of Napoleon distributing the eagles on 5 December 1804 On 5 December 1804, three days after his
coronation, Napoleon I distributed
aigles based on the
eagle standards of the
Roman legions. The standards represented the regiments raised by the various
departments of France, and were intended to institute feelings of pride and loyalty among the troops who would be the backbone of Napoleon's new
Imperial regime. Napoleon gave an emotional speech in which he insisted that troops should defend the standards with their lives. This event was depicted in
The Distribution of the Eagle Standards, an 1810 painting by
Jacques-Louis David. The original design was sculpted by
Antoine-Denis Chaudet and then copies were cast in the workshop of
Pierre-Philippe Thomire, with the first eagles presented on 5 December 1804. On the base would be the regiment's number or, in the case of the
Imperial Guard,
Garde Impériale. The eagle bore the same significance to French Imperial regiments as the colours did to British regiments - to lose the eagle would bring shame to the regiment, who had pledged to defend it to the death. Upon Napoleon's fall, the restored monarchy of King
Louis XVIII ordered all eagles to be destroyed; only a very small number were preserved. When the former emperor returned to power in 1815 (known as the
Hundred Days), he immediately had more eagles produced, although the quality did not match the originals. The workmanship was of a lesser quality and the main distinguishing changes had the new models with closed beaks and they were set in a more crouched posture.
Captured eagles capturing the
4th Line Infantry Regiment's eagle at Austerlitz The first capture of an eagle most likely occurred during the 1805
Battle of Austerlitz, when
Russian Imperial Guard cavalry under
Grand Duke Konstantin overran the French
4th Line Infantry Regiment. Although France won the battle, the Russians retreated in good order and the eagle was not recovered, much to Napoleon's regret. In 1807, the was overrun by Prussian cavalry and Russian infantry at the
Battle of Heilsberg. The regimental eagle was lost and several officers, including a colonel, were killed. Russian sources claimed the eagle was captured by Anton Antonov of the . Prussian historians disputed this, claiming that the
Prittwitz Hussars captured the eagle. At the
Battle of Eylau, the had its eagle captured by the Russian . At the 1812
Battle of Krasnoi, the 18th Line Infantry Regiment again lost its eagle when it was "virtually destroyed" by the Russian . In 1808, at the
Battle of Bailén an entire French
corps under General
Pierre Dupont de l'Étang surrendered after being defeated by a Spanish army led by
Francisco Javier Castaños and
Theodor von Reding; this was the first surrender of a field army of the
French Imperial Army. As part of the terms of
capitulation, the French gave up their flags and banners, including three eagles. These eagles were kept in
Seville Cathedral until they were recovered by the French in 1810 and sent back to Paris. capturing the 45th Line Infantry Regiment's eagle at Waterloo The first eagles to be captured by British troops were taken during the 1809
invasion of Martinique, including the eagle of the
82nd Line Infantry Regiment. The
87th Regiment of Foot captured an eagle at the
Battle of Barrosa on 5 March 1811. At the battle, Ensign Edward Keogh attempted to take the eagle of the . Keogh only managed to get a hand on the eagle's shaft when he was fatally shot and bayoneted. Sergeant Patrick Masterson of the 87th subsequently killed several French soldiers before wrenching the eagle from the dying hands of its bearer, Lieutenant Gazan. The captured eagle was taken back to England and displayed at the
Royal Hospital Chelsea. Several years later, the eagle was stolen from the hospital after being broken from its staff. Although rumours abounded that it had been stolen by a Frenchman, the eagle was more likely melted down and sold. The original staff is still held in the
Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum in
Armagh,
Northern Ireland. The
Anglo-Portuguese Army captured two eagles at the
Battle of Salamanca in July 1812. In spite of claims that Ensign John Pratt of the 2/
30th Regiment of Foot's light company captured the eagle of the (displayed today in the
Lancashire Infantry Museum at
Fulwood Barracks in
Preston, Lancashire), it was actually Portuguese troops of the 12th
Caçadores Battalion which captured the eagle. At Salamanca, Lieutenant William Pearce of the 2/
44th Regiment of Foot took the eagle of the (displayed today in the
Chelmsford Museum in
Essex). Following the Allied recapture of
Madrid on 14 August 1812, two eagles were found belonging to the
13th Dragoon Regiment and the . Two of the newer eagles were captured at the
Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The French
I Corps under
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon was
charged by British heavy cavalry commanded by
Lord Uxbridge; the
1st The Royal Dragoons captured the eagle of the ; (now held at the
National Army Museum, Chelsea) and Sergeant
Charles Ewart of the
Royal Scots Greys captured the eagle of the (now held at the
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum in
Edinburgh Castle). Before the
Duke of Wellington died in 1852, he had asked that all his battle trophies be carried at his funeral. As the eagle captured by Masterson was not available, it was decided to make a replica. The mould was made by
Garrard & Co and was designed from a sketch of the original drawn by an officer of the 87th Foot following the Battle of Barrosa. The capture of an eagle was celebrated through the addition of the eagle as a symbol or accoutrement to a regiment's colour or uniform. The
Blues and Royals (descended from the 1st Royal Dragoons) and the
Royal Anglian Regiment (descended from the 44th Foot) both wear the eagle as an arm badge, while the cap badge of the
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) (descended from the Royal Scots Greys) is an eagle. The
Royal Irish Regiment wear the eagle of the 8th on the back pouch of the officers' black cross belt. A French Imperial Eagle, which had belonged to the , was among the items stolen in 1990 from the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in
Boston,
Massachusetts. The 1st
Régiment de Grenadiers had formed two squares at the Battle of Waterloo, one of which was formed around Napoleon himself. In May 2015, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum offered a reward of $100,000 for the safe return of the Eagle which remains missing. ==See also==