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Hi gents, For all of you interested in Heavy Cavalry, there is a superb reference book just out ! First book in a new series, "Unter der Fahnen der Alten Armee", subtitled "Die deutschen militärischen Uniformen auf zeitengenössischen Fotografien, 1850 - 1914". Authors are Thomas Brackmann and Hermann Schmelzer. Just received my copy today, and my, did they do a wonderful job ! Book comes with an "English supplement" - and the translation of all captions of the... 704 (!) period photos included. Each chapter is headed by a descripiton of the uniforms and its evolutions, before devoting the best part to period photographs showing all of them. As a dedicated military photo collector, I am quite amazed at the quality of the documents presented here. I am especially thrilled by the photos showing the Hannoverian and Kurhessian armies (so pre-1866 here). You can have a preview of the book on their website : http://semper-talis.de/ Price is of course to be considered, but the book is definitely good value, and well worth it in my opinion ; That one is bound to become the reference book on the topic. So ... looking forward to seeing "Band 2" come out ! Cheers, Jerome

Bonjour, I think that's actually stretching it a little too far - by any account, the early Republic was quite prodigal with awards, and one must not discount the fact that many jewellers were probably quite happy to provide their customers with the much coveted distinction. As for the date, a little digging and the Decret popped up, dated 8 November 1870 : "Le Gouvernement de la défense nationale. Vu la loi du 29 floréal an X, portant création de la Légion d'honneur, El le décret du 2 messidor an XII, déterminant la forme de la décoration des membres de l'ordre: Vu la proclamation du 4 septembre 1870 au peuple français; Vu le décret du Gouvernement de la défense nationale du 28 octobre 1870; Considérant qu'il importe de mettre la dite décoration en harmonie avec les principes du gouvernement républicain : Sur la proposition du grand chancelier de l'ordre national de la Légion d'honneur. DÉCRÈTE : Art. 1er. La décoration de la Légion d'honneur sera modifiée ainsi qu'il suit : La couronne qui surmonte l'étoile sera supprimée et remplacée par une couronne de chêne et de laurier. Le centre de l'étoile présentera, d'un côté, la tête de la République avec cet exergue : République française, 1870; et de l'autre, les drapeaux tricolores, avec cet exergue: Honneur et Patrie. La plaque de grand officier et de grand'croix portera au centre la République, et en exergue : République française, 1870. Honneur et patrie. Art. 2. Le grand-chancelier de l'ordre national de la Légion d'honneur est chargé de l'exécution du présent décret. Paris, le 8 novembre 1870. Le Gouvernement de la défense nationale, Vu les décrets du 22 janvier et du 29 février 1852 sur l'institution et la forme de la médaille militaire, Et la proclamation du 4 septembre 1870 au peuple français: Considérant qu'il importe de mettre la dite médaille en harmonie avec les principes du gouvernement républicain ; Sur la proposition du grand chancelier de l'ordre national de la Légion d'honneur. DÉCRÈTE : Art. 1er. La médaille militaire sera en argent et d'un diamètre de 28 millimètres. Elle portera, d'un côté, la tête de la République, avec cet exergue: République française, 1870; et de l'autre, au centre du médaillon: Valeur et Discipline. L'aigle qui surmonte la médaille sera supprimée et remplacée par un trophée d'armes. Art. 2. Le grand-chancelier de l'ordre national de la Légion d'honneur est chargé de l'exécution du présent décret. Paris, le 8 novembre 1870" Two Decrees were published same day, changing the aspects of both Légion d'honneur and Médaille Militaire, doing away with crowns and Imperial symbols. This concomittance is interesting - it reminds us that there is a "Médaille Militaire" model know as "Modèle de Versailles", said to have been issued in 1871. This model is notable by the fact that it is made in one bloc (no hinge or ring between the trophy and the "jeton") Samples can be found here : http://www.la-phalere.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=169:nd2171-medaille-militaire-monobloc-&catid=86:medaille-militaire&Itemid=54 http://www.la-phalere.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87:nd2126-medaille-militaire-monobloc&catid=86:medaille-militaire&Itemid=54 Note that the 28 October 1870 Decree that is alluded to above in the first Decree, did state that the Légion d'honneur would from now on only be awarded for military purposes - a massive change from its original statutes. That one would not survive long, and the award would soon enough regain its universal scope. Upon the debate re. surviving Imperial Models, I found an interesting snippet in a 1895 article in the "Spectateur Militaire" : "Après la chute de Napoléon III, beaucoup d'officiers ont affecté de continuer à porter la décoration de la Légion d'honneur aux emblèmes impériaux, même lorsqu'ils l'avaient reçue du Gouvernement de la troisième République, et ces manifestations hostiles contre les institutions légales de la France ont duré et on été acceptées en toute impunité ou même avec encouragement pendant dix années, de 1870 à 1879. Mais dès que l'on eut un Président de la République respectueux du régime gouvernemental du pays et un Ministre de la guerre animé des mêmes sentiments vis-à-vis de la nation, cet état d'hostilité et de manifestation cessa. M. Farre força tout le monde à se conformer au décret du 8 novembre 1870." Which translates as : "After the fall of Napoléon III, many officers affected to keep on wearing the Légion d'honneur medal with imperial emblems, even when thet had received it from the Third Republic Government, and those hostile demonstrations against the legal institutions of France lasted and were accepted with complete impunity or even with encouragement during ten years, from 1870 till 1879. But as soon as we had a President of the Republic respectful of the country's regime and a Minister of war with the same feelings towards the nation, this state of hostility and demonstration stopped. Mr Farre forced everyone to conform to the 8 November 1870 decree." Salutations, Jérôme

