In 1776, the French Royal Army's cavalry regiments were divided into five different types: line cavalry, hussars, chasseurs à cheval, chevau-légers and dragoons.
[citation needed] Under the 1776 ordinance, all legions were disbanded and contributed a new mounted chasseurs company into each regiment of the cavalry, while the infantry components were absorbed into the new infantry garrison battalions.
[3] After the former legions were disbanded, three more were raised (8 were originally planned) from foreign volunteers for service during the Anglo–French War (American Revolutionary War), these included:[4] Under the 1776 ordinance, the provincial volunteers were due to be disbanded, but by order of the King this was reduced.
[5] The regiments consisted of:[5] With the exception of the Régiment de la Ville de Paris, all provincial battalions were assigned to an infantry regiment, becoming their "3rd or Garrison Battalion", except for the Régiment du Roi which had their provincial unit as the 5th and 6th battalions respectively.
[6][7] Until 1890, all colonial affairs were controlled by the Secretary of State of the Navy (known as the Admiralty) (Secrétaire d'État à la Marine), though the below regiments were part of the French Royal Army.