Book quickview: 1799, l'année la plus longue

Pre-purchased in September, printed in May, released in June, arrived in our PO box yesterday. The speed with which it reached me after publication was the first of many aspects of this book that have impressed. I have titled this post a book 'quickview', rather than a review, as I have not read it, but flicked through it extensively, over several hours of last night, enjoying each turn back and forth through the pages.

Marquis' earlier work, 1798, Bonaparte et la campagne d'Egypte, joined my collection soon after it was published in early 2020. That book, covering 1798, with particular focus on the Egyptian Campaign (a little over half of its 192 pages) is effectively part one, the current tome being the second part. I was so impressed with the 1798 book, that this one was an immediate purchased. There has been no buyers' regret.

The table of contents

1799, l'année la plus longue is a visual delight. There are images of people, battles, events, troops, uniforms and maps. Many, many are contemporary prints, others are classical paintings (some known and many that are new to me) and quite a number of the cartoons (pen and ink drawings) by Job (Jacques Onfroy de Breville) from George Montorgueil's Bonaparte, first published in 1910—a real treat. All of the images are reproduced clearly and most of them are in colour. Each image has a caption clearly describing it as well as noting the creator and source.

The book is a visual delight, with loads of reproductions of contemporary paintings.

Along with numerous, classic paintings from the late 19th C.

The inclusion of several cartoons from Job are a real treat.

My 'gooey-ness' for this book so far comes from the visual, but even a skim of the book's five chapters reveals the excellent content. They cover France at the start of 1799 (nation, politics and internal divisions), the states bordering France and their armies, the campaign in Syria, the campaigns in Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Holland and, lastly, 18 brumaire. Five appendices round out the book with information about the members of the commission of sciences and arts who accompanied Bonaparte's army to Egypt, the formation and activities of the Egyptology Institute, the full text of the new constitution that was proclaimed in Paris on 15th December and a chronology of the year 1799.

Several double-page and near double-page spread paintings of battles are presented.

The book is not a uniform book, but loads of lovely images of troops of all nations adorn its pages

In various chapters there is information about the armies, strength, organisation and make-up down to the unit level. This is complemented by orders of battle that are dotted throughout; in appropriate locations related to the battles under discussion. The third and fourth chapters covering the vast number of battles that occurred in 1799 includes information about the leaders, movements and numbers of troops, with some actions described in great detail (e.g. the Siege of St John d'Acre, Battle of Mount Thabor, Battle of Aboukir, Battle of Ostrach, Battle of Stockach, Capture of Alessandria, Battle of St Gothard and first and second battles of Zurich).

A real bonus in the book are the 77 pages of biographies of the main people associated with the events of the year. These are divided into the key actors (political and military); non-military people; Austrian, Russian, British and Egyptian-Ottoman generals and French generals. These biographies are inserted, a group at a time, between the chapters. For each person we are given their place and date of birth, date of death and biography up to 1800 (or sometimes a little later).

The 77 pages of biographies were an unexpected inclusion and a real bonus to me.

Several tables of orders of battle are included.

Maps are probably the book weakest point, but there are several showing regions, places, specific events and battles

 

I'll read this gorgeous, hefty and beautifully printed book properly and in its entirety in time, as my chronological approach dictates. For now it is a joy to leaf through, looking at the plethora of piccies, reading the captions and dipping into the text. A delight to have on the shelves.

I thought that I'd conclude with this photo of a full-page reproduction of a Maurice Orange painting of French soldiers sampling the delights of the Orient!

Rating

References

Marquis, L (2021) 1799, l'année la plus longue. Éditions Heimdal, St Martin-des-Entrées, Bayeux, France. 304 pp.

Marquis, L (2020) 1798, Bonaparte et la campagne d'Egypte. Éditions Heimdal, St Martin-des-Entrées, Bayeux, France. 192 pp.

Book review: La Campagne de France, 1814

When I ordered this book back in February, I thought that it was a history of the campaign of 1814, chiefly from the French side. How mistaken I was. It is quite different and far, far more delightful, useful and insightful for the fact!

Author Gilles Boué describes each arm/formation of the French army in 1814 against the backdrop of the campaign and battles. He provides details of formations, events and actions, interspersed with anecdotes, observations and challenges to myths. The book is 'lusciously' illustrated with some of the well-known paintings of the mid-18th and early 19th centuries, along with some more recent examples, drawings and loads of uniform prints. These are all beautifully, crisply reproduced—the vast majority in colour.

