Textby ROBERT WILKINSON-LATHAMColour plates by MI CHAEL ROFFE

OSPREY· MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES

MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES

EI?ITOR: MAR TJN WINDROWALBAN BOOK SERVICES

Textby ROBERT WILKI SO -LATHAM

Colour plates by MICHAEL ROFFE

tb~.

OSPREY PUBLISHI G LIMITE

Published in 1975 byOs·prey Publishing Ltd, 12 14 Long Acre,London WC2 E 9LPMember Company of the George Philip Group© Copyright 1975 Osprey Publishing Ltd

This book i copyrighted under the BerneConvention. All rights reserved. Apart from anyfair dealing for the purpose of private study,research, criticism or review, as permitted under theCopyright Act, 1956, no part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form or by any means electronic,electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photo­copying, recording or otherwise, without the priorpermission of the copyright owner. Enquiries shouldbe addressed to the Publishers.

ISBN 0 850 45 247 3

Printed in Great BritainFilmset by BAS Printers Limited,Wallop, HampshireColour by Barnicotts Ltd., Taunton, Somerset

IntroductionAt the end of the Royalist regime, the artillery armof the French army was, as Napoleon was laterto declare, ' ... the finest and best composed corpsin Europe.' The future emperor was not onlycommenting on the esprit de corps of the highlytrained officers and men, all versed in the scientificart of gunnery; but also on the equipment,designed in a sturdy, simple, yet interchangeableform by the great master ofartillery, Jean Baptistede Gribeauval as far back as 1768.

The new constitution drawn up in 1790 madeit obligatory for officers and men of the Frencharmy to swear an oath of allegiance or to resign.A number of the more senior and experiencedofficers and men were thereby lost, leaving theartillery sadly depleted. The only remedy waspromotion from the ranks, but whereas the moreexperienced non-commissioned officers had de­tailed knowledge of gunnery, they at first lackedthe necessary quality of leadership. There werefew brilliant junior artillery officers who wouldtake and use their own initiative in battle, al­though a number of outstanding senior officersrose from the ranks.

On 29 October 1790, the Artillery became apermanent arm of the service rather than a'useful auxiliary' as Count Jacques de Guiberthad written in his Essai general de tactique (1772).In 1791, the artillery was composed of sevenregiments, each oftwo battalions often companies;and in that year the regiments altered their titlesfrom the names of the places where they wereraised to numbers, and the soldiers becamecanonniers or gunners. On I January 1791 theregiments received numbers: 1st La Fere, 2ndMetz, 3rd Besanc;on, 4th Grenoble, 5th Stras­bourg, 6th Auxonne, and 7th Tou!. The twentycompanies of each regiment were organised intofive brigades each offour companies. The Artilleryof 179 I also had its complement of six companiesof sappel'1l and ten of artificers with a peacetimeeffective of 8,663 men. It is interesting to notethat by 18 I 4 the Artillery of apoleon's GrandeArmee had risen to over 103,000 men.

apoleon, himself an artilleryman, did notbring anything new to the equipment of Frenchartillery, nor did he add to its scientific knowledgeby invention as did Congreve in Britain; but hedid bring a new use of artillery which up until atleast 1808 gave him a marked superiority overhis enemies. In any battle, it is not possible to

'Napoleon at the battery'. FroDl Horace Vernet's drawing ofNapoleon aiding in the loading of a field gun during thesiege of Toulon, 1793

A field gun with detachtnent in action during the battle ofRivoli in the Italian caDlpaign, 1797. FrODl a drawing byHorace Vernet

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divorce the artillery from the total conflict and itwas precisely this planned complementary usethat won Napoleon his early victories. TheEuropean Powers against whom he was engagedstill clung to the time-honoured drill and fightingtactics ofFrederick the Great; whereas the French,by their audacity and disregard of the old ways,soundly defeated the Prussians and Austrians inr 792 and the coalition of Austria, Prussia, Spain,Sardinia, Holland and Great Britain the followingyear.

On 7 February r 792 a horse artillery branchof the Artillery was formed and designated theArtillierie Legere, which, like the British and Prussianequivalent, had its men mounted rather than onfoot. The prime role of this light artillery was tosupport cavalry and infantry while manreuvring,especially at this early stage of the RevolutionaryWars against the Austrian cavalry who were farsuperior to the equivalent arm of the Frenchforces. The light artillery or horse artillery con­sisted of nine regiments of six batteries, eachcomposed of four officers and seventy-two men,with six to eight guns, usually 4 or 8 pdrs, andtwo howitzers. Each piece was entirely in thehands of civilian contractors, who furnished thehorses and drivers; and companies such asBaudouin and Lancherc - large haulage con­tractors - usually performed this task for theArtillery. This system of contracted drivers andhorses had been in use in most European countries

since the Middle Ages and had been condemnedtime and time again by artillery officers, as itlacked efficiency and there were often cases ofdrivers retiring with their horses when thingsbecame difficult during a battle, leaving the gunsstranded. The contract-drivers were a poor lot ­'Continuellement sans pain, sans solde, sans habits,. etleurs chevaux sans fourrage, sans fer, et sans harnais'(continually without bread, without pay, withoutclothing; and their horses without forage, withou thorseshoes and wi thou t harness). Louis XV hadattempted to organise contract-drivers and haddecreed that they were to wear blue smocks andbonnets of red and blue, but the organisation andquality of the drivers and their horses was poor.In r 799, much to the disgust ofsome officers, FirstConsul Bonaparte directed General Lespinasseto report on the proposed formation of a corps ofdrivers to be enlisted. The critics of this schemeconsidered that by enlisting drivers one degradedby association the name ofsoldiers; bu t Bonapartewent ahead and on 3 January r800 an artillerytrain was formed who did duty as drivers, bringingguns and wagons to the place of action andretiring until needed. This system was also adoptedin Britain and was soon found to be a great im­provement over the artillery's old way of takingthe field.

If improvements had been made in theorganisation and to a certain extent in theequipment, they had also been made in scientific

'The hattle of the Pyramids' by L. F. Lejeune, showing themassed infantry squares and the artillery pieces in action.1798 (Musee de Versailles)

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Field gun with antntunition liD1ber shown open. Note thehandles each side for the gunners to hold on to when ridingon the lintber. This can be seen on page 20. (Musee del'Arntee)

instruction. The new schools at Chalons, Metzand the Ecole polytechnique in Paris not onlyadmitted officers, as had been the practice of theRoyalist schools of artillery, but also non­commissioned officers and men, to learn mathe­matics and to receive general instruction in thescience of gunnery. This education resulted in theFrench non-commissioned officer having a greaterdegree of theoretical knowledge than his Britishcounterpart, who relied more on the directionsand orders of his officer.

