Marshal Victor's I Corps d'Armee - Talavera

Perhaps one of the most powerful French Corps d'Armee in 1809 was Marshal Victors I Corps that formed line of battle in front of Sir Arthur Wellesley's position at Talavera that July. 

It's ranks were filled with veterans of Austerlitz, Jena and Friedland and had known only victory since entering Spain only nine months previously.

To quote the Duke himself when asked about his thoughts about the French;

"They were excellent troops; I never on any occasion knew them to behave otherwise than well. Their officers too were as good as possible."

The following pictures show the Corps at full strength, which it certainly was not on the 28th July, at a figure scale of approximately 1:30. The completion of this particular formation required the building of twenty-four battalions of line infantry which was started in May 2015 and completed in July 2016.

I would like to thank all those who played their part in the completion of this project with the multiple comments of support and encouragement I received on the completion of each battalion and I put these pictures together as a tribute to those people whose comments appear in the links to the battalions found at the bottom of this post, it was great to have your support on the journey.

I hope those battalion posts will be useful as a reference should anyone be mad enough to want to have a go at all or some of these units in the future, and will add to the painting tutorial I put together whilst working on them which can be found in the "Tutorials" section at the top of the page. 

The next time you will see the Corps together will be for the full afternoon attack at Talavera set to be fought using Carnage & Glory II summer 2017. For the Napoleonic wargamer their can be no finer feeling than the thought of wielding a formation of this size on the table-top, with the calibre of troops they represent; wargaming in "The Grand Manner".

In the meantime it will be onwards and upwards with the Spanish Infantry Division of General Bassecourt and the Cavalry Division under General Albuquerque and I haven't quite decided which I will start first.

I Corps d'Armee - Marshal Victor commanding, with Generals Ruffin and 1st Division (left), Lapisse and 2nd Division (right), Villatte and 3rd Division (centre rear) and Beaumont's Light Cavalry Brigade (right rear). Thirty-three battalions of infantry, two regiments of cavalry, six batteries of artillery.

Victor

1st Corps: Maréchal Victor 

I Corps Artillerie Reserve - 12 lbr and 6 lbr companies 
(Each infantry division and the cavalry brigade had its own company of artillery).

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Ruffin

1st Division: Général de division Ruffin (5,286)

8 guns

Meunier

Brigade: (Meunier)

9th Légère Regiment (3)

24th Line Regiment (3)

Barrois

Brigade: Général de brigade Barrois

96th Line Regiment (3)

1st Division - General Ruffin commanding with General Meunier (left) and Barrois (right) and their respective brigades

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2nd Division: Général de division Lapisse (6,862)

8 guns

Brigade: Général de brigade Laplannes

16th Légère Regiment (3)

45th Line Regiment (3)

Brigade: Général de brigade Solignac

8th Line Regiment (3)

54th Line Regiment (3)

2nd Division - General Lapisse commanding with General Laplannes (left) and Solignac (right) and their respective brigades

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Villatte

3rd Division: Général de division Villatte (6,135)

8 guns

Cassagne

Brigade: Général de brigade Cassagne

27th Légère Regiment (3)

63rd Line Regiment (3)

Puthod

Brigade: Général de brigade Puthod

94th Line Regiment (3)

95th Line Regiment (3)

3rd Division - General Villatte commanding with General Puthod (left) and Cassagne (right) and their respective brigades

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Beaumont

Cavalry Brigade: Général de brigade Beaumont (980)

2nd Hussar Regiment

5th Chasseur à Cheval Regiment

Artillerie - 6 x 6 lbr Horse Guns

Cavalry Brigade - General Beaumont commanding

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The Regiments de Ligne

1/24e Regiment de Ligne

2/24e Regiment de Ligne

3/24e Regiment de Ligne

1/96e Regiment de Ligne

2/96e Regiment de Ligne

3/96e Regiment de Ligne

1/8e Regiment de Ligne

2/8e Regiment de Ligne

3/8e Regiment de Ligne

1/54e Regiment de Ligne

2/54e Regiment de Ligne

3/54e Regiment de Ligne

1/45e Regiment de Ligne

2/45e Regiment de Ligne

3/45e Regiment de Ligne

1/63e Regiment de Ligne

2/63e Regiment de Ligne

3/63e Regiment de Ligne

1/94e Regiment de Ligne

2/94e Regiment de Ligne

3/94e Regiment de Ligne

1/95e Regiment de Ligne

2/95e Regiment de Ligne
3/95e Regiment de Ligne

3/95e Regiment de Ligne

The position of armies at Talavera on the afternoon of the 28th July

Along with their comrades, the 94e Ligne, the 95e Ligne were destined to play the role of Corps reserve as part of General de Brigade Puthod's brigade.