The first two chapters describe, respectively, the lead-up to the campaign (a sort of ‘story so far’) and brief description of its course from February to April 1814. The bulk of the book is dedicated to the troops who made up the French army of 1814, answering Boué’s own question posed in the opening chapter; “Qui étaient-ils?” (Who were they?).

Two examples of the beautifully reproduced paintings that adorn the book. The last halt of the Cossacks before the invasion of France (above) and Charge of the Guard Cossacks at Fère Champenoise (below).
[Note: I didn't twig until adding this caption that I just happened to choose these two, both involving Cossacks!]

Above and below: examples of pictures related to troops and uniforms.

There are chapters about the levée and conscripts, the Imperial Guard, the cavalry, the infantry, the national guard and the free corps (local peasant ‘units’ and those made up of stragglers and other ‘lost’ soldiers). For each of these Boué describes the formation, establishment, regulations, arms and equipment (that there were, particularly for the conscripts and National Guard) as well as examples of their performance in key actions with specific numbers, dates, and names, losses, successes and failures. The specific structure of each chapter is slightly different, but for each the text is rich in detail, examples and anecdotes.

One of the numerous tables in the book. This one the only example that fills two pages!

The numerous ‘sidebars’ and tables presented include a list of the main battles, maps of fifteen of the key ones and detailed orders of battle (for the French). These are complimented by additional information such as a list of revenues, effectives in garrisons, units in reserve camps, table of levees 1804–1814, pay for troops of different ranks and units, along with the cavalry regiments and numbers of men in each joining the army over the course of dates in February—to list about half of it—making for a book packed with excellent content.

Map of the Battle of Champaubert, one of fifteen presented.

The French text is quite easy to read, even for someone like me with only an intermediate grasp of the language. My French vocabulary is quite limited, but I hardly needed to go to the dictionary. I have been reading a bit of French lately, so perhaps have my ‘eye in’ a little, but would certainly not claim any fluency. If you have no knowledge of French I’d still recommend the book as the images need no translation (a picture tells…) and the tables can be comprehended largely without translation, so you’d still get value from the book.

Highly recommended. A most useful, unique, detailed, comprehensive and beautifully produced addition to books about this campaign.

Rating

Reference

Boué, G (2021) La Campagne de France, 1814. Editions Soixante, Paris. 176 pp.

Books: influential, favourite & a newie, plus back to preparation for the quasquibicentennial

It's great how a theme is picked up and passed from one blogger to another. Things like the painting challenge, the figure advent calendar and this one: influential books.

Back on 11th December, Nundanket at Horse and Musket Gaming made a most interesting post about books that had been influential in his getting into the hobby. Iain of caveadsum1471 followed suit with a post about a splendid tome, 'Military Uniforms: The Splendour of the Past' that had been an early inspiration for him, as well as images of his fantastic looking library. Matt of wargamesinthedungeon went to do the same but, realising that he'd done one already about that for his 500th post, re-publised that, along with some of his library!

Reading, collecting and admiring books is a huge part of the enjoyment of the hobby for me. I have even mused that, if forced to one of those 'choose your favourite pet' kind of choices, I would take the books over the figures. So, here's my little bit of input of influential books, favourites in the library and a quick review of a newie.

Influential books

For me the most influential books have to come down to the duo du Garde Peach's Story of Napoleon and Bruce Quarrie's Napoleonic Wargaming. The former took me down the path of an interest in Napoleon and all things napoleonic and the latter was the first book about wargaming that I owned/read and the first rules that Dad and I played. They have both been eclipsed since, many times over, but they remain special to me and I still remember how I enjoyed reading them and pawing over them as a boy.

I had numerous volumes in Ladybird's Adventure from History series, but none grabbed me quite like the Story of Napoleon. Add to this some sets of Airfix Napoleonic figures and I was on my way. Actually, I considered making dioramas rather than wargames. The idea of wargaming came from a suggestion from my dad and the purchase of Quarrie's guidebook and rules followed.

Quarrie's rules may have had numerous glitches, but his practical guide, suggestions, descriptions and photos were a fabulous source of inspiration to me. I longed to have sufficient figures painted so that we could play our first game. It took about four years to happen, but a life-long hobby/obsession was born.