Hi Trevor, Your question is a difficult one, re. when the Medal model changed from "Empire" to "Republic". Here is an interesting portrait showing Capitaine François Guérinat (7e Hussards) c. 1873 : The close up on his medals show an "Empire" model : Guérinat (then a Lieutenant in the 7e Hussards) was provisionally made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur "par arrêté de M. le Mal de France Commandant en chef l'Armée du Rhin" (so by Bazaine, while Guérinat was among the French Army encircled in Metz), on 9th September 1870 - after Sedan, and after the Republic was proclaimed on September 4th. This nomination would be confirmed by a Décret of the "Grande Chancellerie de la Légion d'honneur" dated 31 May 1871, and he was officially decorated in front of the Regiment by his Colonel on 25 April 1872. So as you can see, this took some time. There's no way the depicted medal would have been handed out in 1872 - though the photo is definitely a later one, as Guérinat was promoted to the rank of Capitaine on 3rd November 1872. So why the Imperial Medal ? It is very likely that it was handed out to him under Metz when he was "provisionnally" nominated (Guérinat had been wounded on 31 August, while he was leading the escort of Général Grenier at Servigny). Of course no "Republican" model would have been available by then, esp. for the Army encircled under Metz. And it is almost certain that one of his fellow officers would have handed out a medal to go along the nomination (one must remember that there were duplicates around - such a phenomenum is widely documented for awards handed out during a Campaign). Why would he keep on wearing that medal after officially receiving another one ? Very possibly a political stance - or the affection for the medal acually received during the operations - We will never know ! But as you can see, even if you come up upon the regulations defining the change dates, there will be many exceptions to that rule. As a side note, that delay between decoration confirmation and official Medal distribution is something I have observed in other similar cases. (e.g., Sous-lieutenant Xavier Feuillant, made a Chevalier on 28th February 1871, received his medal on 31st December 1871). Quite easy to understand when remembering the internal turmoil of the times - and that the Légion d'honneur buildings were burnt during the Paris Commune ! Salutations, Jérôme

Woohoo ! Thanks for pointing up for that, Chris, this is gonna save me heaps of time ! There is a trick but the images can properly be used. As a matter of fact the version available when reaching a new page is a poor quality image - to save loading time I guess ; you can roughly read names, so as to validate it's worth a try or not. You can go to the full scan by clicking on the sixth icon on the left, and select "image originale" : The immediate result is not so good, but you can expand with th seventh icon "affiche la taille réelle des images" (original size) and then : These archives actually log the files kept at Vincennes' SHD. The files reference will actually start with the register number (e.g. "5YF") + the file number as written in the "N° du dossier" column. So a reference can be "5YF4900", which will point to the proper file. As for the files, you have to go to Vincennes to actually consult them (after booking) - but being able to find references beforehand is a HUGE step forward ! And these registers actually give interesting information - date of end of service, last corps, last rank... One has o learn to navigate through them though - and to decipher the numbers ; "5" are notoriously puzzling : Here for instance, "N° du dossier" is "41758", and "Reversion à la veuve ou aux orphelins" (the file for the pension being transferred to the widow or orphans) is "97855" Cheers, Jerome

