57e Regiment d'Infantere Ligne Fusiliers

     The 12 fusilier companies of the 57e Ligne in 1809 were the backbone of the regiment. These men were conscripted into the war battalions by the thousands to fill the gaps of countless years of war. Shown below are images of the regiment depicted by artists such as Boersch (Petits Soldats de Strasbourg) Rigo, Bucquoy, Tanconville, Boisselier, a modern depiction by Y. Ogarkova, a naive german drawing closer to the time period of a fusilier drummer, and a portrait of a wounded officer. Trying to figure out who is correct in their depiction is tough, but giving the details and allowing the reader to make their own decision is my goal.
        
        Some details on the Petits Soldats de Strasbourg (Petits Soldats d’Alsace) collection painted by Christian Boersch from Frederic Berjaud's site on the history of 57e Ligne, "Before going into detail, a few words first about Boersch (after L. de Beaufort, the Briquet). Born in Strasbourg before the Revolution, a baker in his state, he had married the niece of the painter Benjamin Zix. Installed in his shop, which overlooked Strasbourg's main street, he followed all the troops passing through the city with his eyes. Sometimes he invited the soldiers to visit him in his shop. He dutifully recorded the details of their uniform, which he then reproduced on cardboard cut with a knife and then mounted them on wooden studs. This notation lasts several generations since it is completed under the Restoration." The reason we have so much information on such regiments as the 3e Ligne, 18e Ligne, 57e Ligne, and 17e Legere is that these regiments had their depots in Strasbourg. Mr. Boersch would have seen these regiments daily and able to record the changes he saw. Commandant Bucquoy states, "The types of this series were taken mainly in the Boersch collection, an Alsatian collection established by a contemporary and which was the basis of many later collections. It is of all the known collections that have the best chance of being accurate and we will have several times the opportunity to draw interesting documents from them. The outfits that our collaborator Mr. Henri Boisselier represented from this source are those of the end of the Executive Board, which remained under the Consulate and the Empire until the adoption of the shako." http://frederic.berjaud.free.fr/057edeligne/57e_de_ligne.htm

      Below you will find the troop controls or roster of the troops. These show their height, age, where they were born, their overall facial features, and their parent's names. Next shows if they volunteered, were conscripted, or a replacement for another (usually often a well off) citizen and what year they joined the corps. Also, details of the soldier's service record which includes the battalion and company he served, his rank, and the outcome of his service (wounded, mortally wounded, killed, died in hospital, retired, left the corps for any reason, or moved onto another regiment). These are fascinating even if at times hard to read, but still, this allows us an insight into the rank and file of the regiment.

Troop controls. This depicts three different soldiers who all shed their blood at the Battle of Thann. Our first soldier N.2996 Pierre Antione Houdain joined the regiment in 1805 as a replacement for another citizen and was retired in 1810 due to wounds received at the battle. He served in the 3rd battalion/ 3rd Company. Jean Gagne was mortally wounded at the battle and died two months later in the military hospital located in Strasbourg in June 1809. He served in the 1st Battalion/ 1st Grenadiers. Pierre Francois Lattu was killed outright at the battle and served in the 2nd Battalion/ 1st Company. When both Gagne and Lattu were entered into the rolls one after the other in 1805 as conscript N.3014 and N.3015 neither could have known they would meet the same fate four years later in Bavaria. These men were all veterans of the 1806,1807, and 1809 campaigns.
(SHD/GR 21 YC 474) 57e demi-brigade de ligne, 14 brumaire an XIV [5 novembre 1805]-8 avril 1809 (matricules 2 977 à 6 084)

Fusilier Tambour and Fusiler from Petits Soldats de Strasbourg and a Fusilier Tambour painted by Henri Boisselier

Portrait of a 57e Ligne Fusilier from Bucquoy Plates

  Illustration by Y. Ogarkova. Posted in the book: Dolgov I.A  Dolgov 1812 The Army of Napoleon. Davout's 1st Corps - M.: Publisher workshop & 15th camp " M., 2011

57e Ligne I.Batt. Officer in Full Dress uniform c.1807 from Suhr Manuscript. The officer's shako plate is different than the lozenge shako plate depicted c.1809.

Wounded Captain of the 57e Ligne wearing a surtout with the Legion d'honneur award.

