Napoleon's Imperial Guard - Book Review

As preparation for an upcoming project, I thought I better brush up on the history of this most famous of Army Corps. J.T. Headley's "Napoleon's Imperial Guard - From Marengo to Waterloo" is an interesting 261 pages covering the Guard's impressive history. It follows, in sequential order, the Guard's exploits both on and off the battlefield from 1799 until after 1815. THe

Much is made of the mutual devotion between Napoleon and the Imperial Guard. This is told through numerous examples of interactions between the two, which are well described, as well as the incredible feats of valour on the battlefield. These feats were usually under overwhelming odds and mostly turned the tide of the battle. You can't help but admire the courage of these soldiers.

The retreat from Moscow describes the horrendous suffering of he troops as well as the exemplary behaviour while the Emperor was in their midst. Things got messy when Napoleon abandoned the army with Murat in charge.

The stories of the Pupils in the 1813/14 campaign highlights the effect of many years of war and conscription on the population of France.

Of particular interest was the chapter of the Guard after Waterloo, describing how some of the survivors made it to America and attempted to set up a colony. It was something I had little awareness of and would make an interesting fantasy campaign.

Headley makes an interesting point at the end of the book about Napoleon not starting wars, but reacting to the actions of the other nations around wanting to extinguish the Revolution and it's ideas. He paints the Imperial Guard as being part of a expansion of ideas of freedom and liberty against the established monarchies of Europe.

There is no attempt at describing the uniforms or detailed orders of battle. Occasionally at the end of each chapter the total number of the Guard is stated. Some details on the uniforms or organisation would be a welcome addition.

The book has a number of black and white plates of battles the Guard fought in. The order doesn't always match the chapter. Being in black and white, much of the emotion of the battle seems lost, as it is hard to tell particular uniforms. There were no maps in the book.

One disappointing aspect was the number of typographical errors I noticed (almost as many as on this blog). It seems the book was written and edited with some haste. Headley wrote this from material he had from another book project, so it seems a bit of an after thought.

Overall I found it an interesting read with some insights into the Guard. It was quick to read, but once read, I doubt that I'll go back to it.

Certainly good inspiration to finish painting my own Imperial Guard in 10mm, my upcoming summer project.

Kellerman's Heavy Cavalry Corps

Kellerman's III Reserve Cavalry Corp. 

General de Division Francois Kellerman commanded the III Reserve Calvary Corp during the 1815 campaign. He lead a brigade of Cuirassiers on a successful charge at Quatre Bras, capturing the Colours of the 69th Foot before making it to the crossroads. He narrowly escaped after his horse was shot from beneath him by hanging on the bits of of two trooper's horses. His Cavalry were involved in the massed charges against the Allied square at Waterloo.

He was called "the Younger" as his father had served as a General in the French Army.

The III Corp numbered some 3600 sabres - made up of the 11th Division containing the 2nd and 7th Dragoons  and the 8th and 11th Cuirassiers, and the 12th Division with the 1st and 2nd Carabiniers and 2nd and 3rd Cuirassiers along with supporting horse artillery.  The 11th Division was engaged at Quatre Bras, as the 12th had been delayed crossing the Sambre River.

Kellerman the younger

Most of the figures I had painted earlier, just needing to finish off the 3rd Cuirassiers and create some leaders. To make the leaders I used a Old Glory packet of Cuirassiers as a base. I cut of the square portmanteau at the back of the saddle and used some green stuff to model some coat tails. I also covered up the sheepskin shabraque at the front of the saddle and made cloth pistol covers out of green stuff. One had a comb replacing the horse hair on the helmet to become a Carabinier General. They were based individually on a 15 x 15mm for the General de Brigades, and with another rider on a 20 x 20mm for the General de Division. Standard bearers or trumpeters were used as the second figure.

Kellerman was from the French Leaders pack with two Cuirassier escorts. They came out pretty well.

The back square portmanteau was cut off

Green stuff was used for the tails, pistol covers and helmet comb

Remodelled Carabiner General leading his brigade

The whole Corps just fits into one of the storage draws

Ney, d'Erlon, Reille and Others

Filling in a few more gaps in the French leadership structure - now for the Corps commanders. The figures are from the Old Glory French Leaders pack - some good variety and conversion potential. Spare ADC's and escorts were using some left over Old Glory  Guard Chasseurs a Cheval and some Lancer command figures.

Ney arriving just in time to take on command. 

Marshal Ney joined the Army of the North after the invasion of Belgium had started. He was immediately given command of the left Wing and ordered to block the British and Allies while Napoleon dealt with the Prussians near the Ligny. He quickly joined Reille's Corps and proceeded to engage with the Allied forces just south of Quatre Bras. Incorrectly assuming the entire British and Allied contingent was ahead of him, Ney hesitated waiting for more reinforcements. By the time the attach begun, more British were rushing in to join the outnumbered and outclassed Dutch/Belgians. Ney managed to lose any advantage at the beginning of the day and end up with a draw by nightfall. The retreating Allies were not pursued in their withdrawal back. Not Ney's finest hour. The battle on the 18th of June proved that Ney was indeed having a very bad week.

d'Erlon wandering between two battles

Jean Baptiste Drouet, the Comte d'Erlon was the commander of the I Corps. Late on the scene, he spent  most os the 16th June wandering in the 8 miles between the two battles. Napoleon's orders to join him at Lingy were over-ridden by Ney's request for assistance at Quatre Bras. The end result was that neither received his much needed reinforcements at crucia moments. History may have been very different had he arrived to make a decisive blow at one of the Battles. At Waterloo he attacked the British left in a unsupported frontal assault, which ultimately failed.