Bonjour messieurs, We can extract a few more elements from the superb work made by Hubert HEYRIES,"Les militaires savyoards et niçois entre deux patries, 1848-1871" (printed by Université Paul-Valéry, Montpellier, 2001). (This massive 550p. study is really devoted to the way soldiers and officers from Savoie and Nice fared when both were annexed by France in 1860, but he goes back in time). - In the treaty signed with France and England on January 26th 1856, Sardinian King Victor-Emmanuel II pledged to provide a contingent of 15,000 men - provided the allies guaranteed the integrity of Piedmont-Sardaigne for the duration of the war, lent him £1,000,000, and that the Sardinian troops were to be transported by the Royal Navy. That is an interesting figure, and maybe why the British would have provided 15,000 medals only to the Sardinian army ? - The number of troops sent to the Crimea, as has been pointed out, exceeded the agreed figure. Heyries says that 18,058 men and 3,496 horses had been sent to the East by the end of April 1855. The overall figure he gives for the war is a total of 21,501 men transported out. (source : "Specchio dei bastimenti su nazionali che esteri coi quali si effetuo il transporto", Segretario Generale, Gabinetto, ministero della guerra, Archivio di Stato di Torino). - The Sardinian expeditionnary corps was placed under the authority of Lord Raglan. Heyries says transporting the Sardinian troops gave the British a de facto powerful levy on their destination - and potential role in the war... According to him, the British did not want the Sardinian to cover themselves with glory, for they thought it may have lead Victor-Emmanuel to lay claim for Austrian territory as compensation - something he had been denied in the Treaty. So the British were more than happy with the Sardinians as a Reserve Corps. - As for the expeditionary Corps, as shown on th OdB in the link provided above, it was constituted with provisory regiments (each infantry regiment, for instance, providing a battalion, made with the four 1st Companies of each of its battalions). What Heyries specifies is that it amounted to : * 1/4 of the total Infantry * 1/2 the Bersaglieris * 1/4 campaign artillery * 1/7 of the total Cavalry * A "notable portion" of the Services. - The only real engagement of the Sardinians was, as said, at Traktir / the Tchernaya. Heyries gives their casualties as : * 3 officers died, 12 wounded * 27 other ranks died, 144 wounded. That's 30 combat dead, out of a total of 31 for the war. (source : "Rapporto sul personale del corpo di spedizione in Oriente, 28 novembre 1858", Segretario Generale, ministero della guerra, archivio di Stato di Torino) At Traktir, the Reserve Brigade (including the Savoy troops) were not engaged ; it seems the Bersaglieri saw the heat of the action. - The overall casualties for the Sardinian Army, who suffered much from the dreadful cholera, was of 85 officers and 2450 other ranks (including the 244 dead after their return home). - As for medals, Heyries mentions the following awarded to the Sardinian Army : (source : "Rapporto sul personale del corpo di spedizione in Oriente, 28 novembre 1858", Segretario Generale, ministero della guerra, archivio di Stato di Torino) * 7 British Orders of the Bath. * 4 Turkish Medjidies * 2 Spanish Orders (one Great Cross of Charles III, one 1st Class San Ferdinando order). * 69 French Legion d'Honneur. And for their own awards, not much was handed out : * 25 Crosses of Saint-Mauritius and Lazarus. * 31 Crosses of the Savoy Military Order. * 19 Silver "Al Valore Militare" only (2 to NCOs, 4 to Corporals, 13 to Soldiers). * 154 Honourable Mentions ("Mentions Honorables" - I don't think those translated into medals). He mentions that "presque tous les militaires du corps expéditionnaires reçurent la médaille de Crimée anglaise et sarde" ("almost all the members of the expeditionary corps received the Crimea medal, British and Sardinian"). He doesn't say if that included casualties (which can be doubted if the French example is considered). A total of 19,084 Sardinians came back from the Crimea. One could infer a total ranging from c.4,000 (deceased not counted) to 6,500 (deceased counted) Sardinian Crimea medals struck ? Salutations, Jérôme

