72e Ligne Officer Shortage 1809

                72e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne 1809

The 72e Ligne has an interesting story in the early months of 1809. In theory, regiments with three war battalions have 1 Colonel and 3 Chef de Batallions, not including the depot battalion's officers. In the case of the 72e Ligne, ten days before the Battle of Thann, the regiment only had two Chef de Batallions present with the war battalions. The Chef de Batallion in charge of the regiment was Francois Marboeuf, a battalion commander with the regiment since 15 August 1806. Below can be seen a copy of a report that he signed as the Chef de Batallion Commanding the Regiment in Bamberg on 17 April 1809.

    So, where is the Colonel? The former Colonel Florentin Ficatier was promoted on 22 October 1808 to General de Brigade. The newly-promoted Colonel Meunier St.Clair never reached the regiment but instead was given command of the 31e Legere in Spain. From the documents I have, Chef de Batallion Francois Marboeuf was the regiment's acting commander from at least January 1809 to 23 April 1809. The newly promoted and wounded (at the Battle of  Eckmühl-shot in the thigh) Chef de Batallion Michel Pascal Lafitte from the 10e Legere would take command of the regiment on 23 April 1809. Chef de Batallion Marboeuf would be awarded the Officier de la Legion d'honneur on 23 April 1809, but his active service with the regiment would end soon. He retired on 1 October 1809 due to having his right thigh carried away by a cannonball on 6 July at the Battle of Wagram.

  At the Battle of Thann on 19 April 1809, the regiment was commanded by Chef de Batallion Marboeuf (43), who also likely oversaw the first battalion. The second battalion was under Chef de Batallion Gilbert Barras, who only had joined the regiment in early January 1809. The third was commanded by Jean-Pierre Bial (36), newly promoted from the 22e Ligne, and only arrived nine days before the battle. Having just reached near Ratisbonne the day before, Bial had very little time to get to know his men as he states," I took command of my battalion and on April 10 hostilities began at Hambach."(Bial)   

          Some sense of the serious officer shortage for the regiment can be seen from the III Corps situational report on 10 April. The regiment only had 55 officers when a full complement of officers should be 69, including the six officers from the two elite companies of the 4th Battalion. The regiment should also have extra officers detached from the 4th Battalion fusilier companies as Officiers de La Suite. However, from the reports I have seen, very few were sent to the war battalions. This could be due to the regiment having four companies from the 4th Battalion detached to fight in Spain in late 1808 and the need to create four new 4th Battalion companies in the late months of 1808.

   The 72e Ligne in early April 1809 should have 1 Colonel, 3 Chef de Batallions, 1 Officier Payeur, 1 Porte-Aigle, 3 Adjutant-Majors, 20 Capits. 20 Lieuts. and 20 Sous-Lieuts with the war battalions, including the elite company officers from the 4th Battalion. We can see from below that the regiment had the least number of officers present but the second-largest total soldiers present in the brigade. The regiment played an important role in stopping the Austrian counter-attack at the Battle of Thann. It is only a testament to the toughness and esprit de corps of the officers and men who performed bravely and suffered high casualties even with shortages of command and control. The author Terry Crowdy has a great article talking about these types of issues dealing with the 9e Legere 4th Battalion in the 1809 campaign HERE

The regiment tried to fill the vacancies with four brand new officers from the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr. According to the document below, the decree of 24 March 1809, sent Sous-Lieuts. Charriere, Majou, Magnier, and Girard de Chateauvieux to the war battalions. If these men arrived prior to the start of the 1809 campaign is unlikely and not noted.  However, Sous-Lieut. Magnier would fight with the war battalions in late May, while Sous-Lieut. Charriere, Majou, and Girard de Chateauvieux are noted on the 1 October 1809 report as Officiers in Recruitment.

 

        Another document that shows officers' shortage can be seen from a report on March 1809 and 1 May 1809. The second document dated 1 May 1809, shows that due to battlefield casualties from the battles in April and the already shortage of officers before the campaign started, the 72e Ligne needed four Capits., four Lieuts., and ten Sous-Lieuts, which was one more than the previous month. Thankfully, the regiment made good its vacancies in the Etat-major in April with the promotion of Colonel Lafitte and Chef de Batallions Bial and Keck (Keck previously served with the 16e Legere). The total of 18 officers is just two short of the officers required to command a full strength-battalion!

Report on the effective staff for 1 March and 1 April on the left. Take into consideration this is for all four battalions, including the depot. The fifth battalion was not formed yet. The document on the right shows the vacancies in officers and from what battalion/company they served.

 

 

 

The most telling document demonstrating the officers' shortage is a report from the month of April 1809, showing the officers gained and lost. As you can see on the right, by the end of April, the regiment has gained a Colonel, three Chef de Batallions, 4 Capits. 12 Lieuts. and 11 Sous-Lieuts.

