Napoleonic weaponry and warfare

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (January 2008)

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.(January 2008) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

Napoleon I of France was a tactical genius on the battlefield, a mastermind who found triumph where others would find defeat. His strategic method of focusing on a single part of the enemy, hastily crushing them, and continuing onward was unlike any predecessor before him. Napoleon’s success was made possible not only by the sheer, fierce, ambition he possessed, but also the through the dynamic composition of his army.

One of the major components in Napoleon’s arsenal of weaponry was his heavy artillery. With the development and improvement of combat weapons throughout the Seven Years War prior to Napoleon, heavy artillery had expanded to almost every European country, including France with 12 pound, 10 pound and 8 pound cannons. “The Gribeauval guns, developed between 1765 and 1774, were 12-, 8-, 6- and 4-pounders with 6- and 8-inch howitzers.”^[1]This style of gun was the artillery of choice for Napoleon, considering they were lighter by one third of the cannon of any other country. For example, the barrel of the British 12-pounder weighed 3,150 pounds, and the gun with carriage and limber about 6,500 pounds. The Gribeauval 12-pounder’s barrels weighed 2,174 pounds and the gun with carriage and limber 4,367 pounds. Since Napoleon insisted on speed and mobility in conducting his maneuvers, this lighter cannon provided the flexibility he desired. Along with the artillery, the army had vast quantities of mortars, furnace bombs, grape and canister shots, all of which provided substantial support fire. Artillery also played a role in the war at sea, with most ships containing anywhere from 50-100 cannons. In 1798, Napoleon’s flagship L’Orient, with 120 guns made it the most heavily armed vessel in the world.^[2] Napoleon’s quick, destructive artillery force contributed to a majority of his victories.

As for the base infantry soldier himself, Napoleon primarily equipped his army with the 1777 Charleville—a product of perfection from older designs and models. Used during the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars, the Charleville was a .69- caliber, (sometimes .70 or .71) 5ft long, muzzle-loading, smoothbore musket. Since the weapon was quite slow to load, on average, French infantry could fire three volleys a minute. Along with its sluggishness, the musket was also noticeably inaccurate. To hit the target from 80 paces was possible by a trained marksman, but anything further was probably due to chance.^[3] To assist the main use of the musket, French soldiers had their sidearm .69 pistol as a secondary weapon. This backup weapon still had to be muzzle loaded and fired with a flintlock, making it mostly efficient for a one-shot kill. 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. Despite the fear they generated in opponents, bayonets were somewhat impractical and used as a last resort.

The cavalry and engineers of the army essentially carried the same musket as the infantry. At 10 inches shorter, the musketoon was less cumbersome, making it more suitable for the mobility that horseback riders required. Besides the usage of the shortened musketoons, the light-cavalry typically wielded curved sabers with a 33-inch blade, and the heavy-cavalry, straight sabers with a 38-inch blade.^[4] Both musketoon and sword provided the necessary carnage that Napoleon’s cavalry dealt with their blitzkrieg attacks.

Throughout the Napoleonic Wars rifles were also introduced into the battlefield. Rifles were substantially more accurate at a maximum range of 200 paces, because the barrel put spin on the bullet.^[5] Despite this advantage, rifles took longer to load and were more expensive—something Napoleon was not fond of and a reason why he did not incorporate them into his army. Instead, he settled for speed of the musket, as it allowed for his rapid maneuvers. The British did eventually utilize the rifle, which proved to be decisive in a number of battles Napoleon later faced.

Although it may seem somewhat peculiar, one of Napoleon’s largest advantages in his arsenal, were the legs of his men. Napoleon insisted on extreme speed when conducting the marches, movements and attacks of his army. He claimed that the “Loss of time is irreparable in war…I may lose a battle but I should never lose a minute.”^[6]Many factors contributed to Napoleon’s ability to perform these flexible movements, from the division of his army into an independent corps system, to the avoidance of slow- moving, lengthy supply lines. Instead, Napoleon’s army looked to live off the land, acquiring the motto, “The war must feed the war.” Napoleon sought to acquire food from his surrounding environment, whether that meant paying friendly countries or simply foraging. These factors, combined with Napoleon’s innate persuasive ability to inspire his troops to find trust in him week after week, resulted in successive victories in dominating fashion. His opponents were often confused and unsettled as Napoleon intricately correlated strategical attacks on profound scales.

With the combination of his extensive arsenal and his brilliant tactics, Napoleon set himself above other commanders in history. It is important to remember that his victories depended not only on what weapons he used, but also how he used them.

[edit] References