ROFUR-FLAGS - 1/72 as
well as 1/32
high quality
Banners, Flags, Standards and Lance-pennants
HÄT 8095: 1808-1812 French Infantry. Fusiliers, Grenadiers, Voltigeurs.
Line
Infantry battalions were devided into a multitude of "fusilier"
companies and 2 elite or flank companies made up of grenadiers and
voltigeurs one each.
Whereas fusiliers had to be clean-shaven,
the men of elite companies should have moustaches. Also, the elite company´s
members had fringed epeaulettes (red for grenadiers, green or yellow/green
for voltiguers).
1806 regultions prescribed a shako for the infantry
to replace the hitherto worn bicorne. Actually the new headgear
was not delivered to the troops but 1808, as Hans-Karl Weiss already
described in his box-comment for the HÄT 8063 set. With the same regulations
the grenadier company´s bearskin caps also should have been
replaced by the 1806 shako - indeed, a lot of bearskins
seemed to have taken roots on a lot of grenadiers heads for some
more years.
The 1806 pattern shako had black leather V-reeinforcements at
the sides and chinscales. Grenadiers and voltigeurs had cordons
and used to wear a plume in their characteristic red or green colours.
Although fusiliers cordons were not regular, in some regiments they
wore such in white.
Fusiliers on their habit had shoulder straps
and on the shako a pompon.
Grenadiers wore crossed shoulderbelts (one for the sabre briquet
with bayonet, one for the patron pouch) whereas fusiliers and voltigeurs
had but
one shoulder belt running over the left shoulder combining patron
pouch and bajonet on it.
In
the fusilier and voltigeur companies, only sergeants, corporals
and tambours should have a sabre-briquet.
A new shako model was introduced in 1810, this pattern now had lost the cordons (nevertheless many wore them further), Instead of their golden cordons Officers had golden lace at the top or/and bottom of the headgear. With the next alterations in 1812 - which lasted until 1815, grenadiers and voltigeurs were allowed V-lacings in their characteristic red resp. green colours.
For the period of 1808-1812
the pattern 1804-12 as well as the 1812-14 pattern flags for line
infantry may be recommended.
Information
concerning flags.
French regimental
flags - more simply known
as "eagles" - 1804-1815 basically
followed a general pattern for all regiments, the only difference were different
sizes
and inscriptions/ornamentations for line infantry and the guard.
Also the regimental numbers and the names of battles in which the
individual regiment had taken part differed.
After Napoleon became
Emperor of France, new flags were handed out to the the army
in 1804. Each battalion got its own flag, reduced to 1 per regiment (carried in the 1st battallion)
in 1808. Instead of the taken away flags, the other batallions got unicoloured "fanions" in
distinctive colour for each 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th battalion. These
flags were fixed on poles with a spear-head.
Up to 1808 a sergeant
carried the regimental flag, from 1808 the eagle was carried by an officer,
covered by 2 senior NCO´s
armed with specific helberds to which a white respectively red pennon
were attached.
Smal marker flags were carried by sergeants of
each grenadier and voltigeur company, fixed on a rod carried in
the musket´s barrel.
In 1811 the tricolore flag had been introduced to the army, some regiments of the Grande Armee got them in time for the 1812 campaign, others continued to fly their old 1804 pattern until returned from the Russian campaign.
Flag-staves were dark blue and topped by a gilded eagle and, with the 1812 pattern, a tricoloured cravat with golden fringe and golden cords and tassels. The eagle was carried by an officer.
1815 Napoleon had to hand out new flags to his troops, which were somewhat larger and of a lighter red and blue than the previous patterns.
More detailed informations
on French Napoleonic flags can be found in:
FLAGS AND STANDARDS OF THE
NAPOLEONIC WARS, Keith Over, Bivouac Books Ltd, first published
1976.
FLAGS OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS (1), Terence Wise / Guido
Rosignoli, Osprey Men-at-arms-series Nr. 77, first published 1978.
ROFUR-FLAGS 1/72 series
sheets contain
the following flags that could be used with
HÄT
8095: 1808-1812 French Infantry.
Fusiliers,
Grenadiers, Voltigeurs.
1/72-115: France, Great Army 1812 (1)
Line Infantry Regt. Nr. 9: 1804-1812 pattern flag.
