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In 1798, Napoleon's flagship L’Orient, with 120 guns, was the most heavily armed vessel in the world; [6] until it was sunk that year at the Battle of the Nile. Napoleon's quick, destructive artillery force contributed to a majority of his victories.
Infantry used the smoothbore, flintlock musket, the standard weapon of the Napoleonic era, which had scarcely changed since John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, directed English troops at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. The flintlock musket had a short effective range for hitting man-sized targets of 50 yards (46 m) to 70 yards (64 m).
Napoleon’s Grande Armee was not the most technologically advanced army in the field during the Napoleonic Wars — that title would go to the British army — but its weapons were reliable, plentiful, and most importantly, easy to produce.
In 1798, Napoleon's flagship L’Orient, with 120 guns, was the most heavily armed vessel in the world; [6] until it was sunk that year at the Battle of the Nile. Napoleon's quick, destructive artillery force contributed to a majority of his victories.
Besides guns, soldiers used a variety of swords, bayonets and pikes for close range, or melee combat. Cavalry, officers, sergeants and other higher-ranked officials mainly used swords, while the bayonets were equipped to the majority of infantry soldiers.
Unsurprisingly, he was an innovator in this field. He pushed the French military toward field guns which were on average a third lighter than those of their British opponents. This allowed the guns to be moved quickly around the battlefield and used to their best effect.
The main weapon for cavalrymen was the sword - of which there were many types and patterns. In addition to sabres, Napoleonic horsemen could arm themselves with firepower from carbines and pistols, while some units had older, but just as deadly, lances.