The Army Of The French Revolution: From Citizen Soldiers To Instrument Of Power

399 Pages·1988·17.07 MB·English

by  Jean-Paul Bertaud

THE ARMY OF THE
FRENCH REVOLUTION

The Army of the
French Revolution
• · ·
FROM CITIZEN-SOLDIERS
TO INSTRUMENT OF POWER
Jean-Paul Bertaud
T R A N S L A T ED BY
R. R. Palmer
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 1988 by Princeton University Press
Translated from Jean-Paul Bertaud, La Rtvolutum armte
Les soldate-cttoyens et la Revolution franfatse
Paris, © Editions Robert Laffont, 1979
Published by Princeton University Press,
41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom
Princeton University Press, Guildford, Surrey
All Rights Reserved
This book has been composed in Linotron Galliard
Clothbound editions of Princeton University Press books are
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Paperbacks, although satisfactory for personal collections,
are not usually suitable for library rebinding
Printed in the United States of America
by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Pubhcatio n Data
Bertaud, Jean Paul
The army of the French Revolution
Translation of La revolution armee
Bibliography ρ
Includes index
1 France—History, Military—1789-1815
2 France Armee—History—Revolution, 1789-1799
3 France—History—Revolution , 1789-1799—Influence
I Title
DC151B4313 1988 944 04 88-15098
ISBN 0-691-05537-8 (alk paper)
Princeton Legacy Library edition 2019
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-691-60474-9
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-691-65619-9
I was a child in 1810, when on the Emperor's birthday
the draperies hiding the monument at the Place Vendome
were let fall, and the column appeared. I admired it like
everyone else. Only I would have liked to know more
about the figures in bronze on the bas-reliefs. "And all
those men climbing up the column," I said, "what were
their names?"
— JULES MICHELET
A great stirring of valorous poverty. . . which to save the
Revolution expanded it and opened its heart to a larger
dream.
— JEAN JAURES

CONTENTS
Translator's Preface xi
A Historiographical Introduction
The Army without the Revolution? or
The Army in and of the Revolution ? 3
PART ONE
From the Royal Army to the Democracy in Arms
(1789 to Summer 1793) 13
I. The Royal Army and the Revolution (1789-1791) 15
1. The Social Crisis and the Army Crisis 15
2. The Army and the Revolution of 1789 22
3. The Spread of Conflict within the Army (1790-
1791) 29
II. The Military Policy of the Constituent Assembly:
The Royal Army and the Bourgeois Army 39
1. Philosophers, Peasants, and Soldiers 39
2. The Constituent Assembly and the Army: From
Affirmation to Violation of Principle 44
3. The Volunteers of 1791 49
CONTENTS
III. The War: The Danger of Caesansm and the Democ-
racy in Arms 59
1. The Danger of Caesansm and Its Collapse 59
2. TheTransformationoftheRoyal Army in 1792 63
3. The Volunteers of 1792: The Sans-culotte Army 66
4. The Legions and the Fdderes 74
IV. Reorganizing and Democratizing the Army
(September 1792 to Summer 1793) 80
1. Unifying the Separate Armies: Technical Needs
and Political Goals 81
2 The Political Battle over Unification 86
3 The Levy of 300,000 90
PART TWO
The Sans-culottes, the Revolutionary Government,
and the Transformation of the Army
(Summer 1793 to Summer 1794) 97
V The Levie en Masse and Its Incorporation
(August 1793) 102
1. The Idea of the Levie en Masse and Its Application 102
2. The Resistance to the Levae en Masse 111
3 Measures to Suppress Draft Evasion 117
4. The Levie en Masse on the Way to the Batdefield 124
5. Social Analysis of the Draftees 127
VI. The Sans-culottes and the Army
(Summer to Autumn 1793) 133
1 The Spread of Sans-culotte Ideas in the Army 133
2 The Purging of the Command Structure 143
3 Toward a Unified Army 150
4. The Sans-culottes and Revolutionary Warfare 153
VII The Revolutionary Government and the Army
(Autumn 1793 to 9 Thermidor, Year II).
Unity and Subordination 157
CONTENTS
1. Unifying the Army: Incorporation, Brigade
Forming, and Amalgamation 159
2. The Command Structure: Officers and NCOs 171
VIII. The Army as the School of Jacobinism in the Year II 191
1. The Educators 192
2. Themes and Methods of Education 197
3. TheEfFectsof Political Education on the Army 219
DC. War in the Year II 231
1. Strategy and Tactics 231
2. The Material Basis of Combat 241
3. Casualties, Illnesses, and Hospitals 251
4. Deserters 259
Conclusion to Part Two 265
PART THREE
From the National and Revolutionary Army
to the Army of the Coup d'Etat of Fructidor
(Year III to Year V) 269
X. The Armed Forces from the Year III to the Year V 272
1. Numbers 272
2. A Better-Trained and Better-Organized Army 277
3. The Command Structure: Continuities and
Changes 280
XI. The Occupation of Enemy Territory and Change in
the Army Morale 286
1. Privation and Pillage in Foreign Countries 286
2. In France: The Military and the Civilians 291
XII. The Army and the Suppression of Popular Revolts
in the Year III (1795) 301
1. Soldiers and Rioters in April 1795 in Paris 301
2. The Army and the Popular Insurrection of
1 Prairial (May 20, 1795) 304