Grenadier Burg

Unknown

GRENADIER BURG

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UNKNOWN

Genre Portrait

Location Paris, France

Format Glass plate

“This poignant image of an aged soldier is part of collection of fifteen portraits of the last survivors of the French Grande Armée from the Napoleonic Wars of 1803-15. The veterans had gathered in Paris fir the annual reunion on 5 May, 1858, to celebrate the anniversary of the death of the Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte, and must have all been in their sixties and seventies at the time. The Times of London described the atmosphere of the parade thus: ‘The base and railings of the column of the Palace Vendôme appears this day decked out with the annual offerings to the memory of the man whose statue adorns the summit. The display of garlands of immortelles, and the tribute of the kind, is grater than usual . . . the old soldiers of the Empire performed their usual homage yesterday at the same place.’

The soldier pictured here is Grenadier Burg, resplendent in his full dress uniform and bearskin hat, probably wearing the Saint Helena medal that was awarded in 1857 to all veterans of the wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire.

Grenadines were the elite infantry of the French Army, selected for being the tallest and most physically powerful soldiers.”(PL)

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