Tag: Corporal
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The Military Life of Bruno d’Ast … (III)
In the meantime, Bruno d’Ast’s family was delighted to receive the news that he had been promoted to the Legion of Honour: they knew that this was the award that their son sought above all else, and we will see in one of the following letters the emotion with which he received this distinction, the…
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Captain Puffeney’s recollections of the 1806-1807 Campaigns …
The son of humble farmers from the Franche-Comté region, Captain Pierre-François Puffeney was born in Les Planches, near Arbois, on 5 December 1772. He was not yet twenty when he enlisted as a volunteer in the 2nd Battalion of the Jura, to fly, as it was then called, to the defence of the Fatherland. A…
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The Military Life of Bruno d’Ast … (I)
Dominique-Louis-Guillaume-Bruno d’Ast was born on 9 August 1790, in Brignemont. (1) He was the eldest son of Mr. Guillaume d’Ast and Madame Marie-Germaine-Sophie de Pérignon. (2) His godfather was Dominique Catherine de Pérignon, his uncle, an officer in the royal grenadiers in the Quercy Regiment, the future victor of Rosas and Figueras, ambassador of the…
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Extracts from the livre d’ordre of the 12th Light Infantry Regiment during the Peninsular War …
Order of 18 March 1811 The regiment is hereby informed that His Excellency Marshal Soult has achieved the most brilliant success during his expedition following the capture of Olivera, where he took 4,500 prisoners. He battled two Spanish and Portuguese divisions whose positions covered the city of Badagos [sic, Badajoz]. These two divisions were defeated,…
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Some notes of a grenadier of the Imperial Guard, 1813 …
A couple of passages of a journal kept by Philippe Ballut, a soldier serving in the 2nd Grenadier Regiment of the Guard, related to the early stages of the 1813 Campaign … Thursday, 29 April. – The Old Guard arrived at Naumburg before noon and we lit our fires at the foot of the tower,…
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Correspondence of grognard Jean-Henry Rattier (IV) …
Bayonne, 15 March 1812. We arrived here the day before yesterday, and we are leaving tomorrow for Paris, where we will arrive on 16 April. I would have obtained permission to go to Ardèche, but I had to be in the capital by 15 April, which prevented me from obtaining it. I could only have…
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Letters of infantry corporal Charles Vanesse, 1806 …
A few more letters of this soldier from the 8th Infantry Regiment, prior and following the battles of Jena and Auerstädt … Anspach, 24 April 1806, I Corps of the Grande Armée. C. J. Vanesse to Miss VANESSE. Dear Sister, Your pleasant letter dated 17 January, as well as that from Van den Bruggen, reached…
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Soldiers’ letters related to the campaign in Austria, 1809 …
In June 1809, this soldier wrote to his family from the Austrian capital. In particular, after mentioning his involvement at the battle of Essling, Bellot describes his uniform in detail and announces that he has just been appointed corporal in the line troops (1) : At Vienna, this 30 June 1809. My dear father and…
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Launch new e-book – The Military Recollections of Conscript Grenadier Guitard
I’m happy to announce the first e-book in a series of smaller accounts that deserve publications and more attention. It was in 1934 that Joseph Guitard’s ‘Souvenirs’ were published in Paris for the first time. The publisher, perhaps a distant relative (his name is Eugène Humbert Guitard), explains in his preface that our grenadier was…
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Imperial decrees related to POWs, desertion and call to arms, 1806-1814
Year 1806 (N° 1,167) – IMPERIAL DECREE relating to the prosecution of offences committed by prisoners of war. At the Imperial headquarters at Brünn, 17 Frimaire. NAPOLEON, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH, KING OF ITALY, HAS DECREED and HEREBY DECREES the following: Art. 1. Offences committed by prisoners of war throughout our Empire are under the…