"Regiments of the French 1st Provincial Chasseurs in Spain " Topic

Part of the French forces at Sahgun in December 1808 included the 1st Provincial Chasseurs. Sounds like it might be kind of interesting to work them up, what with their various uniforms all in the same unit. Does anyone know what regiments these chasseurs came from? Thanks, Terry

George Nafziger kindly answered this very question for me several years ago:

Provisional Cavalry Regiments in 2nd Corps d'Observation de la Gironde
on 1 January l808

1st Provisional Heavy Cavlary Regiment
1st Carabinier Regiment (1 co)(4/119)
2nd Carabinier Regiment (1 co)(4/118)
1st Cuirassier Regiment (1 co)(4/142)
2nd Cuirassier Regiment (1 co)(2/138)
3rd Cuirassier Regiment (1 co)(2/100)

2nd Provisional Heavy Cav1ary Regiment
5th Cuirassier Regiment (1 co)(2/109)
9th Cuirassier Regiment (1 co)(2/64)
10th Cuirassier Regiment (1 co)(2/96)
11th Cuirassier Regiment (1 co)(3/120)
12th Cuirassier Regiment (1 co)(2/100)

Brigade: General de brigade Dupre
1st Provisional Chasseur a Cheval Regiment
1st Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (1 co)(2/52)
2nd Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (1 co)(4/89)
5th Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (1 co)(4/116)
7th Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (1 co)(3/83)
11th Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (1 co)(1/58)

2nd Provisional Chasseur a Cheval Regiment
12th Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (1 co)(3/125)
13th Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (1 co)(3/96)
16th Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (1 co)(2/85)
20th Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (1 co)(4/100)
21st Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (1 co)(4/115)

Provisional Cavalry in the French Corps d'observation des Cotes de l'Ocean,
l January l808
1st Provisional Dragoon Regiment
11th Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(1/80)
13th Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(2/56)
14th Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(3/82)
18th Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(2/50)
19th Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(3/80)
22nd Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(2/52)

2nd Provisional Dragoon Regiment
8th Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(2/55)
12th Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(4/108)
20th Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(4/119)
21st Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(4/80)
25th Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(1/50)
26th Dragoon Regiment (1 co)(2/78)

Hussar Brigade: General de brigade Wathier
1st Provisional Hussar Regiment
2nd Hussar Regiment (1 co)(4/111)
3rd Hussar Regiment (1 co)(1/85)
4th Hussar Regiment (1 co)(2/70)
5th Hussar Regiment (1 co)(3/72)

2nd Provisional Hussar Regiment
7th Hussar Regiment (1 co)(2/80)
8th Hussar Regiment (1 co)(2/86)
9th Hussar Regiment (1 co)(4/110)
10th Hussar Regiment (1 co)(3/80)

Nicely done Ed. My recollection is that the cuirassiers did not wear their cuirasses while in Spain.

Ed, just excellent and much more than I was even hoping for. Thank you very much. I will be putting one or two of these units together! Thanks, Terry

Der Alte Fritz – really ?
I know them only as fully armoured, with some complaining about shortages of replacement equipment.

The listing from Nafziger is actually taken from :
Capitaine (puis colonel) Alphonse Grasset.
La Guerre d'Espagne (1807-1813), rédigée à la section historique de l'état-major de l'armée.
Paris & Nancy : Berger-Levrault.
T. I. – de octobre 1807 à avril 1808 (1914)
It is based on archival sources.

However, do note the date : janvier.

By juillet, at the time of the disaster at Baylen, we have ;
situation du 1er juillet 1808 du 2e corps d' observation de la Gironde
Brigade Dupré, à Andujar
1er provisoire de chasseurs à cheval : détachements des 1er, 2e, 7e, 13e et 21e chasseurs, major Achille Royer, 21 officiers et 474 hommes présents sous les armes
2e provisoire de chasseurs à cheval : détachements des 5e, 11e, 12e , 16e et 20e chasseurs, major Jean-Baptiste Bureau, 20 officiers et 433 hommes présents sous les armes
see :
Lieutenant-colonel Joseph-Charles-Auguste Clerc.
La Capitulation de Baylen : Causes et Conséquences.
Paris : Thorin et Fils, 1903.
Again based on archival sources.

In any case these guys were all lost in the summer, so not exactly the ones at Sagahun in décembre.

At Sagahun, the commander was Pierre-Claude-"Louis"-Robert , le comte (futur duc) de Tascher de la Pagerie, a cousin of the Empress :
Born on Martinique 1 avril 1787, student at the Ecole militaire, sous-lieutenant in 1806, comte de l'empire in 1810, married Marie-Amélie le princesse de Leyen (1788-1872) in août 1810, senateur under the 2e Empire in 1852, died at Paris 3 mars 1861.
From Appleton's American Biography :
"Tascher De La Pagerie, Louis Robert Pierre Claude, Count and afterward Duke, West Indian soldier, born in Fort de France. Martinique, 1 April, 1787; died in Paris, France, 3 March, 1861. He was a first cousin to Empress Josephine, and received his early education in Martinique. Napoleon Bonaparte summoned him to France in 1802, and placed him at the military school of Fontainebleau. He was promoted lieutenant in 1806, assisted in the battle of Eylau, was aide-de-camp to Napoleon at the battle of Friedland, served under Junot in Portugal in 1808, was afterward aide-de-camp to Prince Eugene de Beauharnais, son of Empress Josephine, and, accompanying him to Bavaria in 1815, became a major-general in the Bavarian army. He was created a senator of the empire on 31 December, 1852, and made on 27 January, 1853, grand-master of the Empress Eugenie's household, which post he retained till his death. By his marriage with Princess Marie de Leyen, he had several sons, one of whom was for some years French consul-general in New Orleans, Porto Rico, and Havana."

It would appear at Sagahun that the 21-year-old Tascher was now holding the rank of colonel en 2e, and that his chasseurs were a second formation of the 1er régiment provisoire de chasseurs, apparently from sweeping the dépôts of several régiments of hussards and chasseurs in southwestern France, plus some men of the régiments lost at Baylen who had not left Madrid with their units because of illness or inury, and adding in 1-2 "escadrons" de marche of un-assigned minty fresh conscripts. Perhaps 200-250 total chasseurs. I am sure the British were very impressed with their horsemanship and tactical skill.

After Sagahun this "unit" was disbanded and later a third version of the 1er provisoire de chasseurs was formed in mid-1810 from the full 4e escadrons of the 11e and 24e chasseurs, plus the usual odds and sods found lying about on the route from Bayonne to Madrid in green habits and, with luck, hussard boots.