40e Régiment d'Infanterie

Presented here is the 40e Régiment, the second regiment of the  Second Brigade, Third Division, 2nd Corps, commanded by Colonel Jean-Baptiste Vittot. Born in 1820 Vittot joined the 17e Infanterie Legere from St Cyr as a sous-lieutenant in 1840. He continued in that regiment, making lieutenant in 1846 and captain in 1850. He fought in the Crimean War and was made chef de bataillon in the 32e Régiment in 1856, serving with it in Italy. Made lieutenant colonel in the same outfit in 1864, he became colonel of the 40e in 1869 and led it in the thick of the fighting at Spicheren, where he was seriously wounded, left on the field and fell into the hands of the Germans. Promoted to général de brigade in 1874, he died in August 1902 aged 82.

The whole regiment 

The 40e Régiment was raised in 1791 from the Régiment Soissonnais in the Ancien Régime and its early campaigns in the Revolutionary Army were in Italy, fighting at d'Arcole and Marengo. In the German and Russian campaigns of 1805-7 it fought at Austerlitz, Saalfeld, Jena and Friedland. The regiment then transferred to Spain in 1808. The following year some battalions remained in Spain and fought at Badajoz and Fuentes d'Orono, while others went with the Emperor to Austria to fight at Essling and Wagram. The regiment escaped the horrors of the Russian campaign, but in 1813 the Spanish battalions fought at Albuera while the others fought in Germany at Lutzen, Bautzen, Klum, Leipzig and Hanau.

The First Battalion

In the restoration it became the Legion de la Somme before reclaiming the title of 40e in 1820, followed by service in Spain from 1823-26. It was posted in Rome from 1852-61 and did not see service in the Crimean or Italian Campaigns. 

The Second Battalion

At Spicheren it was heavily engaged from the very beginning to the very end of the action and took the heaviest loss of any French regiment in the battle, losing 564 officers and men from the 1613 in the ranks at the commencement of the action - a 35% loss that included the colonel, lieutenant colonel and commanders of 1st and 2nd battalions. While most of the regiment was imprisoned after the fall of Metz the depot battalion formed the 40e Régiment de Marche and fought first in the Army of the Loire then later with Faidherbe in the Army of the North at Saint Quentin in 1871.

The Third Battalion

In 1881 it was posted to Tunisia for a period and in the Great War fought in the battles of Lorraine, Verdun and in the Soissons Sector before being sent in 1917 to Salonica and Bulgaria. Disbanded in 1919 it was reformed in 1939 and then disbanded permanently in 1940.

This is the last full regiment of my FPW French collection. There are another 30 figures for skirmish and command stands and that will see all the infantry done, but next up will be some more artillery to get a little variety.