Sous-Lieutenant, Régiment Étranger (French Foreign Legion) Troy Thompson

This photo shows me in my petite tenue d'Afrique, the everyday dress of Second Empire officers, as well as my képi. The French képi is the inspiration of all American kepis. On my sleeves are my gold galons, one strand indicating my rank as sous-lieutenant. The galon served as the inspiration for the Confederate officers' sleeve braid.

My unit is the Régiment Étranger, otherwise known as the French Foreign Legion. The RÉ has seen brutal combat in the Crimean War (1854-1856) and Italy in 1859. This is in addition to the constant rebellions in Algeria by the natives. The RÉ will also see hard service in Mexico from 1863 to 1867 and wil foreever be remembered for the combat at Camerone on April 30, 1863. In this day long battle, 65 offices and men of the RÉ battled 2,800 Republican Mexicans. The battle ended with the last officer and four legionnaires launching a bayonet charge against the 2,800 Juaristas. (Makes you think that the 20th Maine's bayonet charge at Gettysburg wasn't all that spectacular after all).

I use my own name for my character. I do this as I am related by marriage to the Emperor of the French, Napoléon III, so my character could easily have obtained a commission in the Régiment Étranger. The RÉ was the only unit that as foreigner, like myself, could have served in the French Army. After completing your enlistment in the RÉ, you could become a naturalized citizen of France and could serve in a French unit if you wished. My character also lays claim to the title of Comte de Lipona, the title Prince Achille Murat used when he came to America after the fall of his uncle, Napoléon I, and married my cousin Catherine Willis Gray, a great grand niece of George Washington. My character is raised by the Murats, being orphaned, and after the death of the Prince in 1847, assumes his title. This is how I came to be at the court of Napoléon III and gained permission to come to America and unofficially observe the war.

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