9th Hussar Regiment (France)

The 9th Hussar Regiment (9e régiment de hussards) was a hussar regiment of the French Army.

History
The regiment's ancestry is drawn from two separate units, one originating in a squadron of the Hussards de la Liberté and the other in the Régiment des Guides.

Hussards de la Liberté
Its origins lay in the Hussards de la Liberté, set up on 2 September 1792 and by a royal decree dated 23 November 1792. This unit was divided into two squadrons of 200 men each (the first squadron made up of volunteers from Paris and the second from volunteers from Lille) and came ninth in the army order of precedence by a decree of the French National Convention of 4 June 1793. On 25 March 1793, that unit's second squadron became the 10th Hussar Regiment (whilst on 1 May 1794 the first squadron of the Hussards de la Liberté became the 7e régiment bis de hussards). On 4 June 1794, after the defection of the 4th Hussar Regiment, the 10th Hussar Regiment was re-numbered as the 9th Hussar Regiment. It was part of the armée du Rhin in 1796 and the armée du Danube in 1798. It was known as the Hussards Rouges or Red Hussars after its scarlet dolmans.

It then formed part of the Grande Armée from 1805 onwards, gaining glory at, , Stettin and. In 1809 it charged at and, then in 1812 at , and in 1813 at  and. What remained of the regiment after the retreat through Germany was converted into the régiment de Berry-hussards (with precedence number 6) on 12 May 1814.

On 27 September 1840, by decree of Louis Philippe I of France, the 9th Hussars was re-created out of detachments from the 1st Hussar Regiment, 3rd Hussar Regiment, 4th Hussar Regiment, 6th Hussar Regiment and 9th Mounted Chasseur Regiment. Its dolman was now black and it was nicknamed the Hussards Noirs or Black Hussars, a name it held until the proclamation of the Second French Empire. On 4 May 1856 it was disbanded.

Régiment des Guides
Meanwhile, in 1852, the Régiment des Guides was formed. On 1 May 1854 this became the régiment des guides de la Garde Impériale, then in 1871 a new 9th Hussar Regiment. This fought in the First World War, before being disbanded in 1922 at Chambéry, where it was then on garrison duties. It was briefly re-formed in 1944, before being permanently re-created on 20 May 1956 at Sissonne to fight in Oranie. In 1962 it served as the garrison at Reims, before being disbanded on 1 June 1964, becoming the 18th Dragoon Regiment as the Reims garrison. On 1 July 1964 it was recreated for the Algerian War before being finally disbanded in 1979.