miscellaneous
French Hussars during the combat of
Grunberg
french hussars in 'shako-rouleau'
The 'shako-rouleau' was a cylidrical and stylised shako used by French light cavalry units in the last years
of the Empire and during the Royal Restoration and beyond. The 'shako-rouleau' started to be fashionable during
the Russian campaign and afterwards, in 1813 and 1814 when several French Hussar Regiments wore it in the field alhough in an un-official way.
At this same time, it was an official unit for other cavalry units of the Imperial Guard (such as the
'Eclaireurs' or the Young Guard
squadrons of the Guard Cavalry), a tendency that increased during the 'one hundred days' campaign when at least the
Marbot's 7th Hussar Regiment
is recorded using it.
During 1813, several Hussar Regiments present in Germany (see at this
link) have been recorded using
the 'shako-rouleau' (See
Frederic Burjead page or
The Napoleonic Wargamer)
so I
decided that
Hussar Regiments No. 5, 6, 8 and 9 were the best candidates for this painting project.
UNIFORMS
For the facings I used several coincident sources, such as the
Osprey MAA 76 Napoleon's Hussars book by Bukhari and McBride,
or the marvelous work ofAndré Jouineau, 'Les Hussards Français',
volume 3, from which I have made the following composition showing the 1813 official uniforms
of the Regiments 5, 6, 8 and 9 in 1812 (no shako-rouleau, of course!).
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The above information was combined with the found after the habitual plea in the
Napoleon-Series Forum, that was kindly answered by
Pierre Toussaint, which provided
me with the following picture summarizing all details of the uniform and equipment of the Hussars in the year 1813.
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MINIATURES
From an uniformological point of view, hussars of all nations were virtually exchangaeble, all wearing the characteristic dolman and pelisse.
However, the only 1/72 plastic set with shako-rouleau currently available is the
Strelets 095 'Guides of Napoleon' (really
'Scouts' or Eclaireurs) of the Imperial Guard, which are not in Hussar uniform so they
are not adequate, although their heads could be used in combination with a more standard Hussar set.
I finally decided for the 24F17 French Hussars Charging unit pack of
Newline Designs (profiting from a
25% discount!) that, according to the picture of their site, were
suplted with the shako-rouleau
| UNIT | FIGURES | COLOR SCHEME | PICTURES |
| FRENCH Hussars in 'shako-rouleau' |
NEWLINE DESIGNS 24F17 |
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Links of interest:
Couleurs distinctives des Hussards
Napoleon's Hussars. Emir Bukhari and Angus McBride. Men-at-Arms 76, 1976
The Napoleon-Series-Forum
Project Leipzig
| The full movie: French Hussars in 'shako-rouleau' |