During the French occupation (1795-1813), many Dutch young men were conscripted into Napoleon’s army. The French department of Defense has now made scans of the military records for this period online on the “Mémoire des hommes” [Memory of the men] website.
The website contains military records of other French soldiers as well, including those who served in World War I, but these won’t include many Dutch men. An indexing project is underway, but scans can already be browsed.
Go to the Mémoire des hommes website. The “Individual Careers” menu has a link to the “Registres Matricule” that will allow you to click “Fair Une Recherche” [Do a search] > “consulter l’état du fonds” to get the finding aid that allows you to click through to the actual branches of the army and then through to the records. Most registers have an alphabetical index in the back. Yes, it’s cumbersome, but if you find something it can be fun!
Dutch-French alliance. Credits: Anonymous artist, collection Rijksmuseum (Public Domain)
Hattip: Annemieke van der Vegt for suggesting this topic.
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For Dutchmen in Napoleon’s Army, one might have the best luck looking under the 124th Infantry Regiment. Just a thought, this regiment was basically made up of only Dutchmen
I am looking for the name of a soldier from Brabant Wallon, Belgium who was taken prisoner at Waterloo. His name was Jean Baptiste Reny-Rimbeau. Even if I could find the likely unit for a soldier from that area it would help.
Thank you for any aid that you can provide.
I think the Belgium military records are your best chance at finding out more, but I am not an expert on Belgian research.
The Dutch ministry of Defense has made available a database of Dutch soldiers that were enlisted into Napoleons army. https://www.archieven.nl/mi/2231/?mizig=364&miadt=2231&milang=nl&misort=last%5Fmod%7Cdesc&miview=tbl
Looking for information on Christian Friedrich Hirschmann of Alkmaar, a surgeon who is said to have died at Smolensk, Russia (Rusland). October 1812.