Welcome to the 2021 newsletter.
It was hoped the year would be full enough to get a couple of newsletters out but it has proved otherwise, we did however have three top quality brigade events and the memorial service in Chatham.
NA events so far for 2022 so far:
Stanstead park, west Sussex, 2-3 July.
Fonmon castle, Cardiff, 20-21 August.
Hole park, Kent, 24-25 September.
Other events possibly include an AGM, Zaragoza, Badajoz, Ligny, Waterloo and a training and accreditation day but are yet to be confirmed. Waterloo is yet again hoped for but it will all be down to covid and travel restrictions closer to the date.
The 45eme are also attending an event at Horseguards on the 7th to 9th of June which promises to be quite an experience if it is anything like the 2015 show the unit was part of.
More events to be confirmed.
Don't forget the AGM is 22 January and you should have sent confirmation of attendance and dinner choices along to Duncan.
Phil's presentation on kit will be between 11:00 and 13:00 and there will be a live feed on zoom, message Phil to be added to the group.
Roll on 2022!
In other news we must congratulate James Tobin for his promotion to Sergeant!
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Who was General Gudin?
You have probably seen items in the news this year about the discovery and repatriation of the remains of General Gudin, sometimes called Napoleon's favourite general, so who was this man?
The General died three days after the battle of Valuntino on the advance into Russia where he had been hit in the legs by a cannonball and one limb was removed but became gangrenous, which was the cause of death three days later. His heart was cut out at the time and returned to Paris.
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"Happy again tomorrow."
Jerome Bonaparte as King of Westphalia.
Napoleon's youngest brother is often portrayed as a bit of a lost cause, moved from pillar to post at his brothers whim as he tried to find an illustrious post for one of the Bonaparte clan.
In 1807 Napoleon created the kingdom of Westphalia out of several small states and a portion of conquered Prussia, and a kingdom needs a king, a job for a brother, Jerome would officially be King Heronymous Bonaparte.
Jerome was keen to serve his peoples interests and learn German, but soon this enthusiasm waned as he found it too difficult, and with nearly all of his key ministers and generals being French, or speaking French, it wasn't a problem at court.
Westphalia's finances were stretched from the start and the modest size of the army was soon planned to be twice the size of that written into the shiny, new constitution. (The first in Germany)
Napoleon is often quoted as criticising Jerome for raising expensive heavy cavalry troops and spending a fortune on parties, and some see the financial problem as his fault.
His partying is often thought to be the origin of his nickname of the 'Merry Monarch' and this is party true but in local parlance he was called 'König Lustik' (roughly King Jolly). after his habit of ending his day with the words 'Morgen weider lustig' which in pigeon-German meant 'Happy again tomorrow'.
A persistant rumour was that Jerome had a marble bath at the palace that he filled with wine to bath in every day. There was a marble bath at the palace but alas it had cracked on construction and so was never used and no one ever claimed to have witnessed such a thing yet it was repeated as if fact even by some of the first historians recounting the life of Westphalia.
Reports of his womanising however do seem to be quite well documented.
It does seem clear that Napoleon was largely to blame for Westphalia's near bankruptcy.
The Emperor had taxes and tributes coming in from everywhere and although supposedly a new state Westphalia inherited all the debts of it's constituent parts, then had to raise a new army and pay a lot of large salaries. Later Napoleon extended Westphalian territory to include much of Hannover, but also the areas large debts. a huge project was completed to set up an administration for the new territories which increased the population of the kingdom by over a third.
Then Napoleon changed his mind, took Hannover back, but still left Jerome with all the debts! This was so they were not a burden on France and would not effect Napoleon's popularity at home with tax payers, only Jeromes increasingly unhappy subjects would have to pay.
So finding your country piled with debts and your governance micro managed by your older brother, to whom some ministers and generals sent reports bypassing you completely, wouldn't you just say &£¥^ it and enjoy yourself?
He did often respond to appeals to his person over the law, finance, property or conscription. A great many subjects arrested for desertion or even treason had their punishment commuted from death to a lesser sentence by his intervention.
Even this was sometimes denighed as subjects arrested for any reason involving the military were detained ultimately under the French military and they answered to Napoleon.
An example of Napoleon's attitude to Jerome making decisions is quoted below in a letter from Napoleon to Jerome in early 1808 after he appointed his own candidate as minister of war.
'General Lagrange is not your subject; he does not answer to you. You have no right to dishonour him. You have to understand clearly that you have no jurisdiction over the Frenchmen whom I send to you and you are only to inform me of what they are doing.'
For most of Westphalias existence all of the top ministers were Frenchmen.
On a personal level Jerome often showed both concern and courage in dealing with his people. When a fire broke out in a palace Jerome was one of the last people out of the burning building, refusing to leave until he was sure everyone had left.
