The EE&L Staff will be happy to answer questions and share comments on uniforms, tactics or other subjects. Allsuch material should be sent to the Editor: Jean A. Lochet (Mr.), 4 Kelly St., Metuchen, NJ 07090 U.S.A.
The following are answers to some of the questions raised in EE&L #5 (page 62) and were kindly provided by Mr. Richard Partridge, the Editor of the Age of Napoleon .
QUESTION 6-7:
In Wellington's Dispatches he mentions the reorganization of the Spanish infantry into single battalion regiments, each of eight companies. For the line regiments I have assumed that this meant one grenadier company, one light company and six center companies. How were the light regiments organized? And, in particular, how was the Quinto de Granaderos organized?
PARTIAL ANSWER TO QUESTION 6-7:
The pre-war Regular Line Regiments of the Spanish Army consisted of three four-company battalions. Battle losses, inability to keep up recruiting, and the influx of many single battalion units formed by the Patriot forces post-1808 caused the Regency to change this. By a decree of July 1812, the existing multi-battalion units were to be amalgamated into a single battalion of 1,000 men, with each battalion consisting of one grenadier, one cazadores and six fusilier companies. Company designations were common to both line and light units.
In December 1812, the Duke of Wellington was named Commander in Chief of the Spanish Army. He was unhappy with this organization since it was unwieldy and had no form of depot unit to supply replacements. He suggested instead that the organization should be two company battalions, of which the first should be the field battalion and the second used to hold and train replacements and also to act as a police force. Higher organization was to be four battalions per brigade and two brigades per Division.
This suggestion was not approved by the Spanish Regency, and General Castanos counter-proposed that there should be four battalions to the regiment, two regiments to the brigade, and two brigades to the Division. Nothing came of either suggestion, and Wellington let the whole matter drop since he saw that the provision of an efficient Spanish army lay in its administration rather than its tactical organization. (See Charles Esdaille, The Duke of Wellington and the Command ofthe Spanish Army 1812-14, MacMillan Press Ltd. 1990, pp. 112-113.)
The Spanish unit known as the Quinto de Granaderos can be translated as both "Fifth Grenadiers" or "Conscript Grenadiers." However, since in theory a fifth of all eligible Spanish males could be conscripted into the army, and since there were no First to Fourth Grenadiers, the latter translation (Conscript) is probably the preferable one. If the unit followed the organization laid down for eight ax-militia grenadier battalions on July 1st, 1810, it would have had five grenadier companies and one cazadore company. (See George Nafziger The Armies of Spain and Portugal, privately published 1992.)
QUESTION 6-8:
The Spanish army had two line regiments named "Guadalaxara." One is clearly the pre-war regiment No. 10, but what is the other? And which is theregiment serving in the Mallorca Division?
ANSWER TO QUESTION 6-8:
The regular Line Regiment Guadalaxara was formed in 1657, and at the outbreak of the War of Independence was serving in Danemark as part of the Romana Division. On hearing the news of the forced abdication of both Carlos IV and Ferdinando VII, the Division effectively mutinied in the summer of 1808. However, the regiment was intercepted on its way to the rendezvous, failed to be evacuated by the Royal Navy and was disbanded.[1] The remaining officers and men were absorbed into the Regiment Joseph Napoleon. Since all three battalions were involved, there was no depot unit to act as a cadre, so that as far the Spanish Army was concerned, there was no longer a Regular regiment under the name of Guadalaxara. The questioner is however right that the post-1808 Army Lists do show units under the name of 1° and 2° Guadalaxara. Investigation reveals that both of these were formed during the War. The 1° Guadalaxara was formed by the renaming of the regiment Velez-Malaga. This two battalion unit was formed in Granada on June 7,1808, with Don Jose de Estrada as its colonel. Authorised strength was 2,400 officers and men. Its first action would appear to have been Talavera, July 27 and 28,1809. Due (probably) to heavy losses during the Autumn 1809 campaign, on March, 1, 1810, the two battalions were amalgamated and the regiment re-named.
As a contrast, the 2° Guadalaxara was formed as a single battalion light unit in Galicia on December 27, 1811 under Don Francisco Albanell, at an authorised strength of 960 officers and men. My Spanish is non existent, but if I read the dictionary correctly(!), it would appear to have also been known as General del 6° Ejercito. On 1 March 1815, the unit was absorbed into Hibernia.[3]
In November 1812, Esdaille has the 1° Guadalaxara in Whittingham's Division de Mallorca at Alicante, and the 2° in the Reserve Division of the 6th Army in Extramadura, Castile and Galicia under Castanos. During the Campaign of 1813 the 1st was still with Whittingham at arough strength of 600 officers and men, while the 2nd was now in Barcena's Division of the renumbered 4th Army at the almost authorised strength of 1,000 officers and men.[4]
As far as the uniform, the 1° Guadalaxara would seem to have worn a blue uniform faced buff with buff belting in 1812.[5] By 1815 however it was wearing a single breasted blue coat (British supplied?) piped yellow down the front, with a yellow collar on which was a white star and red cuffs piped yellow. The turnbacks were blue piped yellow, and had a single white star at the bottom. Buttons were white metal, and the trousers were white. Although not shown in my reference, I would suggest that the shako was a British stove pipe, with a red plume for the grenadiers, white for the fusiliers and green for the cazadores. I have no details of any pre-1815 uniform for the 2° Guadalaxara, but in 1815 they were wearing a blue French-style uniform with red piped yellow lapels, and yellow piped white collars and cuffs. Turnbacks were blue piped yellow, buttons were yellow metal, and trousers were blue. Shakos were probably French style, with company plumes as above.[6]
QUESTION 6-9:
General Copons had a regiment of cuirassiers. Presumably, they equipped themselves by knocking off equipment from the French 13th Cuirassiers. But what use did Copons put them to? The poor reputation of the Spanish cavalry makes some doubt that they could be very usefulas heavy cavalry, and the weight of thearmor would tend to seriously detract fromtheir ability to perform light cavalry duties.So were they just a white elephant?
