"French 1st Hussars in June 1815" Topic

Originally brigaded with the 4th Hussars as part of Soult's 6th Cavalry Division of Pajol's I Cavalry Corps, I understand the 1st Hussars were detached at the beginning of the Waterloo campaign and thereafter did not see action until 20 June at Namur (seven officers wounded) and 26 June at Villers-Cotterets (four officers wounded).
Can anyone point me at any sources that describe their movements from 14 June to 20 June 1815?

Good Day Allan,

as a quick answer for something "recent", perhaps here (?) but you must already know that ..

mapleflowerhouse.com

Vol. 4 The Invasion, June 12 – June 17 (495 p.): 2018:

best regards ; )

Hi Eric
Thank you for the reminder – I had been focusing more on regimental histories, but I will have another look at the volumes in your link.
Kind regards
Allan

Hi Allan,

Unfortunately cannot find a downloadable edition of the following:

HISTORIQUE DU 1ER RÉGIMENT DE HUSSARDS, D'APRÈS LE MANUSCRIT DU COMMANDANT OGIER D'IVRY. APPROUVE EN 1890, REVU ET AUTORISE PAR LETTRE MINISTÉRIELLE DU 23 JANVIER 1900, ET D'APRÈS LES DOCUMENTS RÉUNIS PAR LES OFFICIERS DU RÉGIMENT. OUVRAGE ORNE D'UNE AQUARELLE DE JOB, D'UN DESSIN DE M. DAVID DE SAUZEA, DE TROIS PLANCHES EN COULEURS, D'UNE HÉLIOGRAVURE, D'UNE CHROMOTYPOGRAPHIE, DE NOMBREUSES SIMILIGRAVURES, ETC., ETC. ILLUSTRE PAR LE CAPITAINE INSTRUCTEUR J. MAGNIN. RÉGIMENT DE BERCHENY. VALENCE. TYPOGRAPHIE ET LITHOGRAPHIE DE JULES CEAS & FILS. 1901.

Copies for sale via e-bay:
auction
auction
auction
Hard copy listed in Musee de l'Armee.

Ian

However from several sources online
the 14th 15th june around Gosselies on the Brussels road charge against a Prussian Battalion who lost 200 priosnners
Bulletin de l'Armée dated Charleroi evening 15th june 1815
Histoire des Campagnes de 1814 et 1815, en France; Général Guillaume de Vaudoncourt

the 16th june the regiment came too late to participate in the battle of Ligny

the 17th june on the morning the 1st Hussards coming from Sombreffe joined Pajol who decided to stop the march and placed the regiment at the exit of Mazy
he left it on the Namur road between Mazy and Temploux
on the night the 1st Hussars coming from Temploux established its quarter in Isnes
pages 212 to 220
Pajol général en chef par le général de division comte Pajol son fils ainé 1812-1844 · Volume 3
link

@Prince of Essling
Thanks Ian. I did find a French language source on the hussars in general, but the author brushed over the 100 Days without any detail! ;-)
The auction copies look fabulous.
Kind regards
Allan

@Lilian
Thank you for the summary and references. I wondered whether Napoleon had retained the 1st Hussars to act as the duty squadrons. This would explain why they did not rejoin Pajol until the 17th.
Kind regards
Allan

Houssaye "1815 Waterloo" in his notes to Book II Section IV – note 42 says "The 1st Hussars (Soult Division) had not rallied yet, and the Subervie Division had been detached to the left." – so as you say what were they doing?

I see the 1st Hussars were involved at Gosselies on the 15 June (and incurred some losses – see Pierre de Wit's fine site at waterloo-campaign.nl) and there is the suggestion that they were placed temporarily under Ney's command, but they seem to disappear until 17 June when Pajol deploys them (see @Lilian's link, above). I am puzzled by Houssaye's reference to 'rallying'. Rallying from what?

Indeed – no clue on the rallying.

Andrew Uffindell "The Eagle's Last Triumph" – page 90 foot note 5 says "The 1st Hussars, which also belonged to this division, had become caught up in the French left wing during 15 June an d remained with Marshal Ney on 16 June (Pajol, General en chef v.3, p.205).".

Map on page 125 for the strategic situation at 14:30 on 16 June shows the 1st Hussars just south of Lefebvre-Desnouettes.

'Rallier' need not necessarily mean 'rally' in the sense of a broken unit being regrouped – no more than the English word 'rally' always has to mean that. It could, for example, be also read as 'The 1st Hussars had not yet rejoined…'

a (little) bit more info, thanks to Lilian's link ! ; )

June 16 > Pajol, General en chef page 205 – 206

Pajol was left with only two regiments (..) the 4e & 5e Hussards ..
.. because the 1st Hussards was still on the right wing, under Ney's orders, who should have directed them, (following Napoleon's direction) – since the morning – towards MARBRAIS, with an infantry Division ..

link

June 17 :

page 212 :

17 june > 9H in the morning (10 kilometers from Sombreffe) > the 1st regiment of Hussards, who joined him at that time, did not find any French troops since Sombreffe .. the 1st Hussards stayed at the end (exit) of Le Mazy ..

