celebrity grammy award: Napoleonic

.....the only napoleonic figure (from Wargames Foundry) I own now from a previous foray into 28mm napoleonics and my favourite.

Napoleon formed his own Mamluk corps, the last known Mamluk force, in the early years of the 19th century, and used Mamluks in a number of his campaigns. Even his Imperial Guard had Mamluk soldiers during the Belgian campaign, including one of his personal servants. Napoleon's famous bodyguard Roustam Raza was a Mamluk who had been sold in Egypt.

Throughout the Napoleonic era there was a special Mamluk corps in the French army. In his history of the 13th Chasseurs Colonel Descaves recounts how Napoleon used the Mamluks in Egypt. In the so-called "Instructions" that Bonaparte gave to Kleber after departure, Napoleon wrote that he had already bought from Syrian merchants about 2,000 Mamluks with whom he intended to form a special detachment.

Roustam was born in Tbilisi, Georgia to Armenian parents. At thirteen Roustan was kidnapped and sold as a slave in Cairo. The Turks gave him the name Idzhahia. The sheikh of Cairo presented him to General Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. Roustam served as a bodyguard of Napoleon until 1814, when he married Mademoiselle Douville in Dourdan, France and refused to follow the Emperor in his exile to Elba.On 7 December 1845, Roustam died in Dourdan.

More information here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamluk#Under_Napoleon

Roustam Raza

Posties Rejects met up on Sunday for a 15mm napoleonic french vs austrian game using General de Brigade with house rule changes.There were 6 of us John, Ian, Lee, Richard, Surjit and myself and the umpire Postie of course,there were 6 divisions present with 3 per side with virtually identical forces per side for a meeting engagement that was fictitious but could have happened.

The French:
John:1st Division(French):1st Brigade,3 battalions of the 36th line and 1 battalion of the 30th line.2nd Brigade,1 battalion of the 27th and 3 battalions if the 10th leger(elite).3rd Brigade,1st and 5th regiments of cuirassiers(elite).1 heavy and 1 medium batteries of artillery.
Richard:2nd Division(Saxon):4th Brigade,2 battalions of Prinz Max,1 battalion of Prinz Anton and 1 battalion of light infantry(elite).5th Brigade,3 battalions of grenadiers(elite),1 battalion guard(elite).6th Brigade,1 regiment each of Albrecht chevau-leger and 1st Hussars.1 heavy and 1 light batteries of artillery.
Ian:3rd Division(Bavarian):7th Brigade,2 battalions of Kronprinz and 2 battalions of Prinz Carl infantry.8th Brigade,2 battalions of Herzog Wilhelm and 1 battalion of Herzog Pivs infantry and 1 battalion of light infantry(elite).9th Brigade,1 regiment each of the 1st and 6th chevau-leger.1 medium gun battery.

The Austrians:
Surjit:1st Division:1st Brigade,4 battalions of German grenadiers(elite).2nd Brigade,4 battalions of Hungarian grenadiers(elite).3rd Brigade,1st and 2nd regiments cuirassiers(elite).1 heavy and 1 light batteries of artillery.
Lee:2nd Division:4th Brigade,2 battalions each of the german 24th and 14th line.5th Brigade,3 battalions of the 34th hungarian line and 1 battalion of jagers(elite).6th Brigade,1 regiment each of the 3rd and 4th Hussars(elite).1 heavy and 1 light battery of artillery.
Me:3rd Division:7th Brigade,2 battalions each of the 8th and 18th German line.8th Brigade,3 battalions of the 61st Hungarian line and 1 battalion of jagers(elite).9th Brigade,1 regiment each of the 2nd and 4th chevau-leger,1 light battery of artillery.

This was a meeting engagement and it became a hard fought slog with cavalry regiments killed to a man and even cavalry brigades being wiped out,4 brigade commanders died and a divisional commander went into the void aswell and as you will see with the pictures it came down to the wire 16-15 to the Austrians.Good game over 6 turns.

Initial set up with the french on the left.

Austrian 3rd Division (my boys).

First initial push forward with the Austrian 1st Division in the lead in the center.

2nd Austrian Division about to clash with the 2nd Bavarian Division.

A view from the Austrian troops (4 batteries of artillery awaiting targets on yonder hilltop).

The slog on our left(Austrian) flank with bavarian cavalry in full retreat,they would later rout when they failed their morale.

The cavalry (austrian and saxon) clash on the right flank,brigade and divisional commanders attached.

One of the Saxon regiments in full retreat with me in pursuit and one of mine pushed back with heavy losses and the Saxons then hit one of my infantry battalions and pushed it back with heavy losses.