Tag: Equipment
-
A captain’s memoirs on the 1809 Campaign …
Our narrator, Jérôme-Etienne Besse, was born on 5 May 1774 at Aubiac, in the Lot-et-Garonne Department. He recounts his experiences of the war against Austria. Besse served in the 84th Line Infantry Regiment. He eventually also saw action in Russia, was sent to Siberia as a prisoner, and returned in time to fight at the…
-
Louis Jacques Romand and the turmoil of 1813 … (II)
On the 30th, General Vandamme, commanding I Corps, entered the defiles of the Bohemian mountains, where he was soundly beaten by the [Allied] combined army. He lost most of his men and he himself was captured by the enemy. Our baggage having, ill-advisedly, followed that of this corps and finding itself on the road was…
-
The experiences of Dragoon Auguste de Maupas in Spain and Portugal, 1808-1812 (II)
Valladolid, 5 December 1809. – I only have time to send you an embrace and inform you that I am in good health. We have arrived at Valladolid, where we will stay with General Kellerman until further notice. We engaged in a number of affairs which I am sure you will be able to find…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Three Letters from J. J. Delvau, Soldier of the Imperial Guard … (1812)
IMPERIAL GUARDGrenadiers Tirailleurs6th Regiment – 1st Battalion4th Company At Courbevoie, 24 March 1812. My dear father and mother, brothers and sisters, I want you to know that we are leaving for Magdeburg in Germany to join the regiment, which arrived there not long ago. However I do not think we will pass by your side.…