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French Line Infantry
1812-1815
The last change in uniform of the French line occured at Napoleon's order in 1812.  Napoleon wished to create a more comfortable, cheaper, and more attractive uniform.  The result was the elimination of the old lapelled jacket in favor of a new habit-veste with short turnbacks.  The lapels of the habit-veste extended to the waist, creating a tight-fitting jacket that more closely resembled that of other nations of the time.  The turnbacks were shortened at the same time.

The new regulations took some time to implement.  Probably very few of the soldiers Napoleon led into Russia (and the even fewer he led out of Russia) wore the new habit-veste.  By 1813 the changeover was nearly complete.  French soldiers in Germany in 1813, France in 1814, and Spain in 1813-1814 would have almost all been wearing the new jacket.  By Waterloo it was universal.

There are four fusiliers sets and one elite company set available for the period 1812-1815.

The Airfix fusiliers set is more correctly uniformed with short turnbacks and the 1812 model habit-veste, but the figures are so squat, so thickly modeled, and their accoutrements so exaggerated, that they look more like toys than serious scale models.  They share the same drawback as the Italeri and Esci soldiers in that they all wear crossbelts.  This was by now so rare in fusilier companies as to make the Airfix figures nearly useless.

A Call to Arms has released a set of eight poses: four scaled down from their excellent 54mm set and 4 that are new to me.  Look for painted examples very soon.

HaT Industries  French Young Guard wear greatcoats covering their jacket, and so can be used for fusiliers of this period without any qualms.  See 1806-1811    First Empire for painted examples.

HaT has just released a set of French fusiliers.  Now this must warm the blood of any HO scale modeler!  The fusiliers were the most common type of infantryman, but they had not been available from any manufacturer in appropriate uniforms and equipment.  HaT Industries' set depicts the fusiliers in campaign dress, with long trousers and shako covers.  They are perfectly correct, and the best and most historically accurate set of French fusiliers in this scale.

HaT has also released a set of light infantry for 1812-1815, and the uniforms are identical to elite company infantry of the line.  The HaT figures have fringed epaulettes, distinctive shako chevrons,  and short shako plumes.  They wear the long trousers common on campaign, but have left their shakos uncovered.

 HaT Industries is by now the leader in model soldier lines.  They have a wider line than anyone else, their quality is consistently excellent, the figures are meticulously historical, and the sculpting, which had been sketchy when the company first started, has now surpassed the Revell line.

Airfix
French Infantry
Here are some Airfix figures.  The shakos, hands, and weapons are definitely oversized, making them resemble their metal cousins.  I model in plastic because I prefer my scale soldiers to be in scale, not cartoonish like so many metal miniatures.  Unfortunately, these were for a long time the only plastic French infantry in anything resembling historical uniform.
These are the HaT French Fusiliers in all their glory.  They have the right combination of habit-veste and short turnbacks, with only one white belt to support the cartridge box  They also carry a canteen, which all other manufacturers have failed to include, but which the soldiers on campaign could not afford to neglect!  They wear the long trousers and shako covers common in the field.  The first eight scans are four figures painted as French infantry.  The next eight are painted as Swiss.
HaT Light Infantry painted as line elite companies.  The men with red distinctions are grenadiers, those with yellow/green voltiguers.  This is a very nice set that will prove incredibly useful to wargamers and modelers.
Here is roughly the same pose from each set, scanned at the same magnification to show the difference between all six sets.  The Italeri figure, at top left, is well proportioned, although he is pretty scrawny and short for a seasoned soldier - the perfect conscript.  The Esci figure, in the top middle, looks older and taller - a seasoned soldier.  The Airfix figure, at top right, looks like a troll when compared with the same pose from the other sets.  The Hat fusilier at bottom left is well proportioned, although in a somewhat clumsy pose.  The HaT voltiguer at bottom center is quite nearly a perfect figure.  The HaT Young Guard fusilier at bottom right is  a bit wooden.
Sources:

Haythornthwaite, Philip and Bryan Fosten.  Men at Arms Series 141: Napoleon's Line Infantry.   London; Osprey Publishing, Ltd., 1983.

Haythornthwaite, Philip and Michael Chappell.  Uniforms of the Peninsular Wars: 1807-1814.   Hong Kong; Arms and Armour Press, 1995.

Haythornthwaite, Philip and Michael Chappell.  Uniforms of Napoleon's Russian Campaign.   Hong Kong; Arms and Armour Press, 1995.

Haythornthwaite, Philip, Jack Cassin-Scott and Michael Chappell.  Uniforms of Waterloo.   Hong Kong; Arms and Armour Press, 1996.


Last updated on 23 April, 2002
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