"What was an "officier d'ordonnance" in 1807?" Topic
5 Posts
All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.
Please do not post offers to buy and sell on the main forum.
For more information, see the TMP FAQ.
Back to the Napoleonic Discussion Message Board
Areas of InterestNapoleonic
Featured Hobby News Article
Featured Link
Featured Ruleset
|
4th Cuirassier | 16 Oct 2017 3:21 a.m. PST |
The context is Pendant l'étè de 1807, le general Kosciuszko, le héros de l'independance de la Pologne, alors exilé à Fontainebleau, recevait la visite de l'un de ses jeunes compatriotes, Chlapowksi, qui était officier d'ordonnance de l'empereur Napoléon. (during the summer of 1807 General Kosciuszko, the hero of Polish independence, then in exile at Fontainebleau, received a visit from one of his young fellow-countrymen, Chlapowski, who was officier d'ordonnance of the Emperor Napoleon) - Napoléon en campagne, 1913, Colonel Vachée Today this term would probably translate as something like "orderly officer", but what did it mean in 1807? |
Artilleryman | 16 Oct 2017 3:30 a.m. PST |
An Officier d'Ordonnance was on the personal staff of the Emperor. They were much more than mere messengers, and can be considered as a sort of lower level aide-de-camp, since the actual aides-de-camp of the Emperor were generals and could be chiefs of armies or administrators. Officiers d'Ordonnance were also the interlocutors of the highest figures of the Empire and the allied kingdoms, and acted as intelligence agents. |
Brechtel198 | 16 Oct 2017 3:40 a.m. PST |
Excellent posting-very well done. It is an accurate assessment of what these officers were and what they did. Gaspard Gourgaud was one of them and ended up being the senior one. |
4th Cuirassier | 16 Oct 2017 3:58 a.m. PST |
Thanks. I was thinking some sort of ADC but as Artilleryman notes ADCs were a lot more senior than this officer sounds. The source goes on interestingly on Napoleon vis à vis Poland: "Do not believe he will reconstitute Poland! He is a despot, his sole goal his own satisfaction, his personal ambition. He will never create anything lasting, of that I am sure. But don't let that discourage you! You can learn much at his side – experience and strategy above all. He is an excellent leader. But although he has no wish to re-establish our homeland, he can prepare for us many good officers without whom we will be unable to do any good." |
Brechtel198 | 16 Oct 2017 5:14 a.m. PST |
The Imperial ADCs were general officers who were assigned duties ranging from commanding corps or garrisons and were usually given independent duties. They also given 'smaller' assignments as both Mouton and Rapp were given at Essling, commanding Young Guard battalions first to restore a tactical situation and then they decided to counterattack an Austrian corps with five battalions of Young Guard infantry and they defeated that corps (Rosenberg's). At Friedland Mouton was sent to Senarmont when that officer began his artillery attack to find out what was going on. Senarmont basically told him to get lost and Mouton reported that back to Napoleon, who told him to then let Senarmont continue. The Imperial ADCs were not all with Napoleon or the main army at one time. Lauriston served in Dalmatia at Ragusa in 1806 against the Russians. He also commanded the large artillery battery at Wagram in 1809. Rapp commanded at Danzig in 1813. Savary commanded the V Corps after Lannes fell ill in 1807 and defeated the Russians at Ostrolenka. All of them were specialists in their branch of the service, were trusted by Napoleon and trained in his 'school of war' and were respected and trusted by the army. They were authorized to speak in the Emperor's name, they could require corps or army commanders, even if they were marshals, to hold both reviews and inspections, and they spoke the truth to Napoleon and were trusted by field commanders to tell the Emperor the state of what was actually going on. Napoleon counted on them as friends, and they gave frank and blunt advice whether or not it was requested. Rapp and Savary had been Desaix's ADCs and when he was killed in action at Marengo, they were 'adopted' by Napoleon as ADCs. Each of these general officers had two or three ADCs of their own, called the 'little aides-de-camp') and these were also employed by the Emperor when necessary. The officiers d'ordonnance were a junior grade of ADC which Napoleon employed as 'his eyes and ears' who carried orders, conducted inspections and reconnaissances and reported what they had found to the Emperor. There were 12 of them. Originally uniformed in green and assigned to the Maison Civile under Caulaincourt, they were sometimes mistaken for civilians as the Maison Civile was uniformed in green. In 1809 their uniforms was changed to sky blue and silver to distinguish them from the civilians in the Maison Civile. |
|