The 2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment, (french: 2^e Régiment de Marche du 2^e étranger, 2^eR.M. 2^eR.E) was a French Military regiment in the

Legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army * Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...

which formed the Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion (R.M.L.E) and existed ephemerally from end of 1914 to 1915.

Creation and different nominations

In August 1914: the 2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment, (french: 2^e Régiment de Marche du 2^e étranger, 2^eR.M. 2^eR.E) was created in Saïda,

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. On November 11, 1915: the 2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment (french: 2^e Régiment de Marche du 2^e étranger, 2^eR.M. 2^eR.E) was dissolved and contingents were merged with the

2nd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment The 2nd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment, (french: 2e régiment de marche du 1er étranger, 2e R.M. 1er R.E) was a French military unit of the Legion which formed the Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion (R.M.L.E) and existed ephe ...

(french: 2^e Régiment de Marche du 1^er étranger, 2^eR.M. 1^erR.E) to form the Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion (R.M.L.E).

History, garrisons, campaigns and battles

Creation of the regiment

On August 29, 1914, the 2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment set voyage from Saïda for Oran and arrived on April 30. The regiment was then formed of 2 battalions at 2 reduced

combat Combat (French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

companies counting ( 20

Officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fr ...

- 68 Sous-Officiers - 694 Caporaux and

Legionnaires The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, cavalry, engineers, airborne troops. It was created in 1831 to allow foreign nationals into the French Army. It ...

) On August 30 and 31, the regiment embarked for destination

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

and disembarked on September 2. While one of the battalion's regiment joined

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

and stationed until September 29 at garrison Pérignon.

Combats in Champagne

The regiment initiated battle formations at camp de Mailly, south of Reims on October 2 when one of the battalion and general headquarter staff rendez-vous with another of the regiment's battalion. On October 18, the day of departure, the regiment counted 1947 men constituting 2 battalions. The regiment arrived at camp de Pertus on the 19, and with the

(french: 2^e Régiment de Marche du 1^er étranger, 2^eR.M.1^erR.E), both Marching Regiments formed a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

which was placed at the corps of the 5th Army of

général is the French word for general. There are two main categories of generals: the general officers (), which are the highest-ranking commanding officers in the armed forces, and the specialist officers with flag rank (), which are high-level office ...

Louis Félix Marie François Franchet d'Espèrey. On October 21, the regiment and the brigade were at Verzy, south of Reims. Until October 26, the regiment's battalions relayed each other in the first line

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from erosi ...

within the sectors of Prunay, Sillery, and prepositions of Verzenay in the south-east of Reims. On October 26, the regiment left Verzenay, destined for Cuiry-les-Chaudardes in the north-west of Reims where the Marching Regiment was assigned to the 71st Brigade of Colonel Denis Auguste Duchêne (5th Army). The regiment's 3rd recently formed battalion from the depot of

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

, joined the regiment on October 25 at

Merval The S&P MERVAL Index (''MERcado de VALores'', ) is the most important index of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange. It is a price-weighted index, calculated as the market value of a portfolio of stocks selected based on their market share, number of ...

. Starting October 28, the 2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment made way to the first line at the front within the sector of Blanc Sablon and Craonnelle. On November 26, Chef de bataillon Mauvilain's battalion ( 14 Officers and 1053 men ), left the depot of

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Baslieux-lès-Fismes where the battalion garrisoned for a couple days. Subsequently, on December 15, Mauvilain's battalion to the turn, made way to the first line at the front. On May 22, 1915, the regiment was relieved from the front by the 34th Infantry Regiment and was retrieved from the 18th Armed Corps; the regiment counted 72 Officers and 3818 men. On the 24, the regiment prepositionned south of Reims and was assigned to the Provisionay Touborge Division then the Provisonary Corvisart Division. On June 14, a detachment from the regiment made way to Prouilly and Chenay in the north-west of Reims and was assigned under the orders of the 1st Armed Corps. The regiment's detachment relieved the 201st French Infantry Regiment in the trenches of Chauffour and Carrières. On June 20, the remainder of the regiment to the turn joined the 1st Armed Corps and relieved the 284th French Infantry Regiment in the sector of Merfy - Saint Thierry. With the 6th Cavalry Chasseurs Regiment, the 2nd Marching Regiment constituted the Guérin group. On July 11, following the departure of 334

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and 394

Belgians Belgians ( nl, Belgen; french: Belges; german: Belgier) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultur ...

