"Jean Marie Peton 105e Ligne 1809" Topic

Hello everyone,

I was just looking through a few documents today and noted an interesting report from 6 February 1809 by the 105e Regiment Armee du Rhin. This report mentions the service history of 3 Lt's and 3 Sous Lt recommended for promotion by Colonel de Blanmont to Capt and Lt. to fill the vacancies of the regiment. From XB 527 105e Ligne 1809

I wanted to focus on one of the officers named Jean Marie Peton. The cool thing about the controles de troupe is we get a glimpse of what the man looked like. As you can see by his registration into the 105e Ligne: GR 21 YC 763

Conscript N1056
Jean Marie Peton
Son of Guillaume and Mathruine Caro
Born 22 July 1779 in Lorient
township of Lorient
Department of Morbihan(Brittany)
size of 1 meter 62cm (5'3)
oval face, grey eyes, average mouth, brown hair, aquiline nose (hooked like an eagle's beak!)round chin, brown eyebrows.

Entered service as a conscript of year 8 on 10 Brumaire an 8 (31 October 1799)
Quickly promoted to Caporal Fourier and Sergent in an 8, Sergent major an 9, and finally Adj Sous. Officier in an 11. Peton was promoted to the officer ranks as S.Lt on 6 December 1806 (the controles de troupe says Imperial decree 24 March 1807). As you can see below from his service record, Colonel de Blanmont's recommendation would come true with Peton's promotion to Lt. on 27 March 1809.

Lt.Adjutant Major Peton was awarded the Legion d'honneur on 9 August 1809.

If people are willing to, I would like to start a section on the men who served. My translations are very slow since I am not a native French speaker, but it is an interesting way to learn a new language.

Hopefully, this is interesting for everyone,
Michael

Great find! According to his military file, Peton was wouded twice at Essling: a bullet in the right leg and a schrapnel splinter (?) in the head. Another schapnel wound in the right foot in the 1814 campaign. Was in 1805,1806,07,09,10 in Germany, 1811 back to France on the western coast (Brest=Brittany, Cherbourg=Normandy), 1812-13 Spain, 1814 with the Grande Armée. Peton is a very common name in Brittany. Hope that helps.

Fanch du Leon,

Thank you for the extra information! I was unaware of the Peton name being common, but that is why I love getting information from other people!

It seems he was wounded at Schwarze Lackenau Action on May 13th, 1809, which probably saved him from being captured with most of the voltigeurs of the 72nd and 105e Ligne. Most likely wounded early and ferried across the Danube before the Austrians found a way around the French and surrounded them. Martinien shows him wounded on May 22, 1809! What I have noticed searching the controles de troupe that when a soldier is killed in a smaller battle they tend to write down the more well-known battle closer to the date. For example, a soldier of the 3e Ligne was killed on the field of honor at the battle of Eckmuhl April 19th, 1809, but in reality, it is the date of the Battle of Thann. Also, when a soldier was wounded or killed at the Battle of Wagram it is written down as Battle of Enzersdorf either July 5 or 6th.

Wonderful project – hope to read more of your finds in the future.
Just BTW: Enzersdorf was (and still is) a small village on the edge of the Wagram Battlefield. So no other battle, but part of it.

Grenadier Corporal,

I am sorry if I caused confusion. I probably should have written the French tend to name battles differently than their well-known English language titles in the registres. Such as the Battle of Teugen-Hausen is called Battle of Thann or Tann. Battle of Wagram is called Battle of Enzersdorf in the registers as well as Battle of Wagram. Battle of Borodino is called Bataille de la Moskova.

I am going to post a letter I am working on as some of the words just won't translate correctly for me to complete the whole letter. The letter is a final copy of a letter written by the Major of the 1st Carabiners citing two sergents who are in recruitment for their good deeds during the intake of conscripts in his department. There are multiple versions of this letter and this one brings together all of the details of the men being cited for review by the Ministry of War.

His sentence reads:

The Major of the First Regiment of Carabiners asks for the advancement of Lejeune and Delrue, sergeants at the 105th Line Infantry Regiment, detached in recruitment to the Loir-et-Cher Department.

Controles de troupes GR 21 YC 763: Delrue and Lejeune

Reading the back of the letter it seems they would like to recommend both NCOs for advancement into the officer ranks as Sous.Lt for the Army of Germany. Sadly Sergent Lejeune will not live long as he died of a fever in the Hospital of Blois on August 17, 1810. At least, according to the records, neither of these men were promoted. I want to share this letter so those who are fluent in French can give us a better understanding of the contents of the letter.

To enlarge the pictures just right click view image to get a closer view.

Michael

Are these documents available online? If yes, can you provide a link? Thanks

Bede19002,

These are documents from Service Historique de la défense or SHD. I was able to get documents through email to help with my research of the regiments that fought at the battle of Teugen-Hausen.

The controles de troupe I posted in the useful books in the media section. Here is the website for the ligne regiments link

First regiment of Carabiniers? Is this some kind of slang for a light infantry regiment?

Widowson,

I am under the impression it is the 1e Carabiniers of Cavalry. I checked the June 1, 1809, Situational Report and it says the depot of the 5th squadron was located at Luneville, France.