2e REI: 2026 El Moungar Day | French Foreign Legion Information

On Wednesday evening, September 2, 2026, the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) commemorated the 123rd anniversary of the Battle of El Moungar, the 1903 desert engagement whose date became the regiment’s main holiday. After last year’s ceremony at the regimental barracks in Nîmes, southern France, the event returned to the Roman amphitheater (Arena) in the center of the city, built in the first century AD and still in use today.

This was the first El Moungar Day for Colonel Ponticelli as commanding officer of the 2e REI; he assumed command in late June. The companies of his regiment entered the Arena of Nîmes one by one, singing, and formed a long U on the sand facing the packed stands. At 7 p.m., honors to the colors opened the ceremony, and General Passerat de La Chapelle, who took over as commander of the French Foreign Legion in the middle of this summer, reviewed the troops. Also present was General Carleton, commander of the 6th Light Armored Brigade (6e BLB), the regiment’s parent formation. General Carleton is himself a former commanding officer of the 2e REI (2016–2018).

Following the presentation of decorations, a young lieutenant of the regiment recounted the epic Battle of El Moungar from memory. Thereafter, the companies broke formation for the final parade, and honors to the colors closed the ceremony.

As is tradition, the ceremony was preceded by the El Moungar Challenges, several days of inter-company sports competitions, which are designed to strengthen unit cohesion and sharpen the competitive, fighting spirit among the men.

The 2e REI is currently on immediate operational alert, serving as the core of a NATO Allied Reaction Force battalion, ready to deploy within 48 hours.

The Battle of El Moungar took place on September 2, 1903. That day, a detachment of two officers and 113 legionnaires of the 22nd Mounted Company, 2nd Foreign Regiment (2e RE), was escorting a convoy in the arid borderlands of western Algeria when it was ambushed in the open by 200 to 300 Moroccan tribesmen near the waterhole of El Moungar. Badly outnumbered, the men held out for close to eight hours until relief arrived. Their commander, Captain Vauchez, his deputy Lieutenant Selchauhansen (a Danish officer), and 34 legionnaires were killed; 47 others were seriously wounded.

That history also explains the presence of Tapanar, the 2e REI’s mule and mascot, on the sand of the amphitheater in Nîmes during the 123rd anniversary of the battle. He is a nod to the Legion’s mounted companies, the highly mobile light infantry formations that paired two legionnaires with each mule — one riding while the other marched — giving these units the range to pursue raiders deep into vast, semi-arid territories.

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