Tuesday, 11 March 2025

AHPC 15 - Retreat from Moscow - L'escadron sacré 101 pts



The Sacred Squadron (French L'escadron sacré) was an ad hoc cavalry unit which served briefly in the French Grande Armée during the final stage of the Emperor Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in 1812. It was remarkable in that it consisted - out of military necessity - entirely of officers, with those below the rank of colonel serving as troopers.


The Sacred Squadron was formed on 23 November 1812, by the Bobr River (perhaps at Borisoff, in modern Belarus) to serve as Napoleon's bodyguard. It was disbanded on 10 December 1812, in Kowno (modern Kaunas, Lithuania). It therefore served during the crossing of the Berezina (26-29 November), and continued to exist for a few days after Napoleon's departure for Paris on 5 December.


Its existence is recorded in the 29th Bulletin of the Grande Armée, by which Napoleon hinted to the French people for the first time the scale of the disaster which had befallen the Grande Armée:


"Our cavalry was dismounted to such a degree, that it was necessary to collect the officers who had still a horse remaining, in order to form four companies of 150 men each. The Generals there performed the functions of captains, and the colonels of subalterns. This sacred squadron, commanded by General Grouchy, and under the orders of the King of Naples (Murat), did not lose sight of the Emperor in all these movements."


No written order establishing the unit has been found; it is possible that it was set up orally. No official record of those who served in it has survived; considering the circumstances, it is possible that none was ever made, or that the records of Marshal Berthier (Napoleon's Chief of Staff) were lost during the retreat. Other sources give lower numbers than Napoleon's 600: Chandler says 500.


In addition to its commander Général de division Grouchy, the following are said to have served with the Sacred Squadron:

Général de division de La Tour-Maubourg
Général de brigade de La Grange 
Colonel Rambourgt 
Colonel de Fernig 
Lieutenant-colonel de Castellane
Lieutenant-colonel de Lascours 
Chef d'escadron  de Gramont 
Chef d'escadron  de Potier 
Capitaine Aimé Benoît Delamalle
Lieutenant Le Bon Desmottes 
Lieutenant Claude-Xavier-Louis-François Martin
Lieutenant Saint-Geniès 
Sous-lieutenant Korte 


My 2 Commanders, both are from Front Rank miniatures. On my brand new Warbases sabot bases.


These 4 are all Casting Room Miniatures and all have had green stuff cloaks and a scarf to hold his bicorne on.


Four more figures from Front Rank, there was no need to add anything on these, I could have added a cape for the Guard figure, but didn't want to spoil his uniform.


So there we have it, Napoleon's Sacred Squadron, or 10 Mounted Commanders, if you don't want the Sacred Squadron in a game..

Points are easy, 10 figures at 10 points each, 100 pts, maybe Teemu would like to add some extra for the the cloaked commanders.



Teemu very generously gave me 1 extra bonus point, giving me 101 pts pushing me up into the top 10, in 10th place, for the first and probably only time this Challenge, on 988 points. Only 12 away from my target of 1000.


38 comments:

  1. I'm loving this project Ray, stunning work

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  2. Grand unit, but my they look cold.

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  3. It's the 'living' units that win games, not the 'dead' ones. I've never heard of the Sacred Squadron. By the sounds of it, it was a last ditch bodyguard unit. Keep up the excellent painting. And the French seem a little more difficult to paint than Cossacks.

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    1. It certainly was, the French are definitely a harder paint, I can tell you!

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  4. This is such a good looking unit. Love that it's just a mishmash of different uniforms.

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  5. Mounted they look quite formidable.

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  6. Another cracking looking unit for your project, great work once more, you are racking them up!

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  7. Great work Ray and you can never go wrong with Front Rank figures 👍

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    1. They do make son=me great figures, I do have a few more to paint up as well.

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  8. Great work on this unit, which neatly serves as a reservoir of mounted command! Teemu is clearly a soft touch but well done on almost reaching your target!
    Best Iain

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    1. Yep, nearly there Iain, I'll take anu bonus points I can!!

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  9. A great idea for a unit, and very visually attractive. Lovely work Ray.

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    1. Don't recall seeing anyone else post this unit up before?

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  10. An "essential" addition beautifully executed. Thanks for including the list of those known to have served. I wonder how many footsloggers seeing the unit go by just thought 'there goes lunch'?
    The bicorne tied on with a scarf is a nice touch.
    Stephen

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    1. It must have been horrendous, that march back. Thank gawd for greenstuff, I never used so much of it in a project before?

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  11. "Impressionnant et magnifique mon ami!"...Brilliant job Ray...

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  12. Very cool unit, Ray. I read a little about them before. Quite an outstanding unit.

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    1. I hadn't heard of them before reading about the Retreat.

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  13. Splendid work Ray. The final parade will be amazing.

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  14. Only 12 away sounds good to me.

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  15. Such a tour de fore and pièce de résistance Ray—and you still have 12 points to go. Furthermore, it has that essential element of wargames figures; flexibility!
    That background was really interesting, thanks. I have not read about the escadron sacré in any detail. As Stephen said, thanks for listing the names of some of those involved. Really useful and edifying.
    Regards, James

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    1. It's a crazy unit, not really worth doing unless your doing skirmish.

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  16. An interesting addition there, a unit and optional command figures. Very versatile use of figures.

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