During the American Civil War, Sergeant Chesterfield and Corporal Blutch serve in the Union Army despite having completely opposite personalities. Chesterfield is disciplined, patriotic, and convinced of the importance of his mission, while Blutch mainly tries to avoid fighting and survive the often absurd decisions of their superiors. Sent to different fronts and repeatedly caught up in battles, dangerous missions, and unlikely situations, the two soldiers move through the conflict with humor while also discovering its contradictions, violence, and human consequences.
Graphic novel
1972
Historical
War
Humour
Les Tuniques Bleues
- Dupuis Publisher
- Raoul Cauvin Writer
- Kris Writer
- Béka Writer
- Louis Salvérius Artist
- Willy Lambil Artist
- José-Luis Munuera Artist
Details
- Type
- Graphic novel
- Release
- 1972
- Genres
- Historical, War, Humour
- Volumes
- 70
- Status
- Ongoing
- Information verified on
- 8 octobre 2026
Synopsis
Les Tuniques Bleues
Albums
Albums (70)
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Album 1
In the west of the United States, a patrol of the 22nd Fort Bow Cavalry Regiment manages to rescue a messenger from the hands of the Comanches. This one belongs to the Fort Defiance garrison, one of the main outposts of this area, which is under siege and is short of ammunition. Commander Appletown will therefore designate Sergeant Chesterfield to transport a cart filled with ammunition to Fort Defiance. Blutch, Tripps and Bryan who accompany the sergeant and escort the cart will have much to do in this infested area of Indian people...
Album 2
The Civil War just broke out and the four characters featured in the previous album will put their rifles at the service of the Union. Chesterfield, Blutch, Tripps and Bryan thus join General Grant's troops where they are immediately assigned to Captain Stark's 22nd cavalry regiment. Their first mission will be to take possession of a bridge guarded by the southern artillery so that Grant can attack with his infantry Lee's troops behind a ridge. But before attacking, Grant asks the sergeant to infiltrate at the heart of the enemy lines in order to judge their strength. Chesterfield accepts. He is accompanied by Corporal Blutch.
Album 3
Sergeant Chesterfield and Corporal Blutch arrive in their new assignment where the general desperately seeks volunteers for a perilous mission. Alighted by the fifteen hundred dollars of bounty, our two acolytes sign without thinking. Their mission is simple: to infiltrate the Southerners and destroy railway tracks, ammunition depots, bridges, cotton harvests in order to weaken the enemy. To do this, two Mexican mercenaries, José and Pedro, who know this region perfectly, will accompany them in this expedition...
Album 4
Indians and Mexicans harass the military. An exceptional truce between Northists and Southerners is declared in order to discover who these outlaws are that exhaust the forces of each camp. Küstler takes advantage of the insubordination of Chesterfield and Blutch to degrade them and entrust them with a mission of infiltration into the rebels. They will be hired as cowboys at a ranch led by Mac Coy, an unscrupulous vaurian in the service of the Mexicans whose irascible chief Gonzales sells meat damaged to the Indians...
Album 5
Colonel Appeltown must be absent. He delegates the command of Fort Bow to Captain Joyce, an ambitious and tyrannical man. Although he is determined to make an iron discipline reign, four soldiers come to desert. Joyce, mad with rage, decides to catch them. Flanked with Chesterfiel and Blutch, they go after them and cross the road of the Comanches who capture Captain Joyce. Our two companions will have to appeal to the deserters to remove the captain from the hands of the Indians. But it is finally the cavalry of the fort that will get them out of this petrin.
Album 6
In a battle, Sergeant Chesterfield and Corporal Blutch are taken prisoner by the Southerners and interned in Robertsonville's infamous prison. They are immediately caught in flu by a sadistic, physically disadvantageous guard nicknamed Cancerlat who seeks by all means to avenge himself of the humiliations inflicted on him by our two heroes. Chesterfield and Blutch try several times to escape and it is only in the fifth attempt, having usurped the confederate uniform, that they will manage to make themselves beautiful. Comble de l'ironie, they will be captured by the Nordics and imprisoned again...
Album 7
After having been broken from the cavalry, Chesterfield and Blutch will know the infantry, artillery and infirmary before asking for their transfer to the navy. They will then discover this weapon which is being modernized and know the sea and submarine combats. After having been tied up with boats, they are finally assigned to the Monitor under the command of Commander Worden. After this naval interlude, they will of course return to the 22nd cavalry.
Album 8
The 22nd cavalry was decimated. The three ultimate riders launched themselves into a last suicidal charge that turned into disaster: Blutch's horse collapsed and Captain Stark was captured by the enemy. Only Chesterfield managed to get out of it. Although the Union's forces were higher in number, they were weakened by the loss of his cavalry, which carried out reconnaissance missions. It was a strange and new invention, the Montgolfière, which would allow to anticipate the southern movements and thus prevent their attacks. Naturally, Blutch and Chesterfield would be designated volunteers to be the observers-aeronautics. Encouraged by the results they obtained and their control of the vehicle, they would then use this balloon to deliver Stark.