Waow, superb medal ! I can confirm that Mariani was indeed awarded the "Al Valore Militare" Medal - one of 19 (I could only find 19!) officers, NCOs and men of the 6e Hussards. During the campaign he was Second Captain to the 2nd Squadron of the regiment. One correction though : the 6e Hussards were not at Solferino, and actually did not see much fighting in Italy. The regiment was brigaded with the 8e Hussards under Général de Lapérouse, the Brigade joigning the Army Corps of Prince Napoléon. They did a lot of hard marches across Italy, playing a tactital role in preventing the Austrian armies from bringing reinforcements in. As for the "Al Valore" medals, they were granted "en masse" to the French Army, and the actual individual dispatching was up the French military authorities. So no regiment was disregarded, although the allocation of the number of medals by Army Corps / Division / Brigade / Regiment did reflect the role these had in the war : the 19 "Al Valore Militare" to the 6e Hussards can thus be compared to the ...55 awarded to the 2e Hussards - a regiment that did charge at Solferino. The naming of the medals was done at regimental level - which explains various engraving styles, although directions were given by the Minitry of War. My only "Al Valore Militare" is also to an officer of the 6e Hussards, Sous-Lieutenant Dubreton : Note the variations in the engraving (disposition of "Guerre" and "d'Italie", initials...) This may be due to the fact that Dubreton was on leave in France when the medals were distributed, when Mariani was still with the regiment, that served as occupation force in Milan till the end of May 1860. My real collectionning is antique photographs, and you may be interested in seeing some rare photos of officers of the 6e Hussards, taken in Milan in early 1860 - here : http://www.hussards-photos.com/France/France_Livre_Ricordi.htm Sadly no Mariani portrait, though Harenc de Presle was 2nd Lieutenant to the same squadron. Salutations, Jérôme

Bonsoir, As for #12, I'd go along the Danish option. The laces crowned by a simple trefoil (instead of a more usual and elaborate Austrian knot) was a trademark of some uniforms of the Danish Hussars. The uniform of the officer facing second from left looks strikingly similar here : (lifted from :http://www.danskegardehusarforeninger.dk/hisramme.htm) Salutations, J?r?me

Bonjour Mike, The Bugle was indeed the symbol of the "Chasseurs ? Pied" Battalions - but then it would feature either on the collar, or the headdress, and this gentleman does indeed belong to the line infantry. Sported so on the left sleeve, the bugle indicates shooting proficiency. It was used throughout the Army. Salutations, J?r?me

Bonsoir, Oops I'm out of my turf here, but... ...I've been exploring the awarding of Foreign Orders to French Troops in the XIXth century and - who knows, there may be similarities ? Let's take the example of the 1859 Italy campaign, with Sardinian Medals awarded to the French army. 1. The awards were granted "en bloc" : c.8000 "Al Valore Militare" medals given "for the French troops". 2. A very-very-very small number were actually awarded personnally for specific feats or merits ; a handful of such "Al Valore" where given here and there directly by King Victor-Emanuel to some French officers and men. 3. The actual distribution of the awards among the troops was decided upon by the receiving authorities, according to the Order's statutes, but also according to their own agenda : - The "Al Valore Militare" medals were intended for the other ranks, while the officers would receive various orders (Ordre Militaire de Savoie, Ordre des Saints Maurice et Lazare) ; however the small contingent of such Orders awarded, compared to the number of officers in the French Army, prompted the French to check the "Al Valore militare" status, and, seeing that it could be awarded to officers as well... ; well a consequent part of the Medal contingent was promptly redirected towards the French officers corps... - The distribution used a sub-quota system : HQ divided the medals between the Army Corps (taking their effective role into account.... but being sure not to forget anyone) ; within the Corps, some kind of balance would likely be found among regiments ; we only get to appraising the personnal merits of Jean-grenadier-who-bayonnetted-the-Austrians at regimental level. - At individual level, further to the merit criteria explicitely selected for the award (military merit), it was thoroughy checked that the recipient was worthy of being decorated (good behaviour a must here ! Several men initially proposed, were taken out of the lists on such grounds). As a result, the individual merit of recipients can vary greatly - and in the most severely engaged ones, many who behaved bravely will have received nothing, while other were decorated who did not actually fight ; but the system does ensure that 'global insatisfaction' is minimized. Also to be noted, quite a few examples where somebody granted an order would die of wounds after the decision had been made - then the Medal is not lost but quickly recycled to someone else (who would have received nothing but for that death). So what do we learn her ? Well the process is not quite as "intuitu personae" and as straightforward as one would think in the first place - and as the awarding certficates would have us believe. And, in that general "cultural context", there's little chance that the awarding of a distinction to someone will embarrass his superiors - if they have their say. Would the distribution of Crosses to mere soldiers have made the Austrian military system uneasy ? Most likely. From the German Staff point of view, do you want to create tension and resentment within the officers' corps of your ally ? Doubtful. Apologies if I strayed off-topic in that discussion ! It may be completely irrelevant to the case - but with what I've observed, I'm not surprised at all by the facts exposed here. Not surprised of the overall trends, and not surprised either by the exceptions found here and there - where the actual merits of an individual may have been spotted and distinguished, without referring too high to politically minded command chains, who would have preemptively corrected something "inappropriate". And I'm not surprised either that no written rule is found. Salutations, J?r?me