Rigo's article showcasing the uniform of the 57e Ligne in 1809 fusilier tambour and sapeur of the 4e &5e Battalions.

Fusilier Tambour from a german naive drawing of the 57e Ligne. Note the sky blue turnbacks with the 5 on the left and 7 on the right turn back. Also, the shako plate seems to be the 1812 plate with an eagle over crescent.

57e Ligne in 1809 Grenadier and Fusilier Tambours from Bucquoy Plates based on Les Petit Soldats de Strasbourg. Note how Bucquoy plates show drummers with white turnbacks and orange piping.

Tanconville plate showing the 57e Ligne in 1805 in underdress uniform in Strasbourg. The plate depicts from left to right a Voltigeur Officer and Fusilier Officer in surtouts, Fusilier Sergent-major, Grenadier drummer, Chef de batallion on horseback in surtout, Aide chirurgien, and Chef de Musique.

Situational Report April 1809 3e Regiment d'infanterie Ligne

Officer Nominations April 23rd,1809, and April 25th, 1809. Four adjudant sous-officiers were promoted to fill the gaps of the 3 officers killed (1 Lt, 2 S.Lt.'s) and S.Lt. Sugier who was promoted to Lieutenant. These men were Adj.Sous Officiers Courtol, Merlet, Rasteau, and Hourt.  Adj. Sous Officier Junot would replace Sous-lieut. Antoine Leroux who had to have his right leg amputated due to his wounds received on April 19th, 1809.

3e Ligne Officers killed and wounded st the Battle of Thann on April 19, 1809

Lt. Cesar Claude Beluze who served in the 1st Battalion/ 1st Grenadier company, was wounded on April 19th, 1809. He has two service records in his LdH file and one says he was wounded le 19 Avril 1809 a l'affair Thann, but without any explanation and the other only cites his wound on May 22, 1809, at the Battle of Essling. His wound may have been so slight that he never left the ranks and only reported his wounds later on during his retirement.

Sous-Lieut. Jacques Gilbert Felder one of the three officers from the 3e Ligne killed on April 19, 1809. Sous-Lieut. Felder served in the 2nd Battalion/ 2nd Grenadier company.

      So far during my research, I found 3 officers killed which are Lieut. Alexis, Sous-Lieut. Uzes and Sous-Lieut. Felder. At the moment I also have found 2 NCOs killed which are sergeant-major Fournioux and sergeant Naudin and 4 soldiers killed. The majority of the wounded officers seem to have stayed with the regiment or at least recovered enough to serve at the Battle of Essling a month later as some were wounded again. However, at least one officer Lieut. Leroux retired in 1809 due to his wound that caused his right leg to be amputated. Also, Sous-Lieut. Jean-Joseph Jeandel's wound was severe enough to fracture his left arm and keep him out of the rest of the campaign.

     As you can see by the killed and wounded from the first table the elite companies of the four battalions took the brunt of the officer casualties. The Grenadiers had one officer killed and 6 wounded and the Voltigeurs had six officers wounded from a total of 3 officers killed and 25 wounded. Also, we can look at the casualties per battalion and take an educated guess which two battalions were fighting on the Hausner Berg on the right of the 57e Ligne. The 2nd and 3rd battalions altogether accounted for 18 officer casualties which attest to the intensity of the fighting on the hill against the larger Austrian forces. With the least amount of casualties of 1 officer killed and 4 wounded, the 1st battalion seems to have been the battalion left as a reserve and were able to coordinate with the 10e Legere to push back and outflank the 1. Batt. Erz. Karl Legion and II. Batt. 9th Peterwardein Grenzer near Roith. It is possible that during this pursuit of the retreating Austrians that Capit. Jean-Bernard-Louis Mac-Shechy and Lt. Alexis became casualties when the 1st battalion exited the woods and was met by a hail of cannonballs from batteries on hills surrounding Hausen and battalion volleys from the counter-attacking IR 20 Kaunitz. This would make sense as the third company would be one of the two front companies when the battalion was traversing the woods in the more maneuverable Colonne de Division.

