In the first issue, Gunnar Brolin asked for information on the career of the Regiment Royal Suedois after 1792.

THE AMALGAMES

During the French Revolution, the infantry regiments underwent two wholesale amalgamations. The purpose of the fit was to create from the regular regiments (the "blancs", from traditional white uniform) and volunteer battalions of the Revolution (the "bleus", from the blue coats of the National Guard) new mixed "demi-brigades" (DB). It was thought these DBs would be more reliable both politically and militarily. Each was to include volunteer 1st and 3rd battalions, better employed in the easier column formation than dressed in line, and a regular 2nd battalion better able to fire and manoeuvre in line. The DB was thus particularly suited to "odre mixte" tactics.

The first "Amalgame", decreed in 1793, was incomplete. Some 41 planned amalgamations failed to occur, for example because regiments were serving in the colonies. This and wastage in the DBs led to the second Amalgame decreed in 1796. This merged the 238 DBs and other units to form 140 stronger DBs. These new DBs went on to be the Regiments of the Empire, following a further reorganisation of some in 1803. That established the regiments until their disbandment in 1815 by the Bourbon regime after Napoleon's 100 Days.

REGIMENT ROYAL-SUEDOIS

In 1791 the Regiment Royal-Suedois was renamed the 89eme Regiment d'Infanterie, in the general abolition of titles. It had two battalions. Under the first Arnalgame, each formed the regular component of a DB:

161eme DB de Bataille (19th July 1794)

1er but 89eme regiment
9eme bn du Nord (raised 24th October 1792)
Bn de Moliere (Paris bn raised 24th September 1792)

162eme DB de Bataille

2eme bn 89th regiment
2eme bn des Arcis (Paris bn raised 13th September 1792)
6eme bn bis du Calvados (raised 10th September 1792)

At least part of those DBs survived, to be included in the second Amalgame. We are interested in the fate of the 2nd, regular, battalion of each DB.

66eme DB de Ligne (11th April 1796)

2eme bn 162eme DB de Bataille*
DB de Bataille du Finistere (formed 18th August 1794 comprising 1er bn du Finistere (raised 22nd October 1791) and 1er, 3eme bris de la Marne (both 4th September 1791))
* 3eme bn may also have been included, but I believe that to be a typographical error in my source.

73eme DB de Ligne (20th February 1796)

2eme bn 161eme DB de Bataille
97cme DB de Bataille (formed 19th January 1794 comprising 1er bn 49eme regiment (former Vintimille), 2eme bn du Calvados (raised 2nd November 1791), 2eme bn de Maine-et-Loire (17(b August 1792)
1er bn de la Sarthe (raised 2nd September 1791)
1er bn de la Mayenne (raised 181b September 1791

If seems that after the amalgamation the 66eme DB had three battalions, and the 79eme two.

AFTER THE AMALGAMES

66eme DB sent its 1er battalion to join the 63eme DB in 1802. The others went to Guadeloupe as part of its garrison. They surrendered with their standard (never having been in France to collect an Eagle) in the general capitulation in 1810. A new depot battalion had been raised in 1803, and was used to rebuild the 66eme Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne of the Empire. The regiment served in the Peninsula 1808-14, fighting at Oporto, Busaco, Fuentes d'Onoro, Salamanca and elsewhere. In 1813 the regiment provided a 5eme battalion to the Grande Armee in Germany, it fought at Lutzen, Bautzen, Leipzig, lianau, and went on to fight at Fere Champenoise and Paris in 1814. In 1815 the regiment had three battalions in Guadeloupe and the rest in the Pyrenees.

63eme DB became the 63eme regiment in 1803. It was part of the Grande Armac in 1805-7, fighting at Jena, in 1809 at Eylau and Freidiand, Aspern-Essling and Wagram, and had battalions in Germany again in 1813, fighting at Leipzig. The regiment served in the Peninsula 1808-14, fighting at Talavera, Fuentes d'Onoro, Vittoria and elsewhere. In 1815 it fought at Fleurus.

73eme DB had a brief existence, merging with the 25eme DB in 1803 to form the 23eme regiment.

23eme regiment was in Italy in 1805, fighting at Caldiero, and went to Dalmatia in 1807-9, rejoining the Grande Armee in Germany in 1813, fighting at Lutzen, Bautzen and Dresden. In 1815 the regiment fought at Ligny and Wavre.

The successors of the Regiment Royal-Suedois thus fought in many of the campaigns of the Empire. The main exceptions are Ulm and Austerlitz in 1805, and Russia in 1812.

"HERITAGE"

It will be appreciated from the account of the Amalgames that any connection between the 89eme regiment of 1791 (ex-Royal-Suedois) and the 89eme regiment of 1803 would have been entirely fortuitous. Despite ascriptions of the "heritage' of Royal-Suedois to the 89eme, there was no such connection. In fact, the 89eme was broken up in 1803 to reinforce other units, and never restored under the Empire. Its regular component had come from the 2eme battalion 27eme regiment of 1791 (ex-Lyonnais), via the 54eme DB of the first Amalgame.

FURTHER READING

G.F. Naffinger's THE FRENCH ARMY - ROYAL, REPUBLICAN AND IMPERIAL (1798-1815) has a brief overview of the Amalgames in Part I and detailed tables in Part III of THE INFANTRY. (Note that he lists 1er battalions as "1re", in the mistaken belief that the noun is feminine, and repeats the error with "1re" regiment). Summaries of the regiments' service under the Empire are given in Haythornthwaite's NAPOLEON'S LINE INFANTRY (Osprey MaA 141) and Burkhari's FRENCH NAPOLEONIC LINE INFANTRY 1796-1915; neither is complete.

See also Military Answers #4: Regiment Royal Suedois in 18CMN&Q #2.
See also Military Answers #4: Regiment Royal Suedois in 18CMN&Q #3.