Album 9
Sergeant Chesterfield is humiliated in a shooting contest with an Indian scout.
Album 10
While Sergeant Chesterfield welcomes rider Bryan, a new recruit, Fleur de Cactus escapes from prison. The Blue Tunics must go and capture him.
Album 11
After a charge, Blutch and Chesterfield begin to have a lively discussion when, suddenly, Blutch's horse and then the sergeant himself are blown by explosions of shells. After finding his horse safe and sound, Blutch finds Chesterfield in a ridiculous posture ready to be photographed by an equally strange man. After some rough presentations and the intervention of the general, the two heroes will be in charge of protecting the photographer, Matthew B. Brady, and taking him wherever he wishes. In short, action and trouble in perspective for the two partners.
Album 12
As usual, the charge led by Captain Stark completely decimated the 22nd cavalry. This regiment has acquired such a reputation that it becomes impossible to reconstitute it with volunteers. For this reason, General Alexander sees only one solution: To hire troops among the many immigrants and foreign workers who land every day on American soil. Chesterfield is therefore appointed instructor and, accompanied by Blutch, he goes to a camp where he has to take charge of a dozen men. But what is not his surprise when he discovers that among the men in question, none speak English, none have signed a commitment and, above all, none have come to join the army!
Album 13
On patrol, our two companions discover a young lady bathing in a pond. Cut hair, she managed to make herself look like a boy and enlisted in the northern army. Her goal? Search for her missing brother. Our friends will help her. Military life continues in an excruciating time. From cavalry charges to makeshift cantonments, from mud fights to patrols under rain deluges, they soon find themselves in the southern lines. Surprise! The young lady is actually a spy infiltrated who, thanks to Blutch and Chesterfield's involuntary help, has been able to gather a large amount of information that she will pass through with her friends. Our companions are taken prisoner. Will they manage to escape? What will the spy become? Will the information of her come to the enemy?
Album 14
Returning to Fort Bow, Blutch and Chesterfield on the evening of the 20-year-old Amélie ball, Colonel Appletown's daughter. Although Bryan did everything possible to avoid the inevitable, Chesterfield discovered that a young lieutenant had already offered a bouquet of flowers to Amélie and invited her to dance. Seeing in this lieutenant a rival, Chesterfield decided on a head-up that she had to be shot down, before she was delighted... With Blutch, they decided to go and have a drink at Joe's, the local bar, to change her mind. At the bar, while Chesterfield was drunk dead, Blutch took the defense of a young Indian abused by two bullies. This altercation triggered a general fight. The fort was warned and it was the young lieutenant in question who had to intervene. Soon the situation was going to degenerate between Chesterfield and that white-bec.
Album 15
On the battlefield, the sergeant, seriously wounded, was brought back to the infirmary. Worried for him, the corporal came to pick up his news but the meeting ended again with an argument between the two companions. Upon leaving the infirmary, Blutch learned that the general intended to lift the camp despite the condition of the wounded. Blutch, furious, bursts into the state-Major cabin to find out more. The general reassured Blutch as quickly as he told him that he had not forgotten the wounded and that the latter would be taken to a small charming village while the army was going to reconstitute his forces further north. But what Blutch did not know was that the small village in question was a very welcoming Southern patelin.
Album 16
General Alexander's army is almost ready to go on the offensive, he only misses the arrival of fresh horses for Captain Stark's 22nd cavalry. Which should be settled shortly since Blutch and Chesterfield went to pick up these horses at the corner station. But what is not their surprise to see Blutch and Chesterfield disembark not with a herd of horses in full health, but with a dromedary, two mules and a heart horse! Stables fund what! Alexander, for whom it is inconceivable to launch the battle without his cavalry despite they are far superior in number, will send Blutch and Chesterfield to recover wild horses further west into the rocky mountains. To do this, they will be accompanied by Bronco Benny, the greatest horse trainer of the Far West!
Album 17
Followed by a group of Southern horsemen for spying on their camp, Chesterfield and Blutch managed to reach the Rio Grande and cross it to reach Mexico. As expected, the southerners did not pursue them in this hostile territory, but they nevertheless prevented them from crossing the river. At nightfall, after unsuccessfully trying to find another ford, Blutch and Chesterfield had to go to the obvious: Here they were stuck for an indefinite period in Mexico. Moreover, the presence of Indian bandits around them forced them to act in haste. Decided to hide in the forest, they discovered the corpses of a padre and his peone. So this is a good opportunity, by exchanging their frusques, to go unnoticed in this hostile country, where it is said that the worst bandits have a background of piety.
Album 18
Blue retro is actually a return to the past that explains why Blutch and Chesterfield are in the army and why Blutch has so much hatred for the sergeant. It is also explained how they have integrated the cavalry and how they have gained their rank.