The main difference in artillery recruiting wasthat all levied volunteers entered the regiment asindividual recruits and not as complete units aswas the custom in the rest of the French army.In the artillery of the Republic, the Consulate,and later of the Empire, great emphasis wasplaced on technical training of all ranks, and ahigh standard was mandatory for officers com­manding artillery.

As in other armies, French infantry battalionshad their complement oflight field pieces, usuallyfour to a battalion; but in 1795 apoleon's

emphasis on massed artillery reduced these gunsto two per battalion and in 1803 they were doneaway with completely. apoleon, however, statedthat'Tous les jours, je me convaincres du grand malqu'on aJait a nos armees en otant les pieces de regiment.'(Every day, I convince myself of the great harmdone to our armies by the suppression of regi­mental guns.) The Emperor was later to declarethat 'Les canon commes toutes les autres armes doitetre reunir en masse, si l'on veut obtenir un resultatimportant.' (Artillery, like other weapons, oughtto be united in mass if one wishes to obtain animportant result.) In 1809, however, in directopposi tion to this princi pie, Napoleon orderedbattalion guns to be restored to reinforce andbolster his new, untried and raw infantry bat­talions. In 1812 regimental guns were finallyabolished.

In 1795 the number ofhorsc artillery regimentswas reduced to eight and the establishment fixedat 20,000 men. At the end of the year the artillerypossessed 4,816 bronze siege pieces, 2,851 ironpieces of position and 2,543 fi Id pi es; but,sadly, the artillery lacked some 30,000 horses,which greatly hindered and imped d the use ofthe major part of the field pi ces.

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Heavy siege piece and limber, showing the barrel positionedin the 'travelling' trunnion hole. (Musee de l'Armee)

At the end of 1799 Napoleon was createdPremier Consul (First Consul), and continued topressure his generals and arsenals for increasedproduction of arms and perfection and advance­ment in the artillery. 'Du canon! du canon! il fautdu canon!' (Cannon! cannon! we must havecannon!) He ordered one general to 'Occupez­vous avec le plus grande activite de l'artillerie, c'est cequi retarde toujours et ce dont on n'a jamais assez.'(Concern yourself with the utmost activity on theartillery, as it is this which is always behind andof which we never have enough.) For some yearsthe artillery of the Gribeauval system had comeunder harsh criticism, and Napoleon set up theCommission extraordinaire du materiel d'artillerie underthe presidency ofMajor-General Auguste FredericLouis Marmont, himselfan expert and a graduateof the artillery school at Metz, to advise on whatimprovements could be made to the system. Bythe time Napoleon created himself Emperor in1804 and formed his Grande Armee, whieh extendedthe French hold over Europe, a number of im­provements and modifications had been made tothe equipment.

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~tilleryEquipment

The system of artillery established by Jean­Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval (1715-89) andthe First Inspector-General of Artillery (PremierInspecteur General d' Artillerie) relied on simplicityand sturdiness of construction, a limited numberof calibres of a fixed barrel length, and inter­changeability as far as possible. Gribeauval hadnot only theoretical but also practical knowledgeof artillery, having returned in 1763 fromGermany, where he had commanded the Austrianartillery in the field and had studied the organisa­tion of the Prussian artillery. It was not until thedeath of Valiere, whose system had been in usefor many years, that Gribeauval was able to showthe advantages of the equipment he had designed,and its lightness when compared with thecumbersome guns of VaIiere. The basic system offixed calibres of fixed lengths had been establishedby Louis XV in 1732 and both Valiere andGribeauval followed these standards.

The field artillery equipment consisted of 4, 8and 12 pdr guns with 6 and 8 pdr howitzers,while the siege and position artillery consistedof 12, 16 and 24 pdr guns and 24 pdr howitzers.The carriages for field artillery pieces andordnance used by the horse artillery were of asimilar construction. The carriages were madeof two suitably shaped pieces of wood or 'cheeks'parallel to each other and joined with horizontalsections of wood. At the front, the lower part ofthe 'cheeks' was bolted to the axle tree to whichthe wheels were fitted, and the rear portion of thecarriage was specially shaped to sit firmly on theground. Various parts of the carriage which wereliable to hard wear were reinforced with ironstrapwork held by square-headed bolts, and thebarrel was fitted to the carriage by means of itstrunnions (horizontal round projections at thepoint of balance) resting in iron-reinforcedtrunnion holes. The barrel was kept firmly inplace by closing over the trunnions a thickershaped metal strap known as a 'capsquare', heldby a hinge one end and a loop and pin the other.In the heavier calibre pieces there were two setsof trunnion holes, one set behind the other, thefirst being for the firing position, the second beingfor travelling when the carriage was limbered up.

The lim ber consisted ofan axle tree and wheels,with a pintle in the centre of the cross bar whichfitted through a metal-reinforced eye in the trailof the carriage. The carriage was also fitted withvarious bars and loops for manhandling and forstowage ofdrag ropes, rammers, buckets and otherequipment. Ammunition was carried for readyuse in a metal-reinforced box with two carryingbars, one each end, which rested behind thebarrel between the 'cheeks'. The rest of theammunition was usually carried in caissons whichaccompanied each gun - two for the 4 pdrs, threefor the 8 pdrs and five for the 12 pdrs - althoughon occasions an ammunition limber was used forhorse artillery pieces. Besides the ammunitionwagons there was a large 'train' of wagons andcarts for spare parts, spare barrels and wheels,artificer's tools and farrier's equipment, as well asmobile forges.

Howitzer carriages, although maintaining thesame overall construction and appearance, dif­fered from gun carriages in having a slightly

Gribeauval systeDl howitzer on carriage. Note the varioussidearDls strapped to the left cheek of the carriage. (Museede l'ArDlee)

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ADlDlunition, spare wheel wagon and liDlber. Spare wheelwagons were an essential part of any artillery reserve aseither the rough terrain or the daDlage in action renderedthis the Dlost valuable cODlponent of the gun carriage.(Musee de l'ArDlee)

shorter trail. Position guns and artillery forcoastal defence and fixed fortifications were alsoof an interchangeable nature and were of variousstyles, garrison standing carriages being mountedon slide and traversing b ds. The Gribeauvalsystem also had various calibres of mortars whichwere mounted on wood or cast-iron 'beds', astheir role was not one of mobility and they weretransported when necessary on wagons.

