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Originally Posted by Norman McCormick
Hi All,
Have found this info about Pandours thought it may be of interest.
Pandours, a widely used name for Balkan irregulars, originated in troops raised in 16th Century Dalmatia under Venetian rule, who in 1748 were organized into a police unit to guard the border with Turkish Herzegovina. The French retained this force and its organization when Dalmatia was acquired in 1805. The Pandours were initially deployed in suppressing pro-Russian rebellions and engaging the Tsar's troops in 1806 before serving as the escort to Marshal Marmont's baggage during the 1809 war and later joining the forces of the Illyrian Provinces. This information was derived from ' Napoleon's Balkan Troops ' by Vladimir Brnardic.
Regards,
Norman.
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Thank you Norman, this is really great additional information. I think this is probably one of the most esoteric theaters of the Napoleonic period, and certainly one with the least published material on it (in English at least).
I know that I had a British M1796 light cavalry sabre with curious markings on it (CsA) and for years tried to discover what they meant. Eventually, thanks to Richard Dellar, I found that these were to a regiment at Castel San Angelo in c.1804 most likely.
The pandours greatly influenced the use of auxiliary units along with standing army and line regiments, which were later widely used by French, and German armies influenced by these Austrian forces. It is known that von Trenck's units greatly favored the yataghan, and this of course influenced the weapons chosen in French, and apparantly Italian officers of these units.
The only reference I have seen that illustrated weapons close to this Italian made yataghan and the French one I mentioned, is "Les Armes Traditionelles de l'Europe Centrale" by Iaroslav Lebedynsky, showing some of these, with at least one example being a combination weapon.
I think the Ashoka weapon is an important example, and it would be great to see if other such examples are out there. There is the one that Rsword came up with in 2001 as well.
All best regards,
Jim