3e Bataillon de Chasseurs à Pied

Chasseurs had been a part of the French army since the of the 18th Century or earlier, but the Chasseurs à Pied of 1870 had their origins in the late-1830s as an informal unit called the Tirailleurs d'Afrique that was given a formal establishment in September 1839, based in Vincennes and named the Chasseurs de Vincennes. Under the colonelcy of the Duc d'Orleans they were trained as true light infantry and proved themselves highly effective in the campaigns in North Africa, so effective that in August 1840 a further nine battalions were established as a separate corps by royal decree. On the death of the Duc in 1842 they were named the Chasseurs d'Orleans in his honour. After the revolution of 1848 the battalions became known as Chasseurs à Pied. By 1870 there were twenty battalions in service.

The 3e Chasseurs were formed in 1840 and spent the next eight years in North Africa. Returning to France in 1848 the battalion went to the Crimea in 1853 and was fort in the battles of the Alma and Inkerman and were involved in the storming of the Mamelon-Vert at Sevastopol. Not engaged in the Italian campaign, the battalion formed a part of the garrison of the Pontifical States from 1860-65.

In the structure of the army in 1870 one Chasseur battalion was assigned to each infantry division. The 3e was assigned to Verge's Division, 2nd Corps (which is why it is a part of my collection), under Commandant Thoma. Heavily engaged at Spicheren it lost 6 officers and 225 men from 452 engaged. It fought again at Rezonville and Gravelotte and surrendered at Metz in October.

The depot companies formed the basis of the 3e Chasseurs de Marche and served in 16th Corps in the Army d'Loire, fighting at Valliere, Loigny and Moree.

In the Great War the battalion fought from day one to the very end of the war across almost every point of the western front from Belgium to Belfort, and counted 2,039 officers and enlisted  men killed during the war. 

Disbanded in 1929, it was restored in 1939, only to be disbanded again after the Fall of France the following year. Reconstituted in 1949 it was disbanded for good in 1955.

These are lovely figures, full of character, but the rifles and bayonets on the figures are very thin and I am concerned how they will stand up to handling during games.