Statue of General Chanzy, Le Mans, France, 1919
A young soldier in Le Mans, France sent this used postcard to a girl in Welch, West Virginia on 28 January 1919 via Soldiers Free Mail. The sculpture shows General Antoine Alfred Chanzy (1823-1883) standing atop a pillar with scenes depicting episodes of national defense at the base of the pillar. Aristide Croisy (1840-1899), a French sculptor, completed this piece in 1885. Although Croisy made other types of sculptures he is most known for several bronze sculptures with military themes.
General Chanzy was the son of a cavalry officer and was educated at the naval school at Brest. He later enlisted in the artillery and subsequently attended the military academy Saint Cyr. His time of service was during the rule of Napoleon III. He was commissioned in 1843, promoted to lieutenant in 1848 and then to captain in 1851. In 1856 he became Chef de bataillon, a lieutenant colonel in the Syrian campaign of 1860-1861, and then in 1864 he commanded the 45th Regiment at Rome as a colonel. He had a good professional reputation but because of suspected leaks to the press he was in disfavor with the war office. Due to this he was denied a brigade command. However, after the revolution he was recalled from Algeria and given command of the XVI Corps of the Army of Loire. The Loire army won great success; however, they lost to an overwhelming German force at Le Mans. The statue is a memorial to him and to the Loire Army 1870-1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. Despite the loss he became a national hero because he displayed moral courage, constancy, and technical skill in face of defeat. He was made grand officer of the Legion of Honour and elected to the National Assembly. While in Paris he was captured by insurgents at the beginning of the Commune rebellion. He was forced to promise not to serve against them and the government paid a ransom of ₤40,000 or about 4 million dollars today. Positions and honors include governor of Algeria 1872; elected life senator in 1875; received the grand cross of the Legion of Honour in 1879; and ambassador to Russia from 1879-1882. He died suddenly while commanding the VI Corps in 1883 and received a state funeral.
Reverse
One of the interesting things about this postcard is the cancellation mark and the printed stamp from the U.S. Army Post Office. The stamp looks a little like a football and has the number 762 in the center that refers to the location. In this case the location is Le Mans, France. The year 1919 is also printed to the left of the inked in stamp. The time, day and month are found within the cancellation circle, Jan 28, 2 am. At the upper left, under the return address information is what looks like the remains of a glued stamp that has been peeled off. On other examples of this type of card there is a U.S. Army stamp, not a postage stamp, which appears to be usual on Soldiers Free mail cards. It is hard to read his last name, perhaps Cleghan ? But his rank was Sgt (Sergeant) in the 117th Infantry Regiment. The 117th Infantry Regiment was deployed in 1918 toward the end of the war and based at Tunneling Camp near Le Mans, France. These soldiers were being trained in trench warfare but since they arrived near the end of the war it is not known if they actually engaged in any battles.
It was a romantic notion that Billie and Lillian married after the war but I could not find any record of that or any further information about him. Lillian does marry someone else in 1936. What happened to Billie? Sadly he may have died from influenza that was becoming pandemic when it was time for him to return home. Many soldiers brought flu back home with them.
For additional information, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Chanzy
https://en.wikpedia.org/wiki/Aristide_Croisy
https://en.wikpedia.org/wiki/American_Expeditionary_Forces
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_warfare
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~cacunithistories/military/117th_Infantry.html
No comments:
Post a Comment