Today, we present another part of the DOCUMENTS series. It’s a rare military service certificate issued more than a hundred years earlier than the previous certificate, in mid-1856, shortly after the end of the Crimean War.

Like the previous one, this document was provided to our website and published with the kind permission of Krzysztof Schramm, historian of the Foreign Legion veteran association in Poland, A.A.A.L.E. de Pologne, and author of the awesome book I Regret Nothing.

The following military service certificate (in French: Certificat de présence sous les drapeaux) from July 1st, 1856 belonged to Sergeant Konrad Danzer. This rare document confirmed that Sergeant Danzer was a reenlisted volunteer who was serving at the time with the 1st Regiment of the 1st Foreign Legion. According to the document, Konrad Danzer was a brown-haired, grey-eyed man 5’5 feet tall (166 cm), a former professional soldier. He was born in Burg Fahrenbach, Bavaria (an independent kingdom back then, today’s largest state of Germany). In February 1855, he reenlisted in the Foreign Legion for another two years after most likely completing his first five-year contract.

The certificate is interesting for several reasons. First, it was issued during a very short period (1855-1856) when two French Foreign Legions existed in parallel with each other. The original one was created in 1831 and redesignated the 1st Foreign Legion in early 1855 upon the activation in France of the 2nd Foreign Legion (nicknamed the Swiss Legion, open to Swiss volunteers only).

Second, the certificate was issued four days after the “Swiss Legion” became the 1st Foreign Regiment (1er RE) that we know today as the motherhouse of the Legion.

Third, it was issued by the original 1st Foreign Legion Regiment (1er RLE), organized in Algeria in 1841. The regiment was officially dissolved a month later, in early August 1856, and merged with the 2e RLE into the 2nd Foreign Regiment (2e RE).

Fourth, the document was issued shortly after the end of the Crimean War (1854-1856), in which both regiments of the original Foreign Legion took part and in which Colonel Raphaël Vienot of the 1er RLE died at the head of his regiment. The Legion’s HQ in Aubagne is named in his memory.

Fifth, the certificate bears the original French (Second) Republic header, which is crossed out; the words “French Empire” are handwritten instead. The Empire of Napoleon III was established in 1852. That might mean the Legion did not often issue such documents at the time.

Finally, the back of the document bears Spanish text (legalization of the signature) and a stamp of the Spanish Consulate in Oran, Algeria, dated 1856. The document was likely issued for this consulate. But why? The reason is unknown. Maybe the legionnaire was in Spanish service before enlisting in the Legion and had to confirm his new employment situation. Or perhaps he asked to serve for the Spanish Kingdom after his pending discharge from the Legion. Who knows?…

In the bottom right corner, we can see a rare stamp of the Executive Board (Conseil d’administration), 1st Foreign Legion Regiment. As a matter of interest, the same Napoleonic eagle is seen on the insignia of the 1st Foreign Regiment today. However, he is holding a snake (instead of Jupiter’s thunderbolt) as a reminder of the Mexican campaign with the 1863 Battle of Camerone.

 
Here is the rare document (click on the pics to enlarge them):

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Related posts:
DOCUMENTS: 1847 1st Foreign Legion Regiment Honorable discharge certificate
DOCUMENTS: 1959 1er REP Honorable discharge certificate of SCH Rutecki
PHOTOS: 1er RE Adjudants around 1900
PHOTOS: 1963 2e REP training at Bou Sfer