Karl, Freiherr von Neuenstein

Thanks for the comments on the hectic little affair at San Rafael - I also got a couple of emails, and as ever Herr Doktor Morgenstern is cross-checking the historical accuracy of my account, looking in particular for traces of anti-German bias - there is much that badly needs checking, I admit it - not to mention a good number of downright fabrications.

On this occasion he backed the wrong horse, however - in a world of lies, he chanced upon one thing which is true.

Who is this Neuenstein, says Morgenstern, is he another of your fake Pommeranians? Well no - as it happens, he is the real deal. He was some fringe member of the royal house of Baden, I think - to be honest I am not certain, and the websites which give the true nitty-gritty on the ruling houses of old Germany are not recommended reading unless you are very seriously interested. He was commander of the Baden forces in Spain, after Col von Porbeck was killed at Talavera. Neuenstein subsequently commanded a German brigade in the Armee du Centre.

Josef Karl Franz Xaver, Freiherr von Neuenstein (1769-1838) was a real fellow, no doubt. You can read of his adventures in various places, most notably in Lt.Col Sauzey's Les Allemands sous les Aigles Francais - Tome II - Le Contingent Badois. Col Sauzey does not mention that Josef Karl was the Hero of San Rafael, as it happens, but one cannot have everything. I'm confident the bold Freiherr would have played down his own part in the business, in any event. I even found a (very small) picture of him - wearing his uniform as a colonel in the Baden infantry, I think. He was definitely wearing his second-best French campaign gear on my tabletop yesterday.