Maida

III. Extracts from
"Naples sous Joseph Bonaparte,
1806-1808"

by George Nafziger

Dear Jean,

I just read your article on Maida and wish you'd said something to me before you published it. I just recently bought a copy of J. Rambaud's "Naples sous Joseph Bonaparte, 1806-1808", Paris 1911. He has a discussion of Maida and his discussion of the battle begins:

    "After crossing the river, troops were formed in two lines, the first one included the best soldier, 1st Leger 42nd of the line (2400 men) under the command of General Compere a commander of the vanguard of the army during the conquest of Calabria, was formed in columns of companies, the 1st Leger in front, with its left on the Lamato, the 42nd on its right slightly behind (i.e. echelon, note from J. Lochet), the second line, Swiss and Poles, under General Peyri and, on the right and above, the 25rd Leger also in echelon under General Digone the six guns (Major Griois) (This were 4 light guns and 2 howitzers) and the chasseurs (General Francheschi) were in the center, in the interval between the two lines with Reynier himself. On their side, the British also in echelon of brigade but in deployed line (ligne deployee), on the two ranks only, came forward toward the enemy with in front the light brigade (with two guns) under Lieutenant-Colonel Kempt.

    From right to left: Lt. Col. Kemp (light infantry), Brigadiers Acland 78th and 80th) Cole (27th grenadiers); Oswald (58th and part of Watterville) were behind in the interval between two armies were therefore situated obliquely, with two front echelons facing each other.

    Around 8.30, a strong fire exchanged between the two companies detached as skirmishers on the left bank; the two armies continued to advancing echanged a few balls; without seeing their respective movements, because of the reflection caused by the heat and especially by the dust caused by the French cavalry which had the mission to conceal the movement of the infantry.

    Suddenly, after the withdraw of the cavalry, the British saw in front of them the French first line advancing at a very fast pace (allure superbe) with its general in front on a horse. The British General, Commander-In-Chief, declared he never saw "better and more martial troops before" (2 Bunburry, page 245). A few balls had been exchanged at the moment of the deployment; Reynier had ordered to attack the enemy with the bayonnet and the officers repeated the order to hold fire. That spectacle made an impression on the British, which, according to an eyewittness, showed an unsteadiness (French text: "un flottement marque").

    At half-musket range, in the middle of a deadly silence, which, like by mutual agreement, had succeeded the fusillade (2 expressions of Stuart), the 1st Leger took the charge pace (pas de charge), the 42nd did the same a short time later, everyone crying "En Avant!"

    The enemy had stopped, the musket at rest; one could hear the very calm voice of Colonel Kemp: "Brave Light Infantry, await the order!" A terrible burst of fire took place. Having only 15 paces to make contact with the enemy's line and to overthrow it, already crossing the bayonnet (3 Reynier: Grois account) the admirable regiment leading the attack and which had sustained stoically for about 100 yards a shower of bullets, simply by closing ranks, turned around and ran; leaving almost 800 men on the ground, more than half of its effective....

I think that pretty well covers what I have on Maida. (Note from J. Lochet, I have not translated the last part of the account, since our discussion only covers the French formations at Maida)

I have boldfaced and itallicized the only formational data in the passage and placed footnotes into the text that is those funny things with the numbers in parenthesis.

The sources for this work appear to be:

    Bunbury, Lt-Gen. Sir H. Narratives of Some Passages in the Great War with France 1799 to 1810, London, 1854.
    Combat de Maida, Rectification d'une Erreur de Walter Scott, Spectator Mililaire. premiere serie. tome IV (1828) by Griois who commanded the battery at Maida.
    Boothby, Under England's Flag from 1804 to 1809, Memoirs, Diary and Correspondance compiled by the last survivors of his Family, London, 1900.

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