Tag: Mounts
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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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The Military Life of Bruno d’Ast … (II)
Moscow, 20 September 1812. My dear father, you must have received my letter from Smolensk by now. I hope that it finds you in as good health as I am at the moment, despite the fatigue and hardship we had to endure before arriving in this city. I spoke to you in my last letter…
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Correspondence from Charleroi conscripts under Napoleon (I) …
Introduction by Pierre-Jean Niebes, archivist at the Belgian State Archives of Mons Many of the prominent figures of the Napoleonic period have written their memoirs, both civilian and military, and these have been published in numerous editions since the 19th century. The testimonies of ordinary soldiers shed a different light, perhaps more concise but just…
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A doctor’s recounting of the battle of Ostrovno, July 1812 …
Raymond Faure (1786-1850), a doctor in I Cavalry Corps of the Grande Armée, provides the following account of this engagement in his memoirs: Our corps (I Corps) was the vanguard of the army, and we had been in sight of the enemy for two or three days; a few cannon shots had been exchanged. On…
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Letters of Désiré Trefcon, quartermaster in the 22nd Dragoons – 1806-1807
Désiré Trefcon was conscripted in Year VII and initially served with his brothers Pierre-Antoine and Toussaint-Jean in the 15th Demi-Brigade. Due to his frail health and poor tolerance of arduous stages, he was almost constantly assigned to the depot companies. He had therefore remained in Bitche (Moselle Department) during the brilliant campaign of 1800. Eager…
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A dragoon under Marshal Murat – Letters of the 1806-1807 Campaigns (I)
In the spring of 1806, Amédée Le Nourry, captain-adjutant-major in the 16th Dragoon Regiment, was posted on the banks of the Inn, near Passau, alongside Marshal Soult’s army corps. Adjutant-major Le Nourry was an excellent officer with a keen understanding of his profession. Born on 8 July 1777 in Craconville near Evreux, he volunteered for…
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Correspondence of an artillery officer during the Russian campaign …
On 15 June 1810, young Delaval, the eldest son of a family living in the small town of Tournus in the Department of Saône-et-Loire, received an order to enter the School of Saint-Cyr on 20 July. After completing his studies at the military school on 2 April 1812 with the rank of lieutenant second class…
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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…