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skirmish on the Spanish coast

I am researching the life of Captain Sir Thomas Staines RN, who was involved in a minor skirmish with the French army on the coast of Catalonia in August 1808. An officer aboard his ship (the frigate Cyane) describes the events of August 14th and 15th, when Staines harassed a French column bound for Barcelona at the little town of Calella some 30 km east of the city. He describes the ship firing at French soldiers who returned artillery fire, and then a French 'colonel of cavalry' making a rude gesture towards the British offshore. According to the RN officer, Staines replied with a couple of warning shots, and then when the colonel did not move, sent a cannonball towards him, which wounded or perhaps even killed him.

Does anyone know the French units that were involved in this fracas, and the identity of the French colonel who was so…

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paulmartinovich

6 hours ago

Thanks for this information Antonio...chasseur Maymat (or Meymat which looks to me like the spelling) seems a possibility. Were there any other French cavalry forces (dragoons or even cuiraissiers) operating on the Catalonian coast in mid-August 1808?

Jonathan North

8 days ago

Voltigeurs of the Guard

Can anyone tell me where the 2nd and 3rd Voltigeurs of the Guard were in 1812? I don't see them in Russia, at least not initially? I am looking for the whereabouts of Cambronne between January 1812 and January 1813, he was colonel of the 3e Voltigeurs de la Garde.

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Ian Brooks

6 days ago

Jonathan,

From a further look at Nafziger's OoBs the 3rd Voltigeurs were still with the Armee du Nord on 1 February 1813 (813BSXC), but do not feature in the return for 1 March (813CSXB).

Ian

Eamonn O'Keeffe

11 days ago

Research on War of 1812 private Shadrack Byfield - "From Amputee to Author"

Private Shadrack Byfield of the 41st Foot was an English War of 1812 veteran who buried his own arm, designed a custom prosthesis, and wrote multiple memoirs. My article about him has recently been published in the Journal of British Studies; it's free to read via the link below.

From Amputee to Author: Shadrack Byfield and the Making of a War of 1812 Veteran

doi.org/10.1017/jbr.2025.10169 The University of Cambridge, where I was working when I wrote the article, has put together a short summary of the research: https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/disabled-redcoat-veterans-lost-autobiography-discovered

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Skip Smoyer

Jan 26

Appreciate that write up. I do like to read how former soldiers made out longafter their service was up.

Jonathan North

15 days ago

Pionniers noirs

I wonder if anyone has ever been able to access this thesis. I would love to see a pdf of it :-)

Raguet, Jean-Christophe, “Du "Pionniers Noirs" au Royal-Africain (1802-1813) : histoire d'une unité noire sous le Consulat et le 1er Empire,” Bibliothèque Universitaire (Besançon - Lettres) - D.90030

https://19m.nakalona.fr/items/show/17402.

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tomholmberg

Jan 22

While many US universities have online portals for ETDs, my experience is that many French universities don't, or if they do many dissertations are restricted.

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