Photo of French Napoleonic Veteran Delignon

The Chubby Quartermaster

This is a photo of Sergeant Delignon, a quartermaster in the French army during the Napoleonic wars. He is wearing a uniform of a Mounted Chasseur of the Guard, an elite unit.

Sergeant Delignon looks rather portly and it may be that he put on a few pounds after the war, but I suspect that as quartermaster in charge of supplying the French forces, Delignon was better fed than most of the soldiers.