Bonsoir Chris, There's a brilliant source for that kind of stuff here : http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital...el=2&tword= And it's not only French uniforms either... Cheers, Jerome

Bonsoir Alex, If you refer to the photo in your post #69 (this thread), then that's the uniform pattern. Cheers, Jerome

Alex, Here are the basic colours for the 13th Hussar Narvskii His Imperial and Royal Highness Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia Wilhem II Regiment. Cheers, Jerome

Bonsoir, Nice colouring job, but the colors are a bit off the mark. This is the uniform of Hungarian Generals ; the trousers should be red, and the pelisse white. There's obviously been a mix with the Prussian LeibGarde Husaren uniform (dark blue trousers and pelisse), another favourite of Kaiser Bill's. Cheers ! J?r?me

Back to the Legione document ; The signatures are interesting to decypher : They are, from left to right, : 1. Capitano Asztalfi (Kristof) ; I was delighted to be able to "meet" this gentleman, whose portrait and notice appear in that superb book, "In Emigration der Freiheit Willen" (Kalavszky Gy?rgyi, Hadimuzeum Alapitvany, 2003) 2. Capitano Pincz?s (L?rinc) ; 3. Maggiore G(iovanni) Dentis, an Italian administration officer who checked the accounts of the legion in its final days. 4. Colonnello F?ldvary (Karoly), last commanding officer of the Legion : Those Hungarian officers remained till the Legione was disbanded in early 1867. Ciao, Jerome PS : here's the cover of the book : a must read if the period interests you :

This fascinating document is wonderfully complemented by its Hungarian Honv?d counterpart ; Following the establishment of the Dual-Monarchy in 1867, the Honv?d was created by a 1868 law - a Honv?d where former "L?gionnaires" could serve, as this group attest. This certifcate, what's more, details his services with both Imperial Army (9 years, 7 months, 17 days) and Honv?d (to sum it up to 11 years, 2 months, 17 days). With the Imperials, he served as a Private and an őrvezető (~lance-corporal) within Infanterie-Regmenter 19 and 35. IR35 belonged to the North Army in 1866, whereas IR19 served in Italy : that's then where he belonged in 1866. (in 1866, the regiment was recruiting from the Raab district - today "Gyor", 79km north of Veszprem) What's more, it is stated that he "served the Italian campaign, namely the fights at Custozza" (Ar 1866chi olaszh ?dj?ratban nevezetesen a custozzai csat?ban r?szt vett). Infanterie-Regiment 19 fought some dogged hill-fighting there, suffered 89 killed, 259 wounded and 55 missing. Well, here's one accounted for : one of the 55 m.i.a. of the regiment at Custozza - and one of the 104 (among roughly 1000 prisoners) who volunteered for the legion ! He later served with the newly raised 71. Veszpremi Zaszloalj, the 71st Veszprem Batallion of the Honv?d Infantry. One wonders how "tense" the relationships were with his mates who had chosen to stand for Austria ?

