Napoleonic Army

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Emperor's sign

The Napoleonic Army ( Armée napoléonienne ) was composed of infantry , cavalry , artillery and the associated services. It was in the service of the First Empire , existed from 1803 to 1815 and was used in the coalition wars between 1805 and 1815. It was composed of soldiers from France and from the foreign departments annexed during the Revolutionary Wars (e.g. the Rhineland) and from the armies of the vassal states: Kingdom of Naples , Kingdom of Italy (1805-1814) , Kingdom of Holland , Kingdom of Westphalia , Grand Duchy of Berg , Duchy of Warsaw , the Vistula Region , the Irish Legion and the contingents of the Rhine Confederation . There were also foreign auxiliary troops (troupes étrangères) from Poland, Lithuania, Switzerland, Denmark and Ireland. The army of the colonies and the army of the interior were responsible for the protection of the coasts with the national guard .

Regimental flag of the type 1804
Regimental flag of the type 1812
Regimental flag of the type 1815

organization

Military reform of 1803 and 1804

On the 1 he vendémiaire to XII (September 24th 1803) the existing army of the revolution was transformed by the First Consul Napoléon Bonaparte .

The call-up by lottery procedure (law of December 20, 1804) only affected 30 to 35% of the eligible widowed, single or childless men. There were many exception criteria, be it the state of health, insufficient height or the provision of a replacement. Here you could exempt yourself from military service by paying 2000 francs to a substitute who was not required to be presented (2000 francs was the price for four to five horses at that time - which only around 4% of the population could afford between 1807 and 1811). That hadn't happened before, because the levies weren't that massive. Each canton should only provide a contingent of usable men who were classified according to their fitness for use and who were then taken over by the recruiting officers. Some preferred to join their regiment's depot on their own, or they were given marching orders to report to their called-up contingent while the army was already in the field.

Between 1804 and 1813 a total of 2,300,000 French citizens were confiscated. During the time of the Restoration , rumors arose that Napoléon had kept the country in a constant state of war and thereby bled to death. In reality, 7 to 8% of the French were in military service during the Empire, while 20 to 21% were drafted during the First World War .

Organization of the Army

The backbone of the Napoleonic Army consisted of the infantry, the cavalry, the artillery, the engineers and the supply services and, last but not least, the general staff.

Military schools

In the time of Napoléon, the École polytechnique and the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr were founded or rededicated. In 1809 a cavalry school was established in the castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye . Napoléon's intention was to give rich young men a taste for cavalry in this school. After completing their training, the graduates were transferred to the cavalry regiments as sous-lieutenants .

Guard impériale

The Grenadiers à cheval de la Garde impériale near Eylau (oil painting by Édouard Detaille , 1893, collection in the "Musée Condé" in Chantilly )

The Imperial Guard was formed on May 18, 1804 (28 floréal at XII) by renaming the Consular Guard .

In the end it had the strength of an army corps and was always used by Napoléon as a tactical reserve and shock force.

The guard consisted of three main groups, the "Old Guard" (Vieille Garde) , consisting of veterans, the "Middle Guard" (Moyenne Guard) and the "Young Guard" (Jeune Guard) . In addition, there was a not inconsiderable number of units that were assigned to the guard without being part of it themselves, e.g. B. the Gardes d'honneur (Guard of Honor) built in 1813 .

Grande Armée

Voltigeur and Carabinier of the Hippolyte Bellangé line

With the signing of the Treaty of Lunéville and the Peace of Amiens of 1802, the Second War of the Coalition ended .

In 1803, Napoléon assembled the Armée des côtes de l'Océan (Army of the Ocean Coasts) at Camp de Boulogne with the intention of invading England. This not insignificant armed force was called the (first) “Grande Armée” by Napoléon. When the Third Coalition was formed on the initiative of Great Britain in 1805, the troops of Russia, Austria and Sweden gathered to put a stop to the French claims in Italy (annexation of the Republic of Genoa and the Duchy of Parma ) and Germany. On August 27, the "Grande Armée" called the invasion army with a strength of 183,000 men was withdrawn from the canal and marched towards the Rhine. This was the beginning of the campaign against Austria in 1805. This first Grande Armée was disbanded after Napoléon and Tsar Alexander met in Erfurt - especially since the emperor urgently needed reinforcements in Spain and Portugal, where he had suffered several setbacks .

In the narrow sense was then the army commanded by Napoleon in the campaigns in Germany, Austria, Russia and France in person, in common parlance called that, which is not irrelevant to the imperial pronouncements - as Bulletin de la Grande Armee was due - called .