Reille ready for action

Comte Honore Charles Reille commanded the II Corps. First to engage at Quatre Bras, his Corps did the majority of the fight in that battle, as well as engaging at Hougumont at Waterloo. Some heavy fighting done by these line troops.

The other Generals include some Cavalry Generals of the Guard - Comte Charles Etienne Guyot of the Heavy Cavalry and Comte Charles Lefebvte-Desnouettes for the Light Cavalry. Guyot was not at Quatre Bras, but in the Imperial Guard reserve at Ligny and not engaged. Both were to take a part in the Cavalry charges at Waterloo.

There are also some yet un-named Generals de Division. I will probably use them for Artillery commanders for the Grande Battery or other gaps in the command structure.

 Lefebvte-Desnouettes and Guyot ready to command the Imperial Guard Cavalry

Two yet un-named Generals de Division

A flamboyant cavalry General de Division

More Ammunition!

The French cassions have arrived with more ammunition, just in time.

They are nice castings from Old Glory. As usual the wagons are solid and well proportioned. They came with 6 horses and 3 riders each, which is a bit much for the bases, so I have only used four on each.

The cassions were undercoated green, the black metals parts painted then a magic wash. The horses were undercoated brown, some detail added, then magic washed too.

The spare riders will be used to make some Dutch Belgian limber drivers, with a different uniform painted.

Generals de Division and Brigade

Undercoat the horse colour

I am a bit short on Generals for my French Brigades and Divisions. There isn't a wide choice of generals in 10mm, and the sizes vary a bit.

Pendraken make a some mounted line officers in their 1809 range. I thought I could use them with a little paint conversions. The uniform is a little different to the 1815 style, but they would do as proxies. They had four styles - Bicorne, Shako, Shako with surcoat and a Guard Grenadier officer. I know that Generals didn't wear shakos, but it makes it easier to see who is who on the table.

Glued onto bases ready for texturing and flocking

I bent a few arms and heads to have some variety and cut a few swords off. I undercoated them brown, black and white - mainly the horse colour to speed things up. A quick block in the colours, lots of gold trim and black magic wash.

I based most of the singly on a 15mm square base for Brigade Generals, and a few in pairs for Division Generals on 20mm squares.

I ended up with 4 Division Generals and 12 Brigade Generals. One Division General will be for Drout and there are four Grenadier Generals which will be for the Imperial Guard Brigade  Leaders.

Now I need to find some more variety for the Corps Commanders and Cavalry Commanders. I have some Old Glory French leaders, but they are a lot smaller in body. Maybe the 3 foot rule will be on my side. I might ned to do some conversions for the Cavalry ones.

General de Division Drout with Generals Friant, Roguet, Morand and Michel 

General Foy with Tissot and Jamin

General Bachelu with Husson and Campi

General Donzelot with Schmitz and Aulard

Generals de Brigade Bauouin and Soy waiting for Prince Jerome to arrive

French Engineers

Preparing earthen works for the artillery

The French engineering contingent was very modest during the 1815 Campaign. They were used to clear the bridges in the crossing of the Sambre at Charleroi, as well as in the Battle of Ligny during the Guard assault of the village. As there were no engineering tasks at Waterloo, they were kept as reserve infantry and were used during the retreat.

These figures are from the Pendraken 1809 range. They are dressed in the siege uniform, with a metal helmet and cuirass. They have long coat tails from the pre-bardin uniforms, but I don't think anyone will notice on a 10mm figure. The helmets worn at Waterloo by the Guard engineers were like the Carabiner's helmet with a black comb. Previously they were the firemen at the Imperial Palaces.

Dig in boys!

Not so bad to paint, they have much deeper cuts and creases than the Redline figures, so the magic wash settles making the lines well defined. The eye sockets are quite large for the scale of the men.

I based them three to an infantry base, with some rocks in the front where they are digging.

They will be useful in other campaigns and scenarios.

More artillery

Cannons and Cassions

You can never have too many cannons apparently. I needed to beef up the number of batteries on my 1815 forces so I worked on a big batch - 44 guns, all from Redline. Cannons are very affordable in 10mm, and quick to paint. An undercoat (olive for French, grey for Allied), bronze the cannon, paint all the metal bits black the magic wash. Shame the Artillery men are slower, I'll need to paint 132 to man the guns.

Then there will be the limbers, I will need to make one for each gun! I started six French Cassions from Old Glory. They have six horse teams, but I can only fit four on the base, so I have some spare for other projects, Maybe soem scratch built wagons later.