Line Infantry Regt. Nr. 2, 1812: Flag ("Eagle") 1804-1812 pattern and non-regular Bataillon-Flags ("fanions") for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th Btn.
Infantry Bataillon-Flags ("fanions") 1808-1812 for 4th, 5th, 6th Btn of each Regt.
Infantry-Regiment Westfalia,
flag 1807-15
2nd and 3rd porte-aigle (eagle-bearer)
1808-1814, 2 pennons each.
1/72-116: France, Great Army 1812 (2)
Line
Infantry Regt. Nr.12 and 57: 1804-1812 pattern flags.
Infantry Bataillon-Flag ("fanion")
1808-1812 for 2nd Btn of each Regt.
9th Voltigeurs,
marker flag.
2nd
and 3rd porte-aigle (eagle-bearer) 1808-1814 pennons, 1
of each.
1/72-117: France, Great Army 1812 (3)
Line
Infantry Regt. Nr. 92: 1804-1812 pattern flag.
Light
Infantry Regt. Nr. 24: 1812-1814 pattern flag
Infantry
Bataillon-Flags ("fanions") 1808-1812 for
4th, 5th, 6th Btn of each Regt.
2nd
and 3rd porte-aigle (eagle-bearer) 1808-1814,1 pennon
each.
Infantry Bataillon-Flag ("fanion")
1808-1812 for 3rd Btn of each Regt.
Horse Artillery
of the Line, Regt. Nr. 6: 1804-1812 pattern standard.
1/72-118: France 1804-1814 (1)
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr. 3, 4, 33, 66, 111: 1804-1812 pattern
flags.
2nd and 3rd porte-aigle
(eagle-bearer) 1808-1814, 1 pennon each.
1/72-119: France 1804-1814 (2)
Line
Infantry Regt. Nr. 12: 1804-1812 pattern flag.
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr. 46 and 93: 1812-1814 pattern flags.
2nd
and 3rd porte-aigle (eagle-bearer) 1808-1814, 2 pennons
each.
1/72-120: France 1804-1814 (3)
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr.1 and 46: 1812-1814 pattern flags.
Line
Infantry Regt. Nr. 3: Voltigeurs marker flag.
Line
Infantry Regt. Nr. 63: Grenadiers marker flag.
2nd
and 3rd porte-aigle (eagle-bearer) 1808-1814, 2 pennons
each.
1/72-126: France, Great Army 1812
(4)
Line
Infantry Regt. Nr. 126: 1804-1812 pattern flag.
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr. 4, 17, 18, 21, 33, 61: 1812-1814
pattern flags.
Infantry
Bataillon-Flag ("fanion") 1808-1812 for 3rd
Btn of each Regt.
2nd
and 3rd porte-aigle (eagle-bearer) 1808-1814, 1 pennon
each.
1/72-127: France flag patterns
1812-1814 (1)
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr. 16, 27, 81, 101, 102: 1812-1814
pattern flags.
1/72-128: France, Great Army 1812 (5)
Line
Infantry Regt. Nr. 56: 1804-1812 pattern flag.
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr. 2, 1, 25, 61 : 1812-1814 pattern
flags.
Infantry Bataillon-Flag ("fanion")
1808-1812 for 4th Btn of each Regt.
2nd
and 3rd porte-aigle (eagle-bearer) 1808-1814, 1 pennon
each.
1/72-129: France
1804-1815 (1)
Line
Infantry Regt. Nr. 112: 1812-1814 pattern flag.
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr. 1, 37, 70: 1815 pattern flags.
1/72-130: France
1804-1815 (2)
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr. 16, 33, 85: 1812-1814 pattern flags.
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr. 2, 15, 22: 1815 pattern flags.
1/72-131: France
1812-1814 (2)
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr. 5, 13, 23, 108: 1812-14 pattern
flags.
Infantry Bataillon-Flags ("fanions")
1808-1812 for 6th Btn of each Regt.
2nd
and 3rd porte-aigle (eagle-bearer) 1808-1814, 1 pennon
each.
1/72-132: France
1804-1815 (3)
Line
Infantry Regt. Nr. 123: 1804-1812 pattern flag.
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr. 13 and 106: 1812-1814 pattern flags.
Line
Infantry Regts. Nr. 23, 28, 34, 64: 1815 pattern flags.