Favourite books

Fast-forward some 47 years from du Garde Peach, or 40-odd since the first wargame, and the shackles are well and truly off! The home library has steadily increased over those years, particularly the past 20 and especially the last ten or so. I have been taking advantage of the fact that books (like figures) are cheaper than they were back then, in relative terms, plus a greater ability with age to invest in the hobby. In fact so 'crazy' have I gone in recent years that now even I consider that I have enough and am limiting myself to only a few, specific and/or really special additions.

One bookcase for 'periods other than Napoleonic'.

Main bookcase of Napoleonic books, organised from general history/biography then chronologically.

Smaller bookcases carrying on the chronology.

Some small bookcases with assorted periods and most of my wargaming rules.

 

I enjoy all the books that I have but, if forced to choose my favourites, it would come down to The Anatomy of Glory (a reprint of which I reviewed last year) and two series of books about Napoleonic uniforms: those by Eugène-Louis Bucquoy and Guy Devautour and the 'splendeur' series by G. Charmy.

A simple bookcase that I made recently to hold my now most prized books: about uniforms, especially Napoleonic.

Brief review of a newie—L'infanterie de ligne 1814-1845

Having greatly enjoyed the first volume of Jouineau and Mongin's book on French infantry of the line (reviewed here), I immediately pre-ordered the second. I was not disappointed.

The second volume has all the features that I enjoyed in the first: pages and pages of colour plates illustrating different types of infantry (privates, NCOs, musicians, ensigns, officers) and uniforms from several regiments, detailed plates of items of uniform and equipment, descriptive text in easy-to-comprehend French (for my intermediate level) and numerous reprints of uniform plates, photographs of extant items of uniform and other illustrations of troops.

Above and below, examples of the pages illustrating different uniforms of troops types and various non-regulation examples.

A sample of one of the many pages illustrating items of uniform of the Bardin regulations.

Plates showing examples of troops/uniforms or extant uniform items are also dotted throughout the book.

 

The text begins with a description of the uniforms of officers from the mid-empire to the 1812 Bardin regulations. The second chapter describes the Bardin regulations in detail, regarding both uniform and equipment, with copious illustrations of each.

A sample page of uniforms of the second restoration (above) and July monarchy (below)

The book is about half Napoleonic with the rest devoted to infantry of the period of the second restoration through to the July monarchy (Louis Philippe)—the period of Hugo's Les Miserables. I would, of course, have wanted all Napoleonic, but I knew it was across these periods when I ordered it. The post-Napoleonic French army is not one that I intend to collect and paint, although one learns to never say never in the figure collecting and painting caper! My only complaint about the book is that there is no mention of the specific nuances of the French infantry uniforms during the Hundred Days, nor any illustrations specific to that period.

Highly recommended: eight Napoleons

Back to the quasquibicentennial

The quasquibicentennial (a largely made-up latinised term for the 225th anniversary) of 1796 approaches rapidly!

I have not painted Napoleonic (revolutionary) figures for some two weeks or so, having decided, in an about-turn, to finish off First World War French and Germans first. Now, with these completed, it is back to Napoleonic figures.

Vistula legion, Frankfort am Main infantry and assorted others that are ready for the final stages of painting

Not much progress with my French for 1796 to early empire recently, save for some grey blanket rolls. While this is likely incorrect for the Italian campaign, the figures were designed for the Egyptian campaign and I'll use them through to 1805–6.

 

I'll complete some of those that have been waiting for final touches since earlier in the year and apply my usual approach of continuing the use of a colour to bring infantry of the Armée d'Italie to completion.

References

Bucquoy, E-L and Devautour, G (1977) La Garde Impérial: Troupes à Pied. Tome 1. Les Uniformes du premier Empire J. Grancher, Paris, France. 

Bucquoy, E-L and Devautour, G (1977) La Garde Impériale Troupes à cheval. Tome 2. Les Uniformes du premier Empire J. Grancher, Paris, France. 210 pp.

Bucquoy, E-L and Devautour, G (1979) Les Cuirassiers. Tome 3. Les Uniformes du premier Empire J. Grancher, Paris, France. 189 pp.

Bucquoy, E-L and Devautour, G (1980) L’Infanterie : L'infanterie de ligne et l'infanterie légère. Tome 4. Les Uniformes du premier Empire J. Grancher, Paris, France. 189 pp.

