The 8th Division/IIIrd Corps of the French Army in 1813

After searching through orders of battle for the 1813 campaign, I finally settled on Souham's Division of Marshal Ney's IIIrd Corps (although General Souham himself went on to take over command from Ney some time before the Battle of Leipzig). This division fought throughout the campaign, from the Battle of the Katzbach to Leipzig where it was virtually destroyed being caught on the wrong side of the blown bridge crossing the river Elster.

The Division itself consisted of 15 weak battalions, organized into two brigades broken down into provisional regiments of two or three battalions each. Each brigade had an attached artillery battery.

I have decided to go for a 1/20 ratio of miniatures to men. This means that the each battalion on the tabletop will be made up of 24 figures which seemed a reasonable average of the historical numbers involved.

Most were second, third or even fourth battalions, and in 1813 only the first battalions were allowed to carry the famous eagles. However, in this project I will allow myself considerable artistic license (just try and stop me!) which means that at least one battalion in every provisional "regiment" will get promoted to first battalion status and thus be able to carry an eagle!

A list of the regiments involved can be found on the sidebar. Next, I'll call muster on my cavalry contingent.