I t is necessary to the understanding of the useof artillery during the Napoleonic Wars to knowexactly how the pieces were loaded, primed andfired, as it was these somewhat cumbersomeoperations which dictated the limits of the use ofartillery in the field. As soon as the piece arrivedat its appointed position, the gun was unlimberedand the team driven a short distance to the rear.

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The ammumtlon locker was removed from thetrail and opened. The 'number I' - normally aFirst Class Gunner or Corporal - gave the order'Chargn:.!', the only order given with respect toloading, so well did the gunners know their drill.This emphasis on gun drill was insisted upon byofficers of the Artillery, and to ensure rapidityand exactness gunners and recruits were drilledon the parade ground to perform the movementsin complete silence and in perfect time. Thisautomation helped the French artillery attain anextremely high standard of gun drill under fire,and contributed to the superiority of the Frenchartillery during Napoleon's European campaigns.

I t is easier to understand the gun drill if oneimagin'es that the first shot has already been fired,as guns usually came into action loaded. Inposition, there would be two gunners forward ofthe axle tree, one each side and two behind theaxle tree. Again one each side, with' umber I'

behind the trail to direct movement (the pointeur) ,and a gunner to the left of the breech who 'servedthe vent'.

s soon as the shot was fired, the spongemandipped the ecouvillon (a rammer with sponge on

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one end and rammer on the other) into the waterbucket and swabbed out the bore to remove anyburning particles from the previous round. Thechargeur, his opposite number in front of the axletree, placed the powder charge or fixed round intothe bore and stood back. The porte ecouvillon(spongeman) reversed the rammer and pushedthe charge home while the gunner 'serving thevent' placed his thumb, suitably protected by athumbstall, over the vent as a final precautionagainst possible sudden compression in the borewhich resulted if the ramming re-kindled anyparticle that had remained after the swabbing.

Iffixed ammunition was not used, the projectilewould be loaded next and rammed home to seaton the charge; bu t in battle the powder and chargewere often put in one after another and rammedhome with one movement, thus speeding up therate of fire considerably. The gunner 'servingthe vent' would make any adjustments to theelevation required, after which correction of lineof fire would be done by manhandling thewheels and moving the trail with handspikes.The gunner behind the wheel on the left wouldpierce the powder bag by passing a pricker down

Left: Garrison standing carriage on a slide and traversingcarriage as used in coastal forts and garrisons. This carriagecan be seen in use in the background on page 17. (Museede I"ArlDee)

the vent and would then 'prime' the vent withei ther a tu be of priming powder or loose powder.On the command 'Fire!' the opposite numberwould plunge a burning port-fire on to the vent,igniting the priming agent which in turn lit themain charge. Before the order to fire was given,gunners behind the axle tree stood well back toavoid injury from the recoil of the piece. The gunor howitzer would then have to be manhandledback into its previous position to be re-loaded.

The French pieces were more cumbersomethan those of the Bri tish, especially the 9 pdr gunsof the Royal Horse Artillery which employed theCongreve 'block' or solid trail as opposed to thedouble bracket carriage. As the battle wore onand casualties reduced the detachment or fatiguebecame acute, gunners would frequently neglectto haul the guns back into position. At Waterlooone British gunner officer summed up this situationfamiliar to all gunners when he wrote ' ... thedepth of the ground and the exhausted state ofthe few men remaining at the guns had latterlyprevented the possibility of running them up aftereach round, so that when the action cea ed theirrecoils had brought them together in a confused

Above: Four-wheeled field forge, and indispensible piece ofequiplDent for artillery on calDpaign away froID centraldepots. (Musee de I'ArlDee)

heap.' The fatigue of the gunners can be under­stood easily when one considers that the 1'2 pdrGribeauval field gun weighed I t tons.

In battle, care was taken not to have too manyrounds of powder charges near the guns in caseof a hit by an enemy shell, and soldiers were de­tailed to bring up powder charges and shot fromcaissons stationed some way behind the batterythey served. The ammunition used for fieldartillery was round shot and shell, but when inclose contact with the enemy case and grape shotwere much more damaging, particularly againstmassed troop formations.

Round shot was a solid cast-iron ball of a pre­determined size to fit a piece of a fixed calibre;the shell was similarly a cast shot, but hollow andfilled with a bursting charge and fuse to fragmentthe case a certain time after firing. Shot was alwayscast slightly smaller than the bore of the piece itwas intended for and this difference was knownas the 'windage'. It allowed the round to be moreeasily loaded and had no noticeable effect onvelocity. Each of the above projectiles was usuallyfitted with a wooden base or ' abot' which washeld by iron strapping; this prevented the ball

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from turning over in the bore when fired andallowed a charge to be fitted to it to make 'fixedammunition'. The serge bag containing thepowder charge was opened at one end and thesabot seated in and then tied firmly with cord.Any projectile fitted with a 'sabot' could be usedfor fixed ammunition.

Case shot consisted of a container filled withmusket balls and scraps of iron. At Waterloo theFrench are said to have used case shot filled withhorseshoe nails. It was most effective againstcharging men and horses. Grape shot was alsoused but in this projectile the musket balls weresymmetrically arranged around a core in a canvasbag which was then tied with cord and tarred.Its appearance, similar to a bunch of grapes,gave it its name.

Round shot, although not explosive, wasdeadly in its effect - especially on dry groundwhere it could hit and bound forward to do more

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Above: Grape shot in its painted canvas bag with charge.This forDl of aDlDlunition was in CODlDlon use in the artniesof Europe and about the only effective answer againstDlassed bodies of troops. (Kungl. ArDleDluseum)

Left: Shell fitted to a wood 'sabot' with iron straps. Notethe threaded fuze hole. (Kungl. ArDlemuseUDl)

damage. A British surgeon noted that the Frenchround shot ' ... appears to bound like a cricketball; and we are only likely to establish its forceby the manner in which it ploughs up the ground.A poor Irish lad of the Twenty-seventh Regimentwas silly enough to call out to his comrades"Stop it, boys!"; and to endeavour to stop it withhis foot, which was smashed to pieces so as torender amputation necessary.'

