Tag: Discipline
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The experiences of Dragoon Auguste de Maupas in Spain and Portugal, 1808-1812 (I)
Born on 5 September 1786 in Laon, Aisne, into a noble family originally from Berry, Auguste-Marie was the son of Jérôme Clément Agard, the Marquis of Maupas, and Marie-Madeleine de La Fons d’Happencourt. He married Geneviève-Stéphanie-Félicité-Cécile de Martiny on 2 January 1821. Maupas entered the École Militaire of Fontainebleau on 17 February 1805, and was…
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1813-14 letters from Cuirassier Brigadier Pilloy
The following letters are drawn from a voluminous register which also contains copies of the Emperor’s proclamations, accounts of our narrator’s travels and more or less unusual recipes. The author in question is Étienne-Nicolas Pilloy, born in Santeau, canton of Pithiviers (Loiret), a farmer by trade. Here are his service records: 13th Cuirassier Regiment. Entered…
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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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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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Bessières, the Imperial Guard and the aftermath of 1812 …
The first document meant for the French emperor states Bessières’ concerns and criticism concerning Napoleon’s elites; not as much the cavalry forces he led, but mostly the infantry which he deemed to be reformed in its entirety. The second letter is related to the marshal’s demand to return to France, and is more indulgent compared…
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A voltigeur’s murder attempt, November 1808 …
A letter from General Buquet, head of the general staff of the Gendarmerie, dated Paris 19 November 1808 and addressed to the Minister of War … I have the honour of informing your Excellency that on the 11th of this month, at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, when a detachment of the 70th Line…
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A complaint of a chasseur à pied, August 1810 …
To His Majesty the Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, Mediator of Switzerland etc., etc. Sire, One of Your Majesty’s humble servants informs you that the Regiment of Foot Chasseurs of your Old Guard has not received hats on the account of the corps since 29 December…
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Advance and retreat of a division, at Waterloo (I) …
The following reports are related to the movements and actions of the 2nd Division, part of I Corps, during the 1815 campaign in Belgium … *** To Mr. General Donzelot, on the road to Beaumont, at the home of widow Albric. Solre, [this] 15 June 1815. I have the honour to inform you that the…
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Executed to set an example, Russia 1812 …
The author of this excerpt was a sergeant in the 7th Light Infantry Regiment at the time. An exceptional memoir, recommended reading. Having left the road to Minsk, we marched, taking all possible precautions customary on the eve of a great battle, to the entrenched camp of Drissa; however, we found it abandoned. On the…