Original Query: by Doran R. Henderson
I am trying to find information concerning the Fourth Ligne's performance in late 1805. In an article in Issue 72 of Wargames Illustrated (September 1993) entitled Battalions Eagles and Flags, it is noted that an unidentified battalion of the Fourth Ligne lost an eagle to the Russians at Krems on 10 November 1805. Although the author notes that "there is some doubt over the loss of this eagle", he notes that at Austerlitz on 2 December, the same regiment lost a second eagle.
A review of Doctor David Chandler's Campaigns of Napoleon only mentions the Fourth Ligne at Austerlitz, citing General de Segur's authority on that point, and making no reference to the possible loss of an eagle at Krems. Dr. Chandler has a second reference in Campaigns to the performance of the Fourth Ligne when they were involved at the crossing of the River Alle in February 1807 prior to the Battle of Eylau. At that time they engaged successfully with other units in capturing a bridge but were then driven back by the Russians. It is unclear from Dr. Chandler's comments whether the Fourth Ligne was involved in the later successful establishment of a bridgehead across the river.
I would appreciate any information that readers could provide regarding the Fourth Ligne, especially with reference to late 1805.
Reply to Query 16.1 (Issue 16, p.30)
The best sources to answer questions on the French army are French ones, especially with questions on Eagles and flags as there are no completely reliable works on that complex subject in literature published in the English language. Unfortunately, a great deal of misinformation has been propagated by many sources - most of the time, without ill intentions. But good intentions or not the damage is done and it is very difficult to counter this once the initial mistakes or misinformation has been published.
David Chandler in his excellent and by now classic The
Campaigns of Napoleon, is not exempt from mistakes but that
does not take away the value of his work. For instance, he claims
that at Eylau - and in good faith since he uses a first hand account:
Benningsen's battle report - that the French lost 12 Eagles. [1]
However, General Jean Regnault after a very careful investigation,
adjusted that number to a more reasonable (but still heavy) number
of four. [2]
The same is applicable to the number of Eagles lost at Wagram:. Chandler. p.729, again mentions that 12 Eagles were
lost. [3]
That figure was again adjusted by General Jean Regnault to 3 Eagles lost with certainty with the possibility of a fourth. [4]
The definite losses were the Eagles of the 3rd battalion of the 4th Line
and a battalion of the 24th Leger, both lost at Aderklaa, and that of
a battalion of the 106th of the Line.
There are two outstanding and extremely reliable books [5]
on the flags and Eagles of the French army during the Wars of the French Revolution and/or of the Empire:
To go back to the Eagle of the 4th of the Line presumably
lost at Krems, we can say in complete confidence that no infantry
Eagles were lost during that furious combat. However, two Eagles
were lost at the combat of Hasslach (11 November, 1805) by the
15th and 17th Dragoons. Why therefore was an Eagle of the 4th
reported lost at Krems (also called Durrenstein) ? Jean Regnault
may have the answer; on page 82, he says: 'The 4th regiment of
Dragoons suffered heavy losses ... the regiment in order to save
them had to break their Eagles [6] from their flagpoles ... a flag pole
(without Eagle) with the number 4 on its socle, i.e. from the 4th
Dragoons, was found on the battlefield by the Russians.
According to Russian sources, the Russian infantry
regiment Moscowski took, from the 4th Dragoons, an Eagle with
flag and an Eagle with flag pole without number, which is very
strange since all flagpoles had a number on their socle. In 1812, the
4th Dragoons still had its 4 Eagles, so, in order to justify the
Russian thesis, one or perhaps two Eagles were replaced, but there
are no traces of such replacement in the French documents, versus
plenty of such documents for replacement of the Eagles of the
other regiments that were lost during the campaign such as for that
of the 4th of the Line, etc.'
It is quite possible that the flag pole of the 4th without an
Eagle was reported as the Eagle by the Russians. Objectivly, we'll
probably never know if the 4th Dragoons lost one or two Eagles at
Krems or just a flagpole. The only sure point is that it was not an
(or two?) Eagle(s) or just a flagpole belonging to the 4th Line. The
4th Line lost the Eagle of its I st battalion at the Battle of
Austerlitz when - isolated - it was ridden over by the cavalry of
the Russian Guard. That unfortunate battalion lost only 14 dead in
the process! The circumstances of that combat are related in
Christopher Duffy's Austerlitz, pp. 135-136 (Seeley Service,
London, 1977). It was the only Eagle lost at Austerlitz.