Armée d'Espagne and Armée de Portugal

French Gendarmerie d'Espagne

Portugal was a loyal ally of Great Britain and refused to participate in the continental blockade. Napoléon therefore decided in 1807 to send troops to the Iberian Peninsula. With the Treaty of Fontainebleau , signed by King Charles IV of Spain , he gave himself the opportunity to pass through Spanish territory with troops and to attack Portugal under the command of Général Jean Andoche Junot .

On October 18, 1807, the first attempt to invade Portugal began.

In support of Junot, an army marched into Spain under the command of Maréchal Joachim Murat . Napoléon relied on the Treaty of Fontainebleau. With this invasion the Spanish War of Independence began which, together with the three invasions, triggered a conflict of extreme brutality in Portugal and in which the term guerrilla was established.

"Marie-Louise" 1813–1814

The so-called "Marie-Louises" were the summons of Napoléon's last contingent before his downfall.

The French Army during the Reign of the Hundred Days

The Armée du Nord at the Battle of Ligny on June 16, 1815 (painting by Ernest Crofts, 1875)

After his return from the island of Elba, Napoleon reorganized the French army in order to once again oppose the European coalition. This army consisted only of French citizens, with the exception of a corps of Polish nobles who were loyal to the emperor at all times. For political reasons, he was unable to reintroduce compulsory military service. He therefore quickly took over the 150,000 men (including 28,000 riders) of the royal army, recalled 12,000 officers and 85,000 men from the state on leave, appealed to those who had left voluntarily, to the deserters and called on the imperial guards to return. To this end, he issued the order to set up the National Guard. Within six weeks he managed to bring together 290,000 combat troops and 220,000 auxiliary troops (poorly equipped and of little combat strength). The latter were divided into six small army corps and assigned to border guards. They were supposed to delay an invasion of the enemy and so give the emperor the opportunity to keep the back of the "Armée du Nord" clear in the intended campaign.

Army of the Interior (Armée intérieure)

National Guard (Guard national)

The National Guard was mainly used to maintain order in the cities. At the same time, it counted as an army reserve and was sometimes mobilized during the coalition wars.

Community guards and Imperial Gendarmerie in Paris (Garde municipale de Paris / Gendarmerie impériale de Paris)

When it was set up, the Municipal Guard of Paris consisted of the 1st and 2nd Demi-brigade, each with two battalions of five companies each. Then there was the 1st Dragoon Regiment with two escadrons .

Between 1805 and 1812 the municipal guard was used as a march regiment .

On February 12, 1812, the two regiments were merged into one. It consisted of two battalions of six companies each (one grenadier company, one voltigeur company and four fusilier companies). The workforce was 2,044 men, including 46 officers. After the attempted coup d'état by Général de brigade Claude François de Malet on October 23, 1812, the guard was disbanded.

The Gendarmerie impériale de Paris was set up in 1813 from veterans of the legions of the Gendarmerie française d'Espagne and replaced the defunct Municipal Guard . It only existed from 1813 to 1814 and during the reign of the Hundred Days .

Troops of the allied countries

Infantry of the Army of the Kingdom of Italy (drawing by Richard Knötel )

The contingents of the allied troops played an important role in Napoléon's campaigns and fought meritoriously in the ranks of the Grande Armée - almost all nations of Europe were involved.

During the war against Austria in 1809, one third of the French army consisted of soldiers from the Confederation of the Rhine . At the height of the Empire, the majority of the troops marching into Russia consisted not of French, but of contingents of more than 20 different nationalities. In addition to the 300,000 French, Dutch and Belgians, there were 95,000 Poles (commanded by General Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski ), 35,000 Austrians (commanded by Karl Philipp zu Schwarzenberg ), 25,000 Italians, 20,000 Saxons, 20,000 Prussians (commanded by General Grawert, then Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg ), 17,000 Westphalia, 15,000 Swiss and 3,500 Croatians. Besides the Poles, Austrians and Prussians, the foreign contingents were under French command. In addition there were a number of foreign units whose countries were not allied with France and who fought in French uniforms. They were grouped according to their nationalities. This particularly affected soldiers from Wallonia - called "Belges" - who made up 25% of the 1st and 2nd regiments of the Gardes d'honneur.

Troops in the colonies

Under the Ancien Régime , the French armed forces in the colonies consisted of six infantry regiments of two battalions each. These units were constantly being decimated, whether by local riots, attacks by British troops or disease. Soon they only existed on paper.

