French 2nd Battalion Regiment Bearn 1759

[Unlucky General]

Well this has been the best year yet for me when it comes to volume of blog postings. I'm determined to end this productive year with a bit of a bang. For those of you interested, please find the latest unit I have painted for my battle for Quebec on the Plains of Abraham http://unluckygeneral.blogspot.com/2019/11/battle-for-quebec-french-2nd-battalion.html

[vtsaogames]

Tres bien!

[Unlucky General]

Merci beaucoup

[Unlucky General]

Someone raised an interesting point about the colonel's colour for this regiment. Should it be there?

I have to admit I hadn't thought about it but of course several of the French battalions in Canada were second battalions. None of my resources clarify this. I understand that the colonel's colour was normally with the first battalion of a regiment and subsequent battalions took the filed with ordinance colours (the other, colourful ,one).

Every flag manufacturer and several resources have both but without any justification. I really don't know.

Does the Colonel's colour represent the King like a King's colour does in British regiments? I only ask because of it's relative consistency across all regiments as opposed to the ordinance colour (the reverse of the British practice where the Colonel's colour is the regimental colour and the King's is the consistent Jack).

Could these Canadian 'second' battalions have had their own Colonel's colour because a) they were detached from the senior battalion (in another theatre of operations) and b) weren't taking the field with the first battalion in which case could/should represent the Colonel and or the King?

[Arthur]

Back in the first half of the C17th, the white flag was originally a means of distinguishing the old - and therefore most prestigious - infantry regiments from the more recently raised units. The white flag was originally conditioned by the existence of a compagnie colonelle, which received a drapeau colonel paid for by the colonel général de l'infanterie, who oversaw the whole of the French infantry. The more recent corps which were not entitled to a compagnie colonelle were restricted to coloured flags known as the drapeaux d'ordonnance. All this changed in 1661 when the office of the colonel général was abolished and all infantry regiments, including those who did not have a compagnie colonelle, became entitled to a white flag. 

Each regiment possessed only one white flag, which was carried by the first battalion along with a coloured drapeau d'ordonnance. 2nd, 3rd and 4rth battalions (if any) carried two coloured drapeaux d'ordonnance apiece, a rule which suffered no exception.

Since nearly all French regular infantry units deployed in Canada in the late 1750's were second or third battalions, none of them had white drapeaux colonels except Royal-Roussillon. The full list is as follows :

* La Reine (2nd batt.)
* Guyenne (2nd batt.)
* Berry (2nd & 3rd batts.)
* Béarn (2nd batt.)
* La Sarre (2nd batt.)
* Royal Roussillon (1st batt.)
 * Languedoc (2nd batt. - a wing of the 1st battalion was sent to Canada but was captured while crossing the Atlantic. The bulk of the 1st battalion was in Germany along with the white flag)

[Unlucky General]

Thanks Arthur.

Since my previous query I have reached the same understanding and changed my drapeau - fortunately a lot easier than the other way around which would have required a complete reconstruction.

[Arthur]

You're welcome.

I put together the post above very quickly and now rather belatedly realise I managed to forget the end of my list of infantry regiments in New France - soz about that. Here are the three missing ones :

- Cambis (2nd batt.)
- Artois (2nd batt.)
- Bourgogne (2nd batt., though a few companies of the 1st were belatedly sent to Canada in 1759. The white flag remained in France with the bulk of the 1st battalion)