… Napoleonic Army. The Case of Polish Officers in the Penninsular War (1808-1813)
"On the one hand, the article examines – in the context of Polish officers in the Peninsular War – the question of non-financial advantages available for soldiers in the Napoleonic army: promotions, decorations and ennoblement. On the other hand, the article tries to present the actual state of research as well as methodological problems which arise while working on this topic….
Keywords: Promotions, decorations, ennoblement, Napoleonic army, Polish officers, Peninsular War, Legion of Honour.
In the Napoleonic army – including foreign troops remaining in the French service – there were various means to remunerate soldiers for their commitment on the battlefield and other merits.There is no unique typology to categorise them but among others it would be justified to put forward a division between financial and non-financial rewards. Or, better to say: between financial and non-financial (prestigious) aspects of rewards in question. For the practice shows that bonuses which are by name nonfinancial ones, i. e.: promotions, decorations and ennoblement were inexorably linked with monetary gratification. In this paper I would like to focus in the first place on the element of prestige. I am limiting here the scope of interest to Polish soldiers taking part in the Peninsular War (1808-1813) – as it is most commonly known in the Anglo-Saxon historiography and memory. And although there were Polish officers fighting in the Anglo-Spanish-Portu- guese camp 1, e.g. in the so-called Irish-Legion [21, p. 33], I shall take into consideration only those
1 Usually offered service in the British army after their having been taken POWs.
who fought alongside Napoleon in on the following units, listed in the order of appearance in Spain:
- 1st Polish Light Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard (chevau-légers), comprised of four squadrons, each composed of two companies (X: 8 companies);
- Vistula Legion (Légion de la Vistule) comprised of three, later on, of four infantry regiments, each composed of two six-company battalions (X: 48 companies) [25];
- 1st Vistula Light Cavalry Regiment (Lanciers de la Vistule) 2, formally being a part of the Vistula Legion, but according to Napoleon's decree, having a separate administration council (conseild'admi- nistration) [25], comprised of 4 squadrons, each composed of 2 companies plus one artillery company, (X: 9 companies) [16, p. 240-241];
- Duchy of Warsaw Division or "Polish Division" (Division Polonaise), comprised of three infantry regiments, each composed of two eight-company battalions plus one company of artillery and one of engineers (X: 50 companies) [13, p. 420]…."
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