More French Napoleonic Artillery

My recent orders of Essex and Connoisseur figures needed for my Historicon games were rather small, so I added few extras to make the shipping charges seem more worthwhile. That resulted in some figures lingering on my painting desk, which I have no finished off. Here they are for your viewing pleasure!

This battery is made using the Connoisseur figures. State of the art in their day, they aren't quite up to modern standards, but still have a charm of their own. They are also the only artillery figures I have that are wearing covered shakos. 

So, uh, what's with the medium green pants, lapels, collars and cuffs, Peter? A moment of hitherto unrecognized red-green color blindness perhaps?

No, this unit is based upon an illustration in Fred and Liliane Funken's Arms and Uniforms of Soldiers of the First Empire. It depicts an artillerist of the Coastal Artillery in 1809. Presumably, these were the men that manned the guns of the many fortresses and batteries protecting French harbors from the scourge of the Royal Navy. I've found the wonderfully eccentric colors fascinating since I first acquired the books (French language versions) back circa 1970. I have no idea of the accuracy, and the illustration doesn't really show the turnbacks well, so I went with red (they look like they might just be white in the picture, which would be odd as well). The cuffs are also shown to be dark blue with medium green piping and cuff flaps, but I just went with solid green. In for a penny, in for a pound!  Anyway, I figure it is plausible some of these guys may have been pressed into service opposing the British invasion Walcheren in 1809, or in the later phases of the 1813 to 1814 campaigns. Unfortunately, the same plate shows another coastal artilleryman from 1812, wearing a dark blue uniform with red piping etc like pretty much every other French Napoleonic artillery uniform! In any even, with their unusual uniform, they will serve as conscript/militia artillery, as well as a unit to baffle wargaming grognards with!  :-)

These are some excellent Essex artillerymen purchased with the clear-out discount at Wargames, Inc. They were piggybacked onto an order of some additional New Kingdom Egyptians for Ramses' army.

They are the Artillerie a Pied de la Garde Imperiale. The Foot Artillery of the Guard was a relatively late addition, six companies being formed by a decree in April, 1808, and belonging to the Old Guard. Three companies of Young Guard Artillery (or Concrit Artillerie) were added in June 1809. By 1813, the Young Guard component had increased to 16 companies!

The shako was worn until the introduction of the better known bearskin headdress (Old Guard companies only) in 1810, so these troops are wearing the earlier uniform. Guard insignia include the brass eagle plates on the shakos and cartridge boxes. Both are nicely sculpted on these figures. The guns of both batteries are Sash and Saber 12 lbers. 

Canine Corps - Annie scores bonus points for height with her jump to get the "shark" in the pool.

Whilst Zoe score points for distance and accuracy! "You're going DOWN Sharkie!"

(Piper, 10 years old, looks on from a distance, seemingly unimpressed. She's OK with some swimming, but doesn't jump into the water, which was her late half sister, Cricket's,  obsession!)

"I got it first.... No, I got it first!"
They aren't called Golden Retrievers for nothing!

A tale of Cantieres and Grenadiers

As some readers might recall, included in some odds and ends on my pre-Historicon painting table were a Cantiniere and her loaded pack donkey by Connoisseur miniatures, and the Molly Pitcher figure give-away figure from ? Perry miniaturizes a few years back. I had some breathing space in the painting queue, and this polished them off shortly before leaving for Fredericksburg.

Here's the Trio; I think Molly is still pretty usable as an early 19th century European woman, probably from a rural area where keeping up with the latest fashions in Paris, etc is not feasible! In any case, women are severely under represented in my collection... just as they are among wargamers!  :-)

Remember that Essex  Chasseur a Pied "casualty" figure "playing the air guitar" as James so memorably put it? I figured he could just as well look like he was accosting the Cantiniere for her wares... or her favors! 

On the other hand, our Guardsman might be mortally wounded after all; from the chapter on Montmirail in Lachouque's wonderful The Anatomy of Glory: Napoleon and his Guard, comes this poignant tale.

On this day a drummer of the Guard was among the killed. He was the legal spouse of the vivandiere Marie Tete-du-bois, famous in the battalion for her tart tongue and her bravery and kindness. They had been married in Verona. During the Marengo campaign she had borne him a son, who was now drumming in the pupilles. She had nothing left in the world except him. Perhaps the Emperor would make him a sergeant - if God permitted..."

In memory of this story, Marie, her donkey and her fallen Guardsman appeared as "extras" on the table in both of the Historicon Montmirail games. If you look carefully, you can see them in several of the shots from the 2nd game, alongside the road from the French table edge to Le Tremblay. Marie grieves for her fallen husband and hopes to approach the Emperor to ask for an imperial boon for the son of one of his beloved "grognards", fallen in his service that day. 