                                             

Report dated 1 May 1809 for officer vacancies.

                     

 19 April Battle of Thann Officier Casualties

  

        After the Battle of Thann, the regiment was even more under strength due to one officer being killed outright, and one mortally wounded who died almost a month later. Of the eleven wounded officers below, at least two did not fight with the regiment in the next coming days due to wounds. However, most of these officers would be wounded again either at the Battle of Eckmühl April 21-22, Battle of Essling May 21-22, or Battle of Wagram July 5-6.

Mortally Wounded:
1e Bat./ 3e Co. S.Lieut. Louis Ambroise: Died of wounds on 10 May 1809

Wounded in Action:
1e Grenadiers Capit. Michel Marie Lefizelier: Shot in the left leg
1e Bat./ 1e Co. Lieut. Jacques Louis Moulin: Shot in the left hip
1e Bat./ 1e Co. S.Lieut. Richard Adrien Devienne: Shot in the right forearm
2e Bat./ 4e Co. S.Lieut. Francois Philippe Chambelland: Shot in the left thigh
3e Bat./ 1e Co. S.Lieut. Jean Francois Royer: Shot in the left leg
3e Bat./ 3e Co. Capit. Germain Bardoux: Shot in the left arm
3e Bat./ 4e Co. Capit. Jean Baptiste Gaillard: Shot in the right leg
1e Voltigeurs Capit. Louis Mathurin Constant Metton: Shot in the right breast (nipple)
3e Voltigeurs S.Lieut. Jean Jacques Marce: Shot in the right leg
4e Voltigeurs Capit. Francois Poirier: Shot in the right thigh
4e Voltigeurs Lieut. Francois Augustin Bertrand Marigny: Shot in the right foot

                                         Uniforms

When it comes to uniform details for the 72e Ligne, I know of none sadly. Maybe someone else who is more qualified than myself can let me know, but at the moment, I only have what the shako plate might have looked like. Below is a picture, according to this website Bertrand  of an 1806 style lozenge shako plate of the 72e Ligne. Another taken from the SEHRI website, the shako plate looks similar to the 1812 model but has unique larger lion heads on the corners of the shako plate.

Sources:

• 2YB370 72.Ligne An IV.1814
• XB487 72.Ligne 1809
• XB647 72. Ligne
  
• Memoirs de Jean-Pierre Bial
• COLLONGES-LA-ROUGE - MEYSSAC (19) - COLONEL JEAN-PIERRE BIAL (1773 - 1859) 
• A French Infantry Battalion at Wagram, 1809 : Terry Crowdy
• Décret imp . relatif à la composition des régiinens d'infanterie de ligne et d'infanterie légère . 
• SEHRI Forum 

 

 

 

10e Legere 1809

    

     The 10e Legere is the last regiment in the 1st Brigade of Saint Hilaire's 4th Division in 1809. Before 1809, the veteran regiment fought in the battles of Austerlitz, Iena (Jena), Eylau, Heilsberg, and countless other small engagements. At the Battle of Thann, the regiment played a secondary yet still very important role in the eventual French victory. The gallant and well thought of Colonel Pierre Berthezene was the commanding officer since February 1807, taking over for Colonel Pouzet (later his head was taken off by a cannonball as a General de Brigade in front of his friend Marshal Lannes at the end of the Battle of Aspern-Essling in 1809). The regiment fought the majority of the battle on the far right of the French position located near Roith. Throughout the battle, their opponents were the Peterwardeiner Grenz Infantry Regiment No. 9 (1 battalion) and the Erzherzog Karl Legion (1 battalion). We know about the regiment's actions in the battle mainly from the after action reports of Marshal Davout, L. Boudin de Roville (1st Aide de Camp to General Saint-Hilaire) (1) and Colonel Berthezene's memoirs (2). Before the battle on 10 April 1809, the situational report shows 71 officers and 2,501 men with the regiment. There were also two men detached and 204 in the hospital with a total effective strength of 2,778 officers and soldiers. The regiment had 3 Batallions du Guerre and the elite companies from the 4e Batallion.

 

   Unfortunately, I was unable to view the Controles de Troupes for the regiment, and there is no precise information on casualties other than the officers. In Binder's work (1906), he claims the 10e Legere had five officers and 431 out of action. (3) According to Binder, he used the 3rd Corps 20 April 1809 situational report to come to this number, but Martinien cites nine officers wounded (4), and in my research, I was able to find one additional officer injured and two officers captured. It seems that Martinien listed Lieut. Salomon as wounded on the 19 and 21 April 1809, but his service record only list the 21st. He could of have possibly mixed up the name with Sous-Lieut. Louis Auguste Bonenfant who was seriously wounded by a cannonball and missing from Martinien's list. His service record states that he was wounded by a cannonball that carried away his left arm and retired due to the amputation of that same arm in 1810. Below can be seen his record from Base Leonore (here). 

