1/95e Regiment de Ligne

It was on the 1st of June 1734 that the 9th Swiss Regiment for service in the Bourbon French Army was raised in the Swiss canton of Grisons under the command of Baron Travers. In 1740 the regiment was renamed Regiment de Salis-Soglio, then in 1744 Regiment de Salis Mayenfeld and listed as the 99e Regiment of Infantry, changing its title again in 1762 the the Regiment de Salis-Marchlins.

In 1791 the regiment moved up in the lists and was retitled 95e  Regiment d'Infanterie only to be disbanded the following year in Corsica.

In 1794 the regiment was re-raised as the 95e demi-brigade de bataille under Colonel Gudin and was composed of the following elements:
1er bataillon, 48e Regiment d'Infanterie
2e batallion, Volontaires de la Creuse
8e batallion, Volontaires de la Haute-Saone

In 1798 the regiment was reorganised under Colonel Jean Veinnet and was composed of the following units:
Detachments of the 22e, 29e, 51e and 94e demi-brigades d'Infanterie de Ligne

Shako Plate 1810 - Rousselot

During this time the regiment was on active service against the Austrians on the Rhine frontier with an attachment to the forces organised for the expedition to Ireland in 1796.

In 1803 and the rise of Napoleon the regiment was retitled the 95e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne under Colonel Marc-Nicolas-Louis Pechaux who would command it at Talavera.
Marc-Nicolas-Louis Pecheux

In 1805 it was present at Austerlitz and would go on to gain the honours of Jena in 1806 and Freidland in 1807

The 95e Ligne is the one regiment I have the least information about and thus have relied very much on the Otto Manuscript illustrations for a guide to the look of the regiment in 1809.

As you can see there is nothing illustrating the fusilier or voltigeur company men or the musicians and I have thus gone with a classic look for these companies without any other sources to go on.

Points to note are the white chords worn by the grenadier and the pale light blue of the facings on the sapper which I have chosen to replicate on the musicians for my regimental look.

Rousselot's interpretation of the Otto illustration above

My 1/95e Ligne are composed of figures from AB and the fanion is from GMB Flags

With this first battalion of the 95e Ligne done, it just leaves two more battalions to complete the regiment and the twenty-four line battalions that composed Victor's I Corps d'Armee. In the next post featuring the second battalion we will look at the regiments involvement in the Peninsular War prior to Talavera.

Sources consulted for this post included:
Napoleon's Line Infantry, Haythornthwaite and Fosten - Osprey Men at Arms
French Napoleonic Line Infantry - Emir Bukhari
Napoleon's Soldiers, The Grande Armee of 1807 (The Otto Manuscript) - Guy C Dempsey Jr.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/95e_r%C3%A9giment_d%27infanterie
http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/c_frenchinf10.html
http://www.wikiwand.com/de/Infanterie_%C3%A9trang%C3%A8re_de_ligne#/Schweizer_Regimenter

Next up JJ's Wargames Artillery Correspondent, Mr Steve will have yet more information for you big gun fanciers with the next post covering his look at the Royal Artillery collection at Fort Nelson, Portsmouth.