Page 219

he left the 1st Hussards on the NAMUR Road (between Le Mazy and Temploux) in order to protect his rear and his communications with Sombreffe (in a temporary fashion) – while moving forward on the Saint-Denis road with the 4e & 5e Hussards ---
page 220
Pajol executed a rearward movement from Saint Denis towards Le Mazy …
.. the 1st Hussards, coming from TEMPLOUX, did take place at ISNES, on the NAMUR road ..
---

one comment by the author from page 221 > PAJOL was in a "complete isolated situation" at that time (no news – no orders from Grouchy) so his decision to execute that rearward movement, was thinking he was going to close with Grouchy troops ..

best regards

Musketball is right,

rallier (rallying) in french might simply mean to "Rejoin" (rejoindre) disconnected from the idea of rallying a dispersed body of troops after a combat action.

Antoine de Brack has some things to say about rallying cavalry after a charge.

It is a memoir that is valuable for the insights into commanding a cavalry regiment.

Hi

Going off at a tangent. If you read regimental histories etc do they tell you how far on average they marched a day. I use the Empire Campaign system and think that the rules allow too much movement per day and for days on end.
Any advice?
Cheers
Richard

I concur with Lilian, as the Houssaye quote above was taken from the English tversion.

So on the 16 June we have the 1st Hussars just north-east of Frasnes, having probably bivouacked near to Lefebvre-Desnouette's Guard light cavalry the previous night, the village having been occupied by the 2nd Light IR from Bachelu's Division.
We know that Ney was expressly instructed by Napoleon not to use Lefebvre-Desnouettes (and use Kellerman's III Cavalry Corps instead) even though they were under Ney's orders: did Ney just forget about the 1st Hussars on the 16 June?
Uffindel (see 12/07/2021 2:35pm post from from @Prince of Essling, above) has an interesting chart of the French command structure for 16 June on pages 122-123. In it, he shows the 1st Hussars 'with' the Guard light cavalry division and both marked as 'unengaged'.

As primary sources I recommend,

Pajol, Général en Chef, (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1874).
Gourgaud, Bataille de Waterloo. Relation d'un Officier Général Francais, in Nouvelle Revue Rétrospective, Vol 4.
Biot, Souvenirs, Anecdotiques et Militaires du Colonel Biot, (Paris: Henri Vivien, 1901), reprinted by Phénix Éditions, 2004.

A useful secondary source that draws on all these, and is in English(!), is Andrew Field's Grouchy's Waterloo.

From these I have found:

On 9th June Pajol's return listed the 1st Hussars as 471 men in three squadrons, forming the 1st Brigade, with the 4th Hussars, of General Soult's 4th Light Cavalry Division.

In the advance on Charleroi in the morning of the 15th June, Soult advanced as far as Marcinelle, on the southern outskirts of Charleroi. This village was connected to Charleroi by a bank 300 paces in length, terminating at a bridge, the head of which was barricaded. Pajol wanted to take this post at a rush, but a strong force of Prussian skirmishers, hidden behind the hedges, the garden walls and in the houses, engaged the 1st Hussars that led the advance and a man was even killed and several wounded in Pajol's escort. Pajol had no option but to wait for some of Vandamme's infantry to come up.

Beyond Charleroi was a major road junction, with main roads leading towards Mons, Brussels and Namur. After its successful capture, Napoleon immediately sent Pajol's cavalry in pursuit of the retreating Prussians. Colonel Gourgaud, Napoleon's premier officier d'ordonnance, wrote,

‘Hardly out of Charleroi, we saw an enemy column, infantry and cavalry, of twelve to fifteen hundred men, retiring in great disorder on the Brussels road. I pointed them out to Pajol who immediately sent the 1st Hussars after them, commanded by my friend General Clary [commander of the 1st Brigade of the 4th Division (Soult)]. I accompanied this regiment. The enemy infantry, to save themselves, dispersed into the large village of… [Gourgaud leaves this blank, but Prussian accounts name the village as Jumet]. We took a hundred prisoners and continued to pursue the cavalry [this was the 6th Uhlans] as far as Gosselies. There, some hidden Prussian infantry fired on us by platoon at fifteen paces… I discussed the situation with Clary; we deployed three squadrons in line on the plain with one remaining in column on the road. This move forced the enemy to reveal a large part of his force; we could distinguish eight to ten thousand men, infantry and cavalry.'

It seems the regiment finished the day at Heppignies, forming a link between Ney and Napoleon. A typical light cavalry mission, but not having remaining with Ney in/near Frasnes.

In a letter from Grouchy to Marshal Soult dated Campinière, 16 June 1815, 3am, the PS says, ‘The 1st Hussars that are part of 1st Cavalry Corps has been detached on your orders and I would be grateful if you could send them back to Soult's division if it is possible.'

The following morning, the 16th June, Soult replied to Grouchy from Charleroi, ‘The 1st Regiment of Hussars will return to 1st Cavalry Corps during the day.'

