Franco-Prussian War French Imperial Guard Zouaves

Today's offering is the first battalion of the Guard Zouaves Regiment, the third infantry type in my guard. 

There is no doubt that the performance of the Imperial Guard in the war of 1870 was not stellar. It was poorly positioned on the battlefield and indifferently led. The result is that today it is often considered a bit of a dud. Yet in the annals of the Second Empire it had a solid, often sanguine combat record. Of the regiments in the corps the Zouaves arguably has the most impressive reputation. 

Members of the Zouaves de la Garde

Created on 23 December 1854 by drawing men from the line Zouave regiments and chasseur battalions serving in the Crimea the regiment saw service at the Siege of Sevastopol.The regiment differed from other guard regiments in that it consisted of only two battalions instead of three. During the capture of the Malakoff on 8 September 1855, the regiment stormed the redoubt and fought hand-to-hand to repel the Russian counter-attack. In this desperate action the Zouaves lost over 1,000 casualties from the 1,600 engaged.

In 1859, during the Italian campaign, the regiment suffered heavy losses at Magenta while forcing the Ponte Nuovo in concert with the 1st Voltigeurs, capturing an Austrian standard in the process. The battle cost it 347 casualties out of 1,000 men. At Solferino they carried the heights of Cavriana losing a further 14 officers and 270 enlisted men in the process.

Between 1860 and 1870, the regiment carried out duties alongside the Emperor and escorted visiting foreign sovereigns in France, notably the Empress of Russia in 1860.

In 1870, they fought again at Rezonville. The 1st Battalion held off the Prussians in front of the Bois St. Arnould and Bois Ognons, while the 2nd Battalion endured enemy artillery fire for most of the afternoon, losing 90 casualties.

Not engaged at Saint-Privat, the Zouaves contributed to the Battle of Ladonchamps on 7 October during the Siege of Metz. Upon the fall of the fortress, 1,000 men surrendered, but the regiment refused to hand over its colours. On 28 October Colonel de la Hayerie gathered the officers and the imperial eagle was unscrewed, hammered flat and buried, the cravat divided among the senior officers, and the drapeau torn into pieces and distributed as relics to the officers present. Disbanded on surrender the men of the regiment were transferred to the newly created 4th Zouave Regiment.

There appears to be a variation to the rule about the second battalion carrying the drapeau in that where a regiment consisted of only two battalions, and in this instance the Guard Zouave Regiment did count only two battalions, the first battalion (presented below) carries the drapeau while the second carries a fanion - and what that fanion looks like will be an issue for me in the coming days as there is a lack of clarity on it.

These are truly superb figures, yet tough work for someone like me whose workman approach to painting focuses on creating units and armies rather than individual figures. Nonetheless I am very pleased with this unit.