The Incomparable 9th

 

I decided it was time to add the 9th Legere, to my two previous regiments of French light infantry. The 9th Légère were one of the most notable French infantry regiments of the Napoleonic era, given the title "incomparable" by Napoleon after their remarkable performance at the Battle of Marengo in 1800. In the Peninsula they served in Ruffin's Division, most notably at Talavera, but were also present at Somosierra and the siege of Badajoz. Their arrival on my painting table was timely as they got to participate in my Somosierra game as well as a refight of the Battle of Barossa (Chiclana) we did last weekend. In both they were less than "incomparable". The long and dragging war in Spain had clearly taken off their edge.

I painted enough to create two battalions, the first and the second. Although by this point in the war the light infantry had been directed not to bring their precious Eagles to the battlefield (their role of forward skirmishing left them too vulnerable to losing them) this edict was widely ignored in Spain, as does my first battalion.

I gave my second battalion an ensign, a flag used in lieu of the Eagle, in this case one that is based on the ensign of the 7th Légère, one of few that have survived from that era. If you are interested in my trip down that rabbit hole, I posted more about the use of French ensigns here.

The carabinier (light infantry grenadier) stands.

And the chasseurs (light infantry voltigeur). Research showed the 9th with red-tipped yellow plumes rather than the more usual yellow and green.

Recently I have also been creating light infantry command stands without flags for use as the commands of the ad hoc combined light infantry battalions the French used extensively.

]

As a footnote, on posting this to the Benno’s page, one of the members asked about the Eagle banner from the time of the consulate. This got me curious and a bit of digging gave me the following information from Wikipedia:

“In June 1802 Napoleon Bonaparte awarded the Ninth three specially commissioned flags. These had a sunburst design with the title L’INCOMPARABLE written in the centre.

In 1804 the 9th Light was awarded two ‘eagle’ standards. It appears to have retained at least one of the special 1802 standards. This remaining flag was hidden in 1814 at the home of a retired officer.

The 2nd Battalion's eagle was lost in action at Mohrungen on 25 January 1807. The regiment's colonel lied to Napoleon and was able to conceal the loss because actual eagle had been broken from its pedestal in an accident. This was hastily mounted on a hop pole. Napoleon later learned the truth from the Russian gazettes. According to the Russian sources this captured flag may have carried the 1802 pattern silk.”

So most probably, if the 2nd Battalion was carrying any flag by the time 1808 and Spain rolled around, it probably wasn’t the 1802 pattern. However, it would be fun to replace the 2nd Battalion’s fanion with the 1802 pattern, which I found as a black and white sketch in my indispensable Terry Crowdy’s Napoleon’s Infantry Handbook. Another project!

The commissioned 1802 flag, from Crowdy's Napoleon's Infantry Handbook.