Bastille Day Parade

I decided to have my own Bastille Day Parade, Garden Wars style.

Line Infantry passes in review in front of Bonaparte and the Imperial Guard

I laid out my large buildings as terrain along with all the road sections that I have for the 25/28 mm scale.

I then set out the 'dais' of Bonaparte with his Imperial Guard to review the painted French troops marching past.

Heavy Cavalry of Cuirassier and Dragoons leads the column in review

The whole parade route in one photo.

From end to end it measured 4 yards or about 12 feet (the road is curved, and the troops are 'spaced' from each other, not packed tight.  Nor was the Imperial Guard in the marching column.  The troops were laid out in fighting lines or battle formations, with the artillery being pulled as a battery line abreast.

I estimate that were these troops to be laid out in proper march columns it would take another 8 yards to have them all marching along a single route.

In total I have some 405 French forces (some were not laid out as I have many more greatcoats - good for anybody really) and perhaps a dozen or so infantry that were not in the SHAKO formations (as I made by groups all 16 in number originally).

The Imperial Guard formed quite a sight with the long marching column going past.

Napoleon, the Marshals and Imperial Guard were the reviewing dais

Six years along now in this deeper Napoleonic experience and one miniature made me smile, as he appears in the very first posting in this blog.

A hot day again on the parade route, many years on and this Dragoon officer is still leading columns in my collection

Felicitation de La Fête Nationale!