Bucquoy, En-L and Devautour, G (1980) La Cavalerie légère : les hussards, les chasseurs à cheval. Tome 5. Les Uniformes du premier Empire J. Grancher, Paris, France. 189 pp.

Bucquoy, E-L and Devautour, G (1980) Dragons et Guides. Tome 6. Les Uniformes du premier Empire J. Grancher, Paris, France. 189 pp.

Bucquoy, E-L and Devautour, G (1980) Etat-major et service de santé. Tome 7. Les Uniformes du premier Empire J. Grancher, Paris, France. 134 pp. 

Bucquoy, E-L and Devautour, G (1977) Gardes D’Honneur et Troupes Etrangers. Tome 8. Les Uniformes du premier Empire J. Grancher, Paris, France. 205 pp. 

Bucquoy, E-L and Devautour, G (1977) La Maison de l’Empereur. Tome 9. Les Uniformes du premier Empire J. Grancher, Paris, France. 123 pp. 

Bucquoy, E-L and Devautour, G (1985) Fanfares et Musiques des troups à cheval 1640 - 1940. Tome 10. Les Uniformes du premier Empire J. Grancher, Paris, France. 126 pp. Location: Fisher collection, York.

Charmy, G (2002) Splendeur des Uniformes de Napoleon: Cavalerie. Tome 1. Editions Charles Herissey, Rennes, France. 326 pp.

Charmy, G (2003) Splendeur des Uniformes de Napoleon: La Garde Imperiale à Pied. Tome 2. Éditions Charles Hérissey, Évreux, France. 234 pp.

Charmy, G (2003) Splendeur des Uniformes de Napoleon: La Garde Imperiale à Cheval. Tome 3. Editions Charles Herissey, Rennes, France. 251 pp.

Charmy, G (2004) Splendeur des Uniformes de Napoleon: Infanterie et Regiments Etrangers. Tome 4. Editions Charles Herissey, Rennes, France. 285 pp.

Charmy, G (2004) Splendeur Des Uniformes de Napoleon: Costumes Du Sacre-Armes Drapeaux Et Decorations. Tome 5. Editions Charles Herissey, Rennes, France. 269 pp.

Charmy, G (2005) Splendeur des Uniformes de Napoleon: Marine-Gendarmerie-Artillerie-Génie-Gardes-Ecoles. Tome 6. Editions Charles Herissey, Rennes, France. 288 pp.

du Garde Peach, L and Kenney, J (1968) The Story of Napoleon. Adventure from History Ladybird Books Ltd, Loughborough, England. 51 pp.

Jouineau, A and Mongin, J-M (2020) L'infanterie de ligne 1814-1845. Tome 2. Éditions Heimdal, St Martin-des-Entrées, Bayeux, France. 160 pp.

Lachouque, H and Brown, ASK (1978) The Anatomy of Glory. Arms and Armour Press, London, England. 564 pp.

Quarrie, B (1974) Napoleonic Wargaming. Airfix magazine guide 4 Patrick Stephens Ltd, Cambridge, UK. 64 pp. Location: Fisher collection, York.

Book review: l'Infanterie de ligne 1796–1810 by André Joineau and Jean-Marie Mongin

I love uniform books; especially Napoleonic and particularly about the French army (doubt that I am alone in that amongst readers of this blog). When I saw this book promoted in an e-newsletter from Éditions Heimdal it took only a quick look at the description on their website before I decided to purchase it. It arrived last week and did not disappoint.

This book is largely a compilation of material from two issues of Soldat magazine (also published by Éditions Heimdal) into a lovely, hardcover, A4 format. True to the title, the book covers French line infantry from 1776 to 1810 with about a quarter of the 160 pages devoted to  pre-1789, around another quarter to uniforms of the revolution and consulate (including the Egyptian campaign, see later) and the remaining half to those of the early to mid-Imperial period. The book is a visual feast with a plethora of pages of full colour drawings of troops in assorted uniforms. I'll summarise these later, but firstly a bit of background that may be of interest.

