A KING'S SON IN CAMP

Robert Gray

Sergeant Major
Joined
Jul 24, 2012
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In 1861 there arrived the first great opportunity to study warfare in the field since the campaigns of Napoleon, and these young men of royal blood expected at no distant day to be the leaders of a war of their own to recover the lost Bourbon throne of France. The three distinguished guests of the Army of the Potomac seated at the farther end of the camp dinner-table are, from right to left, the Prince de Joinville, son of King Louis Phillipe, and his two nephews, the Count de Paris and the Duc de Chartres, sons of the Duc d'Orleans. They came to Washington in September, 1861, eager to take some part in the great conflict for the sake of the experience it would give them. President Lincoln welcomed them, bestowed upon each the honorary rank of Captain, and assigned them to the staff of General McClellan. Officially merely guests at headquarters, they acted as aides-de-camp to McClellan, bearing despatches and the like, frequently under fire. They distinguished themselves at the battle of Gaines' Mill. The Prince de Joinville made a painting of that engagement which became widely published.

In the lower picture the Count de Paris and the Duc de Chartres are trying their skill at dominoes after dinner. Captain Leclerc, on the left, and Captain Mohain, on the right, are of their party. A Union officer has taken the place of the Prince de Joinville. It was to perfect their skill in a greater and grimmer game that these young men came to America. At Yorktown they could see the rehabilitated fortifications of Cornwallis, which men of their own blood had helped to seize, now amplified by the latest methods of defensive warfare. Exposed to the fire of the Napoleon field pieces imported by the Confederacy, they could compare their effectiveness with that of the huge rifled Dahlgrens, the invention of an American admiral. General McClellan testified that ever in the thick of things they performed their duties to his entire satisfaction. At the close of the Peninsula Campaign the royal party returned to France, but watched the war with great interest to its close.

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR IN TEN VOLUMES
Frances T. Miller - Editor in Chief - The Review of Reviews Co.
1911
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Always interesting how many adventurous Gentleman thought war was a lark.

I wouldn't generalize too much, though. The British officer corps was suffused with noble aristocrats and they were among the bravest men who ever went into battle. Even in our own time, Prince Harry volunteered to fight the Taliban in some of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan and apparently did a fine job.
 
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In 1861 there arrived the first great opportunity to study warfare in the field since the campaigns of Napoleon
Huh? Do you mean to study it just as observers? For there were French troops in the Crimean War, non?
McClellan himself was an observer in the Crimean War, so I guess the French troops coming here to observe has a certain historical symmetry, doesn't it?
 
View attachment 129963
In 1861 there arrived the first great opportunity to study warfare in the field since the campaigns of Napoleon, and these young men of royal blood expected at no distant day to be the leaders of a war of their own to recover the lost Bourbon throne of France. The three distinguished guests of the Army of the Potomac seated at the farther end of the camp dinner-table are, from right to left, the Prince de Joinville, son of King Louis Phillipe, and his two nephews, the Count de Paris and the Duc de Chartres, sons of the Duc d'Orleans. They came to Washington in September, 1861, eager to take some part in the great conflict for the sake of the experience it would give them. President Lincoln welcomed them, bestowed upon each the honorary rank of Captain, and assigned them to the staff of General McClellan. Officially merely guests at headquarters, they acted as aides-de-camp to McClellan, bearing despatches and the like, frequently under fire. They distinguished themselves at the battle of Gaines' Mill. The Prince de Joinville made a painting of that engagement which became widely published.

In the lower picture the Count de Paris and the Duc de Chartres are trying their skill at dominoes after dinner. Captain Leclerc, on the left, and Captain Mohain, on the right, are of their party. A Union officer has taken the place of the Prince de Joinville. It was to perfect their skill in a greater and grimmer game that these young men came to America. At Yorktown they could see the rehabilitated fortifications of Cornwallis, which men of their own blood had helped to seize, now amplified by the latest methods of defensive warfare. Exposed to the fire of the Napoleon field pieces imported by the Confederacy, they could compare their effectiveness with that of the huge rifled Dahlgrens, the invention of an American admiral. General McClellan testified that ever in the thick of things they performed their duties to his entire satisfaction. At the close of the Peninsula Campaign the royal party returned to France, but watched the war with great interest to its close.

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR IN TEN VOLUMES
Frances T. Miller - Editor in Chief - The Review of Reviews Co.
1911
View attachment 129964
Great pictures, and a little slice of history I'd never heard about. Thank you for sharing!
 
I wouldn't generalize too much, though. The British officer corps was suffused with noble aristocrats and they were among the bravest men who ever went into battle. Even in our own time, Prince Harry volunteered to fight the Taliban in some of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan and apparently did a fine job.


Yes, I've known a few people in the British military. You could never get anyone to talk about their experiences bu if you were lucky might catch them swapping shop talk. It was always just hair raising.

Remember the Iranian Embassy, London, late 70's? Lived in the UK at the time. We were watching something on BBC, all of a sudden the program vanished to be replaced by images, no sound or text, of men in black swarming up walls and perched outside upper story windows- you saw a shake of the camera, something tossed in the window, copious smoke and the military guys vanished too, into windows. More smoke later, other individuals came out those windows and not on their feet. It was so swift you couldn't keep up with the action. Hostage situation? No problem, call those guys.
 
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