The 102nd Infantry Regiment () was an infantry regiment of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Reconstituted several times in the 19th century, it took part in the Second Opium War in China, then in the First and Second World Wars, being disbanded in 1940.

French Royal Army The French Royal Army () was the principal land force of the Kingdom of France. It served the Bourbon dynasty from the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-17th century to that of Charles X in the 19th, with an interlude from 1792 to 1814 and another du ...

Its ancestor regiments were the Infantry Regiment of the Line Le Dauphin (Nr. 29) and Royal-Deux Ponts (Nr 99). The regiment was raised in 1667 by Michel De Fisicat, as ''Le Dauphin'' (nr. 29) and on 26 April 1775 split into two regiments. The 1st and 3rd battalions retained the old title and number and the 2nd and rth battalions became the new infantry regiment ''Perche'' (Nr 30).Digby Smith, ''Napoleon's Regiments: Battle histories of the Regiments of the French Army, 1792-1815'', London: Greenhill, 2000, , p. 149.

The Revolutionary Wars as Infantry Regiment of the Line ''Perche'' (Nr 30)

Campaigns

Initially, the regiment served in the Army of the Center, at Metz. Following the

Battle of Valmy The Battle of Valmy, also known as the Cannonade of Valmy, was the first major victory by the army of Kingdom of France (1791–92), France during the French Revolutionary Wars, Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The battl ...

on 20 September 1792, the regiment was assigned to the

Army of the Ardennes The Army of the Ardennes (''armée des Ardennes'') was a French Revolutionary Army formed on the first of October 1792 by splitting off the right wing of the Army of the North, commanded from July to August that year by La Fayette. From July to ...

. In 1793, the regiment saw action in the Meuse campaign. In 1794, it underwent its first amalgamation (17 May), under the

Levée en Masse ''Levée en masse'' ( or, in English, ''mass levy'') is a French term used for a policy of mass national conscription, often in the face of invasion. The concept originated during the French Revolutionary Wars, particularly for the period fo ...

, and became the 2nd battalion 59th Demi-Brigade of Battle, with the 4th battalion, Volunteers of Paris, also called '''l'Oratoire'' and the 7th battalion of the Rhône-et-Loire, in the

Army of the Moselle The Army of the Moselle (''Armée de la Moselle'') was a French Revolutionary Army from 1791 through 1795. It was first known as the '' Army of the Centre'' and it fought at Valmy. In October 1792 it was renamed and subsequently fought at Trier, ...

.Smith, p. 149. In 1797, the regiment was part of the Armée de Sambre-et-Meuse. In 1798, as part of the Army of Germany and the Army of Mayence (Mainz), the Regiment saw action in the Rhineland. In 1799, as part of the Army of Mayence, it was transferred to the

Army of the Danube The Army of the Danube () was a field army of the French Directory in the 1799 southwestern campaign in the Upper Danube valley. It was formed on 2 March 1799 by the simple expedient of renaming the Army of Observation, which had been obs ...

, under the general command of

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (; 29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I i ...

; the regiment was part of the I Division, under the immediate command of

Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino, (23 August 1747, Craveggia – 28 June 1816, Paris), was a general and politician of France. Born in the Savoy, he was the son of a low-ranking officer in the Habsburg military. In 1789, during the French Revolu ...

, and participated in action at the

Battle of Ostrach The Battle of Ostrach, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred on 20–21 March 1799. It was the first non-Italy-based battle of the War of the Second Coalition. The battle resulted in the victory of the Austrian forces, under the command of ...

(20–21 March 1799), and the Battle of Stockach, 25–26 March 25–26, 1799. On 25 September 1799, the regiment fought at the Battle of Zurich. : Battle of Caldiero

The Napoleonic Wars

War Of The Third Coalition

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV French Republican calendar, FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near t ...

War of the Fourth Coalition

Battle of Halle In the Battle of Halle on 17 October 1806 a French corps led by Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte fought the Prussian Reserve under Eugene Frederick Henry, Duke of Württemberg. The French defeated their opponents, forcing the Prussians to retreat ...

Battle of Lübeck The Battle of Lübeck took place on 6 November 1806 in Lübeck, Germany between soldiers of the Kingdom of Prussia led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, who were retreating from defeat at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, and troops of the Fir ...

Battle of Mohrungen In the Battle of Mohrungen on 25 January 1807, most of a First French Empire corps under the leadership of Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte fought a strong Russian Empire advance guard led by Major General Yevgeni Ivanovich Markov. The Fren ...

