Crikey !! I bet you do !!

SOON ! Boxart / Kirill Kanaev/

Seriously exciting !!!

Guys,
I have a question about a marking on Napoleon horses.
According to some sources, all horses were marked with an N and an imperial crown. You can see in on Le Vizir in Musée de l'Armée.


However, I never saw it on any painting.
Do you think that we should add it ?
Thanks.
Alex

I will add it on mine. I just looked this up. I believe this horse was Vizir who went to Elba with Bonaparte .

I am of a more cynical nature ... I think it more likely that the mark was probably applied by some unscrupulous
bod trying to make a bob or two by selling the corpse of an old horse as that belonging to the Emperor. Ultimately,
when said nag fell into the hands of the Museum the attribution was conveniently confirmed. I just can't imagine
so many artists who have made the Grande Armee their life's work, missing a trick like an Imperial horse brand.
But what do I know ?

Mike

very controversial question... i recently bought a book about the horse of Napoleon and there isn't any portrait ( of the horse) with the mark

Alex, dare I say you've started a hare running here. Been doing a bit of research and have
uncovered the following. I'd better add that there were only two sources involved so it's in
no way conclusive.

Marengo is the most famous of Napoleon’s 52 horses. Named for his success at the Battle of
that name in 1800. The stallion is thought to be the horse portrayed in Jacques-Louis David’s
famous painting of Napoleon Crossing the Alps.There were however five versions of this portrait
made by the artist between 1801 and 1805, showing a strongly idealized view of Napoleon's passage
through the the Great St. Bernard Pass in May 1800, which feature alternative coloured horses.
Marengo is known to have carried the Emperor at the Battles of Austerlitz, Jena-Auerstedt,
Wagram, and Waterloo, where it was captured by William Henry Francis Petre. During it's life
in England, Marengo was shown at many public events, and the stallion's battle scars along with
the bullet that remained in it's tail, and the Imperial crown and letter N that were branded on it's
hind quarters, are a matter of record. Hmmm....?

Mike

That box art looks superb so far. This is going to be a stunner.

Neal

Been like a dog with a bone over this horse brand thing...and have uncovered more. Again this is
not conclusive - it does not put the hot branding iron in the hands of one of the Emperor's staff but
... well, let's say it's perhaps indicative.

Back in the '70's one Col.H.C.B Rogers (Hugh Cuthbert Basset Rogers) produced a rather decent book
about Napoleon's Army. It deals mainly with organisation, structure, tactics and other possibly boring
stuff, but quite early on spends some time talking about horses. Amongst a lot of stuff about preferred
height, colour, so forth, he emphasises the huge losses of the animals in battle - sometimes up to 40%.
This meant that surviving enemy horses were pressed into French service as replacements. He also
cites a story about General Marbot who had to relieve one of his ADC's of his horse to replace his own
which had been killed. The animal bore the regimental brand of stag's antlers on it's left leg, he says,
and branding of horses to show regimental ownership was very necessary.

As I said, this is not conclusive but .......

Mike

The only picture of branded horse that I found

That lithograph appears to show an Arabian of which Napoleon tended to favor I believe.

From Wikapedia "The Vizier was a small Arabian stallion of 1.35 m at the withers, with a light gray coat and a slightly trouted starling. Gift of the Sultan of Turkey to Napoleon I, the Emperor mounted it from 1805 and took it during his exile to St. Helena 1 . The Vizier still bears the mark of the Imperial Stables, an N crowned on the left posterior thigh. He died in France in 1826 , then was preserved by the English before being stuffed and exposed March 7, 1904 to the Army Museum , which kept it in his granaries. After a complete restoration of one month in June 2016, he found his place of origin in a new showcase within the modern department (De Louis XIV to Napoleon III ) 3 ."

It would seem certain that standard issue regimental horses in 'La Grande Armee' were branded by each regimental
farrier - if only to prevent them from being pinched by someone else to replace casualties. Whether the Emperor's
personal animals were marked in the same way must remain a matter of opinion. For what it's worth, I now think
that they were, especially by the 1812 attack on Russia - when the incident featured in Volodya's latest work occurred.

Here is what I found in Napoleon et ses hommes (Napoleon and his men) written by Pierre Branda.

"À partir de 1807, toutes les montures des écuries impériales furent marquées au fer sur la cuisse d'un double N couronné."

My translation: Starting from 1807, all horses from the imperial stables were branded with hot iron on their thigh with an N topped with a crown.

So now we know .... brilliant.. well done Alex !

Thank you, Mike.
I think that everyone should decide for himself.
Below is a painting of Le Vizip by Pierre Martinet and a drawing of the same horse by an anonymous artist.

Mine has just arrived. Amazing.

Thank you Vladimir.

Excellent idea and final art, superb, I love it.

Military miniatures painted by Eduardo Garcia

The Emperor and his startled chum arrived here safely this morning. It's totally stunning - I've not seen
a 90mm figure of this quality since those heady days of Poste Militaire. Thanks Volodya... superb !

PS
Do you want your lunch box back ?

Mike

Thank you Mike ! I'm really glad you liked it ! I hope that contents of these lanch boxes will be to you tasty ( I hope this box is useful to you,too)