Revista Ristre Napoleonico
New Spanish Napoleonic Magazine

Review

by John Barnard

Yes, that's right a Spanish language title, but then any Napoleonic magazine's arrival is worth a mention, since it's a very rare event. Volume l, number l, has appeared in Jan-Feb 2004, and this is a magazine worth asking the mother-in-law to bring back from Alicante with the booze.

Full colour, 52 pages long, and A4 size, the first issue ( six a year) contains a superb 8 page article on the Portuguese Legion 1808-1814 with 17 full colour uniform plates and the legion's structure and organisation tables at the outset and after the 1811 reforms. The same unit appears on the magazine's cover.

There's a second equally interesting and unusual topic covered in a similar fashion, with 9 plates and unit composition information charts, the French emigres who arrived in Spain after the Revolution fought in several notable units, the Legion de la Reine and Legion de Pannetier among them. There's a delightful, and useful portrayal of a volunteer in the Battalion Vallespir, a light infantry unit I'd never heard of.

Then there's a guide to the uniforms and standards of the Spanish Hussars, again with seven colour plates. There are articles on flags and standards of the Spanish infantry, on the battle at las Rozas and Majadahonda in August 1812, and again there are detailed colour plates of combatant units, and maps. There's even a review of a recent 'Osprey' title, and a list of 20 Napoleonic re-enactment events to be staged in Spain this year, including Corunna on 31st July and 1st August.

On this subject the magazine includes an account of the Spanish Napoleonic Association, 25 years old this year, it looks as good as any re­enactment group I've seen in the UK, but tantalizingly, doesn't give the web­site or address!

The centre pages are two full colour c1815 plates of Spanish troops, suitable for framing, and the whole magazine is so well illustrated that a significant lack of knowledge of the language wasn't too much of a problem for me. The publishers also seem to produce a pile of material on what we call the Peninsular War; the Spanish know it as the War of Independence. Good value this.

Revista Ristre Napoleonica. ISSN 1697-2279. Price- Euro x 6 . Published Madrid. e-mail info@ristre.com

Hola! as they say.

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