An officer of the 40th. Regiment remembered atWaterloo seeing a round shot from the Frenchbatteries which' ... took off the head of CaptainFisher near me, and striking his company on theleft flank put hOTS de combat more than twenty-fivemen. This was the most destructive shot I everwitnessed during a long period of service.'

French shells also wrought havoc when theyactually exploded - not an invariable event, asFrench fuses were so bad. Captain Mercer, RoyalHorse Artillery, noted that they spluttered onthe ground where they landed before explodingbut did no serious harm, although 'harassingand inconvenient'. Soldiers sometimes kickedthe fuses ou t of the shells to render them harmless,while others picked them up and tossed themaside. Case shot and grape were hardly effectivebeyond 300 yards and rarely used over 200.One projectile the French did not possess was thespherical case shot, later named Shrapnel after

its inventor. This hollow shot filled with musketballs and a suitably fused bursting charge gavethe British artillery a decided advantage. For­tescue, the famous historian, noted that '... Asingle Shrapnel shell had been known to killevery horse in a gun team even at long range.The French hated it because they could not replyto it. ... Shrapnel, in fact, had a great deal moreto do with beating the French than he receivedcredit for. ... '

Besides the destructive qualities of the pro­jectiles there was also its psychological effect onmen under fire. With the velocity at that time, itwas possible to see the projectiles in flight;and closeness of combat also made it possible tosee the French artillery loading and firing. EnsignLeeke of the 52nd Regiment, when aged onlyseventeen, saw the French gunners 'at Waterloosponging ou t the barrel prior to reloading andsaw it pointed at his square. ' .... When it wasdischarged I caught sight of the ball whichappeared to be in a direct line for me. I thought,shall I move? No. I gathered myself up and stoodfirm ... I do not know the rapidity with whichcannonballs fly, but I think that two secondselapsed from the time I saw this shot leaving thegun until it struck the front face of the square... .' This shot hit four men. While shells couldkill and maim when they exploded, round shotbounded and smashed its way through the ranksby its sheer velocity, cutting men in half anddecapitating others. Physically and psychologic­ally it was a 'man stopper'.

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Small portable field forge usually carried on a cart ordismantled and stored in the spare wheel wagon. (Musee deI Armee)

SYSTEM AN.XI

The committee assembled on the command ofthe First Consul, Napoleon, deliberated on theproblems and drawbacks of the Gribeauvalsystem, which had also been adopted by theSpanish and Bavarian artilleries. Members ad­vocated the lightening of the field pieces and ageneral revision of the calibres in use, the reductionin number of the various sized wheels and thecreation of a mountain artillery, amongst otherthings. The committee continued, however, tostudy the various problems seriously when theFirst Consul pressed for some material result. In1803, as a consequence of this pressure, the com­mittee recommended the manufacture of a 6 pdrfield gun courte de campagne, designated System An.XI(Year eleven of the Republican Calendar ­September 23 1803/04). The calibre was chosento combat the problem of the lightness of the 4 pdrand the heaviness of the 8 pdr and also as aconvenient means of using the large supplies ofcarriages, shot, shell and pieces captured fromthe enemies of France, who nearly all adhered tothe system used by the British (i.e. 3,6,9 and 12pdr field pieces). The French 6 pdr, which wasrushed into production without trials and whichutilised the carriages and equipment of theGribeauval system to maintain interchangeability,was soon receiving adverse comments from theartillery, and reports of its poor performance andthe quality of manufacture soon reached thecommittee. Eventually the short 6 pdr wasabandoned. The System An.XI did, however,reduce the number of sizes of wheels for fieldartillery to three, and regulated the types ofpieces for the various artillery formations. Moun­tain artillery were to have 3 and 6 pdrs (short) anda light 24 pdr howitzer capable of being carriedon sleds or packed on mules; siege and fortressartillery were to have 12 and 24 pdr guns and a24 pdr field howitzer, while the Coastal artillerywere to have 24 and 36 pdrs and mortars.

The wood carriages of the Gribeauval systemwere painted a shade of 'dirty green' by mixing2,500 grammes of yellow ochre with 30 grammesof black paint, although the Bavarians whojoined Napoleon in 1809 preferred to paint theircarriages a shade of ligh t blue. Brass barrels were

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Gyn for lifting off or placing on barrels on their carriages.(Musee de l'Arm.ee)

usually kept dull on campaign, and metal and ironfittings on the carriages were painted black. Theusual complement of horses was six in pairs inpole draught (although some carriages employedshafts when a single horse or one in front ofanother were used). In the French Artillery thetwo rear horses were harnessed to the singlecentral pole with the other four horses joined tothe cen tral pole by harness and traces to the barson the front end of the pole.

To keep pace with the constant demand formore weapons and pieces of artillery, factorieswere set up all over France. In Paris alone therewere 258 ironworks, and cannon workshops wereestablished in barges on the River Seine. A largegunpowder factory was constructed in the Grenelleplain to supply the needs of the army and anational search was undertaken for sources of

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Top: Garrison gun on a two-wheel and rear truck carriagemounted on a recoil platform.. (Musee de I'Armee)

Above: Ammunition wagon (Musee de l'Arm.ee)

saltpetre, the main ingredient for gunpowder.Bronze for casting cannon was obtained by anymeans. Church bells were requisitioned and alarge traffic was set up via Swi tzerland, exchangingoxen for bronze. The oxen eventually ended upfeeding the Austrian army! This rapid increase inarmaments did not run smoothly; inexperiencedcasters, fraudulent factory owners and mis­appropriation of metal resulted in large numbersof faulty or defective pieces reaching the artillery.To remedy this an engineer officer, Prieur de laCote-d'Or, was ordered to co-ordinate the nation'sarms effort. By his strenuous efforts a fairlyefficient system had been established by the time

apoleon created himself Emperor of the Frenchin 1804.

apoleon considered that an army could neverhave too many pieces of artillery and 'L'actionmassee de L'artillerie est seuLe capabLe d'amener Ladecision.' (The massed action of artillery alone iscapable of deciding the outcome.)