, one of the battalion's regiment was subsequently dissolved.

Haute Saône

On July 14, the regiment was relieved by the 127th French Infantry Regiment, the 75th French Infantry Regiment (territorial) and left the Guérin group. Accordingly, the regiment was assigned to the Moroccan Division (french: Division marocaine) and reconnected again with the

(french: 2^e Régiment de Marche du 1^er étranger, 2^eR.M.1^erR.E) at the corps of the 1st Brigade, north of

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department. History Montbéliard is ...

. On August 21, the regiment was put at disposition of the 57th French Infantry Division in order to participate to the mounting of counter-attack preparations in the region of the

Sentheim Sentheim () is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Haut-Rhin department The following is a list of the 366 communes of the French department of Haut-Rhin. The communes coope ...

, Soppe le Haut, Leimbash and

Roderen Roderen is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Haut-Rhin department The following is a list of the 366 communes of the French department of Haut-Rhin. The communes coopera ...

south of Thann. From August 28, the 2nd Marching Regiment was found prepositioning in Plancher Bas, Auxelles Bas and Auxelles Haut. On September 13, 1915, the regiment participated with the Moroccan Division (french: Division marocaine) to a military inspection revue in presence of the President of the Republic and the Minister of War, a ceremony during which the regiment received the regimental colors.

Return to Champagne

On September 14, the regiment left the respective prepositionings and made way to

Saint-Hilaire-au-Temple Saint-Hilaire-au-Temple () is a commune in the Marne department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative divisi ...

, north of

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the department of Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons-sur-Marne, the city was officially renam ...

within the sector of the 10^e DIC. On September 25, the regiment occupied the front line

and participated since the following day to a joint offensive along with the colonial regiments and during which the regimental commander Lecomte-Denis, was wounded. Until October 2, the date in which the regiment was relieved, the regiment registered around the sectors in concern numerous losses. The 2nd Marching Regiment which reconnected with the 1st Brigade of the Moroccan Division (french: Division marocaine) made way then to Souain-Perthes-lès-Hurlus, then Saint-Étienne-au-Temple, south of Suippes where the regiment garrisoned until October 19 of 1915 and endured also numerous heavy losses.

Dissolution

On October 20, 1915, the 2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment heads to l'

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...

in the region of

Pont-Sainte-Maxence Pont-Sainte-Maxence () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France, in the region of Hauts-de-France. It is named after Saint Maxentia of Beauvais, whose relics were taken here. Pont-Sainte-Maxence station has rail connections to Sai ...

, until November 11, the date in which the regiment was dissolved. At dissolution, the regiment counted 30 Officers and 1910 men, all of whom formed the Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion (RMLE) by merger.

Traditions

Regimental Colors

The 2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment received the regimental colors on September 13, 1915, in a ceremony presided by President of the Republic and the Minister of War.

Decorations

Citation of the regiment: " In September 1915, the regiment mounted the assaults of enemy positions with a superb tempo and handling, while seizing numerous machine gun posts ".

Regimental Commanders

Period 1914-1915
2nd Marching Regiment of the '' 2nd Foreign Regiment''
'' 2ème R.M. 2^eR.E'' *August 29, 1914 - December 2, 1914: Lieutenant-Colonel Passard *December 3, 1914 - December 10, 1914: Chef de battaillon Gueilhers ( by interim ) *December 11, 1914 - September 25, 1915: Colonel Lecomte-Denis *September 26, 1915 - October 18, 1915: Commandant Rozet ( by interim ) *October 19, 1915 - November 11, 1915: Lieutenant-Colonel de Lavenne de Choulot

References

Bibliographies: * Régiment de marche de la légion, Erwan Bergot, éditions Presses de la Cité, 1984. . * Le livre d’or de la Légion étrangère (1831-1955), Jean Brunon et Georges Manue, éditions Charles Lavauzelle et Cie, 1958.

External links

"Detailed History of the RMLE"

{{French Foreign Legion navbox Defunct French Foreign Legion units Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1915