Letters on: Lighter side songs...; Spanish Information Required; On Russian Titles;
Anglo-Russian Contradiction; Canadian Praise;
French Revolutionary Calendar.
On the lighter side...
Dear Dave, If the battlefield bands were to be made redundant and individual generals inspire their loyal troops to sing the latest songs relevant to the occasion, it would be interesting to hear what they'd come up with. I've enclosed the top 30 which in my view, generate the feelings of the individual during various moments of the Napoleonic Wars. I hope that you approve of my choices.
Napoleonic Wars "Top 30"
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1) With A Little Help From My Friends: Napoleon at Marengo
2) Another Step (Closer To You): Desaix at Marengo
3) Eye Of The Tiger: Admiral Horatio Nelson
4) (I've Got) The Power: Napoleon, crowning himself Emperor
5) Surrender: General Mack
6) Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now: Marshal Soult assaulting the Pratzen Heights
7) Stop The Cavalry: General Ruchel at Jena
8) Take My Breath Away: Marshal Murat leading the charge at Jena
9) Another Brick in The Wall: Portuguese labourer building the lines at Torres Vedras
10) Under Pressure: Captain Ramsey at Fuentes D'Onoro
11) White Christmas: Kutusov during the Summer of 1812
12) Fire: Kutusov hearing that the French have reached Moscow
13) Always Look on The Bright Side of Life: French Infantry at Berezina crossing (Later covered by Marshal Ney in the Luxembourg Gardens 1815)
14) I Should Have Known Better: Napoleon - January 1813
15) I'm Going Slightly Mad - They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha!Ha! (Double A Side): Marshal Junot
16) Burning Bridges: Nervous French Engineer at Leipzig
17) Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: French Artillery Crews
18) So You Win Again: Blucher after Vauchamps
19) I will Survive: Marshal Oudinot, after receiving his 22nd wound
20) Always Something There To Remind Me: Napoleon, when exiled to Elba
21) The Lion Sleeps Tonight: Members of the Vienna Congress
22) The Great Pretender: King Louis XVIII
23) I'll Be There: Blucher during the Waterloo campaign
24) Left To My Own Devices: Marshal Ney at Quatre Bras
25) Raindrops Are Falling On My Head: British Infantry retreating from Quatre Bras
26) Can't Be With You Tonight: Marshal Grouchy
27) I Get Around: Wellington at Waterloo
28) Runaway: The Cumberland Hussars at Waterloo
29) Blame It On The Rain: Napoleon following his Waterloo defeat
30) Living On My Own: Napoleon on St. Helena
Stuart N. Hardy, Sheffield
Spanish Information Required.
Dear Sir,
I have been reading your fine magazine since issue 1 and ever since I eagerly await every issue. Your wide international patronage has tempted me to write here and ask for assistance from your readers in helping me to find out the composition of the Spanish Armies on the East Coast of Spain during 1813 -1814. I've been in search of the regimental names and the uniforms of these units as this aspect of the Peninisular War fascinates me.
In Australia we have very few sources to retrieve such information. I'm mostly interested in finding out about the Duque Del Parque's forces as my ancestors were members of a battalion in Cruz Murgeon's division. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. And congratulations on the fine new look you have achieved.
All the best for First Empire
Bryce Simon, Margate, Australia.
Editor. Not in my field this one so lets have some information in from the readership. Can I take this opportunity to get the Spanish involved? Our Spanish readers, of which there are many, have been particularly reticent with regards to correspondence. Don't let your nation down, get your books out and put pen to paper, don't worry about your English, we will correct any grammar errors, spelling mistakes etc.
On Russian Titles...
Dear Dave
Thanks for sending me the back issues as requested. I notice there was a point raised in Dispatches that I may be able to help with. Tim Franklin in No.11 wanted to know the connection between Provincial titles of Russian regiments and the colonels titles used between 1798 and 1801. May I suggest he tries European Armies 1789-1803 by C.A. Sapherson, published by Raider Books in 1991 and avail-able from WRG. In there he'll find a full list of all the regiments with both their provincial and Colonel titles. Information on Jäger regiments is limited to a numerical list, which is unfortunate as examination of other sources usually list Jägers by their Colonels name in the 1799 campaigns and only rarely mention regimental numbers. The only ones I can confirm come from George Nafzigers OB's of Herman's and Lassiya's forces in June 1799 before the Helder campaign, listed thus:
The big problem is that in this relatively murky period (compared to Napoleon's campaigns) spellings and orbats differ considerably which-ever source you look to. For example Nafziger's lists indicate that the above Sydgofa Jägers accompanied Herman to the Helder, various orbats referring to them as "Southoff" and "Sutgoff", while Geert van Uythoven lists them as "van Pondhoff"! Geert's orbat for Herman's force also disagrees with Nafzigers in many respects.
The latter, gleaned from Bunbury's Passages in the Great War with France (though my copy doesn't include it) apparently indicates a major reorganisation upon landing (13th-15th Sept) whereas Geert's seems to be the force as it stood in August. As far as the other Russian regiments involved in the Helder campaign are concerned it appears their later provincial titles were as follows:
Emmé -unknown, there's no likely Musketeer listing in the Sapherson book. However presuming this regiment was one of those with Herman in June 1799 it could easily be the Emmé Grenadier Regt (Sap.- Amme) which evolved into the Pavlov Grenadiers in 1801. This seems the most plausible explanation.
