René Chartrand

Roman food and drink

What would Claudius's legions have eaten and drunk on campaign and in their barracks? According to Simon Macdowall in Warrior 9: Late Roman Infantryman 236–565 AD, the daily ration of a legionary in Egypt was ...

Fort Frontenac 1758: Saving face after Ticonderoga

At the beginning of July 1758, the hopes of Britain and her American colonies were high. Full-scale hostilities had been raging in North America for three years and, while British arms had seen some limited successes, the French had proven ...

Young General Bonaparte 1794-1797

Five days after his very creditable performance at the siege of Toulon (see the Osprey Military Journal Issue 2.5), culminating in the town's surrender on 17 December 1793, Napoleon was promoted Brigadier-General. He was also named 'Inspector of the Coast', residing at Nice in the south of France...

Wellington's Port

Thanks to some shrewd branding, almost everyone knows 'The Brandy of Napoleon' is from the old French firm of Courvoisier. And yet there is no similar alcoholic association with his greatest and final battlefield opponent...

Paradise or Purgatory?

The regrettable and violent events in East Timor have attracted much attention from the world's media in recent months. However, it is not only news gatherers who have been drawn to this former Portuguese colony...

The 1690 Siege of Quebec City

Quebec is a place gifted with great beauty, situated where the mighty St. Lawrence River passes between the heights of Levy to the south and the magnificent Cape Diamond on the north shore...