Corsican Tirailleurs The battalions of Tirailleurs Corses (1) had a special place in Napoleon's heart who placed it under the command of his very capable cousin, the Chef-de-Bataillon Philippe d'Ornano. The Tirailleurs Corses battalion was a true elite unit of the French Imperial army from1804 until it was disbanded in 1811 to form the 11th Regiment of Light Infantry with the battalions of Tirailleurs du Pô and du Valais. Large Illustration (slow: 161K) From the start, the Tirailleurs Corses and the Tirailleurs du Pô were always brigaded together and we always find them going into action together. These two elite battalions always performed most brilliantly and should be so classified. Napoleon was eager to maintain the Corsican character of the battalion as shown by the transfer of some 60 chasseurs of non-Corsican birth to the 18th Léger. This elite battalion, with its interesting (brown) uniform, makes a nice addition to any miniature army. I. History of the Battalion of Tirailleurs Corses 1) On July 8, 1802, in Antibes (on the French Riviera near Nice) the volunteers of the districts of Golo and Liamone of Corsica form a battalion which is incorporated in the 3rd demi-brigade of Light Infantry (3ème demi-brigade d'infanterie légère). The battalion includes 8 chasseurs companies and carabiniers company. 2) On May 2, 1803, in Antibes, the battalion of Chasseurs Corses becomes the 3rd battalion of the 8th demi-brigade of Light Infantry. 3) On March 2, 1804, in Antibes, the company of Corsican volunteers of Liamone is incorporated in the battalion. 4) In April, 1804, the battalion becomes autonomous and takes the name of Tirailleurs Corses (1). The command is given to Philippe d'Ornano, a cousin of the Emperor, the future colonel of the Imperial Guard Dragoons. The battalion is uniformed as a battalion of regular light infantry, i.e. with a blue uniform (2). 5) In October 1804, the battalion is sent to the Boulogne Camp. The depot company stays in Antibes. 6) On December 5, 1804, in the Champs de Mars in Paris, the delegation of the battalion receives an eagle like most of the other units of the French army (there were some exceptions) (3). 7) On March 15, 1805, the Corsican company of Golo is incorporated in the battalion. 8) On July 15, 1805, we find the battalion in Ostrohove, near Boulogne, and being inspected by General de brigade Schriner (4). The battalion is part of Legrand's Division. The effectives are 768 men and NCOs and 32 officers, including 11 drummers and 2 cornets. The battalion includes 9 "war companies" (the figures below are the men present under arms): 1 company of carabiniers 64 men 1 company of voltigeurs 80 men 7 companies of chasseurs 493 men 9) On August 24 1805, the Grande Armée is organized into Corps and the Battalion becomes part of Soult's IVth Corps (Division Legrand). 10) On December 5, 1805, we find the Battalion at Austerlitz (with the Tirailleurs du Pô) part of Brigade Levasseur, Division Legrand repulsing the attacks of the Austrian and Russian columns around Solkenitz and Kobelnitz. 11) On October 14, 1806, the Battalion, still part of the IVth Corps, is at Jena. On the 5th, 6th and 7th November it participates at the Battle of Lübeck. On November 26, Morandi replaces d'Ornano as Chef de Bataillon. D'Ornano is promoted to colonel and takes the command of the 25th Regiment of Dragoons. 12) During the hard Campaign of 1807 in Poland, the battalion still part of the IVth Corps, Brigade Lavasseur, Division Legrand participates to the following battles: February 8 Eylau June 10 Heilsberg September 27 Elbing 13) After the end of the Campaign, the battalion still part of the same Corps, is stationed at Deux-Ponts (now Zweibrücken). 14) In 1809, the Battalion is transferred (with the battalion of Tirailleurs du Pô) to Oudinot's IInd Corps (Oudinot's Grenadiers Corps). The battalion is 1069 men strong and (like the Tirailleurs du Pô), unlike the other French infantry battalions (5), still includes 9 war companies. We find them at Ebelsberg where they play a key role in the assault of the castle, Aspern-Essling and Wagram. 15) In February, 1810, the battalion is transfered to Davout's IIIrd Corps. On September, 1810, at the Boulogne Camp, the battalion is finally reduced to 6 companies as per the Decree of February 18, 1808. In December the battalion is transferred to Trier. 