      The location of the 4th Battalion's elite companies is unknown, but due to the terrain on the french left near Roith, perhaps the grenadiers and voltigeurs were engaged against the Grenzer. Précis historique de la guerre entre la France et l'Autriche, en 1809 backs up this hypothesis, " Several times the enemy pushed back the skirmishers of the 3e; but each time, a battalion of this regiment which was in reserve (1st Battalion), starting from the end of the arc formed by the woods, traversed it, at the run, and overwhelmed everything that had gone forward." Wherever these companies were located it must have been in the thick of the fighting as 4 out of the 6 officers became casualties during the battle. Also, three officers named Capt. Thomas, Lt. Dorange, and S.lt. Jeandel who was wounded at the battle was detached from the fusilier companies of the 4th Battalion who still remained at the depot in Strasbourg. I am unable to find out which company they served during the battle, but due to the fact that Capt. Hugues retirement was signed on April 19th, 1809 at the depot in Strasbourg, one could presume Capt. Thomas commanded the 3rd Voltigeurs in his place.  Sadly, this is all a guess due to the lack of exact details on the fighting, but the casualties returns allow us to decipher where and how the battle occurred.

     I would like to spotlight one of our officer casualties named Capt. Jean-Bernard-Louis Mac-Shechy. He was born in 1783, making him the youngest captain in the regiment at the age of 26. He must have been a very talented officer since the next youngest captain in the 1st Battalion was 12 years older than him! Granted the 3e Ligne had many old officers such as the 52-year old Capit. Henri Baujeux and Capt. Martin-Joseph Thomas, 51-year old Lieut. Louis-Francois Gorget, 50-year old Capt. Joseph Fontaine and 49-year old Voltigeur Capt. Jean-Pierre Hugues. Mac-Shechy at 26 years had an interesting career before joining the 3e Ligne in 1808.

   He started his career with the 10th Chasseur a Cheval as a trooper in 1801 and was promoted to the officer ranks in the 1st Battalion of the Irish Regiment two years later. He was promoted Captain in 1803 at the age of 20 and served as an aide de camp to General Desjardin in January 1807 and then transferred to the Legion du Nord in February 1807. He would join the 3e Ligne on 31st March of 1808. By the time of the battle Capt. Mac-Shechy had already been a captain for almost 6 years! His next promotion to Chef de Batallion would take him over five years when he was promoted to the 81e Ligne in 1813 and a lateral move to 44e Ligne in 1814. He was appointed on August 9th,1809 Knight of the Legion d'honneur for his actions at the battle of Wagram. During the Battle of Thann, he was wounded with a shot in the left forearm and later wounded in Spain on July 1812.

    Below is his service record from Base Leonore. The slightly frustrating thing about searching for Mac-Shechy and other officers of the regiment is their names are spelled in so many different ways. I have seen his name spelled three different ways such as Mac-Shechy and Mac-Sheehy on his Base Leonore record and Mac-Sechy on the regimental rolls!

Sources:
1) XB347 Administrative des corps de troupe 3.Ligne 1809
2) 2YB120 3.Ligne An X.1810
3) 2C 506 2e&3e Corps April 1809
4) HISTORIQUE DU 3 Regiment d'Infanterie EX-PIEMONT 1569-1891 pg. 273-276.
5) Tableaux, par corps et par batailles, des officiers tués et blessés pendant les guerres de l'Empire (1805-1815) /A. Martinien pg. 121
6) Tableaux, par corps et par batailles, des officiers tués et blessés pendant les guerres de l'Empire (1805-1815) : supplément / A. Martinien pg.27
7)  Précis historique de la guerre entre la France et l'Autriche, en 1809 pg. 52-59

3e Ligne Regimental Organization post 1808

 Decree of 18 février 1808 the Organization of the Infantry.

LINE AND LIGHT INFANTRY COMPOSITION. 

Article. 1. - Our line infantry and light infantry regiments will in future be made up of a staff and five battalions; the first four will be nominated battalions of war and the fifth that of the depot.

Article 2. - Each war battalion, commanded by a battalion chief having under his orders an adjutant-major and two warrant officers, will be composed of six companies, including one of grenadiers, one of voltigeurs and four riflemen, all of equal force

Article 3. - Each depot battalion will be composed of four companies. A Major will always be attached to this battalion. A Captain designated by the Minister on the presentation of three candidates made by the Colonel will command the battalion of the depot, under the orders of the Major. He will command one of the four companies at the same time. There will be one adjutant-major and two warrant officers near the depot.

