Tag: Sergeant-major
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The Military Life of Bruno d’Ast … (III)
In the meantime, Bruno d’Ast’s family was delighted to receive the news that he had been promoted to the Legion of Honour: they knew that this was the award that their son sought above all else, and we will see in one of the following letters the emotion with which he received this distinction, the…
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Guard Grenadier Philippe Ballut at Lützen and Bautzen, 1813 …
In the evening, with the 2nd Grenadier Regiment occupying the ground on a plateau, the soldiers sighted the town of Lützen, with its round bell tower and a tall belfry tower dominating the large tile roofed buildings. The French cavalry had already entered the town to capture a few stragglers. It was known that Blücher…
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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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Dedicated to the Imperial Cause – Letters of the Dandalle Family (I) …
Introductions by the authors The reader is in for a unique experience from the outset, as the authenticity of the study’s content is striking. The sense of duty, the boundless admiration for their Emperor, Napoleon I, made these officers from the ranks perform nearly astonishing feats. They travelled the length and breadth of Europe, as…
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The broken eagle, at the battle of Eylau (II) …
Grande ArméeVII Corps1st Division14th Line Regiment Report on the particulars of the 14th Line Infantry Regiment, at the battle of Eylau, 8 February 1807. The action began with a lively cannonade between the enemy artillery and that of His Imperial and Royal Majesty, positioned to the right of the church of Eylau. The 14th Regiment…
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Letters of a Grenadier of the Guard, France 1814 …
The author of these letters, François Franconin (1788-1857), was sergeant-major in the 1st Regiment of the Grenadiers of the Guard. Nogent-sur-Seine, 22 February 1814. I make use of the opportunity of an officer lodged in the same building as myself, who is heading for Paris with dispatches, to inform you that my health is as…