The 2nd Swiss Regiment () was a

Swiss mercenary The Swiss mercenaries were a powerful infantry force constituting professional soldiers originating from the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. They were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially among the military forces of the ...

infantry regiment that served in the French Army from 1806 to 1815. It was one of four Swiss regiments integrated into the ''

Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

'' during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

History

The 2nd Swiss Regiment was raised by Emperor

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

in October 1806.André Jouineau, ''Les suisses au service de la France'' In August 1807, the regiment was sent to the , which would participate in the invasion of Portugal. The unit fought in the Iberian Peninsula within the French Army of Spain (''Armée d'Espagne''), both in Portugal and Spain. In 1812, the 2nd Swiss was sent to Russia with the 9th division under the command of General Belliard. They entered

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

in June 1812. The regiment took part in the battles of Ostrovno,

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

Dorogobuzh Dorogobuzh (; Belarusian: Дарагабуж) is a historic town and the administrative center of Dorogobuzhsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, straddling the Dnieper River and located east of Smolensk, the administrative center of th ...

and

Borodino The Battle of Borodino ( ) or Battle of Moscow (), in popular literature also known as the Battle of the Generals, took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. T ...

. They took part in the Battle of the Berezina during the retreat. In 1813, the 2nd Swiss was in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

and took part in the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and G ...

. After Napoleon's first abdication in 1814, the regiment was kept by the First Bourbon Restoration along with the three other Swiss regiments. On 2 April 1815, following Napoleon's return to power, the four regiments were dissolved and the 2nd (Swiss) Foreign Regiment was formed with Swiss soldiers who remained loyal to the Emperor; it participated in the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

on 18 June 1815. During this campaign, the regiment had a total of 407 men, a small number compared to the other French line infantry regiments. The general staff consisted of 54 men, but the post of major remained vacant.

References

{{Foreign regiments of the French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars Military units and formations established in 1806 Military units and formations disestablished in 1815 1806 establishments in France 1815 disestablishments in France Swiss regiments in French service Regiments of the First French Empire Switzerland in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars Military units and formations of the Peninsular War

History

See also

References