Article. 4. - The strength of the general staff and that of each company of grenadiers or carabiniers, voltigeurs or fusiliers is determined as follows:

        Etat Major

Colonel...........................  1

                  Major .............................  1                  

Chefs de Bataillon..........  4

Adjudant-majors.............  5

Quartier-maitre trésorier.  1

Officier payeur................  1

Porte-Aigle...................... 1

 Chirurgien-major . . . . . .  1 

Aides-chirurgiens............ 4

Sous-aides. . . . . . . . . . . . 5

 Adjudants sous-officiers .10

2 et 3º porte-aigle. . . . . . .2

Tambour-major . . . . . . . .1

Caporal tambour . . . . . . .1

Musiciens with 1 chef . . .8

Maitres-ouvriers. ............ 4

                              Total: 50

Company 

 Capitaine..................                          1

  Lieutenant ...................                      1 

 Sous-lieutenant ..........                       1

 Sergent-majors .........................         1

                                   Sergent  ....................................         4                           
Fourrier....................................          1

 Caporaux..................................          8

       Grenadiers, Voltigeurs ou Fusiliers.  121   

Tambours ................................          2

                                 Total:140 

Thus the strength of each regiment will be 3,970 men, including 108 officers and 3,862 non-commissioned officers and soldiers. 

Article. 5. There will be per war battalion, four sappers who will be chosen from the company of grenadiers of which they will continue to be part, as well as the caporal who will command all the sappers of the regiment. 

Article. 6.  In battle, the company of grenadiers will hold the right of the battalion; that of the voltigeurs, the left. 

Article. 7.  When the six companies are present at the battalion, we will parade and we will always act by division. When the grenadiers and the voltigeurs are absent from the battalion, they would maneuver and always parade in platoons. These companies will form a division; each company will form a platoon; each half-company a section. (1)

So where are all the battalions of the 3e Ligne? Well as the regimental history states,  "On this date will also begin the confusion in all the bodies, which will have detachments everywhere: in Germany, in France, in Spain; thus, on April 1, 1808, the first three battalions of 3e Ligne were in the vicinity of Stettin, in the Saint-Hilaire division; the 4th battalion has its two companies of grenadiers and voltigeurs at Danzig, in the Oudinol division; its four rifle companies are part of a provisional regiment of the ocean coast observation corps (3rd provisional regiment); the 5e battalion (depot) is in Strasbourg." (2) Colonel Pierre Berthezene gives another unfavorable opinion about the new regimental organization, "the battalions were reduced from nine companies to six, for the battalions of war, and to four for those of the depot. By this measure, the number of companies was increased by regiment, without any advantage for the battalions of war, which, on the contrary, in several circumstances experienced a real reduction." He continues to say, " lt is probable that this change was due to political thought, and that the desire to send part of our old troops to Spain, without reducing the number of regiments and battalions of the grand army determined this formation. It seems bad to me: it gives too weak battalions or too strong companies and one of the most serious inconveniences that it offers is to reduce the number of companies in the center too much, reduced to four, can no longer suffice to feed the two elite." (3)

Major Francois Duclos will leave the regiment to take command of the 3rd Provisional Regiment in Spain and the new Major Joseph Klein will command the depot. However, Major Klein will be put in command of the 11 Provisional Demi-Brigade of the Army of Germany on May 12, 1809. (4)

In the summer of 1808 and towards the beginning of 1809,  "The three battalions of the 3rd entered Stralsund; they were joined there, towards the end of December, by the voltigeurs and the grenadiers of the 4th Battalion, coming from Hanau, where they had left the Oudinot division. Under the energetic command of Davout the winter was employed to improve training, to repair the armament, and, in the spring of 1809, the army of the Rhine was ready to enter the campaign. "

With war looming against the Austrians the 3e Ligne and Davout's Corps started to concentrate near Regensburg when "The Saint-Hilaire division was transported with marvelous rapidity from Pomerania to Regensburg. The 3rd of the line, who left on the 6th of March from Stralsund arrived on the 18th at Magdeburg, where he was joined by 300 men coming from the depot in Strasbourg. He stopped there until the 24th, to stock up on ammunition, replace the parts of the armament and equipment deemed defective. He arrived at Bamberg on the 10th of April and went at once to Ratisbonne. "

The Austrians declared the beginning of hostilities on April 9th, "Since the 9th, the 3rd had been camped at Nieder-Windzer, on the left bank of the Danube; he passed on the right bank, with the whole army corps, on the day of the 18th. The next day, very early in the morning, Davout began his audacious flank march before the army of Archduke Charles."(2) This is where we find the 3e Ligne on the morning of April 19th, 1809 beginning to make contact with the Austrian light troops, which will start the Battle of Teugen-Hausen.

