The Régiment de Royal Suédois ( en, Royal Swedish Regiment) was a foreign infantry regiment in the Royal French Army during the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

. It was created in 1690 from Swedish prisoners taken during the Battle of Fleurus. The regiment eventually acquired the privilege of being called a Royal regiment.

German regiment

The regiment nominally accepted only Swedish officers. However most of the privates and NCOs were of German origin, from

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania ( sv, Svenska Pommern; german: Schwedisch-Pommern) was a dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held ...

, in view of the difficulty of obtaining sufficient numbers of Swedish recruits, and at least one Irishman,

Daniel Charles, Count O'Connell Daniel Charles, Count O'Connell (21 May 1745 – 9 July 1833) was the uncle of Daniel O'Connell "the Liberator." He was from a noble family of Derrynane House, County Kerry, Ireland, but because of the Penal Laws (Ireland) of the time, which for ...

, was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the regiment. The actual Swedish element in the regiment diminished after 1740. Between 1741 and 1749 only one of the 438 men enlisted was actually Swedish. By 1754 even the officer corps numbered only 14 Swedes out of a total of 41. In spite of its origins and connections the Royal-Suedois came to be ranked as a German regiment. Count Axel von Fersen purchased the position of colonel-proprietor of the regiment in 1783, according to some in order to be able to stay close to the Queen of France

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

. He remained in active command of the regiment until the beginning of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

in 1789, and officially this was still the case when, in 1791, all non-Swiss foreign regiments of the royal army were disbanded. The regiment was then reorganised as the new 89th Regiment of the

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Regimental title

Initially named the Lenck Regiment, the unit was renamed as the Appelgrehn Regiment in 1734. These titles were both names of the successive regimental colonels, following the usual French Army practice of the period. However in 1742 the Swedish government requested that the regiment be given the distinction of being renamed Royal-Suedois.

Colours

File:Rég de Leisler Col.png, File:Rég de Leisler 1690.png, File:Rég de Sparre 1694.png, File:Rég de Lenck 1714.png, File:Rég d Appelgrehn 1734.png, File:Rég de Royal-Suédois Col.png, File:Rég de Royal-Suédois 1742.png, File:Rég de Roy Suédois 1760.png,

Uniforms

From about 1750 onwards the regiment was distinguished by wearing dark blue coats with buff (yellow-brown) collars and cuffs. This colour combination matched the uniform of most infantry regiments in the Swedish Army from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. File:Johan Cronhielm af Flosta.jpg, File:Lenck inf 1720.png, File:Applegrehn inf 1734.png, File:80RI Roy Suedois1762.png, File:Uniformes militaires où se trouvent (...)Montigny Claude-Antoine bpt6k15213965 213.jpg, régiment Royal-Suédois in 1772 File:Royal Suédois 92RI 1776.png,

Swedish regiment

In December 1813, the regiment was once again raised by a French

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followi ...

in Germany, and it fought in the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

during the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...

in 1813 and during the campaign in

Norway in 1814 In 1814, the Kingdom of Norway made a brief and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to regain its independence. While Norway had always legally been a separate kingdom, since the 16th century it had shared a monarch with Denmark; Norway was a subo ...

. The Royal Suédois was finally disbanded in December 1814 while in Norway.

Traditions

Today, the regiment's traditions and flag are carried on in the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

via a company in the 4th Infantry Regiment.

References

*Beckman, Margareta. ''Under fransk fana!: Royal Suédois.'' Stockholm: Svenskt Militärhistoriskt Bibliotek, 1995. {{DEFAULTSORT:Regiment Royal-Suedois Military units and formations established in 1690 Military units and formations disestablished in 1791 Infantry regiments of the Ancien Régime