China BOXER REBELLION DOUBLE DRAGON

[KIMKAN]

Dear all,

I am pleased to post the picture of a larger-than-life figure of the French colonial army. His name is Eugène Jean Paul Marie FONSSAGRIVES who was born in 1858 and passed away in 1937. He graduated from the French Saint Cyr military academy in 1879. His military career reads like a Hollywood movie script, the only difference being that it is real. He was given many assignments and took part in several important campaigns within the French “navy infantry”, something equivalent to the “marines” in the British or American vocabulary. We can see him on the battlefield in Tunisia in 1882-84, in the Tonkin in 1887-1890, in Dahomey (Africa) in 1892-1893, in Cambodia, Hanoï and Saïgon between 1896 and 1900, in China during the Boxer rebellion in 1900-1901, in Senegal between 1905 and 1907, in Morocco in 1909 and finally on the battlefield again in Belgium in 1914. Wounded several times, he ended up his career as colonel, a meager reward in view of his outstanding services. Short-fused and bad tempered, his frequent disagreements and furious outbursts with the upper echelons of the French army did not allow him to get the stars on his sleeves.

Of interest to this post focusing on China is the 1900-1901 Boxer rebellion campaign. At that time, FONSSAGRIVES was a major with the 17^th Colonial Infantry Regiment, a unit hastily put together for the China relief expedition. He was sent north of Beijing to protect the Ming imperial tombs from being looted by either local thugs or by soldiers of the foreign armies. He perfectly carried out this mission, to the utmost satisfaction of the imperial Chinese government. Military reports indicate that an official Chinese delegation led by the brother of the Emperor paid a visit to him on December 13^th 1900 to express satisfaction. On April 18^th 1901, FONSSAGRIVES and his unit left their post at Lai-Siu-Sien and were officially greeted by all local mandarins. On May 18^th 1901, an emissary of minister Li Hung Chang presented FONSSAGRIVES with the Order of the Double Dragon, 3^rd Class.

The picture attached to this post was taken at the end of 1913 when FONSSAGRIVES was promoted colonel, commanding officer of the 5^th Colonial Infantry Regiment. We can see that he wears his second type ODD 3^rd Class around the neck. This story is most interesting as a Boxer rebellion-related ODD is not a common situation at all in the first place. Then, we have the year, month and day for a second type award, just touching upon that specific period for which legitimate questions may arise as to whether or not first or second type ODD award was the norm.

I hope you have enjoyed this post.

Regards to all.

KIMKAN

[drclaw]

Very interesting KIMKAN, thanks for posting this.

If the insignia Fonssagrives is wearing is the same that was awarded, it suggests that the Second Type was awarded as early as 1901.

Interestingly, other Third Class Boxer period Double Dragons were of the First Type so it would seem that a range of Types might have been awarded around this time.

[KIMKAN]

Yes, assuming that he did not receive a first type award and decided later on to replace it with a smaller 2nd type badge, we definitely have here an interesting time marker. I doubt he did that as he left China soon afterwards and sailed back to French Indochina. The badge he wears looks very much like a China-made piece of the period. Depending on the locale and availability of old-new badges, we may very well have a mix of 1st and 2nd type badges awarded during the Boxer rebellion.

Other fully documented award like this one, if any ever crops up, will shed additional light on this issue.

Regards to all.

KimKan

[drclaw]

It's possible given how "unfashionable" the First Type awards were to the European taste that he might have commissioned a replacement Second Type sometime in the next 12 years.

But yes, the photograph and history is on their face, evidence that a mix of First and Second Types were awarded in 1901. More documented awards will confirm this.