The Congedo Assoluto is given to G?g?s as a member of the Legione Ausiliaria Ungherese (4? Compagnia). A Legion of Hungarian Volunteers had been present in Italy since 1849 ; among its famous chiefs Ivan T?rr, it notably fought alongside Garibaldi in 1861. In 1866, those Hungarians wished to fight again against Austria, on both front, a Legion in Italy, while another one was organized in Prussia. The short campaigns, North and South, prevented their playing a major role on either front. The Legion had by that time suffered from a lack of men, few volunteers joining from Hungary at the time. Hence the appeal to volunteers among the War prisonners of the early campaign. In his book, "La Legione ungherese in Italia (1859-1867)", Attilio Vigevano quotes : - Lieutenant Waznosy and 79 volunteers extracted from the prisonner camp of Fort Fenestrelle ; - 104 volunteers from the prisonners taken at Custoza. But back to signore Davide : The document suffered from some waxy material applied at some time ; luckily the damage is peripheral, and does not affect the main - and most interesting details : "Gia soldato nell?Esercito Austriaco Prigionero di Guerra il 24 Juigno 1866. Soldato nel Battaglione fanteria di questa Legione in seguito a dispaccio Ministeriale delli 27 Luglia 1866 No.7512 Divisione 1e fanteria, servicio attivo de 2e. (...) la durata della guerra come da atto delli 29 Luglia 1866 Soldato 1e Classe in della il 1e Agosto 1866 Congedato perche amnistiato con il trattato di pace (??? ???) con il governo austriaco il" David G?g?s was thus taken prisoner on JUne 24th 1866 (fateful day !) He enlisted as a volunteer on July 29th - for the duration of the war. He was promoted to Private 1st Class on August 1st. He was released further to the Peace Treaty between Italy and Austria - a treaty that comprised Amnesty for the Hungarians serving with the Italian forces (things having gone badly on the North front, Kaiser Franz Josef was kind of compelled to make do with the Hungarians... the dual monarchy time was about to come !). (.../...)

Bonsoir, Here's something a little different : a group of documents pertaining to the same man - David G?G?S, born May 13th, 1842 in Dabrony (Veszprem), Hungary. The group consists of three documents : 1. A "Congedo Assoluto" to "Davide G?G?S" from the Regno d'Italia, granted on November 1st, 1866 ; 2. A 1871 document that is most certainly a Baptism Certificate (not so exciting, but I was not gonna have the group dispersed) ; 3. A 1875 Honv?d certificate for "G?G?S David" stating his Austro-Hungarian then Honv?d services. Here they are : Let's get deeper into the details... (.../...)

Hi Barry, Superb stuff as always ! Here's a little bio about Meynier (in French), excerpted from the "Biographie nouvelle des contemporains, Tome XIII" (A.V.Arnault, A.Jay, E. de Jouy, J.Norvins, Paris, Librairie Historique, 1824) "MEYNIER (JEAN-BAPTISTE), et non Meunier, comme l'ont ?crit par erreur toutes les Biographies ant?rieures ? la n?tre, naquit ? Avignon, en 1749. Apr?s avoir fait les quatre campagnes de l'Am?rique, en 1780, 1781, 1782 et 1783, sous les ordres du g?n?ral Rochambeau, il se trouva, en qualit? de capitaine de grenadiers, ? la prise de Spire et de Mayence, en 1792, dans la seconde campagne de la r?volution, ou il se fit conna?tre de la mani?re la plus honorable, par la belle d?fense du fort de Koenigstein. Nomm? g?n?ral de brigade en 1793, il se porta, de son propre mouvement, sur Bergzabern , le 22 ao?t de la m?me ann?e, pour attaquer un ennemi tr?s sup?rieur en nombre, qui s'?tait d?j? rendu ma?tre des deux premiers rideaux en-de?? de Bergzabern, et dont le g?n?ral Meynier parvint ? s'emparer de nouveau, en ramenant au combat des troupes qui, n'ayant re?u aucun ordre, effectuaient leur retraite. Le lendemain, les Autrichiens s'efforc?rent en vain , ? plusieurs reprises, de rentrer dans cette importante position , que le g?n?ral Meynier conserva jusqu'au 27, o? l'ennemi se d?termina ? attaquer sur toute la ligne : cette journ?e, au succ?s de laquelle le g?n?ral Meynier eut une part si brillante, lui valut, avec les f?licitations publiques des repr?sentans du peuple ? l'arm?e du Rhin, le grade de g?n?ral de division, qu'il obtint quelque temps apr?s. A la malheureuse journ?e du 13 octobre de la m?me ann?e, ce g?n?ral fut bless? par un bisca?en, qui lui traversa la cuisse gauche, comme il marchait ? la t?te du 2me bataillon de Lot-et-Garonne. A peine ?tait-il gu?ri, que le g?n?ral Michaud lui conf?a le commandement de la division de l'ann?e du Rhin qui se trouvait dans les gorges : le Platzberg, le Saw-Kops, et plusieurs autres postes importans d?fendus par les Prussiens ne r?sist?rent pas ? la valeur du g?n?ral Meynier et de ses troupes. R?duit ? d?fendre le fameux poste de Kaiserslautern, avec 6 ou 7000 hommes, contre une arm?e enti?re, il s'y maintint et ne fut forc? que le troisi?me jour, ? une troisi?me attaque. Dans la campagne suivante, ? l'arm?e d'Italie, le g?n?ral Meynier prit possession de Tortone, o? il commanda 6 mois. Tomb? malade ? V?rone, il ne voulut se porter sur les derri?res de l'arm?e qu'apr?s la retraite d'Alvinzi. Commandant de la 18me division militaire en 1800, le g?n?ral Meynier, dont la sant? ?tait tr?s affaiblie par suite des fatigues de la guerre, demanda sa retraite. Napol?on le for?a d'accepter le commandement de la place de Mayence, o? il mourut le 4 septembre 1813, avec la r?putation d'un brave soldat et d'un excellent officier-g?n?ral." So you have your answer : died of disease. Looks like he was some soldier though ! Cheers, Jerome

