Fighting Techniques of the Napoleonic Age 1792-1815: Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics

261 Pages·2008·107.25 MB·English

by  Robert B. Bruce

FIGHTING TECHNIQUES
NAPOLEONIC AGE
OF THE
FIGHTING TECHNIQUES
NAPOLEONIC AGE
OF THE
1792 - 1815
EQUIPMENT, COMBAT SKILLS, AND TACTICS
ROBERT B. BRUCE lAIN DICKIE KEVIN KILEY MICHAEL F. PAVKOVIC FREDERICK C. SCHNEID
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS ~ NEW YORK
Fighting Techniques ofthe Napoleonic Age
Copyright © Amber Books Ltd 2008
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS
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ISBN-13: 978-0-312-37587-4
ISBN-10: 0-312-37587-5
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
The Role of Infantry 6
CHAPTER 2
Mounted Warfare 70
CHAPTER 3
Command and Control 130
CHAPTER 4
Artillery and Siege Warfare 170
CHAPTER 5
Naval Warfare 212
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 250
INDEX 252

CHAPTER 1
THE ROLE
OF
INFANTRY
In the summerof1789, the political, social
and economic upheavals that had plagued
the French state f1nally erupted in crisis.
The FrenchRevolutionwouldbring not
justpoliticaland socialchanges but
also a dramatic transformation in
the conductofwar.
U nlike the revolution in military affairs that
began in Europe in the late fifteenth
century and which was heavily influenced
by the adoption of gunpowder weapons, the
French Revolution altered warfare without
introducing any major technological innovations.
Indeed, the standard weapons, the smoothbore
musket and cannon, had changed little in more
than a century. It is true that there were minor
incremental changes that made the flintlock
musket and artillerymore efficient,buta soldierin
the army of Marlborough would have easily been
abletohandletheweaponsandtacticsusedbythe
army of Wellington. Instead, the major changes
THE CHATEAU OF HOUGOUMONT became afocalpointof
Frenchforces during the battle ofWaterloo, drawing
troops awayfrom the attack on theBritish centre.
Here, troopsfrom the Coldstream Guards engage
French troops assaulting the outside ofthe chateau.
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FIGHTING TECHNIQUES OF THE NAPOLEONIC AGE
were in the ways inwhich armies were recruited, military units, unit formations and methods of
commandedandsupplied,andthese,inturn,ledto manoeuvre and combat.
significant changes in the fighting techniques of The second factor that generated writings on
the armies themselves. military theory was more philosophical and was
The Revolution may have been the catalystfor embodied in the major intellectual movement of
this transformation, but the French Army was the period,namelythe Enlightenment.Forthefirst
certainly ready for change. For more than a few decades of the eighteenth century, its
century, French officers had been debating a proponents, thephilosophes, dominated all areas
number of military questions. There were two ofFrenchthought.The basis ofthe Enlightenment
significant trends that influenced this debate,one was the synthesis ofreason,includingthe beliefin
pragmatic,the otherphilosophical. naturallaw,theimportanceofclassicalmodelsand
The pragmatic concerns that dominated systems, and the mathematical accuracy derived
French military discussions centred on the from Newtonian science.The confluence ofthese
performance of the French Army during the two trends - the self-reflection of the French
course of the late seventeenth and early military and the Enlightenment - led to a
eighteenth centuries. From the wars ofLouis XIV tremendous surge in the number of works of
through to the American War for Independence, military literature produced as the century
the army's performance had been mixed, to say progressed.This is particularly true of the period
the least. Several major defeats had cost the from the SevenYearsWarthrough to the outbreak
monarchydearly,especiallyintermsofitsoverseas of the revolutionary wars. In keeping with the
possessions, including territory and influence in spirit of the age, many of these publications
North America and India. Like many institutions attemptedto discernanorderly'system'thatcould
with a tarnished reputation, the}army recognized be applied to the conduct ofwar.
that such a lacklustre performance required
serious self-reflection to overcome the L'Ordre Profonde
deficiencies that had led to so many defeats.The One ofthemostheatedtopicsinmilitaryworksof
fundamentals of military organization and tactics the period concerned the properformation to be
began to be discussed, and a number of officers used in warfare. In the course of the latter
wrote treatises that dealt with all manner of seventeenth century and throughout most ofthe
subjects,including equipment,the organization of eighteenth century, the trend had been to thin,
linear formations, which had been generally
standardized to a depth of three ranks, allowing
FRENCH INFANTRYCOMPANIESfrom 1791 to 1808
deployed in three ranks as shown in the Reglement the largest number of muskets to be brought to
du 1erAout 1791.Thisformation was the building bear when firing. During theWar of theAustrian
block ofFrench tacticalformations. Lines were Succession and the SevenYearsWar,Frederick the
formed byplacing companies one beside another
Great (1712-86) and the Prussian Army had
while differentcolumns were createdbyplacing
shown themselves to be the masters of this
companies in deeperformations, usually nine
or 18ranks deep. fighting technique. Some French military writers
D 1 21 PRIVATES
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DDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDDDDDDDDD B 8 CORPORALS
BDDDDDDDDDDB BDDDDDDDDDDE3 ~ 1FOURRIER
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