Franz Joseph Hausmann.
This undated portrait shows Franz in uniform as a first lieutenant, with two bars on his collar, and wearing his cross of the Legion of Honour.
[Cynthia Joy Hausmann]

Johann Wilhelm Hausmann (1759-1841). A veteran sergeant, Wilhelm expected his son to provide detailed accounts of the 7th Infantry’s marches and combats.
[Cynthia Joy Hausmann]

Theresia Hausmann, née Nüllen, (1769-1831). Wilhelm’s wife, she made the 53-day march from Essen to Bavaria with her husband and the young Franz in 1799.
[Cynthia Joy Hausmann]

Bavarian Infantry 1806-14. The first lieutenant at left wears the blue and silver sash and the double-breasted uniform coat with the regimental colour shown on the lapels (pink for the 7th Infantry). The second lieutenant on the right shows the officer’s gorget introduced to replace the sash in 1812. At the far right is a Schütze (light infantryman) with his distinguishing green plume and tassels. [Anne S. K. Brown Collection, Brown University]

First lieutenant, 7th Line Infantry, 1805. Franz would have looked much like this officer, but with only one bar on his collar, on his promotion to second lieutenant in 1805. [Anne S. K. Brown Collection, Brown University]

Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria. [John H. Gill]

Bavarian Infantry on the march 1813-14. [John H. Gill]

Field Marshal Carl Philipp Prince von Wrede (1767-1838). Though a difficult subordinate, Wrede was a tough disciplinarian and a good battlefield commander. [John K Gill]

General of the Infantry Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy (1743-1812). A solid, competent professional, Deroy was much loved by his men. [Anne S. K. Brown Collection, Brown University]

Marshal Laurent Gouvion Saint Cyr (1764-1830). A cold man but an officer with superior tactical and operational skills, St Cyr commanded the Bavarian VI Corps in 1812. [John H. Gill]

French troops on the march in Russia, August 1812. This eyewitness sketch by Bavarian war artist Albrecht Adam depicts the confusion that was evident even early in the campaign as the French and their allies swarmed across the landscape in search of the principal Russian armies. Note the improvised vehicles and the rather small and underfed horses. [John H. Gill]

Franz’s letter of 9 July 1812, showing the hutment Franz and his colleagues inhabited, ‘Our quarters consist of a central building roughly in the shape I have shown in the [left] margin...’
[Cynthia Joy Hausmann]

Marshal Nicholas Charles Oudinot, Duke of Reggio (1767-1847). A tough warhorse who eventually accumulated over 20 wounds, Oudinot initially led the combined II and VI Corps at Polotsk, but was badly wounded on 17 August and had to hand over command to St Cyr. Although competent enough under Napoleon’s supervision, he proved inadequate when given independent command. [John K Gill]

General Ludwig Adolf Peter von Wittgenstein (1769-1843). Son of a Prussian general, Wittgenstein took service under the Tsar and participated in the 1805 campaign in Austria. As commander of the Russian forces around Polotsk, he fought against the Bavarians in 1812, but found himself campaigning with them against Napoleon in France two years later. He was made a field marshal in 1825. [John H. Gill]

Provisional Notification of Membership in the Legion of Honour for Franz Joseph Hausmann, issued in Moscow, 25 September 1812. Signed by Marshal Alexandre Berthier, Napoleon’s chief of staff. [Cynthia Joy Hausmann]

Bavarian infantry attack Russian grenadiers at Polotsk in this sketch by Franz Adam, son of the renowned Albrecht Adam, who accompanied the Viceroy of Italy, Eugène de Beauharnais, on the Russian Campaign. [Anne S. K. Brown Collection, Brown University]

The fortress of Thorn in 1813 showing the Russo-Prussian approach trenches (saps and parallels on the Beckerberg and Eichelberg), the weak Bavarian bridgehead on the south (left) bank of the Vistula (spelt Weichsel here), the fortified island between Thorn and the bridgehead, and Schloss Dybów (Dibow) on the south bank where Captain Savary and his sturdy Franco-Bavarian garrison held out against superior numbers.
[Bavarian Army Museum, Ingolstadt]

The Battle of Bar-sur-Aube. The Bavarian 10th Infantry Regiment storms into Bar late on the afternoon of 27 February 1814. General Wrede wrote to King Max, Tt is only thanks to the outstanding courage of the 10th Line Infantry Regiment that we captured the city.’ The Bavarians, including Franz and the 7th Infantry, were involved in similar brutal street fighting at Torcy-le-Grand during the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube several weeks later (20 March).
[John H. Gill]

Battle of La Rothière. Wrede gives orders as a Bavarian infantry column advances on the snowy afternoon of 1 February 1814. The village visible beyond Wrede is probably Chaumesnil. The capture of this village by the 7th Line and the Austrian 1st Szßkler Infantry weakened Napoleon’s left flank and made a key contribution to the Allied success.
[Bavarian Army Museum, Ingolstadt]

Franz Joseph Hausmann as a civil official. Though he had left the army several years before this portrait was painted, Franz’s memories of his military service remained vivid and he proudly displayed the red ribbon and white cross of his Legion of Honour.
[Cynthia Joy Hausmann]

Antonia Hausmann, née Adolay, (1817-92). Franz’s second wife and mother of Julius Hausmann; she and Franz were married in 1837. There is no known portrait of Franz’s first wife, Otto’s mother, Catharina Hausmann, née Chandon, (1793-1834).
[Cynthia Joy Hausmann]