Formed on February 8, 1796, from the 111th and 173rd battle demi-brigades, the 37th line demi-brigade received three model 1794 flags while it was in the Army of Rhine-et-Moselle.
On May 14, 1797, brigade leader Lacroix received his son as a second lieutenant, appointed to the regiment by order of Hoche who was then only a volunteer.
First fights
In 1796 and 1797, the demi-brigade saw combat near the fort of Erenbreinstein, at that of San Sebastián, where the demi-brigade crossed the Rhine in boats under enemy fire, then in combat and the capture of Limburg, the crossing of the Sieg and the battle of Altenkirschen. It fought near Fort Koenigsten, in Neustadt and Neumarck, took part in the battles of Burgbracq and Würtsbourg, as well as in the defense of the Neuwied bridgehead.
In 1799, the 37th demi-brigade passed to the Army of Helvetia then to that of the Danube. On March 1, during the capture of Chur, with the 103rd, it completed the routing of the enemy and took three thousand prisoners (1), three flags, and sixteen pieces of artillery. “We bivouacked on the outskirts of the town in the vineyards; the suburbs had been left to be pillaged, and a quantity of wine was found there; after drinking it, one was overcome with fatigue; sleep took hold of us, we were soon asleep despite the snow which was falling in rushing flakes, we were soon completely covered in it. » (2) The following May 12, after the murder of several soldiers in Dissentis, “the inhabitants were gathered at the convent and after filling the doors with wood, they set it on fire; the village was not spared anymore; when we passed there, we could not see anything more horrible, we saw the corpses burning as well as the cattle,” writes Jacquin.
In March 1799, the 37th was at the battle of Felskirck then at that of Offenburg. In September, she left for the battles against the Russians at Dictikon where the passage of the Limmat was forced. If the 10th light demi-brigade crossed the Limmat in baskets, the elite companies of the 37th remained, under Russian fire, on the other bank until the bridge was established, despite the efforts of the masses' opponents.
The 37th distinguished itself on September 25, 1799, at the Battle of Zurich where "we took very few prisoners, most of them, although wounded, did not want to surrender, they were instead killed" notes Jacquin. It distinguished itself again on September 30 at the capture of the city then on October 7 and 8 at the battle of Dissenhofen. It was only at the beginning of December that the men received their new uniform, after thirteen months of service.
Under the Consulate
In 1800, following the dismissal in January of its two companies of grenadiers who refused to enter the Winterthur barracks, the regiment received the 1st Auxiliary Battalion of Allier. On May 5, the 37th was at the battle of Moëskirch where, despite considerable forces and numerous artillery, it maneuvered as if on the parade ground. Following this battle, Grenadier Trouville received a rifle of honor and Drummer Frenet received a baton of honor.
The 37th is then in Menningen, Dillengen and Hochotedt. She fought at Nordlingen, at Meroheim where her 1st battalion took the village of Ebeheim. She witnesses the battle at Felskirck. Following the Dillingen affair, rifleman Jeandon received an honorary rifle. By decree of 12 Pluviôse year 9, the leader of the 37th demi-brigade Lacroix received a saber of honor. These distinctions raise some jealousies: “Gauché, being older than me, received the one intended for him, and the one intended for me was given to a man named Jacquin, a grenadier in the 3rd company, who was not at Fuesen's affair, but he was on the side of the commander of the 3rd battalion who was his protector and who was keen to have an honorary rifle for the grenadier of his battalion. Unfortunately for me, I had no protector” writes Grenadier Jacquin in his memoirs.
On April 5, the 37th Line became part of the Army of the Rhine, in the Lorges division. Thanks to its reformed Grenadier companies, it bivouacked victoriously on the battlefield of Stockash on May 3, fought at the battle of Hochstedt on June 18 and 19 then at that of Neubourg on the 27. In January 1801, it was part of the troops of the Army of the Rhine. The following year, his brigade leader, Lacroix, was replaced by Petit.
