2/94e Regiment de Ligne

As with several of the other regiments in Victor's I Corps d'Armee in the the Talavera campaign, the 94e Ligne provided a battalion component to the forces Napoleon mustered early in 1808 for his surreptitious invasion of Spain under the guise of taking action against Portugal for its resistance to the Napoleonic trade embargo against Britain, imposed on European nations whether in or out of the Empire.

The 94e Ligne detachment joined others in the formation of the 5th Provisional Line Regiment that as part of Marshal Moncey's Corps d'observation des Cotes de l'Ocean crossed the Spanish border on the 8th January 1808 in the wake of Dupont's 2nd Corps d'observation de la Gironde as the French took control of the Bayonne, Burgos road into Spain preparatory to a march on Madrid.

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 (Battlion)(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 the rising in Madrid or "Dos de Mayo", and Dupont's defeat at Bailen in the summer of 1808, the 94e Ligne were part of the troop concentration ordered by the Emperor to restore his position in the Peninsula and were brought up to a full three battalion regiment, joining Marshal Victor's I Corps d'Armee in the 2nd Brigade under General de Brigade Jaques Puthod under General de Division Villatte's 3rd Division.

The battles of the 94e Ligne in the second invasion of Spain 1808-09 up to Talavera

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)

General de Brigade Jacques-Pierre-Louis-Marie- Joseph Puthod

General Jacques Puthod

The 94e Ligne would see action under General Puthod's command at the battles of Espinosa 11/11/1808, at Ucles 13/1/1809 and at Medellin 20/3/1809 prior to its participation in the Talavera campaign. All these actions together with the second invasion of Spain have been covered in previous posts and can be followed in the link above to the post on the 2/63e Ligne.

The Battle of Medellin in March 1809, the third French victory for the 94e Ligne in six months of fighting in Spain, prior to Talavera

Thus the 94e Ligne were well accustomed to conditions and warfare in Spain by the time they took there position in the line at Talavera.

My 2/94e Ligne is composed of figures from the AB range and the 2nd battalion fanion is from GMB Flags.

Post Script to this post:
If you have been following the Talavera project and the Vimiero and Oporto projects that preceded it and would like to see part of the collection in action using "Carnage & Glory II", I will be running a demonstration game, "Attack on the Pajar Vergara Redoubt" at Legionary 2016 in Exeter on the 30/4/2016. So if you are able to, come along and say hello.

http://legionaryshow.co.uk/

Attack on the Pajar Vergara run last December

Talavera - Attack on the Pajar de Vergara