History and Art: Berezina 1812. A Tribute to the 126th RI - Carnet de la Sabretache

The only unit of the current French Army to bear the battle honour "La Bérézina 1812" on its colours, the 126th Infantry Regiment celebrated the 210th anniversary of the event on 25 November 2022, beneath the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile. This volume recounts its role during the crossing of the Berezina, in the course of which the 126th Line Regiment sacrificed itself to hold its position against a vastly superior enemy, allowing the retreating Grande Armée to cross the river while winning a tactical victory over the adversary.

This feat of arms gave rise to the execution of a commemorative painting in 1889, preserved in the regiment's hall of honour. The complete and previously unpublished analysis of this retrospective pictorial tribute forms the centrepiece of this volume: it reveals how this work celebrates the courage, devotion, resilience and sacrifice of the grognards of 1812 — values embodied by the artist under the Third Republic and bequeathed as a legacy to the Bisons of today.

The author: Aude NICOLAS holds a Habilitation to Supervise Research (HDR) in art history, is a graduate of the École du Louvre, and specialises in 19th-century art history as well as military heritage and archaeology. Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres, author of numerous articles and works on the representation of the soldier and of warfare by artists, she is a laureate of the Prix des Cadets des Écoles de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan 2019 for her book Le Général Lasalle, 1775-1809. L'héritage d'une légende.