Album 19
Several boats of the northern blockade have been mysteriously destroyed. Again, a ship was sunk without its commander including anything. These losses have the gift of worrying the president and his Major State: Would the Southists have invented a secret weapon? If they manage to harm the northern blockade, the Confederates will be able to refuel themselves more easily and the war may eternize. Meanwhile, on the forehead, nothing goes any more for Chesterfield. This stubborn Blutch refuses to make his apology for disobedience and he is about to be shot... But after a parody of execution that Blutch has put to a blow by these sarcasms, this one is postponed to the next. Meanwhile, the state-Major receives an order of mission to go to Charleston, in the south, in order to discover an explanation on "the secret weapon" of the Southists. A suicide mission, in other words. A suicide mission that Chesterfield, and especially Blutch, is worth the life, and will hardly have the choice of a civil sergeant to refuse it.
Album 20
In the Union camp, an extraordinary meeting of the General Staff is held to find a solution to shorten this civil war. The idea is to infiltrate a man of color acquired from the Northernists in the camp of the Southerners to weaken them by inciting them to revolt. For this perilous mission, Black Face is chosen. He will be escorted by Corporal Blutch and Sergeant Chesterfield. Unfortunately, they will be separated very quickly and then the situation will degenerate. Black Face organizes the uprising and quickly he will also turn against the Northernists. To put an end to this rebellion, General Alexander will have to appeal to Lieutenant Ripley, a racist torturer without the slightest state of soul.
Album 21
After many battles, General Alexander's army suffered heavy losses. Fortunately, the recruitment campaigns are effective enough to replenish his regiments as men. All his regiments? No! Unfortunately, the 22nd cavalry under the command of Captain Stark and in which Blutch and Chesterfield serve, has a very bad reputation: It is the regiment of death, the regiment from which we do not return. In short, these superlatives discouraged those engaged to enroll in this regiment. The 22nd cavalry is therefore forced to organize its own recruitment: Blutch and chesterfield are therefore sent through the campaign to find volunteers, which is not at all Blutch's taste.
Album 22
The artillery of the Confederates has been constantly pounding the troops of the Union for several days. The medical corps is overwhelmed by the too many wounded including Corporal Blutch. General Alexander in agreement with Washington has decided to bring in bridesmaid volunteers to help the nurses. They will give care to the wounded, will assist the dying in their last moments. Of course, the arrival of these women will lead to the rule of indiscipline. To this end, Private Burke is appointed to play the role of Miss Bertha, a maritor who repulses all those who do not need urgent care. Captain Stark will fall in love with it. As for Blutch who is entitled to a convalescence leave, he decides to marry Jenny, one of the nurses...
Album 23
Under Major Ransack's orders, a repugnant being who does not hesitate to loot and ruin the property of his victims, Chesterfield and Blutch accompanied by Chinese workers and a Scottish engineer will be delegated to repair a section of railway destroyed by the enemies. Before leaving, Chesterfield learns in a letter that two of his cousins enlisted in the army, but from the "bad" side: from the Southists! Arriving at the scene of the repair, the team is greeted by gunshots. The sergeant receives command from Major Ransack to silence this battery as soon as possible. But during the attack, what is not his surprise to discover that the two gunners are in fact only his two cousins.
Album 24
A baby and coyotes: Back from patrol Chesterfield and Blutch find an abandoned baby. They bring him back to Fort Bow. Amélie Appeltown decides to adopt him. Baby blue: Since the arrival of the baby, Fort Bow has turned into a nursery to Colonel Appeltown's greatest disarray. Baby red: Bryan and Tripps leave town with the aim of finding an orphanage. After a stop at the saloon the baby is taken away from them by the late sister General James Sourspittle killed by the Comanches. To be able to recover the baby, the smart Blutch makes Miss Sourspittle believe that this baby is the son of a savage... Baby and axe of war: During this time Fort Bow receives Chief Aigle Furtif and his son. The purpose of this visit is an official request in marriage. Cheval Fou decided to marry Amélie Calletown. Obviously, the Colonel makes it seem that his daughter is already married... with Tripps! Superchery will be revealed to Baby in gogo. In the city of Bryan and Tripps are found to the parents by chance.
Album 25
General Alexander is angry: he has just lost a battle because the supply arrived too late because of the carts that are entangled in the muddy road. Captain of State-Major Stephen Stilman has a brilliant idea: to buy dromedaries. Sergeant Chesterfield and Corporal Blutch are in charge of receiving them...
Album 26
Quebec, Canada... An old gold researcher sympathetic to the Southern cause decided to bequeath all his gold, the fruit of several years of hard work, to the Southern government. That's something to worry the Northern Major State, who fears that the South could replenish itself enough in arms with all this money. Sergeant Chesterfield and Corporal Blutch are therefore "designated" to go to Quebec as soon as possible and find this old gold researcher before the Southerners get their hands on it. Arrived at Quebec, they meet Raynald, the "famous" wood racer. A chance for Sergeant Chesterfield who thinks that with such a man, they will soon have done to find their gold researcher. A chance? Not really.
Album 27
Bull Run is the first great battle of the Civil War and the first big debacle of the Northern troops. That's why, to the north, all of them preferred to forget this shameful battle and bury it in the depths of their memory. All of them? No... Blutch, he remembers it as if it were yesterday. He will tell this famous battle to an imprudent white-bec, in the form of flashback. How it happened, the popular fervour that led civilians to attend the battle as if it were a spectacle, the northern debacle and finally the roles that Chesterfield and himself played during this battle. And most of all, why he, Blutch, kept a good memory of it!