{9rganisation ofthelmperial~rtillery 1804-1815

In May 1804 the French senate voted apoleonEmperor of the French, a title confirmed by apublic plebiscite - and the seal was set on elevenyears of turmoil in Europe. The Artillery wasone of the most complex of organisations and atthe beginning of the Empire consisted of theArtillery of the Guard, eight foot regiments, sixhor.;e regiments, eight battalions of artillerytrain, two battalions of pontonniers or bridgebuilders, fifteen companies of artificers, thirteencompanies of veteran gunners, 130 coastal com­panies and seventeen Colonial companies (createdin April 1804 to defend French colonies).

One of the crack units of the Imperial army, onef the most richly dressed and best horsed, was

created in April 1806 from the light artillery ofthe Consular Guard formed in November 1799.This was the ArtiLlerie a chevaL de La Garde, whichobtained the pick of men and materials. Its skilland manreuvrability was unsurpassed in theArtillery and the pointeurs, the' umber I s' of theguns, frequently had fifteen to twenty yearsservice and were experts in their art. Every yeara contest was held between the best of gunners,some of whom were able to fire three rounds aminute, no mean feat when one considers thecomplicated loading drill previously described.The horse artillery of the Guard consisted ofthree squadrons, each of two companies composedofninety-seven officers, non-commissioned officersand men. In 1808 the Horse Artillery of theGuard was reduced to two squadrons, but wasaugmented in 1813 by the inclusion of a YoungGuard company. In July 1814 it was disbanded,but on Napoleon's return from Elba was hastilyreformed, four companies strong each with sixguns.

The ArtiLlerie apied de La Garde was not formeduntil April 1808 and consisted of six companiesof gunners and a company of ouvriers-pontonniersresponsible for bridge building. The establish­ment of the artillery companies was fixed at fourofficers, ten non-commissioned officers, twenty

first-class gunners, forty-eight gunners and twodrummers. In 1809, a further three companieswere added by the creation of the Young Guardcom panies. The ArtiLlerie apied de La Garde reachedits peak in 1813, consisting of six Old Guardcompanies, sixteen Young Guard companies anda company of ouvriers-pontonniers. When apoleonreturned from Elba, the ArtiLlerie apied de La Gardeonly managed to muster six companies.

The Horse Artillery of the Line was six regi­ments strong in 1804 but increased to seven in18IO by the addition of two companies of Dutchhorse artillery incorporated into the Frencharmy. No sooner was this done than the 7thregiment was disbanded and the various com­panies absorbed by the I st and 4th regiments.Usually each regiment consisted of six companiesplus a depot company. The Foot Artillery of theLine had eight regiments in 1804 and wasincreased to nine in 1810 when it absorbed theDutch artillery. Originally each regiment con­sisted of twenty-two companies, but by 1813 thenumber increased to twenty-eight.

Besides the Horse and Foot Artillery of theGuard and Line, there were a number of otherunits which made up the functional artillery arm.Besides the Artillery Train, there were the variouscompanies of veterans and garrison gunners andthe Canonniers garde cotes, the coastal gunners whomanned the various coastal installations andfortifications. By the time of the First Empire,this force had grown to 145 companies of 121

men and two officers, plus nineteen companies ofveterans and thirty-three companies of garrison

/..

Spare wheel wagon open showing anllnunition storedinside. (Musee de l'Annee)

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Making the Jtlodel for casting ordnance. One of the nUJtl­erous coJtlplicated and tiJtle consuJtling tasks necessary forthe Jtlanufacture of ordnance. Here the workJtlen are

gunners. The Artillery Train of the Line boastedten battalions in 1804 rising to fourteen in 18 I 0

with the inclusion of the Dutch artillery train.The Train des equipages of the Line and Guard,not to be confused with the Train, fielded twenty­two battalions in 1812 (including an ambulancebattalion) and had sole charge over drivers,repair of material, care of the harness andequipment, supervision of the artillery park andsupply wagons. In 1812, the Battalion du Train desequipages de la Garde was formed to supply thesame service to the Artillery of the Guard. Thethree companies divided their work of supervisingtransport of the Guard, the first in charge ofbaggage, documents and forges, the second incharge of the ambulances and the third in chargeof the commissary wagons. The entire unitcomprised just over 800 officers and men.

In 181 I the Imperial Artillery consisted ofnine foot regiments of twenty-two companies, sixhorse artillery regiments of seven companies (the6th regiment had eight) twenty-seven Trainbattalions of six companies, seventeen companies

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shaping the Jtlodel Jtlade froJtl a Jtlixture of sand and horsedung placed on a forJtler and shaped with a teJtlplate. FroJtlthis Jtlodel a Jtlould was Jtlade to take the Jtlolten Jtletal

of pontonniers, nineteen companies of artificers,and five companies of armourers representing atotal effective of over 8,000 officers and men, notincluding the nineteen companies ofveterans and178 companies of coastal gunners which addedup to a further 20,000 men. The artillery wasdistributed in the army as follows. Each infantrydivision had attached to it a foot artillery com­pany equipped with six 6 pdrs and two howitzers,plus a company of horse artillery with four 6 pdrsand two howitzers whose role was to arrive at anarranged position and open fire, giving the footgunners time to march up. The reserve for anarmy corps consisted of two foot divisions of sixcannon of 12 pdr calibre and two howitzers, plusthe artillery park. A horse artillery battery wasattached to every light cavalry division and twobatteries to a heavy cavalry division, while theArtillery of the Guard formed the entire reservefor the whole army. 'Au combat' said Napoleon,'l'artillerie de la Garde fournit partout.' (In battle,the artillery of the Guard supplies everywhere.)

Unlike the Royal Artillery, Napoleon's Artillery

carried colours and were awarded battle honoursfor their contribution to the Imperial victories.The Horse Artillery of the Guard and Line hadguidons whereas the regiments of Foot Artilleryofthe Guard and the Line had colours orstandards.However, this distinguishing difference wasabolished in 1813, and all carried a colour basedon the national tricolour flag.

