Tag: Insurgency
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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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Recollections on the battle of Salamanca, 1812 …
Alphonse d’Hautpoul was born at Versailles on 4 January 1789. He was a cousin of the cavalry general of the same name, who lost his life at the battle at Eylau. Alphonse’s brother, Amand, served in the horse artillery of the Imperial Guard. Attending the Military School at Fontainebleau, Alphonse departed there as a second…
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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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Dedicated to the Imperial Cause – Letters of the Dandalle Family (III) …
The Austrian Campaign of 1809 The Erfurt conference had, at least in appearance, strengthened the friendly relations between Napoleon and the Tsar. The two emperors divided Europe between themselves. Napoleon sought to consolidate the Russian alliance in order to have a free hand to re-establish the situation in Spain, where the capitulations of Bailén (22…
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A narration of the siege of Saragossa, by André d’Audebard de Férussac …
From the camp in front of Saragossa, 1 January 1809. You will recall that in my first letter I told you that there was fighting raging when I arrived. In fact, from the moment I crossed the Ebro, I constantly heard cannon fire; no matter how hard I tried, I arrived too late. It was…
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Correspondence of grognard Jean-Henry Rattier (III) …
Puente la Reina, 13 November 1810. The regiments of our division are gathering at this moment to move from Navarre to Castile. Our (supply) wagons leave at noon for Pamplona, in order to follow the main road to Vitoria, as well as the artillery. The troops will travel via the secondary roads; the main roads…
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Correspondence of grognard Jean-Henry Rattier (II) …
Paris, 10 January 1810. The 2nd Division of the Guard, of which our regiment is a component, set out yesterday for Spain. But, as His Majesty deemed that we were not yet in a position to return to the campaign, he sent the regiment of fusilliers in our stead. We still have 600 men in…
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The first years of service of a Swiss surgeon, Italy & Spain (1808-1809)
The following paragraphs are derived from the notebooks of Antoine Kaempfen, a native from Switzerland (Canton of Valais) who would pursue a career in the medical services of the French army. He also wrote recollections on the 1812 campaign in Russia (read an excerpt here). … The arrival of my brevet, by which I was…
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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…