Album 28
Back from Washington, General Alexander finds his troops totally amorphous. For some time there has been no more engagement with the enemy. The men are bored and depraved. Desertions, self-mutilations and even suicides are the daily life of these soldiers. General Alexander has an idea: distracting the troop by discovering within his contingent any talents to mount a show. Naturally, Sergeant Chesterfield is designated for this delicate mission. Chance will put on the road of Sergeant Zizi Asphodele, a star dancer!
Album 29
Blutch finally found a way to leave the army? During a charge, Blutch, who is connected to Sergeant Chesterfield, is unconquered by a shell. This shell is found completely hebated. All the sergeant's attempts to restore his memory are futile. Blutch has therefore been allowed to return to his homes. On the train, on the way back, a liberable wounded person evokes Arabesque, the Blutch horse that would now have been mounted by Stark! Blutch disappears and finds himself in the Confederate camp. His solitary charge intended to save his horse will be interpreted as a heroic act by his hierarchy. In addition his decoration for the medal of merit will be a camouflet for Sergeant Chesterfield. Blutch amnesic, was it bluff? Everyone will make his opinion...
Album 30
As a result of a parody of trials, Blutch and Chesterfield are both sentenced to capital punishment for escaping from the enemy... They will only have to rescue General Gooseberry, a prominent member of the Northern General Staff who came especially for them. Provided of course to accept a somewhat special mission: Blutch and Chesterfield must go to the south to embark on the cargo ship "Rose of Bantry" on their way to Ireland, to find a Southern diplomat named Hogan and to eliminate him... On the idea of the general, Blutch made himself appear as an Irishman who brought his deceased father back to his native country and he managed to negotiate with the captain the boarding of the casket where Chesterfield is hiding. They only left to find their target. But will they succeed with an alcoholic and superstitious captain in their paws on this boat which seems to be empty?
Album 31
A young boy aged 15 years or older joins the army. Blutch wants to prevent him from doing so, but Chesterfield comes to ruin everything and the boy named Pucky commits himself. The general informed him gives him a drum drummer's uniform. As he continues to agitation the generals with his drum, he is invited to follow the war plan...
Album 32
After a charge that Blutch has managed to avoid, which in fact creates a scramble with Chesterfield, the corporal gets apostrobed by a infantryman who is perfectly unknown to him... The latter, Jonas Nutcracker, seems to see in Blutch his own son Barnaby; and for cause, Blutch and Barnaby look like two drops of water! But thanks to a scar on the chest that Blutch does not possess, the old Nutcracker has to go to the obvious... In front of the disarray of the latter, Blutch decides to give him a hand. Barnaby, who was "sounded" during an explosion, is currently in an asylum of soldiers. But Jonas is convinced that by leaving his son from the asylum and reviving a past action that he could easily heal... Blutch, by a skilful stratagem, will help Jonas and Barnaby by replacing him in the asylum... He will only be left to wait a few days and then to escape. A formality for him who is as healthy as he is! A formativeity... Finally, that'sickness for him... It's not enough to disturb his own.
Album 33
In July 1862, the law prohibiting polygamy came into force. This law was aimed in particular at Utah and its Mormon communities. Chesterfield and Blutch were given an unusual mission: they had to go to Bloomington, a small town in Utah, in order to go to parliament with a small Mormon community, try to make them respect the law and convince them to change their way of life. Arriving in Bloomington, they were going to discover on one side the Grumbler family, composed of good-for-nothings, fighters, alcoholics and lazy people who liked to martyr the Mormons and on the other hand, this small, friendly, simple and hard-working Mormon community that was going to completely shake the mind of poor Chesterfield... Between a family of good-for-nothings and a Chesterfield who was losing its feet, Blutch had work on the board!
Album 34
While he has once again prevented Blutch from deserting, Chesterfield decides that they will spend the night in a small town around the corner before returning to the camp. After dropping Blutch off at the village prison, Chesterfield goes to the hotel. He is apostropheted by an old alcoholic named Doc who asks him strange questions about Blutch. Soon, Chesterfield realizes that the old man knew his friend well. Curious to know more, Chesterfield prays Doc to tell him about his story and Blutch's life: How they met, their adventures but also what might have shaped Blutch's unique character...
Album 35
Good news for Chesterfield: A return to Fort Bow is scheduled and the prospect of seeing his dear Amélie rejoices him. Colonel Appletown, who commands the fort, is suffering and Blutch and Chesterfield are assigned the pleasant mission of escorting Captain Nepel to the fort, the officer who will be in charge of the interim. At the fort, Captain Nepel's behaviour changes literally to the sight of Indian people present in the Fort. These Indians are accustomed to coming to the fort, the result of a long and fragile peace between the tribe and the white men. But Nepel has nothing to do with it and he will quickly have to hunt the red skins, thus unleashing the anger of Plume d'Argent and Loup gris. He will even go so far as to fire Lin-Fu, the Chinese whitener and the African cook from the fort. Soon, the situation degenerates and the Indians learn to dig up the axe of war. Blutch and Chesterfield will try everything to avoid a bloodbath.