Evening gentlemen, The missing battery number is definitely "54". Horse Artillery was labelled "flying artillery" since Napoleonic times at least in France. As to the postcard, here's what it says in not-too-well-punctuated French : "La (???) Mercredi Cher Oncle Comment vas-tu mon plaisir est de te savoir en bonne sant? Quant ? moi elle est excellente. ici il fait un vrai temps d'?t? on a du plaisir ? dresser des chevaux Car je suis dresseur depuis lundi. Tu ne pourrais inventer un truc pour me faire avoir une permission la semaine prochaine. Peut-?tre irai-je en convoi ? Verdun Car demain il y en a un mais en serai-je je voudrais bien. Fran?ois" Roughly : "(????) Wednesday. Dear Uncle, How are you doing my pleasure lies in knowing you're in good health. As to mine, it is excellent. Here there's a real summer weather and one takes pleasure in breaking horses. For I am a horse breaker since monday. Couldn't you make something up to have me be granted leave of absence next week. I may go on convoy duty to Verdun tomorrow fort there is a convoy but will I take part in it I'd like it very much. Fran?ois" Cheers, Jerome

Hi Gentlemen, These painted photos are definitely favourites of mine ! Here's a painted Hussar - somehow merrier than the B&W versions : In fact I've got a small gallery of those : http://www.hussards-photos.com/Couleur_home.htm Cheers, Jerome

Bonsoir Miguel, Difficult to tell the regiments from that view : the regiments are indeed distinguished by the colour of the false pocket design within the braiding of their spencer : 1st: Red 2nd: White 3rd: Yellow 4th: Dark Blue See some examples down this page : http://www.military-photos.com/zouave2.htm Actually with old orthochromatic photo processes, the only one that can really be told is the White of the 2nd Zouaves (Red, Yellow and Dark blue turning out amazingly alike). I do share Chris's learnt opinion - looks like a KIA set. Suerte ! Jerome

Bonsoir, Coldstream is most right - a Danish Gardehusar indeed and no doubt whatsoever. See one of his fellow Hussars here : http://www.hussards-photos.com/Danemark/Da...ussar5Color.htm Salutations, J?r?me

Bonjour Garth, There's a discussion on that very topic here : http://zitocland.forumpro.fr/les-medailles...ighlight=nichan You may have to register though to be able to consult it ? Not too sure about that... They are quite different indeed, but some French manufacturers seem to have use a great deal of "artistic license" with the sole aim to confuse collectors ! And - yes, please show us your beauties ! Cheers, Jerome

Many thanks Paul ! Cheers, Jerome

Bonjour Gentlemen, Adding to this finest gallery of portraits, pray let me introduce Colonel Kurada (Torasuk?), Military Attach? at the Japanese Legation in Rome in 1903 : A close-up on the Decorations : From collar to right - if I'm not mistaken : - Commander of Saints Maurice & Lazarus (Italy); - Order of the Golden Kite (4th or 5th Class ?) ; - Order of the Sacred Treasures (4th Class) ; - Order of the Rising Sun (5th Class ?); - Medal for Emperor Meiji's wedding's 25th Anniversary ; - Medal for the 1894-95 China-War ; - Red Cross Medal ; - Medal for the promulgation of the Constitution. The photo is dedicated to the then British Military Attach? in Rome ; a little about that here : http://www.hussards-photos.com/Japon/Japon_CAB_Kurada.htm As an end note, I have no clue what Colonel Kurada's uniform might be. I'd venture something along the lines of "Staff Officer" ? Salutations, Jerome