is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 12 km northwest of Turin.-External links:*...

, Mondovi
Mondovi
Mondovi may refer to:*Mondovì, town in Italy, in the Piemonte**Battle of Mondovì, battle of the Napoleonic Wars*Roman Catholic Diocese of Mondovì, in the Ecclesiastical Region of Piedmont*Mondovi, Wisconsin, city in Buffalo County...

 and took part to the famous siege of Turin
Siege of Turin (1640)
The 1640 siege of Turin was a major action in two distinct wars: the Franco-Spanish War and the Piedmontese Civil War. Thomas of Savoy and his supporters had seized the city of Turin in 1639, but French troops supporting the Regent Christine continued to hold the citadel...

.

Franco-Dutch War and War of the Reunions

Under Turenne's command, the regiment participated to the siege of Valenciennes
Siege of Valenciennes
The Siege of Valenciennes, also known as the Siege of Utrecht, took place from November 1676 to March 1677, during the Franco-Dutch War. A French army besieged the city of Valenciennes, which was then a part of the Spanish Netherlands and defended by a small army of the Holy Roman Empire. The city...

 the battle of Cassel
Battle of Cassel (1677)
The Battle of Cassel was fought on April 11, 1677, as a part of the Franco-Dutch War. It resulted in a French victory under Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, assisted by the Duke of Humières and Marshal Luxembourg, against the Dutch under William III of Orange, Stadtholder of the Netherlands...

 and the Siege of Luxembourg (1684)
Siege of Luxembourg (1684)
In the 1684 Siege of Luxembourg, by Louis XIV of France in 1684, an action that caused alarm among France's neighbours and resulted in the formation of the League of Augsburg in 1686. In the ensuing war France was forced to give up the duchy, which was returned to the Habsburgs by the Treaty of...

.

War of the Spanish Succession

War of the Polish Succession

War of the Austrian Succession

The regiment was present at the battle of Fontenoy
Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought between the forces of the Pragmatic Allies – comprising mainly Dutch, British, and Hanoverian troops under the nominal command of the Duke of Cumberland – and a French army under Maurice de...

 1745 and the sieges of Tournai, Termonde and Ath. In 1746 it fought at the battle of Rocoux
Battle of Rocoux
The Battle of Rocoux was a French victory over an allied Austrian, British, Hanoveran and Dutch army outside Liège during War of the Austrian Succession.-Preliminary maneuvers:...

 and the siege of Namur. In 1747 it was at the battle of Lauffeld
Battle of Lauffeld
The Battle of Lauffeld, also known as the Battle of Lafelt or Battle of Maastricht, also Battle of Val, took place on 2 July 1747, during the French invasion of the Netherlands. It was part of the War of the Austrian Succession...

 and participated at the siege of Bergen op Zoom
Siege of Bergen op Zoom (1747)
The Siege of Bergen op Zoom took place during the Austrian War of Succession, when a French army, under the command of Lowendal and the overall direction of Marshal Maurice de Saxe, laid siege and captured the strategic Dutch border fortress of Bergen op Zoom on the border of Brabant and Zealand...

. It was at the siege of Maastricht
Siege of Maastricht
The Siege of Maastricht was one of the key elements in King Louis XIV's plans to attack the Netherlands, in order to revenge the humiliating conditions enforced on him by the Triple Alliance when he tried to fully conquer the Spanish Netherlands...

 in 1748.

Seven Years' War

In 1757 Touraine fought at battle of Hastenbeck
Battle of Hastenbeck
The Battle of Hastenbeck was fought as part of the Invasion of Hanover during the Seven Year's War between the allied forces of Hanover, Hesse-Kassel and Brunswick and the French...

. It was at the battle of Krefeld
Battle of Krefeld
The Battle of Krefeld was a battle fought on 23 June 1758 between a Prussian-Hanoverian army and a French army during the Seven Years' War.-Background:...

 in 1758. The regiment was present at the battle of Minden
Battle of Minden
The Battle of Minden—or Thonhausen—was fought on 1 August 1759, during the Seven Years' War. An army fielded by the Anglo-German alliance commanded by Field Marshal Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, defeated a French army commanded by Marshal of France Louis, Marquis de Contades...

 in 1759 and the siege of Mǚnster. It fought at Warburg
Battle of Warburg
The Battle of Warburg was a battle fought on 31 July 1760 during the Seven Years' War. The Battle was a victory for the Hanoverians and the British against the French. British general John Manners, Marquess of Granby achieved some fame for charging at the head of the British cavalry and losing his...

 in 1760, covering the retreat of the army.

American revolutionary war

The regiment, commanded by Vicomte de Poudeux, was among forces under Saint Simon brought from the West Indies to Yorktown. Régiment de Touraine principal engagements: Yorktown
Siege of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Yorktown, or Surrender of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis...

 ; St Christophe
Battle of St. Kitts
The Battle of Saint Kitts, also known as the Battle of Frigate Bay, was a naval battle that took place on 25 and 26 January 1782 during the American Revolutionary War between a British fleet under Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and a larger French fleet under the Comte de Grasse.-Background:When Hood...

 ; Les Saintes
Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned...

.

French Revolution

In 1791, the provincial
Provinces of France
The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces. The provinces of France were roughly equivalent to the historic counties of England...

 names of the French regiments were abolished and a number was assigned to each of them. Thus the regiment of Touraine became the 33rd line infantry regiment.
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