16) On September 8, 1811, at Wesel, the battalion, which includes 679 men and NCOs and 18 officers, is disbanded by General de Division, Comte Hogendorp, ADC to the Emperor, in agreement with the Imperial Decree dated August 11, 1811. Its effectives are transferred to the newly raised 11th Léger which number had been vacant since 1803. (The 11th Léger was formed with the Tirailleurs du Pô and the Battalion du Valais.) II. The Eagle of the Tirailleurs Corses: As mentioned above, the Tirailleurs Corses received an Eagle and flag on December 5, 1804. That Flag is shown on the color plate. In 1811, the Eagle and flag, as was customary for disbanded units, were transferred to the Central Depot of Artillery (Dépot Central d'Artillerie). The flag was taken by Blücher in 1815 from the Saint Thomas d'Aquin church in Paris. The flag was still in the church of the Potsdam garrison in 1919. The flag has since disappeared and never been found. III. Uniforms of the Battalion Though one can relatively easily reconstruck the history of the Tirailleurs Corses with the aid of the wonderful Vincennes archives, the same is not true for their uniform. (a) Uniforms prior to 1808 Very few sources describe the uniform of the Tirailleurs Corses. In 1804, when the Battalion became autonomous and took its new name, the uniform was that of the French Light Infantry, i.e. blue. As mentioned above, the French Archives in Vincennes have the inspection report authored by General Schriner (dated July 15, 1805) which says that 944.6 meters of blue cloth, 23.82 meters of white and 15.88 meters of red cloth have been used to uniform the Battalion. In addition, the report mentions that the Battalions has 999 shakos. (The shako was introduced in the French Light Infantry around 1800.) Another inspection report from Deux-Ponts (now Zweibrücken), dated March 15, 1808, claims that the Battalion had in storage some cloths of the following colors: blue, red and white (which is usual for light infantry) but, in addition, also had some green cloth. Rigo, one of the official painters of the French army, in an article published in Les Carnets de la Sabretache, says that the above confirms the mysterious Italian source Quinto Cenni showing the Tirailleurs Corses with green facings. Considering other sources, it seems certain that the Tirailleurs Corses, at least between July, 1805 and March, 1808, used green cloth facings in the fashion of the 8th Light Infantry Regiment which was, after all, their "mother" unit. The following uniforms are from Quinto Cenni's drawing with green facings, color, etc. This uniform was apparently discarted at some point in 1808 and replaced by a brown uniform. Note the shako with the plume on the side which was common for the Light Infantry in the early days of the Empire. The shako plume was red for the carabiniers, yellow for the voltigeurs and green for the chasseurs. (b) Uniforms from 1808 to 1811 By 1809, according to the Carl collection and to L'Alphabet Militaire, the battalion's uniform is described as having brown facings. Rigo expresses his surprise at seeing an elite infantry unit uniformed with brown cloth since such a color in the French army was worn by non-fighting troops such as the Pionniers Noirs, The Train or the ambulance services. The claim by the two above mentioned sources that brown cloth was used by the Tirailleurs Corses from 1809 on is confirmed by a drawing authored by Benigni in the Cabinet des Estampes of the Bibliothèque Nationale. So the facts are there. The Tirailleurs Corses had from 1808 on brown uniforms. There are several points that, in combination, are particular to the Tirailleurs Corses, as shown by the drawings. 1) Brown color with green facings for the uniform . 2) "Corsican cartridge pouch," the so-called "Giberne à la Corse," which is a pouch fixed on a belt around the waist and not supported by a shoulder belt as is usually found in the French infantry. Hence we do not find the usual double belting, one for the sabre-briquet and the other for the cartridge pouch. 3) White and/or yellow ocher are both reported as the colors for belting (buflerie in French). ) The coats have the facings in points. ) The coats have their pockets "à la Soubisse," i.e. pockets in the skirt tails of the coat. ) Open cuffs and turnbacks in point. The flag is shown in Le Plumet Plate 69 and in the Carnet de la Sabretache. Note 1: The battalion of Tirailleurs Corses received in the Grande Armée the nickname of "The Emperor's Cousins" (Les cousins de l'Empereur). Note 2: The formal proof is found in General Schriner's inspection report dated July 15, 1805 which says that 944.86 meters of blue cloth and 23.82 meters of white cloth has been used to uniform the battalion. Note 3: The battalion of Tirailleurs Corses was a "Corps hors ligne," i.e. an independent unit not part of the regular army but considered as auxilliaries. Note 4: The Decree of 18th February 1808, reorganized the French infantry. Each battalion was reduced to 6 companies (1 of grenadiers or carabiniers, 1 of voltigeurs and 4 of fusiliers or chasseurs). As the excess companies were to form the 3rd (or 4th) battalions, the decree was not applied to single battalion units like the Tirailleurs Corses or Tirailleurs du Pô. Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 1 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by Emperor's Headquarters This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com