3rd Cuirassier Regiment ( France ) The 3rd Cuirassier Regiment ( ) was a cavalry regiment of the French Army , later reequipped as an armored regiment . History . Ancien Régime . Timoléon de Sercourt d ’ Esclainvilliers inherited his fathers company of Light horse in 1635 , when he was three years old . The same year in May , Cardinal Richelieu decided to reorganize the French cavalry , Esclainvilliers ' company became part of the Cardinal Duc regiment . It fought in the Battle of Rocroi as a part of that unit . During this time the regiment became the Esclainvilliers Cavalry , the ancestor of the 3rd Cuirassier Regiment . The regiment distinguished itself fighting in Flanders in 1650 . In 1652 , under the command of Turenne , it fought against the fronde rs in Paris and was present at Stenay . The unit was renamed as the Commissaire General Regiment in April 1656 . The regiment provided up six companies in 1665 for the reconquest of Flanders . The regiment took part in the siege of Maastricht in 1673 , and then served as a garrison for a time in Franche - Comté before it returned to Flanders . It stayed in Flanders during both the Nine Years ' War and the War of Spanish Succession . The regiment joined the " Army of the Rhine " at Landan in 1742 and distinguished itself at Ratisbon . It was sent to the " Army of the Alps " in 1746 , but the war ended the next year with the Peace of Aix - la - Chapelle . During the Seven Years ' War it was sent to Saint - Lô in 1762 to defend the French coastline . In 1791 , the regiment was renamed as the 3rd Régiment de Cavalrie . In 1802 / 03 the Regiment was retitled the 3rd Cuirassiers . French revolutionary and Napoleonic Period . During the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars , the regiment fought in the battles of Valmy , Marengo , Austerlitz , Jena , Eylau , Heilsberg and Friedland . In 1807 a detachment was sent to Spain where it was combined with detachments from the 1st and 2nd Cuirassiers and the 1st and 2nd Carabiniers to form the 1st Provisional Heavy Cavalry ( designated as the 13th Cuirassiers at the end of 1808 ) . From 1809 on the regiment served in the battles of Eckmühl , Essling , Wagram , Ostrowono , Smolensk , Borodino , Dresden , Liebertwolkwitz , Leipzig , Champaubert , Fère - Champenoise . During the First Restoration ( 1814 ) , the regiment was given the designation of the Régiment de Cuirassiers du Dauphin . With the return of Napoleon I in 1815 , the regiment was renamed the 3eme Régiment de Cuirassiers . It fought at Ligny and Waterloo . It was disbanded with the Second Restoration on 25 November . July Monarchy and Second Empire . The final fall of the Bourbons and the establishment of the July Monarchy mean that the regiment once again became the 3rd Cuirassier Regiment . Between 1830 and 1869 , the regiment was in garrison in Lyon and Lunéville . When war was declared between France and Prussia in 1870 , the regiment was garrisoned in Lunéville . The regiment entered Haguenau on 2 August , then Reichshoffen , where it fought in the Battle of Wörth . There it took part in the great cavalry charge . The remains of the regiment withdrew in good order and arrived at Saverne on 7 August and after a short period of recovery there joined the " Army of Châlons " on 20 August 1870 . After passing through Floing the regiment took part in the Sedan on 1 September . Together with the rest of its division , the regiment then became prisoners of the Prussian army . Following release , the regiment the regiment was sent to Paris on the evening of 4 March 1871 . Although designated as a " marching regiment " ( ad hoc unit ) it became the 3rd Cuirassier Regiment again on 1 April 1871 . World War I . The regiment crossed the Franco - Belgian border on 6 August and took part in the operations around Florenville . It also took part in engagements of the Great retreat and the following Race to the Sea . As a dismounted unit it then held the trench lines until March 1918 in the North , Somme and Champagne , at which time the German had exhausted their last resources . The regiment was part of the 4th Cavalry Division , which took part in the offensives that brought victory to the allies , particularly in July 1918 at Saint - Pierre - Aigle and in August at Montdidier . The regiment was at Detergheim in Flanders , when the armistice was signed on 11 November 1918 . It took part in the victory parade in Brussels ten days later . The regiment received two new inscriptions on its standard for service during the war : " Belgique 1914 - 1918 " and " Picardie 1918 " . The 3rd was dissolved in 1919 in the aftermath of the war , as part of a general reorganisation of the French heavy cavalry which saw the number of cuirassier regiments reduced from twelve to six . Battle of France . The regiment was reformed on 16 May 1940 as an armoured unit in the region of Fontevraud - Saumur , as a part of the general mobilization for the war with Germany . It was equipped with SOMUA S35 and Hotchkiss H35 tanks and becoming part of the 1st Cuirassier Division . The regiment moved to Abbeville on 27 May , where it resisted the Germany advance , before being forced to retreat to Beauvais . During its retreat it fought rearguard actions at Cormonville and Cheverny . Hostilities were suspended on 25 June and cease fire orders were given to all units ; the regiment was dissolved on 31 July 1940 . Algerian War . The 3rd Cuirassiers was reformed in 1952 and on 23 March 1956 , the regiment disembarked in Oran , Algeria , first moving to Tlemcen then Sebdou . It undertook internal security duties , guarding the Moroccan - Algerian border . The regiment took part in several operations in the area . The regiment was reorganized as a reconnaissance unit normally used in Algeria on 1 April 1957 . It would be reorganized several times during the war and in October 1962 it was attached to the 43rd Brigade , based at Mers El Kébir . After eight years of service in Algeria , the regiment embarked for France on 4 June 1964 . The regiment was dissolved on 15 June 1964 at Camp Sissonne . Last reformation . The regiment was reformed in 1968 in Chenevières , France , as an armored regiment of the 8th Motorized Brigade in Lunéville . It was originally equipped with AMX - 13 tanks , but reequipped with the AMX - 30 tanks in 1973 . The regiment was reorganized again in 1992 , when some regiments of the French Forces in Germany were dissolved after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War . The regiment absorbed the 2nd Squadron of the 5th Cuirassier Regiment and the E . E . D . of the 57th D . B . , a new squadron was also created and equipped with AMX - 30B tanks . A squadron was sent to the former Yugoslavia in 1994 as a part of the United Nations Protection Force ; serving in Croatia for its four months deployment . The regiment also detached some officers as observers for the UN to the Western Sahara in 1997 . The regiment was disbanded in 1998 as part of a general reorganisation of the French Army following the end of conscription .