French Foreign Legion 1872–1914

by Windrow, Martin; Chappell, Mike

• ISBN13: 9781849083263
• ISBN10: 1849083266
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-07-20
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Summary

This volume covers the classic 'Beau Geste' period, of the French Foreign Legion when the corps was expanded during the most dynamic years of French imperial expansion. Legion battalions fought in the deserts and mountains of southern Algeria and Morocco, as well as in the jungles of North Vietnam, West Africa and Madagascar. Their varied uniforms and equipments for each period and theatre are illustrated and examined. Written by a leading expert on the French Foreign Legion, this is a colourful introduction to the period when the Legion forged their legendary fighting reputation.

Author Biography

Martin Windrow was born in 1944 and educated at Wellington College. Since the 1970s he has worked in book publishing as a commissioning and art editor specializing in military and aviation history. He is a series editor at Osprey and an authority on the French Foreign Legion. He is the author of the highly successful Men-at-Arms 300: French Foreign Legion since 1945 and Men-at-Arms 322: The French War in Indochina 1946-54. He is an Associate of the Royal Historical Society and of the Foreign Legion Association of Great Britain. In 2004 his major study The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam was published to critical acclaim in Britain and the USA.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
Reorganization of French land forces 1872-75: Metropolitan Army, Naval Troops and Africa Army - 'organic' regiments and 'marching' units
The Legion's place in the reorganized Army
Chronology	p. 5
Campaigns
Algeria	p. 7
The Bou Amama rebellion and its aftermath, 1881-82
Vietnam	p. 10
Initial conquest of Tonkin, 1883-85 - Formosa - pacification and garrison of Tonkin after 1885
West Africa	p. 18
Dahomey, 1892 - French West Africa, 1892-93 and 1894-95
Madagascar	p. 20
Invasion, 1895 - pacification and garrison, 1896-1905
The Sud-Oranais	p. 23
The Algerian/Moroccan border, 1900-03 - Lyautey's frontier campaign, 1904-07
Morocco	p. 35
Western Morocco: Casablanca landings and Chaouia campaign, 1907-08
Eastern Morocco: Djebel Beni Snassen, Oued Guir and Oued Moulouya fronts, 1908-11
Occupation of Fes and its aftermath, 1911
The Protectorate, 1912-14
Select Bibliography	p. 40
Plates Commentaries	p. 41
Uniforms, insignia and equipment, 1880s-1914
Index	p. 48
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.