54th Infantry Regiment ( France ) The 54th Infantry Regiment ( " 54e régiment d ’ infanterie " or " 54e RI " ) is a line infantry regiment of the French Army . History . Early service . It was formed in 1657 during the Ancien Régime as the " régiment Mazarin - Catalans " , being renamed the " régiment Royal Catalan " in 1661 then the " régiment Royal Roussillon " in 1667 . Its first battalion fought in the French and Indian War from 1756 to 1761 in Canada under the command of général Louis - Joseph de Saint - Veran , Marquis de Montcalm , with M . de Sennezergue as its colonel . It fought at the Battle of Fort William Henry and at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham – at the latter it was broken and forced to flee by steady fire from the British 35th Foot , whose members are traditionally held to have picked up the 54th ' s plumes and placed them in their own headdress ( the Roussillon Plume being formally incorporated into the badge of the 35th Foot in 1881 ) . A second battalion of the Royal Roussillon served in Germany ( 1756 – 1762 ) . In 1756 , the 54th Infantry Regiment ' s uniform was white with blue facings , five gilded buttons for the linings and 3 buttons on each pocket . Revolution and First Empire . In 1791 , just before the French Revolution , it lost its royal title and first became the 54th Line Infantry Regiment , then in 1793 the " 54e demi - brigade de bataille " ( consisting of the 1st Puy - de - Dôme Volunteers ’ Battalion and the 1st Indre Volunteers ’ Battalion ) . From 1796 it was made up of the 43e demi - brigade de bataille ( itself made up of 1st battalion of the 22nd Line Infantry Regiment , 4th Seine - et - Oise Volunteers ’ Battalion , and the 3rd Lot Volunteers ’ Battalion ) . In 1803 it reverted to its title of 54th Line Infantry Regiment . Distinguished at Barossa and led the assault on Le Haye Sainte at Waterloo . One battalion present on the Wagram campaign . Between 1804 and 1815 it lost 23 officers killed , 89 wounded and 14 died of wounds . During this period it fought at : 1815 – 1914 . It became a ‘ légion - Infanterie de ligne ' from 1816 to 1820 , reverting to 54th Line Infantry Regiment from 1820 to 1854 and finally taking its present name in 1854 . From 1828 to 1833 it took part in the Morea expedition supporting Greek independence , especially the siege of the fort at Morea . 1914 – 1918 . On the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 the Regiment was on garrison duties at Compiègne as part of France ' s 23rd Infantry Brigade , itself part of 12th Infantry Division of 6th Army Corps , of which it formed part throughout the war . It took part in 3rd and 4th Armies ' retreat , fighting from 5 to 13 September at Longwy , Vaux - Marie , Sommaisne , Rembercourt - aux - Pots , Mouilly and the First Battle of the Marne . It then fought in the Calonne ( les Hauts de Meuse - Ouest des Eparges ) sector of the trenches from 22 September 1914 to 2 August 1915 . Les Eparges was a heavily - disputed sector , split between the regiments of France ' s 12th Infantry Division . From January to May 1915 it fought in operations on the River Meuse and Argonne , both in les Eparges and the First Battle of Champagne . On 24 April that year , the Regiment was brought together to campaign near Rupt - en - Woëvre – before going , it performed a march past the general commanding 12th Infantry Division , who then decorated two of the Regiment ' s officers with the Légion d ’ Honneur . The Regiment was then mentioned in dispatches for its sustained fighting from 26 December onwards , when the Regiment was put on alert at lunchtime and went on to base itself on the edge of the Châtelaine forest opposite Mouilly . On Sunday 25 April it linked up with France ' s 132nd Infantry Regiment on its left . Under German 105 and 150 bombardment , the 54th was ordered to make its trenches unwinnable . The 87th Infantry Regiment had to attack before the 54th but the attack failed and night arrived . In 1916 the Regiment saw action at Verdun and and the following year during the Chemin des Dames offensive . 1918 saw it fighting once again in the Somme , this time at Grivesnes , le Plessier and the Saint - Aignan offensive on the Aisne , then finally in the Flanders offensive . Battle honours . The Regiment ' s tie is decorated with the Croix de guerre 1914 - 1918 with 3 citations in army orders , 1 citation in army corps orders and 1 citation in divisional orders . The Regiment has the right to wear the colours of the Croix on its forage cap . Its colours bear the battle honours :