Battle of Friedland The Battle of Friedland (14 June 1807) was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars between the armies of the French Empire commanded by Napoleon I and the armies of the Russian Empire led by General Levin August von Bennigsen. Napoleon and t ...

Battle of Schleiz The Battle of Schleiz took place on 9 October 1806 in Schleiz, Germany between a Prussian-Saxon division under Bogislav Friedrich Emanuel von Tauentzien and a part of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte's I Corps under the command of Jean-Baptiste Droue ...

The Peninsular war

Dos de Mayo Uprising The ''Dos de Mayo'' or Second of May Uprising took place in Madrid, Spain, on 2–3 May 1808. The rebellion, mainly by civilians, with some isolated military action by junior officers, was against the occupation of the city by French troops, ...

Battle of Zornoza The Battle of Zornoza, fought on 31 October 1808, was one of the opening engagements in Napoleon's invasion of Spain. The battle was intended to encircle and crush the left wing of the Spanish front. The Spanish infantry was swiftly thrown ba ...

Battle of Valmaseda The Battle of Valmaseda (or Balmaseda) took place on 5 November 1808, during Lieutenant-General Blake's retreat from superior French armies in northern Spain. Reinforced by veteran regular infantry from General La Romana's Division of the N ...

Battle of Espinosa The Battle of Espinosa de los Monteros took place during the Napoleonic Wars, on 10 and 11 November 1808 at the village of Espinosa de los Monteros in the Cantabrian Mountains. It resulted in a French victory under Marshal Victor against Li ...

Battle of Talavera The Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809) was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish ...

Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro At the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro (3–5 May 1811), the Anglo-Portuguese Army under Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida. A bloody stalemate ...

Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos The Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos took place on 28 October 1811 during the Peninsular War. An allied force under General Rowland Hill trapped and defeated a French force under General Jean-Baptiste Girard, forcing the latter's dismissal by ...

Battle of Maya The Battle of Maya (25 July 1813) saw an First French Empire, Imperial French corps led by Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon attack the 2nd Infantry Division (United Kingdom), British 2nd Division under William Stewart (1774–1827), William ...

: Occupation of Pamplona, :

Battle of the Bidassoa (1813) In the Battle of the Bidasoa (or the Battle of Larrun) on 7 October 1813 the Allied army of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington wrested a foothold on French soil from Nicolas Soult's French army ...

, Spelleto, and :

Battle of Bayonne The Battle of Bayonne (14 April 1814), the last major battle of the Peninsular War, ensued when the French garrison of Bayonne led by General of Division Pierre Thouvenot launched a sortie against a besieging force of British, Portuguese, and ...

War of the Fifth Coalition

Battle of Essling In the Battle of Aspern-Essling (21–22 May 1809), Napoleon crossed the Danube near Vienna, but the French and their allies were attacked and forced back across the river by the Austrians under Archduke Charles. It was the first time Napoleo ...

Battle of Wagram The Battle of Wagram (; 5–6 July 1809) was a military engagement of the Napoleonic Wars that ended in a costly but decisive victory for Emperor of the French, Emperor Napoleon's French and allied army against the Austrian Empire, Austrian arm ...

War of the Sixth Coalition

: Siege of Danzig, Wurschen, Gieshubel, :

Battle of Dresden The Battle of Dresden (26–27 August 1813) was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle took place around the city of Dresden in modern-day Germany. With the recent addition of Austria, the Sixth Coalition felt emboldened in t ...

, Grieffenberg, Elsen, : Battle of Dohna, : Battle of Bautzen :

Siege of Genoa (1814) The siege of Genoa on 13–18 April 1814 was the capture of the port city of Genoa from the First French Empire by a British–Sicilian army, during the War of the Sixth Coalition. The Anglo-Sicilian forces, commanded by Lieutenant General Wi ...

2 battalions present

War of the Seventh Coalition

: Battle of Lille : Battle of Courtrai

Greek War of Independence

The Morea expedition

: 1828 : Expédition de Morée

Sources

Citations and notes

Bibliography

* * *{{Cite book , last1=Smith , first1=Digby , title=Napoleon's Regiments: Battle histories of the Regiments of the French Army, 1792-1815 , publisher=Greenhill , location=London , date=2000 , isbn=978-1-85-367413-6 Regiments of France in the French Revolutionary Wars Regiments of the First French Empire Infantry regiments of France Military units and formations established in 1791 Military units and formations disestablished in 1940