A striking regiment
Back in France, their uniforms in tatters, the soldiers complained of not having received their pay or having received new clothing despite the sums released (3): “We asked for our pay and shoes; our captain, as well as several other officers, went to the 4th company of the battalion to seize the flag, but immediately the soldiers of this company crossed bayonets on the officers who were obliged to leave the flag; our captain shouted in vain: “Mine, grenadiers!” none moved” (4). Following this strike, the soldiers received part of their pay and shoes. The regiment then entered Spain.
On June 1, 1802, the order was given to complete the 3rd battalion with the first two (5), to embark for Guadeloupe and Martinique. The departure of the 3rd battalion for Santo Domingo took place in April 1802 where it remained until the capitulation of the last French forces, probably with its old flag. Six months after its landing, the 3rd battalion only had a few dozen men left.
On September 8, 1803, a battalion of the 37th was moved to Lorient by order of General Delaborde to replace the 47th demi-brigade there. On October 24, the demi-brigade was regimented, with two battalions of the 38th and became the 37th line infantry regiment under the orders of Colonel Gautier.
On February 21, 1804, the 1st battalion was at the Brest camp and commanded by Simon; the 2nd was also at the Brest camp, commanded by Maran; the 3rd battalion was in Lorient, commanded by Chaudron, as is the 4th, commanded by Peux. During this period, a small traffic was set up: Captain Federlin of the 4th Grenadier Company granted permission to work with exemption from service for a sum of six francs per month, forcing the others to repeat their service. It was a petition from the grenadiers brought to the attention of Major Husson which put an end to the practice.
On July 9, 1,500 men of the regiment were placed at the disposal of Admiral Ganthaume. The 1st battalion, coming from Quimper, was embarked on the 12th, and the 2nd battalion, which was garrisoned in Lorient, on the 18th. The men of the 37th, placed at the disposal of the Navy, are old soldiers accustomed to exercises and a discipline very different from the Navy. Added to this is clothing that is not practical for on-board service. The esprit de corps is then high and adds to prevent them from becoming sailors, which pushes General Donzelot to ask that young conscripts be made available to the squadron. The latter's approach seemed to bear fruit, since, on the following August 4, the regiment was reviewed. It has 121 officers and 2,241 soldiers, 95 of whom are to be reformed; despite this, it is missing 464 men to be at full strength, which is not prohibitive since the personnel situation is considered satisfactory. In 1804, the 37th Line infantry regiment received four Challiot model eagles and flags.
A regiment of Provençals
In years 11 and 12, the Bouches-du-Rhône department provided him with 450 conscripts. Its recruitment from Provence is even a reason why, in April 1806, “the regiment received the order to leave Vannes to go to Turin […] to be closer to receiving recruits from Provence; we could no longer send any of them to Brittany, they all deserted on the way because they feared the boat, the recruiting non-commissioned officers responsible for leading the detachments arrived in Vannes, so to speak, alone” (6).
During the Empire, out of 407 Crau soldiers (7), 67 served in the 37th line. The regiment, to properly supervise its numerous Provençal recruits, welcomed in 1807 a former corporal from the 1st Foot Grenadiers of the Guard, promoted to second lieutenant from the Crau plain. For this geographical area of Bouches-du-Rhône – barely larger than a canton – the number of conscripts put into active service in the 37th line is almost as numerous as for the department of Ain, where 78 soldiers of this department served, notably from 1813.
Despite the remoteness of a sunny country where social relations are strong, the Provençal soldiers of the 37th served with courage from the moment they arrived at the depot despite disappointments: “When I left, I left with a good heart, it seemed to me that I was going to make a trip like when I was going with the car but now I see that there is a big difference since we arrived, we were made to do the service twice a day with snow up to his knees and unbearable cold” wrote the future sergeant Porte de Charleval to his parents when he entered the depot of the 37th of the line in February 1807.