The horse artillery guidons prior to 1812 had acentral design of a white lozenge with leaf motifedging, with a blue corner next to the staff atthe top and a red outer top corner; blue outerbottom corner and red corner nearest the staff.Each of these corners carried the regimentalnumber in a circle of laurels for the line regimentsand a hunting horn in the laurels for the Guard.In the lozenge in gold was the usual inscription'L'EMPEREUR DES FRANr;AIS AU [numberof regiment] REGT D'ARTILLERIE A CHEVALDE LA GARDE [or LA LIGNE] IMPERIAL'.The reverse °bore the normal 'VALEUR ETDISCIPLINE' and the squadron number. Thestaff was surmounted by an Imperial eagle on atablet with the squadron or regimental number.Guard regiments were distinguished by having aneagle above 'VALEUR ET DISCIPLINE' onthe reverse. The foot regiments followed thesame design but on a colour.

In 18 I 3, the tricolour was universally adoptedand bore on the front the same inscription asabove, and battle honours on the reverse. Honoursfound on artillery colours include the followingfor the Napoleonic and Revolutionary Wars:Austerlitz (1805), Danzig (1807), Friedland(1807), Genes (1800), Heliopolis (1800), Hohen­linden (1800), Jemmapes (1792), Jena (1806),Lutzen (1813), Marengo (1800), La Moskowa(1812), Saragosse (1809), Wagram (1809), Wis­sem bourg (1793) and Zurich (1700). There werealso other honours including Vienne, Essling andMadrid which were later dispensed with. Theartillery standard of Napoleon's Corps des Guides(his personal bodyguard before the creation ofthe Imperial Guard) carried the following,roughly eq uivalen t to the Bri tish mottos 'Ubique.Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt': 'REPQUE FRANr;SE.PARTOUT L'ARTILLERIE S'EST COMBLEEDE GLOIRE.' (French Republic. Everywherethe Artillery covers itself with glory.)

Soldier of the train of the Guard. From a drawing by Charlet.Note the harness and the large wood horse collar.

The uniforms of the artillery were always bluewith distinctive scarlet cuffs, a combination thatwas also utilised by other countries such asBri tain and Prussia. More often than not,especially during the Peninsular War and thedisastrous Russian campaign of 1812, soldiers,and officers, were forced to wear what they couldget. Because of the French system of living offthe land, in Spain especially, where enormousnumbers of men were constantly required toguard the lines of communication with France,supplies of new uniforms took months to arriveand the soldiers wore whatever they could pickup, whether civilian or military. The Frenchwere not alone in this. The British Army was alsoa motley sight, many men wearing pieces ofFrench uniform, and undoubtedly there werenumbers of French soldiers sporting items ofBritish uniforms and equipment.

While French gunners wore blue uniforms, theirAllies, as will be seen, retained their nationalcolours. Blue was not only the colour for Napoleon'sgunners, but most of his army wore it. 'La couleurbleue est la meilleure' Napoleon stated, ' ... C'estd'ailleurs celle sous lequelle nous sommes connus enEurope.' (The colour blue is the best. ... I tis,after all, the colour by which we are known inEurope.) All the Artillery, except the Garde Cotes

15

16

Gunner of the IDlperial Guard talking to a SalJeur de Genie orengineer of the IDlperial Guard

used scarlet facings; this latter ancient branch ofthe French artillery had their uniforms faced withsea green, apparently a temperamental colourwhich appears as differing shades in a number ofcontemporary prints. Their distinctions includedcro sed cannon and an anchor on their shakoplate, buttons and pouch badge. In 1812 theGarde Cotes abandoned their sea green facings forscarlet, similar to the foot artillery.

Well organised artillery was appreciated byapoleon who realised the great contribution it

made to his victories. Glorious infantry andcavalry charges might carry the day in the end,but the solid dependable might of a massedbombardment was an indispensible factor to anybattle. In exile on St Helena, Napoleon declaredtha t 'L' Artillerie aujourd'hui fait la veritable destineedes armees et des peuples'. (Artillery today governsthe true destiny of armies and nations.)

~oIe01lsru'!l/iesAs the French extended their firm hold overEurope, they acquired by force or otherwiseallies and satellite states who were by agreementor by conquest obliged to supply men for

apoleon's Grande Armee. Not all were able tosupply artillery units, many smaller states con­tenting themselves with offering infantry andperhaps cavalry.

SWITZERLAND Under a treaty of alliancesigned at Fribourg on 27 September 1803, theSwiss supplied the French army with 16,000 troopsconsisting of four regiments, and four companiesof artillery who were dressed in a similar fashionto the French, blue with red facings and piping.With Switzerland's contribution, the Neuchatelbattalion of Marshal Berthier and the Valaisbattalions must be included. The Valais battalionneed not concern us, as while they agreed tosupply infantry, they possessed no artillery.

euchatel was under the King of Prussia until itwas ceded to France in 1806 and declared aprincipality under Marshal Berthier. On I I May1807 the battalion was formed which includedone company of artillery. While the rest of thebattalion was dressed in yellow faced red (re-

Gunner of the Garde Cotes and a cUStOIDS officer. FroID adrawing by Martinet. Note the other gunners in the back­ground and the coastal gun lDounted on the carriage asshown on page 8.

suiting in the nickname Les canaris (the canaries),the artillery wore blue with yellow collar and cuffs.The artillery also had its own complement ofengineers and Artillery Train, the latter dressedin blue with yellow collar but grey cuffs. Thedrivers wore buckskin breeches and the gunnerswore blue breeches with yellow side-stripes andblack gaiters. The shako followed the FrenchArtillery style. The battalion fought against theAustrians in 180g, and served in Spain until with­drawn for the 1812 Russian campaign. Theyfought for Napoleon until the end, the remnantsbeing disbanded on I June 1814. The equipmentwas of the French Gribeauval pattern.

GRAND DUCHY OF WARSAW After theTreaty of Tilsit the Grand Duchy was createdand the artillery brought up to three battalionsconsisting of three foot artillery companies withsix guns each, a transport company and a com­pany of sappers. In 180g the foot artillery wasorganised into a single regiment. The gunnerswore the typical French shako and had dark greencoats and trousers with red epaulettes and piping.The horse artillery was not formed until 1808 andthen at the personal expense of Count Potocki.At first it was only company strength but by 18IOit had grown to a regiment. Up to thi date, darkgreen coat and overalls were worn with the Polish

17

lancer's czapka which sported a red plume. In1810 the uniform was altered to that worn bythe French Chasseurs acheval with fur busby withred cords and bag.