1st Corps: Maréchal Victor
1st Division: Général de division Ruffin (5,286)
Brigade:
9th Légère Regiment (3)
24th Line Regiment (3)
Brigade: Général de brigade Barrois
96th Line Regiment (3)

2nd Division: Général de division Lapisse (6,862)
Brigade: Général de brigade Laplannes
16th Légère Regiment (3)
45th Line Regiment (3)
Brigade: Général de brigade Solignac
8th Line Regiment (3)
54th Line Regiment (3)

3rd Division: Général de division Villatte (6,135)
Brigade: Général de brigade Cassagne
27th Légère Regiment (3)
63rd Line Regiment (3)
Brigade: Général de brigade Puthod
94th Line Regiment (3)
95th Line Regiment (3)

Cavalry Brigade: Général de brigade Beaumont (980)
2nd Hussar Regiment
5th Chasseur à Cheval Regiment
Artillery: (48 guns)

General de Brigade Puthod

The regiment's reserve role is borne out by their very low casualties for the two days of battle, being the lowest losses recorded for all of the infantry regiments in I Corps, having just twenty seven men wounded.

My 3/95e Ligne are composed of figures from AB with a battalion fanion from GMB Flags.

The battalion is the final and twenty-fourth of the line infantry battalions in Victor's Corps and completes the eighth regiment in a project started in May 2015. I hope like me you have found the details behind each of the regiments interesting, as I have enjoyed discovering the stories and personalities that make these regiments so different, one to another.

Bar a few artillery crews and teams and some French general officers, the French order of battle is complete and so it just remains to finish off the Spanish forces that fought in the British lines and will form the theme of the upcoming posts as we move towards bringing the project to the table.

The 95e Regiment de Ligne ready for battle

As with other formations completed so far I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of Victor's Corps on parade before we move on to the next project. So that will be the theme of the next post.

Sources used in this and other posts about the 95e Ligne included:
Napoleon's Line Infantry, Osprey Men at Arms - Philip Haythornthwaite, Bryan Fosten
French Napoleonic Line Infantry - Emir Bukhari
Napoleon's Soldiers, The Grande Armee of 1807 (The Otto Manuscript) - Guy C Dempsey Jr.
Napoleonic Armies, A Wargamers Campaign Directory - Ray Johnson
Talavera, Wellington's First Victory in Spain - Andrew W. Field
The Peninsular War Atlas - Colonel Nick Lipscombe

2/95e Regiment de Ligne

The 95e Regiment de Ligne were involved in the Peninsular War from the start of the first French invasion when the regiment provided a battalion as part of the 6th Provisional Line Regiment in Marshal Moncey's Corps d'observation des Cotes de l'Ocean.

French Corps d'observation des Cotes de l'Ocean, lst January l808 - Source Oman
Commanding Officer: Marechal Moncey

2nd Division: General de division Gobert
lst Brigade: General de brigade Lefranc
5th Provisional Line Regiment (Battalion)(Officers/Men)
l03rd Line Infantry Regiment (l)(8/44l)
64th Line Infantry Regiment (l)(l0/409)
39th Line Infantry Regiment (l)(8/507)
94th Line Infantry Regiment (l)((9/4l6)
6th Provisional Line Regiment
70th Line Infantry Regiment (l)(l0/5l2)
27th Line Infantry Regiment (l)(8/374)
lllth Line Infantry Regiment (l)(7/324)
95th Line Infantry Regiment (l)(l0/343)

The activities of French forces involved in this first French invasion can be followed in the previous posts on other regiments by following the link.
2/63e Regiment de Ligne

With French forces driven back behind the River Ebro and Napoleon's forced intervention, the 95e Regiment de Ligne was brought up to full war strength with all three of it's first line battalions forming the second line regiment in General Pacthod's brigade in Marshal Victor's I Corps d'Armee.

