in Algiers with another five companies being organized in Algeria. On August 28, 1840, a 5th Battalion of the Foreign Legion was established by royal decree. The 5th Battalion began organizing near Perpignan; on October 3, the battalion staff and two companies of the 5th Battalion arrived at Algiers with the rest of the battalion arrived the next day. By December 30, 1840, there were five battalions in Algeria, leading the French government to reorganize the Legion's forces into two regiments with the 1st Regiment of the Foreign Legion stationed in Algiers and the 2nd Regiment of the Foreign Legion stationed in Constantine. The two regiments of the Legion operated largely independent of one another. When General Bugeaud assumed command of the Army of Africa and shifted the emphasis of operations in the theater to fast, mobile columns used to pursue the native insurgents through the Algerian countryside, the Foreign Legion responded positively to this new strategy and its overall quality began to improve. This improvement in quality was in part an effect of these mobile columns allowing the various battalions and companies of the Foreign Legion to be united under a single command as opposed to being dispersed throughout a multitude of defensive blockhouses and garrisons. This emphasis on mobility also required the Legion's officers to cover the same distances as their men, in effect causing them to lead by example, which served to raise the enlisted ranks' opinions of these officers. On March 15, 1844, the duc d'Aumale led a charge of men from the best companies of the 2nd Regiment at the village of M'chouneche in the Aures Mountains. The duc d'Aumale was sufficiently impressed by the performance of the Legionaries under his command that he requested that King Louis Philippe grant the regiment its own standard. The Revolutions of 1848 had little impact on the most of the Legion; however, the 2nd Regiment lost 618 men of Italian origin following a request of the Piedmontese ambassador to release nationals of his nation during the political turmoil. Crimean War The Foreign Legion received orders to prepare five battalions—three from the 1st Regiment and two from the 2nd Regiment—for service in the Crimean campaign. Two battalions would be drawn from each regiment to form an infantry brigade, while the third remaining battalion would be used as to establish and garrison depot for receiving supplies and reinforcements. The depot