Tag: Review
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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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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 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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Excerpts of a campaign journal, Russia 1812 …
Details drawn from the Journal of General Friant’s Division … On the 9th, the division fought with the Russian troops who were defending the town of Mozhaysk and who were forced to evacuate it, after having torched it and caused some losses to the 48th Regiment. The division crossed Mozhaysk and found itself in the…
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Officer Boudousquie (18th Line) on the road to Russia, 1812 (III) …
Near Culm, on the Vistula, 31 May 1812. Your letter reached me the day before yesterday at Culm, my dear mother, at the same time as my lieutenant’s commission, which dates back only to 5 May. I am very pleased to have been appointed before the Emperor’s review, for he might still have found fault…
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Officer Boudousquie (18th Line) on the road to Russia, 1812 (II) …
Leipzig, 25 March 1812. We have only arrived in this city today, my dear father, as we were obliged to stay for some time at Mulhausen and in the vicinity of Erfurt, as a result of the troops who were passing us on their way to Magdeburg … It seems that we will stay here…