1st Cuirassier Regiment ( France ) The 1st Cuirassier Regiment ( ) was the oldest armoured regiment in the French Army , until it was amalgamated with 11th Cuirassiers Regiment . Today its traditions are carried on by the 1st Cuirassier Squadrons Group of the 1st - 11th Cuirassier Regiment . History . Origins . The regiment was a part of a small army raised by Bernhard of Saxe - Weimar in 1631 to help Gustavus Adolphus against the emperor during the Thirty Years ' War . The regiment fought together with the Swedish Army at Breitenfeld , Rain and Lützen . With the death of Gustavus Adolphus and the disaster at Nördlingen the army of Bernhard of Saxe - Weimar entered French service on 26 October 1635 . During this time the regiment was commanded by colonel Trefsky and carried his name : Trefsky regiment . With Saxe - Weimers army France began involving itself directly into the war , instead of only subsidizing the Swedes . The Trefsky regiment takes part in the victories of Rheinfelden and Breisach , but with Saxe - Weimers death in the summer of 1639 the army loses its master . Some men want to return to Swedish service , but Guébriant , a future Marshal of France , persuades the army , with the help of strong pensions , to remain permanently in France . The Regiment was renamed " Colonel - General " in 1657 . In 1791 renamed to " 1er Régiment de Cavalerie " . In 1801 renamed to " 1er Régiment de Cavalerie - Cuirassiers " . In 1803 renamed to " 1er Régiment de Cuirassiers " . In 1814 renamed to " Cuirassiers du Roi " , but restored to " 1er Régiment de Cuirassiers " by Napoleon during the Hundred Days , was disbanded on 24 December 1815 at Loches after Napoleon ' s defeat . Re - raised in 1816 and named " Cuirassiers de la Reine " . The regiment was a part of the great cavalry charge in the Battle of Eylau . Restoration . When Louis XVIII returned to France again after the second abdication of Napoleon I , one of his first acts was to dissolve the entire French Army . The 1st Cuirassier Regiment was disbanded in Loches . According to General Suzanne its manpower went into the two new created Royal Guard cuirassier regiments and its depot was taken over by the 4th Cuirassier Regiment . The Count of Béthune formed a new regiment on 27 September 1815 . it was named the 1st Cuirassier Regiment or The Queen ' s Cuirassiers ( French : " Cuirassiers de la Reine " ) . The regiment was organized with four squadrons and received its new standard on 28 August 1816 from the Duchess of Angoulme , in Compiegne . Between 1816 and 1828 , the regiment was successively garrisoned in Dijon ( 1819 ) , Toul ( 1823 ) , Sedan ( 1824 ) , Nancy ( 1825 ) , Joigny ( 1826 ) , Vendôme ( 1827 ) and Tours ( 1828 ) . When the 1830 revolution against the Bourbon monarchy broke out , the regiment was sent to Angers to ensure the maintenance of law and order , but did not have to actively intervene . July Monarchy . The end of Bourbon rule in France also meant changes for the French Army . The regiment received a new commander : Colonel Count Ordener , on 5 August 1830 . Several officers , who had been retired on half - pay since 1815 because of their Napoleonic sympathies , were able to return to the regiment . The regiment also lost the name : “ Cuirassiers de la Reine ” becoming simply the 1st Cuirassier Regiment . Between 1830 and 1848 , the regiment was garrisoned in various cities : Vendôme , Meaux ( 1830 ) , Versailles ( 1831 ) and then Lille . The 1st Cuirassiers left the latter garrison to take part in the short campaign in Belgium in support of Belgian independence . When the regiment returned to France it was garrisoned in Compiegne ( 1832 ) , Nancy ( 1833 – 1836 ) , Paris ( 1837 ) , Haguenau ( 1838 – 1842 ) and finally in Vesoul from 1843 to 1848 . During the French Revolution of 1848 , the regiment was sent first to Mantes , then to Paris , to ensure law and order .