Readers may recognise André Jouineau's name from the marvellous, soft-cover Napoleonic uniform books that were published by Histoire et Collections. Sadly, that publisher went into receivership in 2012#. Fortunately, the void that they left was filled by Éditions Heimdal. Based in Bayeaux, Éditions Heimdal. originally focussed on the middle ages and world war two, but since 2015 have expanded their range to "... cover history from the bronze age (1800 BCE) through to conflicts of the 21st century." Since that time they have been prolific in the publication of books about uniforms, campaigns and military history, ten of them of the Napoleonic era (a trilogy about the Imperial Guard, French artillery, Dictionary of the Grande Armée, Italians of the Empereur, Swiss in the service of France, Arcole & Rivoli, Egyptian campaign and now line infantry). I recommend them all. Most are in French only, but the trilogy of the Guard, published in 2017–18, has been translated into English. For this recent book, Jouineau combined with Jean-Marie Mongin, with whom he co-authored the magnificent trilogy about the Guard.
[#Pleasingly Histoire et Collections was brought out of receivership by Sophia publications (now renamed Sophia Histoire et Collections) and has been back in operation since 2016, specialising in "...current affairs and military history, vehicle collection and vintage fashion." Their focus are their magazines: Raids, Raids Aviation, Militaria Magazine WingMasters, SteelMasters, Charge Utile, Tracteurs Passion & Collection, Figurines, GBM et Styles Vintage, but they also publish books in both French and English, including their back catalogue.]

Jouineau's illustrations of uniforms, a full 120 pages of them, are the main feature of this book. These show various units, ranks and modes of dress of the line infantry. Images are presented from front side and rear, along with detail of equipment, flags and items of uniform.

Beginning with the late Bourbon era, the initial pages of illustrations show the units that served in America in 1780. This is followed by pages devoted to the regulations of 1786. The uniforms of every unit are illustrated along with accompanying pages showing the uniforms for privates, NCOs, musicians and officers and some of specific uniform items. We then move to the republic with illustrations of each of the initially white-uniformed units, during the 'transition' from the King's army—all shown in profile across nine pages, then to the blue-coated l'infanterie de la republique. This is followed by eleven pages devoted to the special uniforms adopted by the troops in Egypt 1798–1801; a fantastic inclusion for mine.

The uniforms and flags of all regiments according to the provisional regulations of 1791 are illustrated in profile.

Two of the eleven pages of illustrations of demi-brigades in Egypt 1798–1801.

A couple of pages of illustrations show the troops of the consulate before the second half is taken up with the early to mid Empire. Six pages illustrate regulation uniforms before this final section concludes with 50 pages devoted to each of the 3e, 4e, 6e, 7e, 8e, 9e, 12e, 14e, 16e, 17e, 18e, 19e, 21e, 22e, 24e, 26e, 27e, 30e, 33e, 42e, 45e, 46e, 57e régiment d'infanterie de ligne illustrating the variety of dress across time, rank and troop types.

Examples of the pages showing regiments in detail; here we have the 14e and 15e régiment d'infanterie de ligne in their white uniform.

Two of the pages devoted to the 18e régiment d'infanterie de ligne.

Illustrations of items of equipment and uniform add greatly to those of the troops.

Along with these beautiful illustrations, the book features 25 pages of text (in French) interspersed with reproductions of paintings of battles and illustrations of troops (some full-page), along with the bibliography, contents and publication details. The text packs in a lot of detail in support of the images including a brief history of the development of French infantry formations and organisation from the middle ages to the consulate and 1st empire. This is followed by details of the uniform and equipment of the infantry of the early to mid Imperial period, including key changes over that time.

An example of one of the reproductions of paintings included in the book; this of a grenadier in Spain with covered bearskin.


This is a fabulous publication that I plan to enjoy leafing through, reading and generally drooling over for years to come. My only complaint is that I would have liked more(!)—that greedy perception is the only thing preventing my giving it a score of a perfect ten! I look forward excitedly to the publication of tome 2.


Additional

I recently 'stumbled' across André Jouineau's website, Images de Soldats which has plates of uniforms and planes drawn by him that can be downloaded as thumbnails, or purchased for 2,50 € per plate. A book is cheaper, but this could be a good way to purchase specific examples.

Sample plate, available as a free download from Images de Soldats.

References



Jouineau, A and Mongin, J-M (2020) L'infanterie de ligne 1776-1810. Tome 1. Éditions Heimdal, St Martin-des-Entrées, Bayeux, France. 160 pp.

Rating