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The battery of fearless men A young officer, of questionable popularity, established his military reputation at the siege of Toulon (1793). Background French royalist counter-revolutionaries had handed the major French naval base of Toulon, together with its arsenal, to an Anglo-Spanish fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Lord Hood* and Admiral Juan de Lángara in August 1793. The British fleet also seized more than 70 French ships, almost half the French Navy. Both the strategic importance of the naval base and the prestige of the Revolution demanded that the French recapture Toulon. Although a series of French generals were nominally in command of the siege operation, the man responsible for its success was a little known artillery officer. When that officer was eventually given command, the Republicans first seized the outer forts overlooking the port, before preparing for the main attack on a fort ('Little Gibraltar') that dominated Toulon’s two harbours, followed by a general assault that took the town. Batterie des hommes sans peur In preparation or his attack, a series of artillery batteries had been placed to bombard the town. The most elevated battery, with the best firing position, was also the most vulnerable; indeed, it was considered a suicide posting. Ordering men to serve those guns would lead to a severe loss of morale and, likely, desertions. The officer spotted a printer in the French camp, which gave him an idea. He created a placard in order to name the battery. The following morning, the men saw the placard naming the suicidal battery: Batterie des hommes sans peur (battery of fearless men) The men thought about that name, and soon they were fighting each other to sign up to man it. They all wanted to be members of the band of men lucky enough to earn the honour of operating that cannon: it was manned day and night. The officer? His career took him from revolutionary to emperor of France: Napoleon Bonaparte References: https://www.britannica.com/event/Siege-of-Toulon https://medium.com/@kirkjbarbera/the-battery-of-the-men-without-fear-5e4c505a28f6 The kit for this build is in the post as I write, and should arrive tomorrow or Thursday. It is by Historex, and consists of a Gribeauval 8-pounder cannon together with five artillery crewmen. * Vice Admiral Lord Hood: Two of the three ships of the Royal Navy named HMS Hood were named after him (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hood,_1st_Viscount_Hood )