Returning to the organization of the Etat-Major one of the articles of the 1808 organization breaks down the qualifications and some uniform details of the 2e and 3e Porte Aigle.

Art. 17. - Each regiment will have an eagle which will be carried by an eagle carrier having the rank of lieutenant or sub-lieut holding and counting at least ten years of service, or having made the four campaigns of Ulm, Austerlitz, of Jena and Friedland. He will enjoy the pay of 1st class lieutenant. Two brave men, taken from among the former non-literate soldiers, who, for this reason, could not obtain advancement, having at least ten years of service, with the title, one of a second eagle carrier, the other of third eagle carrier, will always be placed next to the eagle. They will have the rank of sergeant and the pay of sergeant major. They will carry four chevrons on both arms. The eagle will always stay where there are the most battalions together. The eagle bearers are part of the regimental staff. All three are appointed by Napoleon and can only be removed by Napoleon.

Art. 18. - Each war battalion will have a sign carried by a non-commissioned officer chosen by the chief in one of the companies of that battalion. (1)

There will be a later decree giving the weapons that should be carried by the 2e & 3e Porte Aigles, but, it seems it was up to the Colonel how these men were armed and dressed other than the 4 chevrons. These two veterans could come from any company of the regiment, so, for instance, there could be a grenadier and a fusilier next to the Porte Aigle. According to Frederic Berjaud's website on the 7e Legere, he says, " Until now all we knew was that they had to wear probably the sergeant's stripes, epaulets of grenadiers NCO (carabinier for light infantry), four red chevrons on the arms. They kept the lighter sword and their rifle. The Emperor modified their armament in September 1809 and awarded them an esponton with a red flame for the second Eagle Gate and white for the 3rd. On one side, the regiment's name is inscribed and on the other, "NAPOLEON". Two pistols complete the armament. To wear them, we will soon adopt a case worn on the chest as in the mamelukes. As a headdress: the bearskin cap is envisaged with white racket cord and feathers to mark the membership of the regiment's general staff. It was pointed out that until the war administration could provide homogeneous elements, regiments should try to provide themselves." (5) In 1811 the precise uniform details will be decreed, but until then it seems we are unsure or left with some Petit Soldats de Strasbourg from the Boersch collections and a painting such as Rigo's Porte Aigle of the 7e Legere in 1809. Rigo mentions that one was a carabiner and one was a chasseur, yet both wear a bearskin. 

Let's take a look at the commander of the first battalion Chef de Batallion Jean-Baptiste Laffithe. His had a long and glorious career and was awarded for his efforts as the Colonel of the 124th Ligne Regiment from 1812-1814. His Base Leonore files show his awards as an Officer and Knight of the Legion d'honneur. On the far right side of his service record details his injuries and detailed battlefield service. I find it amazing to see that this type of history is so well preserved and I enjoy researching and finding the stories of the men who fought. (6)

Sources:
(1) Campagne de 1809 en Allemagne et en Autriche by Charles Gaspard Louis Saski
(2) HISTORIQUE DU 3 Regiment d'Infanterie EX-PIEMONT 1569-1891
(3) Souvenirs militaires de la République et de l'Empire – Pierre Berthezène
(4) Archives administratives des corps de troupe SHD Xb347
(5) http://frederic.berjaud.free.fr/Articles_de_Didier_Davin/07eLeger/07e_Leger.htm
(6)  http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/leonore_fr?ACTION=RETROUVER&FIELD_98=NOM&VALUE_98=%27LAFFITHE%27&NUMBER=2&GRP=0&REQ=%28%28%27LAFFITHE%27%29%20%3aNOM%20%29&USRNAME=nobody&USRPWD=4%24%2534P&SPEC=9&SYN=1&IMLY=&MAX1=1&MAX2=1&MAX3=100&DOM=All

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