To the Great Army
In 1805, the regiment learned of the victory at Austerlitz while traveling to Prussia. On January 13, 1806, the regiment returned to France. It was completed during his stay in Chambéry, during the spring, before being sent to Italy. On July 18, the regiment was extraordinarily reviewed by General Menou to take stock of its companies, the central administration not knowing which ones had been embarked and which had been taken prisoner. The regiment only had 1,243 men under arms (including officers). 732 men were embarked or are prisoners of war. No entire company was embarked except the four companies of Grenadiers and the last two of Voltigeurs. The regiment is nevertheless at four battalions and it is missing 545 men, which suits the affairs of the administration since it is planned that the 37th of the line will be reduced to three battalions by decree of July 6. On August 27, the 37th line was reduced to three battalions by the amalgamation of the 4th into the first three.
On March 11, 1808, its war battalions were part of the 4th Corps of the Grande Armée. While it is planned to reduce the presence of certain regiments in the Grande Armée, the 37th keeps all of its three battalions in the 4th Corps (8). On May 3, the 3rd Battalion was reformed in Stralsund. The following July 6, all of its eagle holders were renewed. The first two battalions of the 37th leave for Spain. They were directed towards Girona and fought in front of Barcelona, at Molins del Rey (9), taking Roses in December.
From November, the regiment was destined to leave for Spain. Arriving in Lyon, he received a counter-order and obligation “to confine ourselves to Lyonnais and Burgundy to rest from our fatigue” until March 1, 1809.
In that same year, 1809, the 3rd and 4th battalions left for the Grande Armée. On April 21, “we managed to meet the Austrians at Landsoultz; we had a stubborn fight.” On the 22nd, he fought at Neumarck. On May 4, the 37th took part in the construction of a bridge in the vicinity of Ebersberg, so as not to see the “spectacle […] of these burned corpses”. On the 6th, the 37th was reviewed by Napoleon then traveled nineteen leagues to find itself facing Vienna where, after having participated in its encirclement on the 11th, it entered on the 18th. The regiment fought at Essling in a critical position, without being able to receive reinforcements or retreat. He fought for two days, without living; “the regiment lost considerably in numbers; from 2,400 men it was reduced to 1,200; we received a battalion of Guard riflemen which was amalgamated into our three battalions” specifies Jacquin. The regiment is in Wagram then in Znaïm. There, “the Emperor granted 40 decorations of the Legion of Honor for the regiment to reward the soldiers who best distinguished themselves at the affair of Essling and at the battle of Wagram; he reported to the leaders to distribute them to those who had most particularly distinguished themselves. About half of them were given to those who deserved them […] the others were to be given to soldiers who had distinguished themselves through brilliant actions. We had to groan to see them give to the vilest and most cowardly of the regiment, leaving once again a bitter aftertaste to the veterans who then asked for their retirement or their transfer to the gendarmerie.
In 1811, the first two battalions participated in the capture of Tarragona on June 28. On October 21, 900 men were at the regiment's depot serving to supplement its 4th battalion which served in Germany with the 3rd while the first two were still in Spain. The latter returned to France where they joined the two other battalions coming from the 4th Corps at the Suidlaren camp.
The Russian and German campaign
In 1812, the regiment's depot was in Besançon. For the Russian campaign, the 37th line was in Pouget's brigade, 8th division of Marshal Oudinot's 2nd corps, under the orders of Colonel Mayot. He was then trained by conscription in the Bas-Rhin department. The regiment was made up of four battalions and numbered 2,619 men. The regiment has five eagles in service, but four have returned. It seems that the 5th comes from a very damaged eagle in Wagram which would have been replaced without exchange. The flag silk is model 1812 with “Eckmühl, Essling, and Wagram”.
The regiment attended the Battle of Moskowa then the 1st and 2nd battalions were part of the attack column which captured a Russian battery at the Battle of Polotsk, on August 17 and 18, where its colonel, Mayot, as well as seven other officers, were killed. The regiment fought at Jacobowo, Oboiardszina, and Bérézina. Colonel Fortier was wounded on November 28, 1812. The regiment managed to keep its eagle during the retreat from Russia. The total officer casualties of the campaign were 22 killed and 41 wounded.