The Grenadier regiments are very difficult to identify - Geert lists the St.Petersburg but not Benkendorf, and Bunbury vice versa, which is very confusing. As both lists include the regiments under Southoff's command they could well be talking about the same unit, though it's hard to say for sure. Geert doesn't give details of the Combined Grenadier battalions but Nafziger (Bunbury) names them as Mitiuschin, Grikson, Strik, Ogonieff, Timotlieff and d'Osipoff, plus two unidentified battalions.
As for the cavalry there were in fact two Hussar regiments of 2 squadrons each, listed by Nafziger as "Gladki" and "Schladoff", though nothing even remotely resembling these names appear in the Sapherson book. Logically as only half of the regiments served they could be named after their field commanders rather than colonels in contemporary accounts. At a guess I would suggest that one of them was the Nikoritz Hussars (1801- Alexandria) as that regiment was serving with Herman in June. The other one is anyone's guess.
I hope these comments have been of some use!
Yours Sincerely.
John Shelley, Japan
Anglo-Russian Contradiction, Rolica excess and Naval fiction ...
Dear Sir,
I feel we should all be indebted to Geert van Uythoven for providing uniform details for the Batavian Republic. Yet could he elaborate on the following:- Did all members of the 'Halve Bri-gade' sport a sabre-briquet, or only the grenadiers? And did the Jägers have square-ended or pointed lapels? The gremlins seem to have struck in the same article with 1/3 armed with a rifle and 2/3 armed rifled muskets and cutlasses. I presume he means 1/3 armed with a rifle and 2/3 armed with muskets (smoothbore). I have never heard of cutlasses being used outside of a naval context so one must assume that these are huntsmans' swords or infantry hangers. These, however, are minor quibbles and I hope that he can be persuaded to write an article on the uniforms of the Kingdom of Holland (1806-11).
I suspect that I am not the only reader who is pleased to see a scenario presented for a relatively small battle such as Rolica. Yet I would like to know the provenance for the French order of battle, for, even allowing for the presence of regimental staff and the (presumably) nine company battalion being somewhere near its theoretical strength, we still have a surplus of more than a hundred men.
To turn to the matter of Napoleonic fiction, I enjoyed Peter Lawson's article on that subject. There was, however, one salient omission: naval fiction. In this field there is indeed a profu-sion. C.S. Forester (who, incidentally wrote a novel about a rifleman in the Peninsular War) set off an avalanche of authors; Messrs. Kent, Northcote-Parkinson, O'Brian, Pope and Woodman, to name but a few. But, perhaps he intended to use this material for a subsequent article. Bernard Cornwell has obviously made a serious attempt at research which makes the errors all the more egregious. The voltigeurs' red epaulettes, the regimental artil-lery before it was even authorised, never mind present in Spain, besides having a very strange idea about the Bonapartist government of Spain's attitude to the Inquisition. An addition to his list of 'land' fiction should be R.F. Delderfield's 'Seven Men of Gascony'. To end on a positive note I would second his endorsement of the Starbuck novels (there are now two) they are if anything better than the Sharpes.
P.S. I am pleased to note that my educated guess about the nature of the Salzburg regiment may have some basis in fact. I hope that somebody will go to Vienna and sort out this problem unit(s?) once and for all.
Magnus Guild, Edinburgh
On Canadian Praise...
Dear Sirs,
I have just recieved issue 14. It is a joy to read.
The cover is very well presented.
I am a long time subscriber to the American publication 'Empires, Eagles and Lions' Although they have many worthwhile ideas the presentation of their material even given the recent change in format is not up to the standards evident in your publication even from your first issue.
Frequent use of diagrams, charts, maps and Orders of Battle are to be encouraged.
I would suggest greater use where possible of historical paintings.
As a Canadian, I would be interested in article relating to the 1812 War between USA and Great Britain. I was so pleased with the first copy of your magazine that I was shown, that I immediately made arrangements to obtain all back copies and enter a subscription.
I offer high words of praise for all involved in the preparation and layout of your magazine.
Doran R. Henderson, Ontario, Canada.
Editor. There's a few advertising slogans in there, many thanks for the praise. I've also published the above so that I can say thanks to everyone else who wrote to me along similar lines, (I can't publish the really bitchy ones though because the Chicago boys will probably think that I'm picking on them again!), and also to publicly acknowledge the contribution of all our authors.
French Revolutionary Calendar...
Dear Sir,
I was introduced to 'First Empire' (ish 13) by a very good friend and must tell you how good the magazine is. In my view the quality is second to none for literature on the Napoleonic Period!
Did anyone see that episode of the 'Great Commanders' concerning the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte? What did you all think of it? Although excellent stuff, I believe that 45 minutes or so was too short - especially as the narration touched upon other aspects of the mans career as well! Perhaps it should just have dealt with the Battle of Austerlitz in more detail and left out the other bits...?
Finally, I am interested in the Revolutionary Calendar and wondered if any of your readers could shed more light on this subject. A list of all the months and their current replacements would be ideal!
David O' Connor, Dinnington, S. Yorks.
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