Perhaps most telling was an incident when out with the troops and crossing a bridge during the Saxon campaign with his (somewhat large) entourage. One of the cavalry troopers fording the river slipped from his horse with one foot caught in the stirrups. Without ordering anyone else into action Jerome leapt off his horse and into the river to free the man and help him to the river bank.
So good king or bad king? By modern standards he would be considered a fair figurehead who showed concern for his people and even critics who met him generally admitted he was highly likeable, he was also a good public speaker. A lot of public works like better roads and canals were begun, but not always finished. (As a medical asides it is good to see a smallpox vaccination program was highly successful). He would of course have had regular features in the gossip columns.
His limitations in the role and the general unpopularity of the regime, especially when memoirs were published after the events, meant few recalled his reign with much enthusiasm or praise and of course the land was ruined by the demands of war.
In conclusion I believe he did a good job in difficult circumstances, or perhaps that his limitation from making any great changes never allowed him to shine through. His parties were doubtless criticised as indulgent and setting a bad example in times of austerity but given that of all Napoleon's relatives and in laws Jerome never schemed, betrayed his brother or sought advancement for himself and this must account for something. He was simply a pleasure loving twenty-three year old suddenly made into a King so perhaps the results should not be surprising.
Vive Heronymous!
Further reading; Napoleon's paper kingdom. Sam Mustafa.
The army of Westphalia, 1807-1813, Bunde and Gaettner.
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French dragoons and the notion of them fighting on foot.
"Opinions will be always divided as to those amphibious animals called dragoons. It is certainly an advantage to have several battalions of mounted infantry, who can anticipate an enemy at a defile, or scour a wood; but to make cavalry out of foot soldiers is very difficult. ... It has been said that the greatest inconvenience resulting from the use of dragoons consists in the fact of being obliged at one moment to make them believe infantry squares cannot resist their charges, and the next moment that a foot soldier is superior to any horseman... But it cannot be denied, however, that great advantages might result to the general who could rapidly move up 10,000 infantrymen on horseback to a decisive point ..."
General Jomini.
Dragoons were originally more like mounted infantry than cavalrymen, riding ahead to scout for the enemy, raid supply lines or hold an important crossroads, often by dismounting in a field and lining a hedgerow. In the twilight days of cavalry from the American civil war to world one one, these roles were often resumed but by the Napoleonic age they really just served in cavalry roles.
French dragoons around 1710.
French dragoons have often been depicted as fighting on foot, in art, in reenactment and on the wargames table.
'On paper' One strong suggestion for foot dragoons is Napoleon not having enough horses for the army, the dragoons had always received rather poor horses and now they would be put on the bottom of the priority list. For the invasion of England he put a large proportion of the dragoons through increased musketry and foot drill and had them listed as 'Foot dragoons' who would embark without mounts but with the plan to be supplied with horses captured in England. Veterans who had to give up their horses to younger men often came to blows with the newcomers who knew less of horse care.
Of course the invasion never happened and when the war was suddenly with Austria and Russian the foot dragoons (dismissively called 'The wooden swords' by other cavalry, such as the hussars, marched.
They were six thousand strong, and acting as a baggage and artillery escort for the Imperial guard. Many would fall out on the march with blistered and painful feet, they simply were not used to it and their performance on the campaign was mediocre, morale was low, although one account of a genuine threat to the baggage saw the troopers form a formidible musket line whilst the officers (who had all been allowed to keep their horses) formed up and made an effective cavalry charge that threw back the enemy.
(Note, mounted dragoons were still the norm throughout these years).
The victory years though did see enough horses purloined from Austria and Prussia to fully mount the cavalry and Napoleon committed the dragoons en masse to the Spanish campaign where they would be used, by default, as the heavy cavalry in major battles wielding their straight swords which was often considered the mark of 'battle cavalry' but in reality they were a jack of all trades.
They were also heavily engaged in the war of the knife, against partisan forces, and in these actions often fought over mountain villages, from which the image of the dismounted dragoon skirmishing with guerillas has come down to us.
Spain made veterans of many of these regiments and in the later days they would bare a much better reputation as no nonsense fighters.
If ever there was a time when regiments of cavalrymen may have been pressed into fighting on foot surely it would have been in the dark days of 1813-14 when horses were at an all time low for the French, yet any mention of dragoons fighting on foot is elusive.
I think part of the blame for the creation of this idea that they fought on foot at the drop of a hat lies with the wargaming community as figurines of dismounted dragoons skirmishing and rules for them doing so are common to a lot of game systems. Students of other eras, such as the English civil war, may also associate the term dragoon with a mounted infantry role. Dragoons of other nations in the Napoleonic period seldom share the association though.
All cavalry had basic training in drill and musketry, sentry duty and providing armed piquets and especially in Spain the dragoons were seen by many with muskets in hand more than sabres when going about their daily routines such as in garrisons, unless you were facing a charge in a full battle!
Further reading; Swords around the throne, John H Elting.
Napoleon's cavalry and its leaders, David Johnson.
Napolun.com
Rogues gallery.
