The Archduke guessed who he was going to be. He is Pierre Jacques Étienne Cambronne. At Waterloo he was a maréchal de camp (an archaic title for General de Brigade) in command of the first regiment of the Chasseurs à pied of the Imperial Guard.
In 1815, at the age of 45, Cambronne was a veteran of 23 years, having served in the campaigns of Jena, Spain, Russia and1813 and 1814. Starting as a humble grenadier, he rose steadily through the ranks of the Imperial Guard. In 1814 he commanded the battalion of guardsmen that accompanied Napoleon to exile and was rewarded with the title of Viscount when Napoleon returned to power.The Emperor's offer of promotion to General de Division, however, was refused by the typically self-effacing Cambronne. It was thus with a relatively modest colonel's command (which, as a guardsmen, required him to have general's rank) that Cambronne fought at Waterloo.
Cambronne entered into legend when it was said that he heroically refused to surrender his regiment after it was surrounded at the end of the battle. His legendary reply when summoned to lay down his arms was: "the Guard dies but does not surrender!" Some sources say that it was altogether briefer and more direct.
The exact circumstances, however, are disputed, as Cambronne didn't die and did surrender! Anglo-German accounts insist that he was captured by Sir Hugh Halkett, the commander of the 3rd Hanoverian Brigade. Halkett claimed that he seized the wounded Cambronne by one of his epaulettes and physically dragged back behind British lines.
The figure is Hinton Hunt FN 367: General Cambronne, in general's uniform and cocked hat on foot, with drawn sword and waving arm. He was, until very recently, the only French personality figure I was missing. Hans, however, has very kindly donated him so that I could complete the set.
Marcus Hinton evidently preferred the legendary version of Cambronne and depicted him much as he appeared in the famous print by Hippolyte Bellange. In Bellange's work, Cambronne is grasping the tricolour, surrounded by his defiant guardsmen. My attempt to re-stage this stirring scene is in the last shot.
WM
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| Cambronne at Waterloo, after Bellange. |
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| Cambronne at Waterloo, after Marcus Hinton. |
WOnderful! Absolutely wonderful. And these are 20mm you say? I wouldn't know it. Smashing brushwork.
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
Cheer's Stokes. Cambronne is a very nicely modelled figure, and those DK guardsmen are some of the Duke's finest.
DeleteIt took me quite a while to work out what Cambronne was supposed to be doing, however. It's a very odd pose! It makes one wonder whether he was captured because he wasn't looking where he was going...
Lovely figure - I didn't know HH did a range of personality figures that encompassed more than the 'obvious' commanders - that's my excuse for guessing wrong and i'm sticking to it... :o)
ReplyDeleteJust one question why did you paint the feathers lining his bicorne black? I've seen both (B&W) in pictures and on figures but don't which is 'correct'?
One of Marcus Hinton's main criteria for selecting personality figures seems to have been fancy uniforms! Many of them are quite obscure, but got on to the list by virtue of their magnificent "colonel-general's" outfits.
DeleteI've got Cambronne decked out in as near as I can to a Brigade General's uniform, so black feathers would appear to be correct. That's why he's also got blue threads woven through his golden general's sash.
Yet again, I am astonished at the life you breathe into these tiny figures. Mr von Boffke has a point. The uninitiated would struggle to believe these are 20mms. There is a house in Papelotte. It's not called the Rising Sun, but "le mot de Cambronne". Apparently, he was taken while consulting his copy of "reglements de guerre" to see whether what he was about to say could be published on the web..........
ReplyDeleteCambronne had every reason to be annoyed, by all accounts. It was Halkett who did all the wounding, sabering him about the head while he lay pinned under his horse. He somehow wriggled free and made a dash for it, but Halkett then added insult to injury by grabbing him by the epaulette! I think anyone would have said a few choice words under those circumstances!
DeleteAbsolutely lovely Matt. It shows what Marcus Hinton could do when he was motivated. Perhaps , if he had spent less time cutting a dash in a weskitt , made more wargaming figures and produced figures without flash at accessible prices , he would have had a successful business!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Roy. Cambronne, I'm glad to say, was an absolutely flawless casting and a pleasure to paint. I've got some others in my lead pile, on the other hand......
DeleteTo be fair to old Marcus, it was quite a large range! Still, I agree, a few more drummers, etc., would've been handy.
Great brushwork as always, very nice personality figure. Also enjoying the erudite comments re Cambronne's salutation at the conclusion of Waterloo. Personally I'm hanging on to the legend of him using the 'M' word when called on to surrender, it sort of fits in with the old school wargaming ethos.
ReplyDeleteYou are undoubtedly correct, Dave! Don, Charles and Peter were all grizzled WW2 veterans, who will have seen and heard a thing or two, although one wouldn't know it from their beautifully crafted, gentlemanly prose.
DeleteDipping a tentative toe into Napoleonic history now and then is all part of the fun! Best of all is when I think I've found the image Marcus must have used as his inspiration!
It is quite a strange pose and the catalogue says he is "waving" his arm however I think your explanation seems more likely. Nice addition to your forces and well done for getting the whole set which is a feat I haven't managed to achieve myself.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly quite striking how similar he is to the Bellange depiction, so there may be something in it. As for collecting them, I've haven't done nearly so well with the non-French personalities. I also need to scrape up some commanders for my Bavarians somehow......More conversions, necessary, I think!
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