1. Chasseurs de la Siege 1810 As well as its universally known Eagle the French Army of the Napoleonic era also carried a vast number and variety of colours for both permanent and provisional battalions (1), the Convent of Terresiasias in Cuidad Rodrigo in Spain conserves a most curios example. The silk is green with yellow gold cornets in each corner. The obverse bears the legend in yellow gold; BATAILLON D'CHASSEURS DE SIEGE the reverse the legend again in yellow gold ; VALEUR ET DISCIPLINE The whole fanion measures 60cm x 60cm. According to a note by the eminent vexillologist Pierre Charrié the Chasseurs de la Siege were formed from elements of the regiments of VI Corps during the siege of Cuidad Rodrigo in 1810 (2). The term "Chasseurs" is intriguing since the bulk of the infantry which formed the battalion were from line regiments - however it may well be that "Chasseurs" had a more élite ring about it, being associated with the light regiments or maybe the battalion as a provisional unit formed from a diverse number of sources served mainly in a light infantry role (3). Monsieur Charrié's hypothesis is simply that the battalion's officers were none too pedantic in their commissioning of the fanion. The fanion does not seem to have been 'taken in action' and it may well be that after the siege when the battalion was disbanded the fanion was simply left or discarded in the town when the Spanish eventually recaptured Ciudad Rodrigo. Notes: 1. See my articles on Eagle and Fanions in Warganes Illustrated nos, 72,74, & 75. 2. Any information on the make-up of this battalion would be gratefully received by the author. 3. Thus many of the early volunteer battalions also called themselves "Chasseurs". Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #15 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com