Grenadiers of the 57e Regiment d'infanterie Ligne 1809

 

    The 57e Ligne Grenadiers at the Battle of Thann paid a high price for being elite soldiers. During the battle 11 Grenadiers were killed, 14 mortally wounded, and 39 wounded including 3 of the 4 Grenadier Captains (1e Grenadiers Capt. Jean Viala: Shot in the stomach, 2e Grenadiers Capt. Laurent Bertet, and 3e Grenadiers Capt. Sernin Laffont: Contusion on the left arm). The high ratio of killed and mortally wounded to wounded shows the severity of the fighting against the Austrian who was holding the high ground. The third battalion, which most likely was posted on the extreme left of the regiment 's formaton in line, received the heaviest number of casualties.The regiment not only had to fight off 6 different regiments and an artillery battery posted on high ground, with no battery of their own to respond but also had to form square on it's left to fend off an attack by an Austrian Hussar squadron.Their position on the left allowed the Austrians to attack them from the front as well as work their way around the 57th flank in the woods that dominated the battlefield. The 3e Grenadier company commanding officer Capt. Sernin Laffont received a contusion to his left arm as well as 3 killed, 4 mortally wounded, and 13 wounded Nco's and soldiers.

3rd Grenadier Sergeant Philippe Montmayeux, Killed at The Battle of Thann on April 19, 1809 .   

  An unforunate NCO killed on the hills in front of Teugen was Grenadier Sergent Philippe Montmayeux, born in 1767, he had joined the 69e Ligne in 1791 and then transferred to the 4th Foot Artillery regiment in An 4. Montayeux joined the 57e Ligne in An 6 and would serve the majority of his time in the grenadier companies of the 1st and then 2nd battalion. Being promoted to Caporal in an 12 and Sergent in 1806, Sergent Montmayeux was a old veteran by the time of the battle with over 9 campaigns under his belt. His death with countless other veterans of the volunteers from 1791, 1792, and 1793 would be hard to replace after the heavy casualties sustained by the regiment in 1809.

    One of the 4 Grenadier officers wounded at the battle was the gallant 2e Grenadiers Lt. Rene Claude Jean Raverat, who was shot in the right hand, breaking his hand. At the battle of Thann, Lt. Raverat who was already well known for bravery in the campaign of 1807, shown brightly again when, " On April 19, 1809, the day of the battle of Thaun, the enemy having seized the heights, made a division run to go and intercept the road; General Saint Hilaire wanted to oppose this movement, which could compromise the fate of his troops and that of part of the army. The 57th Regiment was ordered to march on this battery; it was only a short pistol shot away when it was greeted by the musketry of an infantry battalion. The 72nd line infantry regiment, seen at this point, had already come to grips in a wood, where it was crushed by grape-shot from a battery located on a hillock some distance away.The fire was so well fed and so well directed that the French were forced to retire in disorder. Raverat, with half of his grenadiers and about fifty voltigeurs, remains the last; but he is soon obliged to follow the retrograde movement. While he beats in retreat, one of the soldiers who had crossed the Passarge with him, falls wounded by a shot: he takes care to raise him; but at the same time, he himself was struck by a bullet which broke his right hand. the Colonel (Charriere) of 57th then ordered Raverat to go to the ambulance to get bandaged: "No, colonel," replies the lieutenant; This during the General Saint-Hilaire having rallied the troops, arrived with a reinforcement to attack a second time the mamelon;you have already lost a lot of officers, you might need me: "besides, I want to have the honor of commanding one" of your companies, and despite my injury, it is on "this redoubt that you will give it to me”. Ráverat, seeing that the moment is favorable, sets off at the head of a handful of brave men who emerge with bayonets; he climbs the height, after having killed a great number of enemies, and appears the first on the hillock, which is carried by storm. This bold move decided the victory. The one who had contributed so much, then yielding to the strong urges of his chiefs, entered the hospital of Newbourg, where he underwent an operation all the more painful, that it was necessary to extract from his hand the bullet which had remained there. Four days later, Napoleon arrived under the walls of Ratisbon; he was already informed of the courage displayed by this officer: "Where is Lieutenant Raverat, from" he asked the colonel of the 57th regiment? "Sire," replied the latter, "a shot from which he was hit" at the battle of Thaun, where the whole army saw him performing wonders of value, forced him to enter the country. ' hospital . - Well! added the emperor, let him know that I "appoint him baron, with an endowment of four thousand francs". 

Baron Raverat's LdH papers and service record can be seen at Base Leonore.

Grenadier officer from the 57e Ligne c.1807. Notice the officer is wearing a bearskin cap, but is not shown wearing the usual brass plate. Drawing by manuscript of Petit Suhr.

 

 

 

Sapeur, Grenadier Tambour, Caporal Grenadier from Le Petit Soldats de Strasbourg. The caporal has red stripes instead of yellow.

 

Two paintings by Henri Boisselier for the Bucquoy plates depicting a Grenadier Caporal, Grenadier Tambour, Capt. Adj. Major, and a Sapeur.

Article from Rigo's Le Plumet Planche 79 in Tradition Magazine of the 57e Ligne in 1809

 

 

 Sources:

1.  Base Leonore: http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/leonore_fr?ACTION=RETROUVER&FIELD_1=Cnoms&VALUE_1=raverat&FIELD_2=PRENOMS&VALUE_2=&FIELD_3=DATE%2dNSS&VALUE_3=&FIELD_4=LIEU%2dNSS&VALUE_4=&FIELD_5=Nom%20de%20jeune%20fille&VALUE_5=&FIELD_6=SEXE&VALUE_6=%20&FIELD_7=COTE&VALUE_7=&NUMBER=8&GRP=0&REQ=%28%28raverat%29%20%3aNOM%2cNOM2%2cNOM%2dJF%2cNOM%2dMARI%2cSURNOM%2cNOTES%20%29&USRNAME=nobody&USRPWD=4%24%2534P&SPEC=9&SYN=1&IMLY=&MAX1=1&MAX2=1&MAX3=100&DOM=All  
   
2. 1809 Thunder on the Danube. Volume 1 by John H. Gill
   
3. The Fastes of Glory or the Braves Recommended to Posterity: Monument Erected to Defenders of the Fatherland, Volume 2 pages 326-327 by Louis-Fran Ois L'h Ritier (De L'Ain) .
4. 2YB320 57. Line An X.1811
5. 2YB321 57. Line 1808.1815
6. XB459 57. Line 1809
7. Rigo's Le Plumet Plate 79 in Tradition Magazine
8. Bucquoy, EL: Premier Emprie Uniforms
9. Small Suhr manuscript