When the consulate came to power , Napoléon decided to station 40,000 men in the overseas territories in order to restore order there. At the same time the order was issued to set up the so-called "Dépôts coloniaux" in several ports in order to ensure the military supply of the colonies. On August 16, 1803, the First Consul ordered the creation of four "bataillons coloniaux" (colonial battalions) of five companies each. The total strength was about 6,000 men, they were responsible for the training of the recruits destined to go overseas and were stationed in French ports.

The established units were used until 1809 in the Antilles , which they defended against the British attacks together with the line infantry. Back in France, the colonial battalions at Belle-Île , the expedition to Walcheren , in the Netherlands and on the Île d'Oléron stood out . However, during this period there were more and more desertions and worse things in the ranks of the corps, until Napoleon forbade them to show their rifles as a punishment for their behavior.

In 1811 a "Corps de pionniers coloniaux" (colonial pioneers) was assigned to each battalion.

During the campaign in Germany in 1813, Général Molitor , Commander in Chief in Holland, complained about the very poor condition of the colonial infantry, and René Chartrand noted:

"Drunkards, thieves, snipers, who are capable of all crimes, and they threaten to shoot down their officers if they try to stop their activities."

They vigorously defended the island of Bommel several times in December 1813, but were not involved in the campaign of the following year in France. Taken into service by the monarchy, the units were finally disbanded on September 16, 1819.

Military branches

In accordance with Napoléon's creative spirit, there were a large number of branches of arms in his army, which often only differed in terms of their names and uniforms:

infantry

  • Guard infantry
    • Grenadiers à pied de la Garde impériale - Grenadiers on foot of the Imperial Guard
    • Chasseurs à pied de la Garde impériale - Hunters on foot of the Imperial Guard
    • Grenadiers à pied (hollandais) - Dutch grenadiers on foot
    • Bataillon de grenadiers polonais - Polish Grenadier Battalion (established in 1812)
    • Fusiliers de la Garde impériale - Fusiliers of the Imperial Guard
    • Tirailleurs de la Garde impériale - Riflemen of the Imperial Guard
    • Voltigeurs de la Garde impériale - skirmishers of the Imperial Guard
    • Régiment de flanqueurs-chasseurs de la Garde impériale - Flanking hunters of the Imperial Guard
    • Régiment de flanqueurs-grenadiers de la Garde impériale - Flanking grenadiers of the Imperial Guard
    • Vélites de la Garde impériale - Velites of the Imperial Guard
    • Dragons à pied de la Garde impériale - Dragoons on foot
    • Pupilles de la Garde impériale
    • Vélites de Turin et de Florence - Velites of Turin and Florence
    • Petite Garde - Guard of the King of Rome
    • Gendarmerie française d'Espagne - French gendarmerie in Spain
    • Marins de la Garde impériale - Marines of the Imperial Guard
    • Bataillon d'instruction de Fontainebleau - Training battalion in Fontainebleau
  • Line infantry
    • Infantry de la ligne
    • Infantry Legere
    • Grenadiers de la ligne
    • Chasseurs à pied de la ligne
    • Fusiliers de la ligne
    • Voltigeurs de la ligne
    • Flanqueurs de la ligne

cavalry
  • Line cavalry
    • Cuirassiers - cuirassiers
    • Dragons de la ligne - line dragons
    • Hussards - hussars
    • Chasseurs à cheval - hunters on horseback
    • Chevau Legers
    • Chevau leggers lanciers
    • Gendarmerie
  • Guard support troops
    • Artillery à pied de la Garde impériale - Artillery on foot of the Imperial Guard
    • Artillery à cheval de la Garde impériale
    • Train d'artillerie de la Garde impériale - Artillery train of the Imperial Guard
    • Génie de la Garde impériale - Guard pioneers
    • Pontonniers de la Garde impériale - bridge pioneers of the Imperial Guard
    • Service de santé de la Garde impériale - Medical service of the Imperial Guard
  • Support troops of the line
    • Artillerie à pied - artillery on foot
    • Artillery à cheval - Mounted artillery
    • Train d'artillerie - artillery train
    • Génie - pioneers
    • Pontonniers - bridge pioneers
    • Service de santé - medical service
    • Gardes d'honneur locales - Local guards of honor
    • Douanes - customs

  • Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard

  • Polish Ulan of the Imperial Guard

  • Gardes d'honneur

  • Mounted artilleryman of the Imperial Guard

  • Artillery train and artilleryman on foot of the Imperial Guard

  • Marine of the Imperial Guard

  • Line infantry

Ranks and posts

Grenadier and voltigeur, soldiers of the empire in the characteristic uniform

Generals

Staff officers

Subaltern officers

Epaulettes of a colonel en second

NCOs

Teams

Angle of a caporal
  • Caporal-fourrier or Brigadier-fourrier; not a rank, but the name for the supply sergeant
  • Caporal or Brigadier
  • Soldiers of the elite infantry companies: grenadier, chasseur, voltigeur, tirailleur, etc.
  • Line Infantry Soldiers: Fusilier
  • Cavalry elite soldiers: hussar, carabinier, cuirassier
  • Cavalry soldiers: Dragon, Chasseur, Chevau-léger
  • Artillery soldiers: canonnier, artillery, pontonnier
  • Soldiers of the pioneers: sapeurs, miners
  • Soldiers of the train: Conducteur
  • Military musicians: Tambour, Sonneur (light infantry), Clairon, Musicien

The soldiers of the Imperial Guard were ranked on an equal footing with the normal troops. Only the chasseur of the "Regiment de chasseurs à pied de la Garde" corresponded to the Caporal of the light infantry.

Accommodation of the soldiers

French soldiers stopping at a young market vendor

The French soldiers were housed in barracks or military camps. Exceptions were those who were referred to as "coucher dehors" (people sleeping outside) and who received the so-called "billet de logement", an overnight stay certificate, with which they could spend the night in private quarters, during campaigns, in times of peace or in maneuvers.

During the withdrawal from Russia they no longer bothered to issue the "billets de logement" - the soldiers knocked on the doors with the butts of their rifles and "asked" the "cher ami" (dear friend) to give them free accommodation, since they are as poor as beggars. The term became a part of the Russian vocabulary - "cheramijnik" or "cheramiga" has since stood for a fraudster or a parasite.

literature

  • Liliane and Fred Funcken: L'uniforme et les armes des soldat du Premier Empire. Volume 1: of the regiments de ligne français aux troupes britanniques, prussiennes et espagnoles. Casterman, Tournai 1968, ISBN 978-2-203-14305-0 . Volume 2: de la garde impériale aux troupes alliées, suédoises, autrichiennes et russes. Casterman, Tournai 1969, ISBN 978-2-203-14306-7 .
  • Oleg Sokolov: L'Armée de Napoléon (with a foreword by Jean Tulard ). Commios, Saint-Germain-en-Laye 2003, ISBN 978-2-9518364-1-9 .
  • Henry Lachouque: Waterloo 1815. Éditions Stock, Paris 1972.
  • Yves Martin: Les Aigles en Espagne - La garde de Paris. In: Tradition. No. 275, September / October 2014, ISSN 1774-8054, pp. 14-17.
  • Jean-Claude Lorblanchès: Les soldiers de Napoléon en Espagne et au Portugal. 1807-1814. L'Harmattan, Paris 2007, ISBN 978-2-296-02477-9 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  • Alain Pigeard: La Conscription au temps de Napoléon. 1798-1814. Bernard Giovanangeli, Paris 2003, ISBN 978-2-909-03445-4 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  • Georges Six: Les généraux de la Révolution et de l'Empire. Bernard Giovanangeli, Paris 2002, ISBN 978-2-909034-29-4 .
  • Émile Marco de Saint-Hilaire: Histoire anecdotique, politique et militaire de la Garde impériale. Charles Warée, Paris 1847 ( digitized on Gallica ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alain Pigeard: L'armée de Napoléon. 1800-1815. Organization et vie quotidienne (= Bibliothèque napoléonienne ). Éditions Tallandier, Paris 2000, p. 192 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  2. ↑ Pigeard, 2000, p. 193
  3. ↑ Declaration by the deputy from Bordeaux, Joseph Henri Joachim Lainé , who denounced the levies "which have become a hideous plague for the French because they have been exaggerated to this extent and decimated the country's population".
  4. ^ Natalie Petiteau: Lendemains d'Empire. The soldiers of Napoleon in the France of XIX e siècle. Boutique de l'Histoire, Paris 2003, ISBN 978-2-910828-29-5 , p. 39 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  5. ↑ Lachouque, 1972, p. 44
  6. ↑ Funcken 1969 p. 58
  7. ↑ Chartrand, 2006, p. 29
  8. ↑ Chartrand, 2006, pp. 28, 32
  9. ↑ Chartrand, 2006, p. 32
  10. ↑ Chartrand, 2006, p. 34 f.
  11. ^ Formerly Royal Dutch Guard Grenadiers
  12. ↑ A regiment made up of orphaned boys whose fathers died in the service of the emperor. It existed from 1810 to 1814.

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