During the Napoleonic Wars, the French army frequently issued amnesties to allow deserters or draft-dodgers to re-join without punishment. In response to one such amnesty in 1810, eleven men recorded as 'deserting to the enemy' returned to France and were assigned to the 33e Ligne. A quick 🧵1/ - ThreadSky

graemecallister.bsky.social • 35 days ago

During the Napoleonic Wars, the French army frequently issued amnesties to allow deserters or draft-dodgers to re-join without punishment.

In response to one such amnesty in 1810, eleven men recorded as 'deserting to the enemy' returned to France and were assigned to the 33e Ligne. A quick 🧵1/

Comments

chrispas.bsky.social•34 days ago

Not unknown in 18thC armies either. Duffy wrote of Prussians deserting to join the army of some minor state or other, and then returning to Prussian ranks where a blind eye was turned. A lot of investment went in to training a musketeer.

graemecallister.bsky.social•35 days ago

Eight of the men had deserted French service while campaigning in Eastern Europe 1806-8 and joined the Polish army.

Three joined the Polish 15th Line, two the 5th Line, one each to the 6th and 8th, and one joined the 11th Uhlans. 2/

graemecallister.bsky.social•35 days ago

Poland was a French ally, but French citizens needed the permission of the emperor before taking service in foreign armies, so these men were not just considered deserters, but 'deserters to the enemy'. 3/

graemecallister.bsky.social•35 days ago

The other three men joined Austrian service after deserting the French army, two in infantry battalions & one in the hussars.

All three deserted in 1809. One man, who had been in the 63e Ligne, deserted amidst vicious fighting at the Battle of Wagram (6 July 1809) & went over to the Austrians. 4/

graemecallister.bsky.social•35 days ago

Although their records listed that they had 'deserted to the enemy', none of the eleven men actually bore arms against France.

Perhaps for this reason, all eleven received a pardon and were reintegrated into the French army. 5/

graemecallister.bsky.social•35 days ago

None of the eleven were ever promoted in the rest of their careers, but all apparently served faithfully.

One transferred to another regiment, six were lost in Russia, and one committed suicide. Three made it through to 1815 - when two promptly deserted after Waterloo. End/

amfisher.bsky.social•35 days ago

Six out of 11 lost in Russia; that's a pretty telling stat about how bad 1812-1813 was for the French.

thomasbrandstetter.bsky.social•35 days ago

Fascinating! Are there any hints on why they deserted? And why they joined the enemy army instead of running away (I know that in 1809 many deserters formed brigand groups) or even trying to get home to France?

landofrob.bsky.social•35 days ago

Great thread as usual Graeme. I was interested in how you identified a suicide. Was it recorded as such? I was wondering as I have three cases in the 21e Ligne. One died in depot, no reason and two died of gunshot wounds. These obviously could be accidents but one wonders.

graemecallister.bsky.social•35 days ago

Yes, the suicide is recorded as such. There have been three in 8,400 records of the 33e I've looked at so far - but I suspect that some of the 'gunshots', 'accidents', or just 'mort' without details might also be, just not recorded. (But they could also be murder, genuine accidents, or natural!)

landofrob.bsky.social•35 days ago

Yes, I don't want to jump to conclusions. I have no handle on mental health issues or suicide related deaths in terms of mental health. A difficult topic eg recent discussions around PTSD that Everett Rummage on AoN discussed.

I have come across one case of dropsy (odema) in a chap 28. Tragic.

graemecallister.bsky.social•35 days ago

I've also come across dropsy - 20 men in my sample of the 33e (c.8400 men) died of it, many in their early 20s. I assume pre-existing health conditions?

landofrob.bsky.social•35 days ago

My wife (nursing for 50 years) reckons more research around how dropsy was defined and how it related to oedema. Today it would be probably heart or kidneys causing problems with the lymphatic system. But again 200 years ago?

graemecallister.bsky.social•35 days ago

It's something I need to look into a bit more. Certainly in Britain it was illegal, and a suicide's possessions were forfeit to the crown, so a coroner's jury would often say 'temporarily insane' or find accidental death to spare stigma/punishment for family. Not sure if the same in France.

landofrob.bsky.social•35 days ago

Interesting point. I have found two died in duels and two died of wounds suffered in duels. Have you come across any?

graemecallister.bsky.social•35 days ago

That is very interesting! I got a couple in the 1815 army, but none in the 33e so far. A couple of unexplained gunshots, and one or two unexplained 'tué', but no explicit duelling deaths.

So either the 33e were very good duellists, or too disciplined to fight, or just didn't record them!

robgriffith.bsky.social•35 days ago

Do you see any returning after serving with the British, or other armies, and deserting back to France?

graemecallister.bsky.social•35 days ago

I've found a couple after the first abdication in 1814 who deserted the British army and returned to the French, and ended up fighting in 1815. But I haven't as yet found any amnestied in the same way.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply