69eme Third Republic - period 1872-1914
69eme Infanterie de ligne, Voltigeurs Napoleonic Re-enactment unit
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At Reuil on the 8th September the 69e de ligne and the 69e de marche were brought together. The corps now had four battalions of six companies. A tiering operated in each grade by rank seniority between the officers of the two bodies. The officers with the least seniority were placed into the 4e battalion and so on up to the 1e battalion with the officers with the highest seniority (years of service). At this time the regiment was barracked at Courbevoie . On the 28th March 1872, the regiment returned to Paris, as part of the 1st Division of the 4e Corps, armee de Versailles). Its new depot was at Auxerre. On the 18th July 1873, six companies were detached to Easter France to contribute to the maintenance of order and public security against the depredations etc. in the barracks left by the Prussian troops. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th of the 1st battalion at Luneville, the 1st, 2nd , 3rd companies of the 3rd battalion were sent to Raon-l Etape and Rambervillers, Baccarat, Blamont, and at Saint Die respectively. The 4th corps was assigned to guard the frontier. The 22nd and 23rd of September the rest of the regiment left Paris and arrived at Nancy between the 5th and 7th of October. It became part of the 21e brigade, 11th Division of the 6e Corps. Its depot was transferred from Auxerre to Toul. Thus started a new era for the regiment part of the Army of the East which was the pride of France at the time on the Alsace-Lorraine border. The 14th of October 1873 saw the formation of 18 new regiments. The 3rd and 5th companies of the 3rd battalion and the 5th company of the 4e battalion became the 132e based in Reims. The 69e stayed with 4 battalions, the first three with six companies, and the 4e battalion with three. There were in Toul, three companies in the barracks at Creil, at Lunéville, and at the fort de Manonviller three others. One each at Baccarat and Blamont. The law of 13th March 1876 saw the reduction of the four battalions to four companies with a Depot of two companies. On the 19th March, the 69e became the source of new members for the 269e reserve and 42e territorial regiments. Le 69e territorial regiment was formed in Chàtellerault (part of the 9th corps). 32e de ligne was the parent regiment of the 69e territorial. The 69e in 1877 occupied the Gourion-Saint-Cyr barracks in Toul, and had units in the forts of Chaudeney and Dommartin, as well as the Fort at Villey-le-Sec. On the 3rd February 1879, the four greatest victories of the regiment were written on the regimental standard and presented to the regiment by the then President of France, Mr. Grévy Between 1883 and 1886 the 3rd battalion at Toul held the name battalion de forteresse. On the 29th July 1887, the unit was reinforced and fixed at 150 men per company. In 1895, 11 volonteers the 69e left for Madagascar with the 200e, created especially for the expedition. The 69e except the 4th batallion, became the bataillon de forteresse in Toul. The first group (later 2nd group) occupied , in 1890, at Nancy, the barracks Sainte-Catherine (Thiry); six companies in rotation, were sent to the new quarters in Blandan. On the 1st of July 1897, following the reconstitution of the 4th Batallion the forts of Oommartin, Gondreville and Tillot were occupied. In 1899, the 6e corps was consolidated et le 69e then became part of the 20th region. En 1906, le 4th bataillon went down the Vauban barracks. In the same year there was industrial unrest in the North of France and the 69e were sent there (Liévin) to calm the situation. The next chapter in the 69eme history is its engagement in the First World War. |
