Gobbets and Anecdotes

[Greenbeard]

The idea of this thread is to share snippets of information, interesting little facts about the Napoleonic wars, little stories and other interesting things about the time. I'll provide an example.

The Russian saying "Pulya - dura, schtik - molodets!" is a phrase that came about by Suvorov, with reference to the Russian black powder. The salt peter was bad in their black powder, and it was ineffective for Russians to fire sometimes. Suvorov then in relation to this, gave an order that "the first kill of a soldier should be by bayonet, the second by the bullet, and the rest henceforth by the bayonet again" (or something along those lines). It was said that Russians almost never removed their bayonets, and even went into battle without firing a bullet before the melee.

I heard another story that a Russian advanced guard came across French skirmishers, and beat them to death with the butts of their muskets. They said "the French aren't good enough to have their blood spilled by the bayonet, give them the butt". They chased away the unit without having fired a shot or using a bayonet.

Now, hopefully this is all right! I think I probably saw this written by Bluehawk, I'm sure he'll jump in here and correct things or add bits (or point out inaccuracies and dub me an inaccurate source).

[Hugues]

I heard that an entire Austrian regiment was abducted by aliens and then returned to earth with super powers. In the week that followed their return to earth they killed 1000's of enemy soldiers simply by pointing their fingers at them and shouting 'Die!' in an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent.

[Mr T]

"In 1814, after the battle of Brienne, Captain Hauillet with a company of the 2nd Foot Chasseurs of the Old Guard, was appointed to cover the withdrawal of the army. But soon after he had taken his position, an overwhelming force of Austrians suddenly came upon him. There seemed no escape - but they were a part of the Old Guard, and if they fell, it would be like the Spartans in Thermopylæ. Hauillet called together the drummers and ordered the Chasseurs not to fire, but to advance with the bayonet. The charge was then beaten and at the head of only 150 men, he flung himself on the Austrians advancing against him, broke their ranks in pieces, and put them to flight. "

[KillerMongoose]

Oh I have a good little story for this thread

At the Battle of Raab, the French 112ème Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne made a valiant charge Austro-Hungarian center and became engaged in a close quarters shootout with them across the banks of the River Raab. One lieutenant took a few grenadiers and charged across the river and made it all the way to the Austrian colors before being surrounded and cut down. Seeing this, Captain Francois-Chretien Vandensande - who by the way had been best friends with the lieutenant who was just killed since childhood - charged alone across the river and threw himself into the Austrians in what his fellow officers described as "a most terrifying fit of rage" and cut his way to the dead lieutenant's body. Upon seeing how one man had broken the Austrian lines in such a manner, the rest of the 112ème Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne charged across the river and broke the Austrian lines. They became known as "The Victors of Raab" for their valiant charge and the regiment, as well as several of it's officers (including Vandensande) were awarded the Legion d'Honneur. Exactly how many men Vandensande couldn't really be reliably estimated, but Captain Charles Goethals of the 112ème Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne captured 20 prisoners single-handedly and it's possible to assume that these were men wounded in Vandensande's ramage.

[Augy]

Sweet additions! People can be such badasses sometimes.

[Greenbeard]

Jean Thurel Say hello to the ultimate badass, Jean Thurel. This lucky son of a bitch survived through three centuries. Born September 8th, 1699 - died March 10th, 1807. Why is this man so badass, I hear you ask. Well, I'll tell you. This man right here's the longest serving soldier that I know of. He spent 90 years and 6 months in the French army, serving three monarchs. He remained a Soldat the whole time (he refused every promotion offered) and only once was ever punished, which was an admonishing. Why was he admonished? At the Siege of Bergen 1747, he was afraid he'd miss the muster call after the battle. So, naturally, he climbed over the walls so he wouldn't miss it. He was offered medals but turned them down, and he was awarded 3 Médaillon Des Deux Épées and the Chevalier de l' Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur. Of course you can read it all at the wikipedia article by clicking the picture on the left, I just thought I'd cut it down for you into a more condensed read (not that the article is even that long or boring). This guy is just such a badass, I felt I had to share him with you after someone else showed him to me. It's strange to think that someone could be 107 and yet still fighting, he marched everywhere with the best of them, and Napoleon called him "Grandfather". Just goes to show how awesome this guy was!

[Hugues]

Wow, that guy is truly legendary. It's hard to believe haha