Pajol (p.213) records that the 1st Hussars rejoined him at 9am on the 17th. From Heppingnies to Mazy as the crow flies is only about 12km, but they would have needed to skirt round the Ligny battlefield to the south and then actually locate their division which was pursuing Prussian stragglers towards Namur. We do not know when they left Heppingnies on the 16th; it was probably not until midday at the earliest, given that an order must have come from Soult and had to find them. So it was probably midday at the earliest.

@Delort
Thank you for the references.
If the 1st Hussars were at Heppignies until at least 12 noon 16 June and then moved to rejoin Pajol they would have had to move through or around the field of Ligny while the battle was raging and would surely have rejoined Pajol the same day. The fact they did not rejoin Pajol until 9am 17 June suggests they were on a different mission during the 16 June.
Also, we learn from Pajol of his activities early on the 17 June (quoted in Andrew Field's 'Grouchy's Waterloo), "The first information that he collected being absolutely insignificant, he marched on Mazy [at 3am from Tongrinne], further down the Namur road where he arrived at 5am. [ … ] Retaking his route he soon arrived in the area of Isnes. [ … ] Pajol had arrived at the junction of the road which, by Saint-Denis and Meux, led to Leuze or to Egliezée, which are situated on the road between Namur and Louvain. It was 9am. Now finding himself ten kilometres from Sombreffe, and without news of the army, he did not think it prudent to advance further; all the more because the 1st Hussars, which had finally rejoined him [at 9am], had seen no French troops on the Namur road since Sombreffe." I presume this to mean that the 1st Hussars rejoined Pajol via Sombreffe.

Good Day Allan,

try here : souvenirs militaires du colonel BIOT (Pajol's adc) > see page 229 for campaign start and page 249 et s. for Waterloo.

link

some bits of info page 232 and s.
best regards ; )

@Allan

You might be right that they had been given ‘a different mission', but it seems your premise is just based on the fact that it took them a long time to get from Heppingnies to re-join their division. My guess that they left Heppingnies at midday was just that, a wet finger in the air. There appears to be no evidence that they were given another task; there is no mention that they did anything else and no evidence that they received any other order than to re-join Soult (unless you have some?).

I think we often misjudge the difficulties of communicating orders in those days and the speed with which they were complied with. Grouchy's request for them to return to their division and Soult's agreement that this should happen give no suggestion of the ‘need for speed'. We do not know who was responsible for writing the order, what it actually said, when it was despatched to the regiment, when it was received or when it was complied with. No doubt the regiment was manning outposts and vedettes and probably had patrols out and would need to concentrate; this in itself could take a considerable time. We do not know what route the regiment took around the battlefield (although it does seem it was via Sombreffe) and how accurately it knew the division's location. We can presume that the regiment had not found the division when it felt obliged to stop for the night and we do not know where they spent the night.

Common sense suggests they had been told where the division was located during the 16th, but Pajol had set off to try and locate the Prussians on the route towards Namur at 3am the next day. It seems probable that they arrived at the position of the previous day only to find the division had already moved off. We do not know who pointed them in the right direction or if Pajol or Soult made any efforts to have them met and guided or directed on the right road (which you might expect).

If Marshal Soult had ordered them to return to their division during the morning of the 16th, it is unlikely he would then have ordered them onto a different task (but not impossible); I suspect he then had other things to worry about! Therefore, the regiment had effectively returned to under command of their parent formation; their orders would therefore have come from General Soult or Pajol. There is no evidence that either of these gave them other orders and it is probable that if Pajol had done so, it would have been mentioned in his memoirs.

Just too many unknowns and lack of evidence to come to the conclusion that they were late because they had been given another mission, however intriguing that might be. Biot's and Pajol's accounts are very detailed on this phase of the campaign and, although one is clearly drawn on the other, or there was some coordination, neither mention any other task for the 1st Hussars and no mention by any other source I can find. I think we can agree that the campaign is full of examples of communication problems and formations moving much slower than expected; indeed, this campaign more than most!

I think your only hope for more detail is to get hold of a copy of the regimental history mentioned above. I have an ecopy of Histoire de tous les Régiments de Hussards by L'Abbé Staub (Paris: Martin-Beaupré, 1867) but it skates over 1815, perhaps for obvious reasons (‘My pen stops there; it is not in fact cut out to write of reverses, but of triumphs… as the army was broken in 1815, so is my pen'). Love it!

@Cdr Luppo
Thanks for the link!

@Delort
Agree with what you say. Perhaps 1st Hussars spent several hours (or even more) recalling outposts, even to the point of not setting off to rejoin Pajol until the early hours of the 17th. In that case they could have traversed the Ligny battlefield north of St Amand and Ligny and bivouacked at Sombreffe.

Hi Allan,

with the kind help of the president of the amicale du 1er RHP, the 3 pages about 1815 campaign in the "HISTORIQUE DU 1ER RÉGIMENT DE HUSSARDS, D'APRÈS LE MANUSCRIT DU COMMANDANT OGIER D'IVRY." (apparently 1815 is covered in 3 pages only).

best regards

Many thanks Eric!

with pleasure Allan !
(ps : you have a 2nd mail ..)

; )