Album 36
Lawrence, Kansas, August 21, 1863... The pro-sudist guerrillas commanded by William Clarke Quantrill are about to attack the city. After a short battle that left no chance for the few black northern soldiers who guarded the city, Quantrill's troops began to ruin the city. While they were looting everything, they were interrupted by the arrival of Stark and his cavalry. Quantrill ordered his soldiers to flee as soon as possible but in the adventure, Frank James, one of his right arms, was captured by Blutch... This unexpected capture gave the idea of a mission to General Alexander: Locking Chesterfield with James and organizing their escape, while hoping that he would lead them to Quantrill... With Blutch's complicity, of course...
Album 37
Amsterdam, June 10, 1864... The Kearsage, a northernist warship docks the docks to stop there... For weeks, this ship and its crew have been pursuing the Alabama, a formidable confederate corsair who, according to reports, already sank more than sixty northernist ships. Blutch and Chesterfield, after having explained their misadventures that led them to be present on the Kearsage, decide to visit and discover the city and its peculiarities, its mills, its merchants, when the Alabama is spotted. Captain Winslow, who has vowed to end the Alabama, launches the baton! Blutch and Chesterfield, despite them, are thus preparing to participate in one of the greatest naval battles of the Civil War.
Album 38
Sergeant Chesterfield was given the command of a platoon of volunteers to which President Lincoln had granted privileges. Chesterfield was very proud of this appointment, while Corporal Blutch was trying to inform him of the reality of these privileges: these inexperienced soldiers were allowed to live with their wives and children. Chesterfield did not let himself count and intended to season this soldier. Between domestic hassle and night attacks, Chesterfield would maneuver in every direction.
Album 39
The state major of the North decides to launch a great recruitment promotion. A photographer is then sent to a military camp to make pictures intended to glorify the war. If Chestrefield lends himself to the game, it is not at all the taste of Blutch, nor that of General Alexander...
Album 40
The Nordist Major State has decided to look after the forces of the Southern General Early. For this purpose the Nordist Generals will use without their knowledge Sergeant Chesterfield and Corporal Blutch by drawing up a false battle plan in front of them. Thinking that Blutch would be the most able to disclose these false plans to the Southerners, he is promoted Lieutenant, to the greatest dam of Chesterfield. Then everything is organized so that they will fall into the hands of the Southerners as soon as possible. If Blutch is not fooled by the intentions of his superiors by taking them as men of straw, the naivety and patriotic principles of Sergeant Chesterfield will make the plan bankrupt. Some heroes are sometimes more dangerous than the enemy...
Album 41
Their last mission had failed lamentably, so our two heroes condemned to death had to desert, to the great disarray of the Sergeant.
Album 42
Blutch who has deserted and who tries to sow Sergeant Chesterfield falls on a dying Northern soldier who just has time to reveal to him a terrible secret before he dies: President Grant will be murdered by one of his army members. Returning to the camp, Blutch warns the president who eventually believes him after having escaped a first attack. Chesterfield becomes the close guard of President Grant, while Blutch is sent by General Alexander, under the command of Captain Stark, to conduct a small investigation into the neighbouring Southern village. Everything will lighten up when Stark returns to Abigail, the sister of Captain Stilman.
Album 43
Captain Stilman can no longer stand to see his sister Abigail in love with Captain Stark. In order for her to think, he proposes to go to a small town where General Grant has gathered a large part of his staff to restructure him. Blutch and Chesterfield are appointed to accompany him. There are many officers on the spot, some of whom have retained the sequels of the war. Our two heroes find Lieutenant Georges Appeltown and his sister Amélie. The ball which is given in the evening is for the purpose of distributing the new commandments, which will not please all. During this Ball Georges will delight from Abigail and will ask him for his hand for the greatest happiness of Captain Stilman.
Album 44
To dislodge the Southists cut off in an inexpugable camp, General Grant has a good idea. But his plan, to dig a gallery under their camp to blow up barrels of powder, made long fire and the leader of the Blues plunges again into the bottle. Excessed, Lincoln sends one of his spies to investigate, ready to undermine the alcoholic general. Blutch and Chesterfield will have to compete with ingenuity to bring their general back in the right direction while foiling the plans of this spy nicknamed " Lincoln's Ear"...
Album 45
The victories of Vicksburg and Gettysburg have cost the Union considerable losses. The call to volunteers with bonus in support no longer attracts anyone. The Nordic government decides to impose conscription. This measure, which is very unpopular especially for the underprivileged social classes, will provoke plebeian agitation until it turns into riots. New York which becomes the scene of this insurrection will experience a flood of hatred and violence against the blacks, the bourgeois and the army. Blutch and Chesterfield who are in a recruitment office owe their salvation only by wearing civilian clothes and must melt in the angry crowd while waiting for the reinforcement of the troops of the army who are on the front.