Jean Regnault reports that '(a)t the parade of 25 December
Napoleon was very hard with that regiment. Yet it replaced the
lost Eagle in 1806. But bad luck plagued that unfortunate regiment
which was as good as any other regiment: it lost the Eagle of its
2nd battalion at Eylau, and the last one at Wagram.'
In my humble opinion, there was nothing wrong with the
4th of the Line. It was just an unlucky regiment finding itself in the
wrong place at the wrong time. At Eylau the I st battalion was
surprised - isolated - and over-whelmed by the 3rd charge of the
Russian Guard cavalry, having had the Eagle broken off of its
flagpole by a Russian roundshot. At Wagram the whole regiment of
3 battalions was overwhelmed like the 24th Leger (3 battalions, and
which also lost an Eagle in the process), by the violent Austrian
counterattack that carried Aderklaa
[1] General Benningsen, later on, recognized his error and settled for four or five
Eagles. General Jean Regnault, p. 92, mentions that Frazer (The War Drama of the
Eagle, London, 1912) in his work attempted to justify the taking of the 12 Eagles
'by including some Eagles twice and without any proof added 4 Cuirassier's Eagles
and finally that of the 14th of the Line using Marbot as a reference'. (Everything in
Marbot's story is false. The 14th of the Line was not destroyed and did not lose its
Eagle. The subject has been covered at length in EE&L 112 and 114.)
A further note on Dragoons
It should be noted that the Dragoons during the Campaign of 1805-06 had been
partially dismounted and some of the squadrons were remounted on captured horses.
Consequently some of these regiments lacked training and were not particularly
successful. After they were fully remounted and fully trained, shortly after, they
regained a reputation comparable to the other regiment of the French cavalry.
For those of you unfamiliar with EE&L, it is probably the industry
standard against which other 'single period' historical magazines
should be measured, certainly as far as the period 1792 to 1815 is
concerned. To an extent, it is the direction in which AoN is
heading, although our remit is from 1763 to 1861. It has the same
mix of pure historical and wargaming articles and reviews, etc., but
is perhaps slanted more towards the Central European theatre;
another recommended purchase. For more information, contact
Caliver Books for copies/subscription - ED.
General Jean Regnault, Les aigles imperiales et le drapeau tricolore, 1804-1815, J.Peyronet Paris, 1967.
Pierre Charrie, Drapeaux & Etandards, Copernic, Paris, 1982.Footnotes:
[2] General Jean Regnault, 1804- Les aigles imp6riales et le drapeau tricolore, 1808-1815, pp. 89-95.
[3] Professor Chandler based his number on the report of Archduke Charles, but the
number of Eagles lost by the French by Charles was, like that of Bermingsen, in error
and based on uncontrolled reports.
[4] That was the result of a careful investigation carried from French and Austrian
archival documents. The Austrian General Mell, Director of the Army Museum in
Vienna, agreed on that number with General Jean Regnault.
[5] These two books are careful studies based on French archival documents as well
as on Austrian, Russian and other foreign sources.
[6] The French Dragoon regiments had, in 1805, one Eagle per squadron. That burden
was recognized as much too heavy and soon after - for the Campaign of 1806 -- the
number of Eagles to be fielded were reduced to one Eagle per regiment (the 2 other
Eagles remaining at the regimental depot, as the cavalry regiments in 1805-06
Fielded only 3 squadrons). Napoleon issued the order to Berthier from Saint-Cloud
on 20 September 1806 and it says: 'My intention is that the Chasseurs and the
Hussars follow the reglement and that all their Eagles be sent back to Headquarters.
My intention is that all the Dragoon regiments had only one eagle per regiment, the
two others shall go to the depot. The Cuirassiers and the Carabiniers shall keep their
three eagles. The Light Cavalry shall have no eagle. Execute this order at once. You
can feel its importance.
--Jean Lochet, Editor-in-Chief, Empires, Eagles and Lions
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