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With all of the Austrians mustering out recently, the French were clamoring for reinforcements! This is the first of 4 new units of Line Infantry in the 1809 uniforms. All were part of Grenier's Division of the Army of Italy in 1809.
The 35e Ligne had its origins as the Aquitaine regiment of the Royal army, formed in 1625. It fought at Ulm in 1805 as part of the 2nd Corps under Marmont. These are Wargames Foundry figures purchased in December 2019, in the "loading" (reaching into their cartridge boxes) position, which I rather like for variety.
As noted earlier, in 1809 the regiment was with the Army of Italy and fought at Raab and Wagram.
I generally do my French line in groups of 4, with each unit having the Fusilier companies in one of the 4 company colors. For the first unit, same as the first company, that is green.
During 812 campaign in Russia, the regiment fought at Smolensk and Borodino.
Using this system, purists could reshuffle the stands of the regiment so that each has one Fusilier stand each with green, sky blue, aurore, and violet pom poms.
During1814, it was stationed with the Army of Italy once again.
I really like the basic French Ligne uniform, but I have to admit that it is a pain to paint... red piped white, white piped red, dark blue piped red, and so on!
That is what overcoats are for! Nice job, more French line, eh!
ReplyDeleteOvercoats? What fun is in that?
DeleteLOL, Joe!
DeleteI must say, though, I feel the same way as Jon about overcoats covering these glorious costumes. A few in overcoats are fine (they also can double as Militia when needed), but otherwise we're dangerously close to "khaki" territory! :-)
Great looking battalion, onto glory!
ReplyDeleteLovely French in dress uniform, Peter.
ReplyDeletehank you, Matt. Definitely a fan of Full Dress for most of my toy soldiers!
DeleteGood looking Frenchmen, Peter!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like them, Jon!
DeleteAt the end of the fight the victor is the one who lies on the battlefield. To give his name to a battle is the privilege of the victor. If Napoléon has won 18th june 1815, the battle would have been called « Mont Saint Jean ». If Blucher has won, the battle would have been called « Belle Alliance » but it was Old Nosey who won the battle. So he gave it the name of the village were he had set up his headquarters, and no one challenges this right.
ReplyDelete7th september 1812 Napoléon defeated Koutousov's army who withdrew and surrendered Moscow to the French army.
Napoleon chose to give to this battle the name of the river that ran along the village of Borodino and its name is « la Moscova ».
Indeed, agreed re: the name Napoleon gave to the battle, and that is what would be inscribed on their standards. To the rest of us, though, it will likely always be Borodino.
DeleteSuperb looking Frenchmen
ReplyDeleteThank you, Neil!
DeleteSplendid looking French line!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks, Iain. Although I have now painted this uniform at least 70 x 18 = 1260 times in the past 50 years, I still like it!
DeleteThose look superb:)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words, Steve!
DeleteSmartly dressed unit! Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteNeil
http://toysoldiersanddiningroombattles.blogspot.com/
Thank you, Neil. They definitely have on their "Sunday Best" kit!
ReplyDeleteLovely looking battalion. Great paint job Peter. I do like to see a fine unit of French line complete with Voltigeurs and Grenadiers.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Jason
Thanks, Jason! Four more to come!
DeleteFantastic work sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michal. You are too kind!
DeleteVery sharp work there Peter. That red piping can be a pain, but is worth the effort. Lovely stuff.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lawrence. I agree, it is worth it! :-)
DeleteCan never have too many of Napoleons lot
ReplyDeleteWhen I am done with this "Division", I think I wilkl be just about there, though! :-)
DeleteNice work Peter. Second the red piping work. Makes the French uniform look complete. If I remember right, the 35th Ligne had a very bad opening battle in the 1809 campaign near Pordenone (Sacile). Hope your regiment has top notch tabletop performance, mine is still the "nervous" type on my gaming tabletop. Michael aka WR
ReplyDeleteThank you, Michael! Hopefully my 35e will perform better!
DeleteAh I was wondering what the deal was with your pom poms! Makes sense great job Peter :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mark.
DeleteThus each of my 40(!) French Line can be differentiated from the others by either pose, manufacturer, or pompom color within the sets of 4 each.
Just wonderful Peter. That's an interesting and useful take on the company pom-poms. A clever way to get in a bit of your colour-coding for units too. Up there for thinking, eh?!
ReplyDeleteRegards, James
Thank you, James. Nothing really new for me, I used the same idea for my Scruby French line units back in the 1970's!
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