BADEN In July 1808, Baden, as part of theiragreement as a member of the Confederation ofthe Rhine, supplied a regiment of infantry and abattery of artillery for Spain. They also took partin the Russian campaign of 1812. The Badencontingent was disbanded in 1814 and returnedhome. The gunners wore a black crested leatherhelmet with brass fittings (raupenhelm) , a blue coatfaced black with red turnbacks, brass buttons andbrass metal epaulettes, grey waistcoat and breecheswith black gaiters.

WESTPHALIA The Kingdom of Westphalia,created by Napoleon for his brother Jerome inAugust 1807, entered the Confederation of theRhine the following year and supplied a largenumber of troops of all arms to the Emperor.The artillery were clothed and equipped as theFrench artillery but incorporated the cypher JNrather than the Imperial N of the Emperor.

BAVARIA The Bavarians provided a largenumber of men of all arms who fought for theFrench in Europe and in Russia in 1812, wherethey were almost annihilated. The Bavarianartillery was dressed as their French counterpartexcept that they retained the crested leatherraupenhelm with brass fittings, a national cockadeof white and light blue and a red plume. The darkblue coats had red collars and cuffs and blacklapels. In bad weather a light grey greatcoat wasworn. The Train wore light grey with sky bluefacings, light grey overalls with sky blue stripeon the outer seam. The horse artillery branchwere dressed like light cavalry and also retainedthe crested helmet.

HOLLAND The Emperor created Louis Bona­parte King of Holland in 1806 and the Dutchuniforms were modelled on those of the French.In 18 10, however, the various uni ts of the Dutcharmy including the horse and foot artillery wereincorporated into the French army and lost alltraces of individuality.

WURTTEMBERG In 1806, when Wiirttem­berg joined the Confederation of the Rhine, her

18

artillery had only 466 officers and men. By 1809,however, it could boast of three batteries withtwenty-two guns. When the Wiirttembergartillerymarched to invade Russia there were two horseartillery and two foot artillery batteries, all ofwhich were lost during the disastrous retreat.In 1813 a battery of horse and foot artillery werere-raised, but after the battle of Leipzig Wiirttem­berg changed sides and joined the Allies againstFrance. The gunners wore the distinctive raupen­helm, and although dressed in the French stylehad thejacket in a distinctive light blue with blackcollar and cuffs and black lapels; these wereabandoned in 1810, and replaced with light bluehalf-lapels piped in yellow. Light blue breecheswere worn with black gaiters. The Horse Artillerywere similarly dressed but had brass shoulderscales in place of epaulettes or shoulder straps.In 1813, when re-raised, the raupenhelm wasabandoned in favour of the French pattern shakowith yellow cords. The Wiirttemberg GuardArtillery wore light blue uniforms with blackfacings and the front edged in white and adornedwith six bars of white tape.

KLEVE-BERG Marshal Murat, who had theGrand Duchy of Kleve-Berg bestowed on him in1806, entered the Confederation of the Rhinethe following year. Amongst the 5,000 troopsaiding the Imperial cause were five companiesof artillery which marched with the Grande Armeeinto Russia in 1812. The gunners wore the Frenchstyle shako with red ball tuft and white cords.The habit veste in blue, closed to the waist, hadred collar and cuffs and the front piped red in aplastron shape with brass buttons.

SAXONY Over 20,000 Saxons were with theGrande Armee that invaded Russia in 1812,amongst them units of infantry, cavalry and artil­lery. The Saxon artillery were dressed in greenwith red facings and piping, a traditional colourthat had been introduced at the beginning of theeighteenth century and which remained in useuntil 1914.

Facing: French army preparing to cross the St Bernard Pass.Note the gunners in the foreground dismounting theirequipment and artificers fitting barrels into hewn out treetrunks. A field forge can be seen at the end of the convoy ofmules laden with wheels and ammunition chests. (Museede Versailles)

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Bavarian artillery at the siege of Breslau, 1806. Detail fromthe painting by W. von Kobel. Various details of dress areshown as weD as the equipment. Note the gunners carryinga pistol in a holster on the right side, also the two officersmounted who are not wearing cloaks

The Kingdom of Naples also supplied largecontingents of troops when Napoleon's brother­in-law Joachim Murat succeeded Joseph Bona­parte as King in 1806, the latter taking over theSpanish throne. Many of the smaller members ofthe Confederation of the Rhine such as Saxe­Coburg-Saalfeld, Oldenberg, Frankfurt, Waldeck,Nassau and Liepe-Detmold to name a few, wereonly obliged to supply foot soldiers.

The main problem facing the French was thesupply of suitable shot and shell for the pieces asnot all the Emperor's Allies utilised the Gribeauvalsystem. Some adopted the Prussian artillery whileothers preferred the Austrian pieces, both systemscoinciding with that used by Britain. A serious

20

effort was made to use only the French system inorder to avoid the obvious headache of numerouscalibres in one army for the Quarter Masters.

The contribution made by the allied states andsatellites was considerable, especially in Spainbut above all during the Russian campaign in1812. Unfortunately for Napoleon the disastrousresults of that campaign in terms of prestige, man­power and equipment caused a general coolingof relationships within the Empire, and a numberof states began to think twice about their alliancewith the French. The Bavarians changed sidesin 1812, and infantry of other German statessuch as Frankfurt-am-Main and Nassau desertedto the British in 1813.

Jrtilleryin tlle'Reolutionary

mrs1792-18°4The Revolutionary Wars cover the period fromthe outbreak of hostilities between the Frenchand the Prussians and Austrians to the timeNapoleon, who had distinguished himself first atthe capture of Toulon, was created Emperor.

Already the entire nation had been 'mobilized'for war by a law of 23 August 1793. 'The youngmen shall fight; the married men shall forgeweapons and transport supplies; the women willmake tents and clothes and will serve in hospitals;the children will make up old linen into lint; theold men will have themselves carried into thepublic squares and rouse the courage of the

fighting men, to preach the unity of the Republicand hatred against kings.... ' While the Frenchdedication to total war gave them a markedadvantage over the conscripted armies of Prussiaand Austria, it was the use ofnew fighting methodswhich yielded the victories which firmly estab­lished the Revolution.

apoleon with his army of Italy, to whichwere attached only 30 pieces ofartillery and about1,500 effective horses, showed how the combineduse of artillery and infantry could gain the day.Speed was the essence of any of apoleon'svictories, together with a thorough knowledge ofhis enemies, the terrain and the order of battle.Little was left to chance. He used the artillery inthe field as he would have done at a siege, byconcentrating his firepower at the beginning of abattle on one given point. 'Once the breach ismade' Napoleon said, 'the balance is upset,everything else becomes useless and the place canbe taken.... One must not dissipate one'sattacks.'