Album 46
After a nth charge that went wrong, Sergeant Chesterfield was seriously injured in the infirmary. After dreaming of different versions of Corporal Blutch's bravery, who died as a hero to save his life, Chesterfield finally emerged from his long coma. In front of him, impassive, Corporal Blutch fixed him. Naturally, the reality of the facts after the charge will be much closer to Corporal Blutch's reputation. There is only in dreams where heroes are massacred on the field of honour.
Album 47
Chesterfield and Blutch are the only two survivors of the Battle of Fort Tyler. They find themselves among the infantry troops of Colonel Oscar Lagrange. They arrive at the gates of Lagrange, a city of Georgia. The colonel orders Blutch to go as a scout to estimate the danger to cross this city. It turns out that this locality is defended by a group of women led by Nancy Hill Morgan. Faced with a trade army the struggle seems very unequal but it would be imprudent to underestimate this determined enemy, well armed and above all very cunning...
Album 48
The best choice is: One learns how Chesterfield and Blutch have each chosen their horse. In the case of Blutch would rather be the horse who would have chosen his master whom he named the name of Arabesque... This is taken who thought he would take: Sergeant Chesterfield does not stand up to that Arabsque collapses at the first shots during a charge. He decides to close his ears, which obviously does not please him, nor Blutch elsewhere! The bout: Arabsque is suffering. Blutch conducts his little investigation that leads him to the cook of the camp. The great school: Chesterfield wipes a camouflet from a horse trainer after having asked him to educate Arabsque for the bloody charges. Completely drunk: one learns why Arabsque does not support alcohol! The genesis of Arabsque: from the union of King, a superb stallion and Mary, a mare of race, is also born to Flo, named by his first owner. Arabs then learns to be the same as a cow.
Album 49
As the war of secession continues, on the side of Fort Bow, Colonel Appeltown waits for reinforcements. A named Cochran has launched a rumor that he would have found gold in the hills. This risks to row all the gold seekers, bandits, cheaters and others in the area. Moreover, it would have to cross Indian territory with which peace can be broken at any moment. But it is especially the reaction of Chief Loup Gris who worries The Colonel. And the only reinforcements on which he can count are the survivors of Captain Stark's famous 22nd cavalry: Sergeant Cornélius Chesterfield and Corporal Blutch. They will have to try everything to avoid an Indian war, even set up a marriage at Fort Bow.
Album 50
General Grant is furious, the clashes are hard, the officers abandon their posts and many soldiers desert. Considering that each individual has importance including the deserters and in order to reinflate the numbers, Grant sent men everywhere with mission to bring back a maximum. So here Blutch and Chesterfield in search of the renegades. Surprised by an enemy troop as they had just laid hands on two Southern deserters, they became prisoners at the same time saving the two Confederate soldiers from capital punishment. They are brought to the camp of Robertsonville but will manage to escape, disguise as a Sudist...
Album 51
Frank Sloan, Stark's vaguemaster and childhood friend, tells their youth in Chesterfield and Blutch. The son of a men's tailor in Pennsylvania and a West Point graduate, Stark embraced the military career in the cavalry. It was following a nasty head injury that he fell into this mutism. Blutch and Chesterfield asked the camp doctor to remove the little scraps from his skull. The results of the operation did not at all have the desired effect. Stark no longer wanted to ride on horseback but tried to reschedule the uniforms to General Alexander's greatest damn. But in the course of a new attack by the Confederate Stark was hit and found his fervor for the charges at the same time!
Album 52
On Lookout Mountain, a camp of confederates was established. In the valley, the northernists were looking for a way to dislodge them. It was at this moment that the tandem Chesterfield and Blutch arose. Their mission was to send a letter to Captain Hooker. But the news did not seem to please him who entered a rather impressive hysteria crisis! Chesterfield and Blutch did not make great use of it and were preparing to return to their camp! What a devil! Hooker did not let them go! They were requisitioned as scouts in the enemy camp. But it did not go without pains. The confederates were waiting for them on the other side of the river. And the operation failed! Let it not stand, Hooker did not let himself be discouraged for so long. The fog fell on the valley and Hooker took advantage of this intemperia to set course on the mountain... While he thought he was taking advantage of the fog to surprise the confederates, his troops were dispersed, lost and even pulled off!
Album 53
On the orders of General Grant, General Alexander's troops are confined to the camp. Staying without fighting and waiting without doing anything influences the morale of the troops. At the slightest pecadille, everything turns into a drama! Blutch spends his time trying to escape and Chesterfield to bring him back to the camp. Until the day when François d'Orléans, one of the sons of the King of France, carrying the titles of Prince de Joinville and Vice-Admiral. He is there as military adviser and camp helper of General Mac Clellan. His passion: painting watercolours. And this is the way to relax the atmosphere: everyone with a brush! But during this time, Blutch and Chesterfield, they are sent on a mission to monitor the possible presence of the confederates in the vicinity. And this is not all rest! With this story based (as often) on an authentic anecdote, the authors lead us into a great historical-humoristic adventure where, as always, the army takes it for its own sake. Once again, Raoul has succeeded in mixing up their history and his own.
