"Anyone fielding Napoleonic Spanish Cuirassier?" Topic

The Spanish captured a couple of regiments of Cuirassier during the Peninsula war. One was overwhelmed whilst on outpost duty (lets give the chasseurs a cheval a rest tonight lads…).

I don't know what the Spanish did with the equipment and they would obviously have faced problems with mounts. But there is a good excuse for fielding a couple of squadrons of Spanish Cuirassier.

Has anyone done it? or will I be the first?

Neil
reinforcementsbypost.com

I have seen them fielded in 15mm. Bagration on these boards painted them. Red tunics. Nice change I thought.

Osprey M@A #332 has some info on the Coraceros Espanoles.
Organized on May 24 1810. in two sqns. One sqn. was equipped with cuirass and helmet, captured from the French 13th Cuir. at Mollet 1810.

Cliff

Hi Neil,

I've done the Coraceros Espanoles in 6mm for my late war Spaniards. My Spanish Army is entirely made up of items from the French and British Baccus 6mm ranges painted according to the mid and late war Spanish Ospreys, so a unit of French cuirassiers was a prime candidate for a paint-job conversion to Spaniards.

Regards

By the way, How could the Spanish have captured "a couple regiments of Cuirassiers" during the war? Separate squadrons were sent to Spain from the two Carabinier regiments, and I believe from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Cuirassiers, but they became the 13th Cuirassiers, the only numbered regiment to serve in Spain.

And where can I read about this action at Mollet in 1810?

GdeP

IIRC, it was the 2nd Provisional Cavalry Regiment (elements of the 5th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Cuirassiers) see:

TMP link

that was captured at Baylen.

link

Actually, although the cuirassiers might possibly have come from 5 different escadrons of various régiments of that arme, the total number at Mollet was only 250. More likely, Napier was re-telling a bit of Spanish over-reporting. If 5 escadrons at or near to full strength would have amounted to more than 1000 men, a manning level only acheived by the French for the régiments of the garde à cheval at the beginning of the Russian campaign.

There is a bit more detail in France Militaire, T. IV (1838)
link
The story is developed at bit more in "Napoléon et les Pyrénées" by Jean Sarramon (1992), page 338 ff.

The unit in question was in Duhesme's army, and was not the 13e régiment de cuirassiers (which was with Suchet), but actually the 3e régiment provisoire de cuirassiers. 250 cuirassiers of this unit, together with 3 bataillons of infantry, were detached from the garrison of Barcelona, under the command of colonel en 2e Antoine-Didier Guéry (1765-1825), of the 8e cuirassiers. The French were routed, and there were some captures, especially of wounded or un-horsed cuirassiers, but not a capitulation. The captured French were all assassinated, their corpses littering Mollet when it was retaken a few days later.

From the Correspondence ….
Then a major, Guéry had been tasked with the formation of the 3e régiment provisoire de cuirassiers per the ordre given at Milan on 24 novembre 1807. The unit was formed with one of two compagnies of the 4e (dépôt) escadrons of the cuirassier régiments then with their dépôts in Italie : the 4e, 6e, 7e et 8e régiments. The total of these 4 compagnes could not have exceeded 400 men.
After campagning for over 2 years in Catalonia, the 3e provisoire de cuirassiers was quite depleted, and the same régiments were ordered early January 1810 to send a total of 400 conscripts and sous-officiers from their dépôts, by then located near Paris, to rebuild the régiment. Later in 1810, the 3e provisoire was ordered disbanded and the cuirassiers returned to their régiments. Oddly, this order was forgptten and so in February 1811 …
Paris, 5 février 1811
au Duc de Feltre, ministere de la guerre
… L'empereur voit sur l'état numérique des troupes que le 3ème régiment provisoire de cuirassiers est à Toulouse et Avignon alors qu'il avait ordonné qu'il soit dissout. …

There are biographical notes for colonel Guéry in the Quintins' "Dictionnaire des colonels de Napoléon", page 401, and in "Fastes de la Légion d'honneur", T. IV, page 289.
The latter is available at : link

In any case, after a bit of cleaning, the "trophy" cuirasses form the massacre at Mollet were used to equip a few Spainsh horse.

Not much I can add other than recalling references from multiple sourcs regarding a regiment formed approximately 1810 or later. In none of these references was the strenghts confirmed, but all talks of red tunics, the remainder of the uniform as French curassiers.

I had a regiment of 12 Essex figures for several years and eventually sold then on ebay. Wish I had them back now.

For the fate of the armour "trophies" from Baylen (1808), the learned Dr. Sorando Muzás gives us the details, kindly translated by Caroline Miley :

link

Thanks for sharing the information and links.

Neil