"Swiss Infantry in French service" Topic

I was recently gifted four 54mm Airfix kits, all Napoleonic 1815-themed figures:

I've started building these models, and I decided to convert the pose and uniform of the French Line Infantryman, and have him … well, you can read about here:

link

I love the "concatenation", but can sympathise. I have never used spray varnishes, indeed strikes me how inconsistent is matt black undercoat spray. The same tin, one day, is gloss. Two days later, perfect matt, depending on the North York Moors weather!

But the end result is superb. The pipe is clever but the musket sling with its holes and brass work…..wow.

I always liked the Rifleman best of all for his conversion potential. Took little work for him to become a Netherland Militia man or head swap to create a British Peninsula Line soldier. But mine did not turn out like this….

Does this figure represent an actual Swiss regiment in French Service? He wears the Bardin uniform, and I have found only a yellow-faced unit wearing this uniform for the French/

PLEASE prove me wrong! Great looking uniform and construction.

GdeP

Thanks Deadhead.

And GdeP, yes, they're for real; 4th Swiss Regt, to be specific:

… Carle Vernet's 1812 renderings, on Napoleon's orders.

Is G de P thinking of 1815 maybe?

So often we were shown the Swiss in blue facings for Ligny and Wavre in various books…all due to a misunderstanding of changed Regt numbering.

and BTW. What are those two lads up to? Wellington would have had them flogged for such a carry on. No "diversity" back then!

Yes, a strange scenario… apparently playing 'footsie'!? There are some even better ones elsewhere in the same book

Before TV people made their own entertainment. Simpler times… :-)

And facing colours – I have lost the plot. Wasn't the 1815 battalion wearing a mixture of facings? And carrying a lozenge flag

it is a game, who could push longer and stay in balance

is he being serious?

Truly?

This is not how I would pass my time and after a pint or two of Swiss beer I know I would not win.

Even then, if he is right (he usually is) how does he know such things? respect!

and Marc, yes, discussed here before and can be confusing. But I think it was settled that 1e battalion of 2e Suisse Regt wore yellow facings by 1815…I think. They all did, not mixed colours by company. I think…..

In 1815, the Swiss regiment was called "2nd Foreign" (2ème Étranger). This regiment takes the distinctive of the 1st Swiss regiment of the 1st Restoration: the yellow. But many men come from the other 3 Swiss regiments which is why the battalion of depot, and to a lesser extent the war battalion are found with the 4 distinctive colors (yellow, blue, black, blue of sky) grouped by peloton .
As a reminder, in 1815 the foreign regiments are composed as follows: The 1st Foreign is Piedmontese, the 2nd Swiss, the 3rd Polish, the 4th German, the 5th Belgian, the 6th Hispano-Portuguese, the 7th Irish, the 8th Italian. But the transformation, on May 20, 1815, of the 1st Foreign in 31st Light (31ème Léger) assimilates it fully to the French units.

yes indeed, such discussions come up almost every year – one would have to check the archives

1er bataillon du 2e régiment étranger (suisse)
In June, with the 2e brigade (Dupeyroux), 10e division d'infanterie (Habert), IIIe corps (Vandamme):
état-major : 11 officiers, 25 troupe – 36 hommes
- colonel baron Augustin-Eugen Stöffel (Madrid 1781 – Passy 1842)
- capitaine adjudant-major Gaspard Huber
- capitaine adjudant-major à la suite Joseph Huber
- capitaine quartier-maître Hiacynthe Clemenso
- capitaine à la suite Fabrice Bianchi
- capitaine à la suite Louis d'Ernst
- no chef de bataillon, porte-aigle or capitaine d'habillement
1er bataillon : 21 officiers, 387 troupe – 408 hommes
- commandant la compagnie de grenadiers capitaine Georges Amieth
- commandant la 1ère compagnie de fusiliers capitaine Charles Bianchy
- commandant la 2e compagnie de fusiliers capitaine Charles Stöffel
- commandant la 3e compagnie de fusiliers capitaine Barthélémy Varenna
- commandant la 4e compagnie de fusiliers capitaine Charles Bianchy
- commandant la compagnie de voltiguers capitaine Jean-Baptiste Schwich

here pdf download

PDF link