Album 54
The big one is Cornelius Chesterfield, a zealous and disciplined sergeant of the United States' North Army. The little one is Blutch, a malignant and disillusioned grudger who dreams only of deserting. Cauvin and Lambil do what they can to escape the troubles they have with bounded leaders, aberrant orders and a defiant destiny... Through stories full of laughter and action, Lambil offer us a sharp critique of the absurdities of war and obtuse militarism.
Album 55
The Northern cavalry doesn't look great: Colonel Stark's horse has emphysema, and Chesterfield's horse is parkinson's... It's impossible to properly load the enemy. Once again, the future of the unionists is in the hands of Blutch and Chesterfield. They are now designated volunteers to go, disguised as settlers, to pick up from the Comanche tribes of Texas the horses necessary for the continuation of the war. The opportunity to find on the road old acquaintances, like Plume d'argent, or Colonel Appeltown and his daughter Amélie. But also to make much more unexpected encounters, especially for Blutch who will discover himself... a twin brother among the Comanches!
Album 56
To grudge, grudge and a half: Blutch is not sure to have the last word! Chesterfield's career in the army is over! Finished the heroic charges and quarrels with Blutch, he has to go back to civilian life to marry... his daughter's mother. Chesterfield father, no one expected it, especially not him. But nothing says that he came to the end of his surprises, and neither do we!
Album 57
Harassed on its backs by a band of mercenaries to pay for a well-known slaver, the unionist staff decided to infiltrate two men there. These spies will be responsible for finding out how this organization is financed and how to cut the tap to dollars. Their mission is to find the place where they hide. It remains to find volunteers... Blutch and Chesterfield, of course.
Album 58
A scorbut epidemic is raging among the unionist troops. To stop this disease, only one solution: to consume fresh fruits and vegetables, but for this it is necessary to be able to obtain supplies. And this is precisely where the boat hurts: the railway lines, sabotaged to put the enemy in trouble, are not practical to bring supplies into fresh produce. Faced with the gravity of the situation, Chesterfield and Blutch are commissioned to go to the back to look for cabbages, turnips, apples and everything that can help to remove the spectre from the scurvy. For once, Blutch is much more motivated than Chesterfield, mortified of being entrusted with such a little military mission. Yet the task will be more complicated than expected. Between the politics of the burned land practised by the confederates and peasants who refuse to give off the production they have left, the obstacles are numerous. Especially since our heroes are not slow to discover that the same scourge is raging in the confederates, and they are also humbetic of the war, and they are still in the process of the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the, the war, the, the, the war, the war, the, the war, the war, the, the, the, the, the, the, the war, the, the war, the, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the war, the, the war, the war, the war, the war, the, the, the, the, the, the, the war, the, the, the, the, the war, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the war, the war, the, the
Album 59
In their fight against the Confederates, the soldiers of the Union fell on a bone. On the hillside, Commander William N. Pendleton, a former pastor, directed four cannons, named according to the Gospels and which left no chance for the opposing regiment. Captain Stark had to go to the obvious: if he did not want to lose all his men, he would have to opt for a less classic solution. Corporal Chesterfield and Lieutenant Blutch were then designated for a mission of the most perilous: transformed into a religious and idiot of the village, they would have to join the Pendleton team and sabotage his artillery. For this 59th adventure of the Blue Tunics, Raoul Cauvin and Willy Lambil chose to illustrate once again a real episode of the Civil War, the theatre of the adventures of their heroes since 1968. A clever way of denouncing, behind the rebounds of a funny and light frame, the drifts of war and forceful militarism.
Album 60
As a result of a bloody battle that left few survivors in the 22nd cavalry, Sergeant Chesterfield completely lost consciousness. Deaf, mute, empty-eyed, sitting without moving on a wheelchair, he does not seem more alive than a courgette. To such an extent that the high command is thinking of getting rid of it. But what could he do in such a state? Corporal Blutch, loyal comrade, takes his defence to the staff and obtains a white card to try to bring back to life his superior. He has thirty days, not one more, to try desperately and by all means to get the sergeant to react.
Album 61
By running a black slave on the run chased by Confederates, Corporal Blutch and Sergeant Chesterfield do not know that they will bring back to their base a strange character. Injured, he refuses to be examined by a doctor and turns out to be a white spy commissioned by McClellan to infiltrate enemy troops in order to report information about an imminent attack. Once the assault-surprise foiled, the newcomer (named Franklin Thompson) will be assigned to the medical service where he will assist the doctor and save many soldiers. Nevertheless, the secret continues to blind his true identity, and it will take all Blutch's insight to overcome the mystery...
Album 62
The Arab mare, Traveller, the stallion of General Lee and even Nellie, his chicken... The animals have the beautiful part in this sixty-second adventure of the Blue Tunics! Whether they are on the battlefield or accompany the soldiers in their daily lives, the animals have indeed been of decisive importance at times during the conflicts. The bitch Sallie, heroine of this story, is indeed the exclaiming example. While reinforcements of the 11th infantry regiment are sent from Pennsylvania to lend a hand to the camp of our two heroes, faced with the threat of an imminent confrontation, the commanders entrust Chesterfield with a mission as risky as it is capital: the capture of an enemy in order to extract information. An operation that Sallie decides to follow by accompanying the sergeant, because the result of this mission is mainly the life of several thousand soldiers...
