Snooty Nansouty

Étienne-Marie-Antoine Champion, comte de Nansouty and darling of the French heavy cavalry, seems to be a popular chap with Napoleonic military history buffs, if his Wikipedia entry is anything to go by. Even this extraordinary hagiography, however, makes it plain that he wasn't everyone's cup of tea.

The scion of minor Burgundian nobility, Nansouty was an outstanding cavalry commander with a particular knack for training his beloved cuirassiers, a superb eye for ground and an acute sense of timing. Almost uniquely amongst Napoleon's senior commanders, he also appears to have been honest - not for him the amassing of a vast ill-gotten fortune, or so it seems. What made him really insufferable as far as his fellow generals were concerned, however, was his absolute refusal to accept any kind of advice or criticism. In 1809 even the Emperor got a bit of a serve when Nansouty famously responded to criticism after the Battle of Wagram by saying: "It is not Your Majesty, at any rate, who can teach me how to handle cavalry." It was arrogance and withering sarcasm such as this which was probably responsible for his sudden departure from the army during the Campagne de France in 1814, although whether he resigned in a huff or was dismissed is not entirely clear.

One senses he was never really a Bonapartist and that he looked down a bit on his upstart Emperor and his rogues gallery of marshals. He was certainly near the front of the queue when it came to swearing allegiance to Louis XVIII. Whether he would have rallied to Napoleon during the 100 days, however, will never been known because he died in early 1815. The strain of ten years of ceaseless campaigning, during which he had been wounded on numerous occasions, had finally caught up with him.

Nansouty is reproduced here in the form of a really lovely vintage example of a Hinton Hunt FN 361: General Nansouty in Cuirassier General's uniform with cocked hat, painted faithfully according to Marcus Hinton's painting instructions. He looked a bit daunting at first, but in the end came together really nicely I think.

More cuirassiers, or at least a progress report about them, will be posted next week. I'm making good progress on these, having been greatly inspired by a battle I've been fighting via email with David C. David has produced the most extraordinary vintage spectacle, so if you haven't seen it yet hurry over to David's blog at http://miniatureminions.blogspot.com/ and have a butcher's. Things are really starting to heat up....

Yours

WM