La Grenadière
In honor them and all of the Grenadiers, the above is "The Grenadier's Piece" (as opposed to "The Female Grenadier"), one of the better known French Napoleonic marches.

Gendarmes d' Elite of the Imperial Guard

Organization:
In 1801, First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte raised two squadrons of Elite Gendarmes, which included an extra large contingent of officers. There were also 2 companies of elite  foot Gendarmes. In June of 1803, the Elite Gendarmes were incorporated into the Consular Guard, and passed into the Imperial Guard upon its creation in 1804. The Gendarmes numbered 632 men in total, decreasing to  467  after the foot Gendarmes were disbanded in 1806. .

The men of the Gendarmes d' Elite were recruited from the departmental police (gendarmes), and also the heavy cavalry regiments. In theory, the qualifications to enter this unit included being at least 1.76 meters tall (5'9"), a veteran of 4 campaigns, being between the ages of 25 and 40, and the ability to read and write. They were said to be highly disciplined and ruthless men.

Duties:
Their many duties included protecting Napoleon's baggage, maintaining order and security in the area of the Imperial headquarters, guarding and escorting senior officers and other important persons in the Headquarters region, escorting and interrogating prisoners, guarding trophies to be handed over to the Emperor, and guarding money, important papers and correspondence, etc. At times they formed the the escort for Napoleon and the Imperial General Staff. They also followed the Emperor on the road  when he was traveling cross country in his carriage. They also attempted to suppress desertion and sometimes looting.

In peacetime, the Gendarmes d' Elite provided security for the Imperial residence and palaces, including Saint Cloud and the Tuileries. From 1800 - 1810, the Colonel of the unit was Anne Jean Marie René Savary, Duke of Rovigo, until he replaced the untrustworthy Joseph Fouché as Minister of Police.

Military Service:
Perhaps unique among the troops of the Guard, battlefield combat was not the primary role of the Gendarrmes d'Elite. This lead to the some what derisive nickname they were given by the rest of the Guard, "The Immortals" (Les Immortels). Napoleon was not pleased by this, and starting at Friedland in 1807, a squadron was assigned to combat duties at most major battles where the Emperor was present, but the sobriquet stuck regardless. The Gendarmes d'Elite of the Imperial Guard took part in suppressing the Dos de Mayo revolt in Madrid (1808), the Battle of Medina del Rio Seco (1808), Siege of Astorga 1810, Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810),  Borodino (1812), The Berezina (1812), Leipzig (1813), Vauchamps (1814), Montmirail(1814), Ligny (1815), and Waterloo (1815).

Uniforms:
The uniforms of the gendarmerie d'élite de la garde impériale were very similar to those of the Grenadiers a Cheval of the Guard. All buttons and lace, cords, etc were white, however, and the lapels were red. Their bearskin was slightly shorter than that of the Grenadiers a Cheval. A white plume was worn for Parade dress, otherwise red. The Elite Gendarmes were mounted on large black horses.

Here's my new, small, six figure unit of Gendarmes d'Elite of the Imperial Guard. The officer's uniform and horse furniture has silver where the men have white, and his aigulette is on his right shoulder instead of  on the left like those of the enlisted men.  

These Connoisseur figures are the only ones I know of currently available in the 28mm scale (I think this line was originally sold as 30mm back in the day). Perry is supposed to be releasing some Elite Gendarmes soon, as are Gringo 40's (in the 1815 helmet) but this unit is needed for the battle of Montmirail, to be run at Historicon in just 5 weeks, so I couldn't wait for those! The slung overcoats were routine practice to give some extra protection against sword cuts, but they partially obscure the glorious red lapels on all but the officer casting. 

I went for a fairly "yellow" color for the breeches and waistcoats; they are depicted anywhere from light tan to rather bold yellow in color in various illustrations. 

The Trumpeter rides the usual white horse. I did the trumpeter (just a paint conversion of a trooper) in the light blue uniform with crimson facings trimmed in silver, based on the results of the small poll I did here on the blog last month. As usual, there are many minor variations depicted in the uniforms of the trumpeters!

Here are the Gendarmes d'Elite brigaded with my 12 figure strong Foundry Grenadiers a Cheval, showing some of the similarities and differences in their uniforms...

as well as the difference in size, which is most noticeable with the horses. And now, off to Montmirail.

Vive l'Empereur !

Plate of the Elite Gendarmes from the Histofig site.

Plate of the pre 1809 Trumpeter's uniform in "reversed colors" (more or less). This and the following image are from the French National Library.

Plate of the uniform of the Band director for the Gendarmes d'Elite; similar to that of the trumpeters, but a bit more elaborate, especially the horse furniture.

Some French re-enactors portraying the Gendarmes d'Elite of the Guard. Many more inspiring pictures on their site.  Note the rather deep yellow color of the pants and waistcoats!