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.
Very nice they are too, Mark. I take it from the comment about the rifles etc that these are metal figures?
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, they are metal.
DeleteBeautiful figures, both in style and painting. Yellow on blue is difficult to effectively pull off but the piping looks great. The way they are carrying those blanket rolls almost makes them look like WWII flamethrowers.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence. The French always seemed to carry a lot of gear. It was not uncommon for troops to get the "packs down" command before going into action, which would have freed them up for action, but it must have been a dreaded command because you probably wouldn't see it again.
DeleteYou have an incredible painting rate, and these will look good on the table as well as being very accurate. If I could raise a tiny point, in a constructive way, the yellow piping down the tunic front didn't extend around the bottom edge of the garment. It is easy to be confused on this by the previous short "habit modele 1860", which was so ornamented. A few units may even have still been wearing this older pattern in 1870, but it was single-breasted, very short in the skirts, had big piped vents at the sides, etc, so these sculpts are definitely wearing the "tunique modele 1867".
ReplyDeleteThanks John. Sadly in all my references didn't have a full reference for the Chasseurs, so I fell back to Mr Google. There was quite a mix of imaged with and without piping described as the 1870 uniform and I had to make the call. I still have two more units (the 10th and 12th) to do for the Corps. I will note your comments for those.
DeleteI know exactly how you feel Mark, after all my issues with GNW Russian uniforms a few weeks back!😉
DeleteWe can all only go by the information we can find. An awful lot of images that Mr Google comes up with are mis-captioned. And some tunics of this period do have the piping round the bottom edge, for example the Saxon troops.
DeleteFine painting as always Mark. Excellent brushwork with the yellow piping and lines on the trousers.
ReplyDeleteRegards, James
Thanks James. Yes it is an attractive uniform.
DeleteSplendid looking chasseurs! Lovely!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain.
DeleteLovely figures and full of character indeed. They really do make a great unit when painted up. I am always impressed by your steady and excellent painting output, which I wish I could achieve.
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve, I agree, their character makes each base a vignette.
ReplyDeleteA lovely new unit Mark…
ReplyDeleteI am rather fond of the somber but stylish French Chasseur uniforms…
All the best. Aly
I like them too Aly, but you are right the lack the gaudiness of the line and zouave units...there is something to be said for red trousers.
Delete