Thursday 29 August 2013

Painting time: French Hussars (II)

All the French Hussar Regiments fought in Germany in 1813, although some units only had present 1 or 2 squadrons while the main body was in Spain (see the Osprey MAA 76 Napoleon's Hussars by Bukhari and McBride). By crossing the Osprey's information with the found in the Nafziger's OOB for the French Army in August of 1813, I found that Regiments 5th to 13th had more than 3 squadrons in the German theater, thus originating Lasalle units with 4 bases (8 figures). To choose the actual Regiments to be painted, I have relied on the information provided by The Napoleonic Wargamer sites:
"Headgear
Post 1812 it's the shako rouleau made of black felt, most often covered in a colored fabric, favorite color being red. The 6e and 8e are known to have worn it in the 1812 campaign. That said the illustrations shows the Brigadier of the 12e in black, Trumpeter of the 1er in sky blue, trooper of the 9e in red, Fourrier of the 11e in black. Elite companies would more often than not have retained their colpack's through to the end of the period."
The Frederic Berjaud's site also provides a large amount of information about the 5th Hussars, that also wore a red shako-ruleau at the time of the battle of Leipizg

Hussard, 1813, d'après R. Forthoffer, Fiche Documentaire 177
Hussard du 5e Hussards, 1813, d'après Ernest Fort (1868-1938)

So the best candidates, until now, seem to be the 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th Regiments, whose facings at Leipzig time can be found in the below pictures, taken from the Napoleon-Series site.

When the New Line figures arrive, I'll start this (last?) summertime paiting project.




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