CONTRIBUTIONS Irunberry Bessieres Last Day
MARÉCHAL BESSIÈRES’ LAST RECONNAISSANCE PATROL – MAY 1st, 1813
MARÉCHAL BESSIÈRES’ LAST RECONNAISSANCE PATROL – MAY 1st, 1813
By Irunberry Salaberry
Somewhere near Rippach (Saxony), Maréchal Bessières leads a reconnaissance party of Lithuanian Tartars attached to the Polish Lancers of the Guard. Along with him are two of his ADCs, captain de Baudus (with the Polish shapka) and captain Jordan (with the red shako). A lesser known character depicted here is Mirza, Bessières’ own Mameluke who was his servant/bodyguard since Egypt.
A few hours later, Bessières would be struck down his horse by a Prussian canon ball, killed instantly.
He was the second of Napoleon’s maréchaux to die during battle.
The diorama:
This one took only a few months to put together. I was really attracted by this little known outfit (the Lithuanina Tartars) from Franznap Miniatures.
I was also attracted by the idea of modifying a figure (Italeri) to make my own Bessières.The mameluke figure is also a Frankenstein of various Italeri bits.