Album 63
When General Grant asked for help from General Alexander, he decided to send him Blutch and Chesterfield. The 22nd cavalry regiment had to recompose itself following an assault by Captain Stark and the general did not like the inactive soldiers. When they arrived on the spot, the two soldiers of the Union discovered a seat that was engulfed and two units to take the city of Petersburg ideally defended by the Confederate forces. Two units that hated each other, more so, one consisting of whites and having an alcoholic as their leader, and the other composed of blacks who did not enjoy having a white commander. A situation for the least desperate. It was then that a young lieutenant-colonel, Pleasants, proposed a saugrenuous idea: to dig a tunnel in an old mine that would allow to blow up enemy lines from below. Blutch and Chesterfield then found themselves with a shovel and pick in hand and begin their long excavation work...
Album 64
On his return from mission, Blutch discovers that Arabesque, his precious mare able to make the death during the charges, has been requisitioned by another northernist unit! Ivre de rage, he destroys everything in his passage, including the officers' mess, but manages to convince Chesterfield to go in search of his horse. A dangerous and hilarious road movie awaits the famous duo, during which they will shed light on the dreads of the Civil War, meet an old enemy, miss repeatedly... and make their readers laugh! An album to be enjoyed especially, since Lambil is more remarkable than ever in the art of drawing equidae. But also because it will be the latest Blue Tunics written by Raoul Cauvin, after 64 albums entered the history of comics!
Album 65
London 1861. William Russell, a journalist at the Times, is covering a strike in a factory, to the great disdain of his superiors who accuse him of setting himself on the side of the workers. To get rid of him, the newspaper editor sent him to the other side of the Atlantic where the Civil War was raging. In America, in the camp of the Northern army, Corporal Blutch and Sergeant Chesterfield were in charge of escorting this funny, frivolous and distinguished English observer, who took notes on the battlefield by riding a mule.
Album 66
Virginia, March 17, 1862, Saint Patrick's Day. While members of the Irish Brigade - Northern soldiers from Ireland - celebrate their national holiday, Chesterfield is looking for this seed of Blutch deserter. But a soldier of the Brigade believes that he recognizes a cousin in the person of the Sergeant! With his red hair and his dirty character, Cornelius - pardon, "Corny" - would he be of Irish origin without knowing it? A revelation that will force him to make cornelian choices! Between exploration of an unknown historical fact - Irish commitment in the Civil War - and great comic adventure, LesTunis Bleues will surprise you again! Meet them in the company of the new duo formed by Willy Lambil and Kris, screenwriter as inspired as the late Raoul Cauvin for laughing at the absurdity of the war...
Album 67
Winter 1861. Sergeant Chesterfield, in charge of replacing Captain Stark, ended up finding his superior in the hospital for the same diagnosis: post-traumatic stress! The remedy: keeping him away from the war... General Alexander then asked him to accompany a certain Jeremiah Clure, geographer in charge of mapping the Indian territories. Little concern for Blutch and Chesterfield: Clure is anarchist. But worse: they must escort him to territories where the Southerners, allied to the Cherokees, persecute the Cree tribes, loyal to the Northernists...
Album 68
As they ride towards a well-deserved permission, Blutch and Chesterfield witness the murder of two Southern soldiers by a troop of robbers. Collecting the last wishes of one of the dying, Chesterfield promises to bring his medallion back to his fiancée... That's how our two friends - disguised as Mexicans - are heading towards the southern territories. Undoubtedly they will be taken for the deceased Confederates. And discover that they were part of a secret plan to win gold. A lot of gold. Enough for the South to win the war... Additional concern: one of the soldiers accompanying them to recover the maggot is none other than the son of a certain General Lee... Blutch and Chesterfield will manage to get hold of the mythical treasure of the Southists? Fred Neidhardt, at ease on many registers, slips happily into the boots of the Blue Tunics, with a lot of humour and culture. The inexhaustible Lambil is, as always, impeccable.
Volume 69 — Lincoln in the Crosshairs
Sentenced to the execution platoon for a desertion of too many, Blutch finds himself imprisoned, with the mysterious Isabella Boyd, herself hit with capital punishment for intelligence with the enemy. Escape with the latter, the former corporal integrates a group of southern conspirators, who will ask him to shoot down President Lincoln! Blutch, pacifist by nature, will he manage to resist the insistence of his new "friends"? This is expected to be complicated, because the charms of the beautiful Isabella seem to distance him from the arms of Chesterfield who, feeling guilty of arresting his friend, desperately seeking...
Volume 70 — The Bluecoats on the Tightrope
The big one is Cornelius Chesterfield, a zealous and disciplined sergeant of the United States' North Army. The little one is Blutch, a malignant and disillusioned grudger who dreams only of deserting. Cauvin and Lambil do what they can to escape the troubles they have with bounded leaders, aberrant orders and a defiant destiny... Through stories full of laughter and action, Lambil offer us a sharp critique of the absurdities of war and obtuse militarism.