ANSWER TO QUESTION 6-9:
The Coraceros Espanoles was formed on May 24, 1810, under the command of don Juan Malatz with an organization of two squadrons and an authorised strength of 360 officers and men. Malatz does not seem to me to be a Spanish name, so was he perhaps a foreign volunteer? On June 1, 1818 the unit was absorbed into the Line Cavalry Regiment Reina.
As for the French cuirasses, I doubt if they came from the 13th Cuirassier Regiment since there was no wholesale capture of men in that regiment. I would suggest instead that the equipment came from Bailen in 1808. Dupont's cavalry was made up of converged depot companies both of cuirassiers and carabiniers. The unit never seems to have reached its authorised strength, for in May 1813 it only had some 147 horses. At that time the unit formed part of Eroles' 1st Diviison of Copons' 1st Army in Catalonia. As the questioner avers, it is doubtful if the unit could ever be considred as battle cavalry, but then, due to several reasons, no Spanish cavalry ever could be. In our games we use Spanish horse for flank protection and to act as threats rather than committing it to battle, and I suspect that this reflects its actual capabilities.
The uniform of the Coraceros was supplied by the British, and would appear to have been based on the heavy dragoon oufit. The coat was red, with mid-blue facings, including turnbacks. Epaulettes were white, and the cuirass was French-style, polished steel with brass shoulder straps with lining of red with white trim. The helmet was steel, with a brass comb, black horse hair mane and red front "brush." The side plume was white. Trousers were grey with a broad red stripe down the outside seam, and boots were worn under the trousers.
Belting was white, the cartouche box was black and the gauntlets were white or chamois. The saber scabbard was steel, and the saber itself was brass hilled. I have no information on musicians, but if the British supplied the basic uniform, I would suggest they were uniformed as the men, perhaps with no cuirass. The Galadress was a long tailed coat faced emerald green, with white breeches replacing the trousers.
Horse furniture was a white lambskin saddle cloth, edged red, with mid blue valise and shabraque edged white. All leatherwork was black. (This information came from both Carrera, Uniformes Espanoles de la Guerra de Independencia, Albada Militaria 1989 and the George Nafziger Order of Battle File 813ESAW.)
Picture:A fusilier of Regiment Gaudalaxara in undress, to right a grenadier and sapper of Regiment Zamora. But this is the Regiment Guadalaxara of Romana's Division in 1808. Presumably this soldier ended up serving in the Regiment Joseph-Napoleon in the French Army. (Lienhart & Humbert)
Footnotes:
1. For the story of La Division del Norte, see my article in Napoleonic Notes and Queries issues 9 & 10, and Age of Napoleon (into which it metamorphosed) issue 11.
2. See the Order of Battle of the Spanish Army 1814, Appendix 4 of Charles Esdaille's The Spanish Army in the Peninsular War, Manchester University Press 1988, where there is no entry for the regiment as a pre-war line infantry unit.
3. For dates see Jose Maria Bueno Carrera Uniformes Espanoles de la Guerra de Independencia, Albada Militaria 1989. For battle histories, see Charles Oman History of the Peninsular War, passim Esdaille (see Note 2 above) has the 2° Guadalaxara as being formed in 1812, and both units as line. Note that in Appendix 1 of Esdaille's The Duke of Wellington and the Command of the Spanish Army 1812 - 14, there is a Velez Malaga shown as part of Freyre's Vanguard in the 3rd Army in November 1812. I suspect that this is properly the Cazadores de Velez-Malaga which was disbanded in April 1813.
4. See Appendices 1 & 2 of Esdaille's The Spanish Army in the Peninsular War. For the strength of the 2°, see also George Nafziger Order of Battle file reference 813GSAV.
5. See Philip J. Haythornthwaite The Napoleonic Source Book, Arms and Armour Press 1990, page 293.
6. See Jose Maria Bueno Carrera Uniformes Espanoles de la Guerra de Independencia, Albada Militaria 1989 pages 39 to 41, for a Funcken style treatment of the Estado Militar de 1815.