In 1813, the 37th line participated in the battles of Lützen, Bautzen where it stood out, in Leipzig and Hamburg. Colonel Fortier was wounded again on October 19, 1813. During the French campaign, the 37th distinguished itself at Brienne where a few grenadiers failed to capture Blücher who only owed his salvation to a German guide at nightfall. The regiment fought at La Rothière then at Montereau.
During the First Restoration, the 37th Line became the 36th Line with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Battalions of the 154th Line and the 8th Voltigeurs de la Garde. At the end of 1814, the new 36th once again became the 37th line infantry regiment, still commanded by Colonel Fortier.
The Hundred Days
In 1815, the regiment received an eagle and a model 1815 flag. It fought at Ligny and then took an active part in the Battle of Waterloo.
Its eagle and flag were destroyed in Bourges. The 37th line, Provencal regiment, entered the composition of the 76th legion, that of Deux-Sèvres then, at the end of 1815, formed the Sarthe legion.
(1) His brigade leader, Lacroix, captures an enemy general.
(2) Jérôme Croyet, The diary of François-Joseph Jacquin, soldier in the 37th line, S.E.H.R.I., 2008.
(3) Contributions were collected during the previous campaign but the officers kept the money instead of having uniforms made locally.
(4) Arriving in Spain, “around fifteen soldiers […] were arrested and put in dungeons to be brought before the War Council, the majority were from the 4th company of the battalion, for having revolted at Bayonne […]. The war council sentenced them all to be shot; fortunately, the Guard provided them with the means to make a hole in the prison to escape in the night; they went to Portugal. »
(5) These are mainly soldiers who returned to the regiment, having been taken prisoner in 1799 in Davos.
(6) Jérôme Croyet, op. cit.
(7) It includes the municipalities of Salon-de-Provence, Miramas, Pellissane,
(8) In January 1808, “our 3rd battalion had been slaughtered in the accommodations and destroyed by the Spaniards.”
(9) Lieutenant Roger stands out for his intrepidity although wounded in the right leg.
A brave man from the 37th: Lieutenant Poupard
Poupard was seriously injured by a gunshot wound to the left thigh at Grisweld, near Maubeuge, on September 17, 1793. He remained severely handicapped by this injury, which forced him to only travel, at his own expense, on horseback, all the time. walking is impossible for him. He was wounded again the following September 8 at Hooscoste near Dunkirk by another Biscay soldier on the left flank. On 3 Vendémiaire year viii, at the crossing of the Limath, in Switzerland, he distinguished himself again against the Russians: "At the end of this day, he fought against five Russians [grenadiers] to save the life of rifleman Robert, of the 7th company of the 2nd battalion of the 37th demi-brigade, which had just been knocked down by a bayonet blow which passed between the body and the left arm, that Citizen Poupard received a bayonet blow in the right arm; finally, this officer was going to be the victim of his generous devotion without the prompt arrival of second lieutenant Brey, who made it easier for him to withdraw by opening, with a blow of his saber, the head of one of the grenadiers who came to take citizen Poupart from behind, while he fought the others in front. » A courageous, honest, and distinguished officer in his service, he received a certificate of honor from his fellow officers on 10 Ventôse, Year XII while the regiment was in Vannes. Poupart received the Legion of Honor on November 5, 1804, and retired to Alençon in 1806.
Human losses
During the campaigns of the First Empire, 33 officers of the 37th line were killed, 15 died of their wounds and 168 were wounded. Colonel Mayot was killed on August 18, 1812; Colonel Fortier was wounded on November 28, 1812, and October 19, 1813. Several officers were also killed and/or wounded while serving in the 37th Infantry Regiment during the period 1804-1815: 33 officers were killed; 15 officers died from their injuries; 168 officers were injured.
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