The French National Défilé March (Le Regiment de Sambre et Meuse) was originally a poem written in 1870 by Paul Cezano in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War and the first days of France's Third Republic, and was referenced to the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse. The music was written in 1871 by Jean Robert Planquette, and was originally arranged as a march by Joseph Francois Rauski. The American version of the march was written by Andre Turlet. The French National Defile March has been played in many football games in the United States, especially with the marching band of Ohio State University as they execute their "Script Ohio" formation (complete with the senior tuba player "dotting the 'I'").

This march has long been a favorite of French or French-related military forces. In Canada, for example, it was the authorized march of the famous Royal 22nd Regiment until 1935; it is still the march of the Regiment de la Chaudiere and the Regiment de Maisonneuve. Planquette first composed the music to Paul Cézano’s poem Le Regiment de Sambre et Meuse when he was 19. He explained later that he sold the march song to a publisher for 14 francs because he was "frightfully hungry” at the time. He shared the evening meal with the librettist and later relinquished all of his rights for 50 francs. Around 1870 his Refrains du Regiment, a collection of 12 military march songs, was published; Sambre-Meuse, the most popular of the set, was soon being performed throughout France, especially at the Eldorado Music Hall in Paris where it was sung by the baritone Vialla.