I find myself fascinated, for some strange reason, by the French infantry units destroyed or captured at Blenheim in 1704. Perhaps it's the underdog thing. So here we have the flags of the first of these units, reborn here and so providing wargamers with the chance to give them a more glorious and long-lived service. Vive la France! Vive Chabrillant! :-)
Raised 5th January 1702 by N. de Moreton, Marquis de Chabrillant.
1702 Army of the Rhine
1704 Army of Bavaria; battle of Blenheim, where it was destroyed and the colonel killed
Of the flag design, Hall says: "The Maltese cross design was probably based on the colonel being a Knight of Malta according to Père Daniel, “Histoire de la Milice Française”, Livre XI p.429 (Y. Roumegoux)".
At Blenheim Chabrillant was one battalion strong and brigaded with Auxerrois (which I have already depicted here: https://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/2024/07/flags-of-french-regiments-disbanded.html). It was one of the nine regiments of French foot crushed by the Allied attack on the Franco-Bavarian centre late in the battle. At the end of the battle Chabrillant had only 91 men, 17 NCOs and 4 officers left.
The uniform in 1704 was probably like this:
That is a really nice flag david, red and white are a good colour mix.
ReplyDeleteWillz.
Thank you, Willz. Yes, I agree; and simpler does not mean less interesting either! :-)
DeleteAll the best,
David.
Nice and simple, with the mix of the crosses giving a very distinctive and aesthetic design.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Steve. Simpler is often better, I feel, with a much less cluttered feel - and at the size they appear on the wargames table they often stand out so much more clearly! :-)
DeleteAll the best,
David.
Another striking set of flags, David! And the red pantaloons/breeches are a nice touch too.
ReplyDeleteKind Sunday Regards,
Stokes
Thank you, Stokes. The unity the central cross gives these French flags, combined with the almost infinite variety of the corner designs, is so very pleasing, I feel. :-)
DeleteAll the best,
David.
Nice flag, the Maltese cross design looks really good. Nice idea as well giving these forgotten regiments a chance to live again!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Donnie. :-) I do feel it would be so good to give these regiments a second chance on the wargames table. They did not run, either, but were wiped out where they stood, so pretty heroic, really.
DeleteAll the best,
David.
Oh Yes!!! Another fab flag, not seen this one ever, either?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ray. :-) There are many of the older French flags that deserve to be seen again, on the wargames table!
DeleteAll the best,
David.