You can still see the swagger and love for pomp and pageantry – and relevancy – in these spectacular portraits of Napoléon Bonaparte’s old soldiers. These loyal veterans of Napoleon’s Grande Armée never moved away from their leader. On May 5, on the anniversary of the leader’s death, they dressed in their old uniforms – bearskins, plumed shakos, shapkas, mameluke swords and medals – and slowly marched one pied de roi at a time to Paris’ Place Vendôme, where they massed around the former Emperor Napoleon’s likeness, which, befitting a figure forever attached to his apparent short man syndrome, was perched atop a tall column to commemorate the battle of Austerlitz (and the wonder of height).
Monsieur Verlinde of the 2nd Lancers, 1815
We know not who took these portraits, no why. We know their identities because the verso lists the veteran’s name and regiment.
Monsieur Loria, 24th Mounted Chasseur, Regiment Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Monsieur Loria seems to have lost his right eye.
Peter Harrington writes:
When and why these men were photographed is a mystery but some clues are offered in Henri Bouchot’s book L’Epopée du Costume Militaire Français published in Paris in 1898, and containing pictures by the famous French military illustrator, Job. There is a color plate with a transparent overlay bearing the titled “Les Vieux de la vieille, Le 5 Mai, 1855.” This depicts ten Napoleonic veterans in their full uniforms passing the column in the center of the Place Vendôme erected by Napoleon to commemorate the battle of Austerlitz…
The date of the event – May 5 – provides the reason why these men were in Paris for that was the anniversary of the death of Napoleon and every year on that date veterans gathered in the capital, as the Times of London in May 1855 noted: “The base and railings of the column of the Place Vendôme appear this day decked out with the annual offerings to the memory of the man whose statue adorns the summit. The display of garlands of immortelles, and other tributes of the kind, is greater than usual…the old soldiers of the Empire performed their usual homage yesterday at the same place.”..
A more likely date however, is May 5, 1858, because all the veterans are wearing the Saint Helene medal which had been issued on August 12, 1857 to all veterans of the wars of the Revolution and the Empire.
Sergeant Taria, Grenadiere de la Garde, 1809-1815
Monsieur Mauban, 8th Dragoon Regiment, 1815
Monsieur Maire, 7th Hussars, c. 1809-15
Monsieur Vitry, Departmental Guard
Quartermaster Sergeant Delignon, in the uniform of a Mounted Chasseur of the Guard, 1809-1815
Monsieur Ducel Mameluke de la Garde, 1813-1815
Monsieur Moret, 2nd Regiment, 1814-15
Monsieur Schmit, 2nd Mounted Chasseur Regiment, 1813-14
Monsieur Lefebre, Sergeant 2nd Regiment of Engineers, 1815
Quartermaster Fabry, 1st Hussars
Monsieur Dupont, Fourier for the 1st Hussar
Monsieur Dreuse of 2nd Light Horse Lancers of the Guard, c. 1813-14
Grenadier Burg, 24th Regiment of the Guard, 1815
Via: Brown University Library and Retronaut’s Chris Wild on Mashable
Would you like to support Flashbak?
Please consider making a donation to our site. We don't want to rely on ads to bring you the best of visual culture. You can also support us by signing up to our Mailing List. And you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For great art and culture delivered to your door, visit our shop.
