Swiss Regiments in the Service of France 1798-1815: Uniforms, Organization, Campaigns

A study of the uniforms and organisation of the numerous Swiss units that served in the armies of Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. This is the first full-length detailed study of the uniforms, organisation, personnel and campaigns of the Swiss units that served in the armies of France from the campaigns of 1798 in Switzerland until the Hundred Days of 1815. The author covers not just the regulation uniforms but also the numerous variations recorded in contemporary documents and plates. Estimates of the number of Swiss who served in the French Army from 1798-1815 vary from fifty to ninety thousand
numbers that makes the Swiss the largest non-French nationality in the Imperial Armies. There have been many studies of these units published in France and Switzerland but this is the first full-length study to be published in England. AUTHOR: The Author was first introduced to the glory of Napoleonic Uniforms when he was given the first Funcken First Empire volume for Christmas in 1968. The first introduction was amplified when he discovered the Willie Figures of Ted Suren. This initial interest was has never faded and he has been particularly fascinated by the French, Italian and Austrian armies of the era ever since. Over the years he has written numerous articles on the subject in ‘Empires, Eagles and Lions’, ‘Napoleon’, and ‘First Empire’ as well as various wargame magazines. He continues to collect items of Napoleonic ephemera to clutter the house in London where he lives with his partner Mary as guests of the cats who allow them to share it. 8 colour plates, 60 b/w illustrations