French Army in Spain, 15 November 1808 - source Oman
Commanding Officer: Emperor Napoleon
I Corps: Maréchal Victor
3rd Division: Général de division Villatte
Brigade: Général de brigade Pacthod (Battalions)(Officers/Men)
27th Légère Regiment (3)(50/1,527)
63rd Line Regiment (3)(44/1,246)
Brigade: Général de brigade Puthod
94th Line Regiment (3)(54/1,627)
95th Line Regiment (3)(47/1,428)

As covered in the post about it's fellow brigade comrades the 94e Ligne, from November 1808 to the March of 1809 the brigade would see three very successful battles against the Spanish at Espinosa, Ucles and Medellin.

2/94e Regiment de Ligne

With such a run of success against the Spanish and with no experience of fighting the British, the veteran battalions of the 95e Ligne could be forgiven for any overconfidence they might have felt as they marched into the line at Talavera in July 1809.

My 2/95e Ligne are composed of figures from AB supplied by Fighting 15's and the battalion fanion is from GMB Flags.

This is the penultimate battalion of the twenty four required to fit out Victor's I Corps, so the 3/95e Ligne will be followed by a Corps parade before we move onto the next stage.

1/95e Regiment de Ligne

It was on the 1st of June 1734 that the 9th Swiss Regiment for service in the Bourbon French Army was raised in the Swiss canton of Grisons under the command of Baron Travers. In 1740 the regiment was renamed Regiment de Salis-Soglio, then in 1744 Regiment de Salis Mayenfeld and listed as the 99e Regiment of Infantry, changing its title again in 1762 the the Regiment de Salis-Marchlins.

In 1791 the regiment moved up in the lists and was retitled 95e  Regiment d'Infanterie only to be disbanded the following year in Corsica.

In 1794 the regiment was re-raised as the 95e demi-brigade de bataille under Colonel Gudin and was composed of the following elements:
1er bataillon, 48e Regiment d'Infanterie
2e batallion, Volontaires de la Creuse
8e batallion, Volontaires de la Haute-Saone

In 1798 the regiment was reorganised under Colonel Jean Veinnet and was composed of the following units:
Detachments of the 22e, 29e, 51e and 94e demi-brigades d'Infanterie de Ligne

Shako Plate 1810 - Rousselot

During this time the regiment was on active service against the Austrians on the Rhine frontier with an attachment to the forces organised for the expedition to Ireland in 1796.

In 1803 and the rise of Napoleon the regiment was retitled the 95e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne under Colonel Marc-Nicolas-Louis Pechaux who would command it at Talavera.
Marc-Nicolas-Louis Pecheux

In 1805 it was present at Austerlitz and would go on to gain the honours of Jena in 1806 and Freidland in 1807

The 95e Ligne is the one regiment I have the least information about and thus have relied very much on the Otto Manuscript illustrations for a guide to the look of the regiment in 1809.

As you can see there is nothing illustrating the fusilier or voltigeur company men or the musicians and I have thus gone with a classic look for these companies without any other sources to go on.

Points to note are the white chords worn by the grenadier and the pale light blue of the facings on the sapper which I have chosen to replicate on the musicians for my regimental look.

Rousselot's interpretation of the Otto illustration above

My 1/95e Ligne are composed of figures from AB and the fanion is from GMB Flags

With this first battalion of the 95e Ligne done, it just leaves two more battalions to complete the regiment and the twenty-four line battalions that composed Victor's I Corps d'Armee. In the next post featuring the second battalion we will look at the regiments involvement in the Peninsular War prior to Talavera.

Sources consulted for this post included:
Napoleon's Line Infantry, Haythornthwaite and Fosten - Osprey Men at Arms
French Napoleonic Line Infantry - Emir Bukhari
Napoleon's Soldiers, The Grande Armee of 1807 (The Otto Manuscript) - Guy C Dempsey Jr.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/95e_r%C3%A9giment_d%27infanterie
http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/c_frenchinf10.html
http://www.wikiwand.com/de/Infanterie_%C3%A9trang%C3%A8re_de_ligne#/Schweizer_Regimenter

Next up JJ's Wargames Artillery Correspondent, Mr Steve will have yet more information for you big gun fanciers with the next post covering his look at the Royal Artillery collection at Fort Nelson, Portsmouth.