 

Lieut. Bonenfant service record. Even after losing his left arm he came out of retirement and joined the 69e Cohort in 1812.

     

    His wound most likely occurred when the large Austrian battery stationed in front of Hausen targeted the 10e Legere as it left the cover of the woods north of Hausen. Colonel Berthezen says, "The 10th light moved, by the right of this regiment (57e Ligne), to the left flank of the enemy, and attacked it so vigorously that it did not allow it a long resistance; the artillery, compromised, hastened his retreat, leaving one of his pieces in our hands, and the infantry was led, bayonet clear in their loins, to the heights of Hausen; but then the 10th light and the 3rd of the line (1e Batallion under orders of Chef de batallion Laffithe), which had been sent to his right to support his operation, found exposed discovered under fire from 40,000 men and 60 pieces of guns. After having suffered an artillery discharge and some battalion fires, they had to reenter the wood" (Berthezene, 1855, p. 194).

     Without reading the 10e Legere controls de troupes, there will be no closer approximation of the number of men who were killed and wounded. However, Colonel Berthezene does not mention high casualties for the regiment, so I am somewhat skeptical of Binders' conclusion. We know that one officer was captured along with eight men in the confusing back and worth fighting in the woods in front of Roith. That officer was from the 1e Carabiniers named Lieut. Joseph Gerbe. He was possibly captured during the fighting in the woods, but no data is available describing his capture. It is interesting to note he was captured unwounded, so he might have been surrounded and cut off. What is certain is Lieut. Gerbe was returned from captivity on 17 August 1809. Another officer from the 4e Carabinier named Capit. Jean Richard was wounded and captured during the battle. The XB584 10.Légère 1809 is slightly confusing when it comes to when and where Capit. Richard was captured. All the documents agree he was wounded and captured, but two cite 19 April 1809 Battle of Thann, and one cites 22 April 1809 Battle of Eckmuhl. Even though when and where he was wounded and captured is not known, the officer's fate had a sad ending. According to the XB files, Capit. Jean Richard was wounded, captured, and not returned after the end of hostilities and presumed dead. One can only imagine how the wounded officer must have been rushed into captivity due to the Austrians' rapid retreat, which would of not helped his wound. The official report from the 2YB564 10.Légère An X.1811 does state he was a prisoner of war on 19 April 1809, so I felt this made my conclusion correct.

 

Capit. Jean Richard born on 24 April 1767, was wounded and captured just five days short of his 42nd birthday.

 

    Below I will post the three uniform plates for the Carabiniers, Chasseurs, and Voltigeurs of the 10e Legere. The 10e Legere uniforms in 1809 are not exactly known, and there are many different variations of the uniform worn. I have tried my best to show each of the variations, but I have decided to go with what I believe the uniform looked like at the time. On Frederic Berjaud's website, you can find his description of the most likely uniform for the regiment here (2). I will also add some of the paintings and petit soldats showing the regiment in its many different uniform variations below.

Carabiniers

Chasseurs

Voltigeurs

Carabinier Sergent Major and Sapeur from E.Fort

 

Carabinier in 1809 uniform from Bucquoy plates.

Sapeur in 1809 uniform from Bucquoy plates.

Chasseur from E.Fort

Chasseur Flutist and Voltigeur from E.Fort

Voltigeur, Carabinier, Chasseur, and Chasseur Drummer from the Carl Collection

 

 

 

For those who can read French, an article by the late Didier Davin describing the regiment's uniforms in the Napoleonic period. Didier Davin was also the writer of the history of the 10e Legere on Frederic Berjaud's website.

 

 

References

1.) Campagne de 1809 en Allemagne et en Autriche – Charles Gaspard Louis Saski https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=xkxBAAAAIAAJ&pg=GBS.PA257

2.) Souvenirs militaires de la République et de l'Empire – Pierre Berthezène, Résidence jésuite https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=XWYqtYt4EQcC&pg=GBS.PA192

3.) Der Krieg Napoleons gegen Oesterreich 1809 – Freiherr Karl Binder von Krieglstein https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=H8lCAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA207 

4.) Le 10ème Régiment d'Infanterie Légère 1796-1815 http://frederic.berjaud.free.fr/Articles_de_Didier_Davin/10eLeger/10e%20Leger.htm

Base Leonore: Louis Auguste Bonenfant http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/leonore_fr?ACTION=RETROUVER&FIELD_1=Cnoms&VALUE_1=bonenfant&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=2&GRP=0&REQ=%28%28bonenfant%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