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Napoleon's practical strategic triumphs, repeatedly leading smaller forces to defeat larger ones, inspired a whole new field of study into military strategy. In particular, his opponents were keen to develop a body of knowledge in this area to allow them to counteract a masterful individual with a highly competent group of officers, or general ...
Military forces during the Napoleonic Wars consisted largely of the three principal combat arms, and several combat support services, and included the infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineers, and logistics troops which were called the army train during the period. The period gave a start to what are today military staffs to help administer and ...
A highly trained soldier could fire once about every 15–20 seconds until black powder fouled and the weapon had to be cleaned before firing again. The French musket of 1777 could fire about 100 yards (91 m), but "suffered about one misfire out of every six rounds." [4] Many soldiers on Napoleonic battlefields were coerced into staying in battle.
Haythornthwaite, Philip J. Napoleon's Military Machine (1995) excerpt and text search; Lynn, John A. The Bayonets of the Republic: Motivation and Tactics in the Army of Revolutionary France, 1791–94, (1984) 356 pages, ISBN 0-8133-2945-0; Rothenberg, Gunther E. (1980). The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon.
He led a Military Reorganization Committee, which included Gneisenau, Grolman, Boyen, and the civilians Stein and Könen. [3] Carl von Clausewitz assisted with the reorganization as well. Dismayed by the populace's indifferent reaction to the 1806 defeats, the reformers wanted to cultivate patriotism within the country. [ 4 ]
French line infantry grenadier (left) and voltigeur (right) c. 1808 Cornet in imperial livery and officer of the line voltigeurs (1812). In 1804, each French Line (Ligne) and Light (Légère) infantry battalion was ordered to create one company of ninety of the best shots who would serve as elite skirmishers. [3]
Napoleon's Old Guard was the most celebrated and most feared elite military formation of its day. There were four regiments of the Old Guard infantry: 1st and 2nd each of grenadiers and chasseurs. Members of the Old Guard benefitted from a number of different privileges, including considerably increased wages from the Imperial Guard.
However, Napoleon was not an advocate of military intelligence at this time as he often found it unreliable and inaccurate when compared to his own preconceived notions of the enemy. Napoleon rather studied his enemy via domestic newspapers, diplomatic publications, maps, and prior documents of military engagements in the theaters of war in ...