For the Artillery first off the painting rank is the two batteries the French Guard Horse Artillery (for the heavy cavalry brigade). The some British RHA and KGL Foot batteries to fill in gaps in the Allied line up.

Next I will paint some Dutch and Belgian batteries for the Quatre Bras OOB and some French Line Horse Artillery for the Heavy Cavalry Divisions, and some Foot to fill out the Line.

Imperial Guard Horse Artillery for the Heavy Cavalry Brigade

British RFA joining the 2nd British Division

Napoleon's Carriage

Napoleon abandoning his carriage

During Waterloo, Napoleon's personal carriage was kept at the back of the battle guarded with the other baggage by a battalion of Foot Chasseurs of the Guard. Despite the picture on the left of a defeated Napoleon abandoning his carriage, Napoleon didn't ride away in his carriage after Waterloo. Marchand ordered it to be taken back to avoid capture. Napoleon eventually took one of Marshal Soult's carriages that was left near Genappe.

The carriage itself was captured in the rout after the battle of Waterloo on the 18th June, by Prussian Major von Keller. It was the later acquired by an Englishman William Bullock who put it on exhibition in London to the fascinated public. Later in 1842, the carriage was acquired by Madame Tussaud and was displayed for the next 80 years. Unfortunately in 1925 it was completely destroyed in a fire.

Pendraken's 17th/18thC Carriage

Made in April 1815, it was superby crafted. The interior could be made up to be a bedroom, office, bathroom, dressing room or dining room. It had many secret compartments and clever storage areas where the Emperor's personal effects, maps and some treasure was kept.

There are not a lot of options in 10mm to model this unusual objective piece. Pendraken make an 17th/18th Century Carriage as part of their Seven Years War range. There are not any pictures on the website or the forums or anywhere really, so I took a chance and ordered it to see if it would be suitable.

The kit comes with 4 horses, the carriage and separate wheels, a chest and sack and a driver in 18th C clothing (tricorn, big cuffs, heavy cloak). The carriage itself needed no modification being close enough, other than painting. There is not too much detail on the carriage, it seems pretty generic.

Carriage undercoated

I decided that the driver needed to be converted to having a bicorne and imperial livery. The large cuffs were trimmed down and the tricorne cut off. Bit of green stuff later and ready to prime.

The rest came together pretty well, a bit over an hour and it was all done and based. I used a  spare Chasseur a Cheval of the Guard as an escort. I am not sure about the N on the side, I might paint over it later, my attempt at an eagle was pretty poor. The carriage will make a good objective is the post Waterloo scenarios.

The carriage with escort

Driver sporting a new Bicorne

Imperial Guard Horse Artillery

The Imperial Guard Horse Artillery had four batteries in 1815. Each with 4 6lb guns and 2 howitzers. Two batteries (3rd and 4th Companies) were attached to the Imperial Guard Heavy Brigade and two (1st and 2nd Companies) with the Light Brigade.

The 1st and 2nd were present at Quatre Bras and shelled the Allied troops in between cavalry attacks.

At Waterloo the 1st and 2nd Companies were on the eastern flank, the 3rd an 4th on the west near Hougoumont. Neither saw much action during the day.

I have painted the 1st and 2nd, that were involved in Quatre Bras. The figures and guns are Redline's. Great to paint as usual. The blue and red uniforms are quick to do.

Unfortunately I haven't had an opportunity to paint much else lately, so productivity has dropped.

I have been prepping a large amount of artillery for French, Dutch and British batteries. The focus is to finish most of the Artillery for the 1815 OOB's as well as number of cassions and limbers. 10mm is a great scale to have developed artillery parks.

French Guard Cavalry

Grenadiers a Cheval

Finally finished the French Guard Cavalry of the 1815 campaign.

The light Cavalry Brigade under General Desounettes had a large regiment of Chasseurs a Cheval (48 figures) and a Lancer Regiment comprising of the 1st and 2nd Guard Lancers. The majority of the lancers were the Red "Dutch" Lancers with a squadron of the Polish. I have only depicted the Red Lancers, might have to do a squadron of the Polish later.

 

Imperial Guard cavalry brigades

The heavy cavalry comprised the Grenadiers a Cheval and the Empress Dragoons under General Guyot. Guyot took over command after General Letort was wounded by a stray musketball, at Charleroi after the Dragoons broke two Prussian Squares. The Dragoons angered by their beloved commander charged and destroyed the remaining Prussians. He died a few nights later on the eve of Waterloo.

One of my favourite stories of the Battle of Waterloo was during the French retreat where the Allied Cavalry confronted the Grenadiers a Cheval who ignored them and walked off. The Allies were so intimidated they didn't attack, even with overwhelming numbers on their side.

Both Brigades played a part in the charges at Waterloo.

The Empress Dragoon and Red lancers were painted by Fernando Enterprises. I painted the Grenadiers and Chassuers a Cheval.

Now onto the Guard Horse Artillery ...

Heavy Brigade

Light Brigade