A large calibre Dlortar DlOunted on a cast iron bed dated11109. Note the cut out at the front of the bed on which a barcould be placed to raise the barrel.

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Napoleon clung to this theory, and during theyears 1807-15, when the quality of his infantrybegan to decline, he put more emphasis on themassed use of artillery. However, during thisperiod his enemies, who had at first been slowto grasp the new methods of warfare utilised bythe French and to realise the advantages gainedby the useofmassed batteries, replied to Napoleon'suse ofartillery with a devastating fire of their own.While massed artillery as a prelude to a spiritedinfantry attack with cavalry support admirablysuited the Emperor, this accumulation and con­centration of guns which the French found in­dispensible was considered unsuitable by theDuke of Wellington. A defensive action, whichwas nearly always Wellington's strategy, calledfor artillery support on a wide front rather thana concentration which offered a single massedtarget for the enemy gunners.

By 1800, most countries had accepted the useof mobile or horse artillery, but their mainartillery effective lay with the marching battalionsand the batteries, whose slow and lumberingmovements were an accepted part of war.Napoleon, however, was not content to be sloweddown by any incumbrance, and his planning anddecisive action in his early battles was due to hissuperior speed and positioning. Every arm hadto be self-sufficient and to be able to move at afaster pace than the enemy. Manreuvrability wasthe essential ingredient on which Napoleon basedhis calculation, his planning and his success.

While the French artillery was not superior toany other, and often inferior in material andmanpower, its application was far and awaysuperior. French powder might well have beencriticised as not being so pure as that of theBritish, and its ran?;¥' not so great, but the decidedcontribution of the artillery to the early victoriesof the French is undeniable.

The offensive spirit of the French army and theartillery was in direct contrast to the slow, ponder­ous and defensive tactics of the Austrians andPrussians, who were soundly beaten atJemmapeson 6 November 1792, at Wattignies the followingyear, and at a number of other battles. Theattacking spirit of the French sometimes got alittle out ofhand and at Wattignies a horse batterywhich advanced too far was captured after the

22

gunners had spiked their guns. The first 'artillerycharge' was made at the battle of Arlon, when acertain Captain Sorbier led his battery in a chargeagainst a so-far unbreakable Austrian sq uare.Cavalry often avoided attacking squares as it wasunprofitable, but for horse artillery to charge asquare was unthinkable. The French gunnersbroke the square and opened the way for thecavalry. (Captain Norman Ramsey of the RoyalHorse Artillery had probably heard of Sorbier'sexploit when he modified it slightly and chargedthrough the French cavalry which surroundedhis troop at Fuentes de Onero in May 181 I, andso saved his guns.)

The Artillery were actively engaged on theRhine during 1796-7, aiding the French inwinning the bridgeheads, while in Italy, Napoleonwith his ragged and badly equipped army waswinning victory after victory, using massedartillery in preliminary bombardments to batterthe enemy before launching the infantry attack.If at first, lack of pieces made the bombardmentless effective than Napoleon would have liked,later campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars weremarked by artillery duels of unprecedentedstrength. (At Borodino, according to one Russianhistorian, the battle started ' .... with a terriblecannonade of twelve hundred guns, which washeard one hundred kilometres around.' At Water­loo in 1815, Napoleon's preliminary bombard­ment with 80 guns seems feeble by comparison.)

One of the most spectacular feats accomplishedby Napoleon wi th artillery was his passage overthe St Bernard, which completely surprised theAustrians who were threatening Genoa. Artillerywas dismounted and every single piece of equip­ment including barrels, trails, and wheels wastaken over the Alps. Trees were cut down andhewn out to encase the barrels and pulled asrudimentary sledges. Thevenin's painting in theMusee de Versailles shows the gunners, both footand horse, fitting the barrels of cannon andhowitzers into the hollowed logs, while the trailsand carriages are manhandled on to horses andmules in preparation for the historic march.Fragonard's engraving shows the barrel of a fieldpiece being hauled up the Alps under the watchfuleye of the First Consul.

The Austrians, surprised by the arrival of

Passage over the St Bernard Pass showing the gunnersusing handspikes to assist in getting a barrel on a tree trunkover.

Napoleon's army and finding themselves sur­rounded, attacked the French on 14 June atMarengo. Unfortunately for the French not alltheir artillery had arrived, and at the end of theday the Austrian superiority in artillery forcedthe French to retire, Napoleon having onlyfifteen pieces against the Austrians' hundred or so.The Austrians were so confident of victory thattheir General Melas had already despatched acourier to Vienna (and, mysteriously, the newswas also already en route for Paris), but for Napoleonthe day was not yet over. He hastily summonedGeneral Desaix, whose corps he had detachedfrom the army the previous day, and in due coursethe fresh troops and artillery arrived to give theFrench a resounding victory. The fire of a massedbattery of eighteen guns smashed into theAustrian columns and the infantry and cavalrypursued and harassed the dispirited Austrians,clinching the victory.

1he:J\f!goleonicmrs1804-1815

France had virtually ground Europe to its knees,and by the Treaty of Amiens in 1802 all hostilitiesceased and a new phase in the history of Europedawned. An insignificant junior artillery officer,by sheer brains, willpower and know-how hadrisen to become First Consul and, in effect,dictator of France.

The uneasy peace, which endured but tenmonths, ended in Britain's blockade of theContinent and Napoleon's retaliatory moves andpreparations for invasion. Establishing a camp atBoulogne, he ammassed troops and equipmentready for his cross-Channel assault. A large batteryof imposing mortars, with a range of little over

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'The battle of Marengo by L. F. Lejeune. The infantryadvance as the gunners on the right of the picture continueto fire into the enemy. The team, gunners and officers areofthe Consular Guard Artillery and wear, except for drivers,a light cavalry style of uniform. (Musee de Versailles)

1,500 yards, was assembled and poin ted threaten­ingly towards England. The Emperor's dream ­for it could not be considered a serious reality inview of Britain's naval superiority - was aban­doned when in August 1805 he took the initiativeand marched eastward against the newly recruitedmembers of the Third Coalition.

As the Emperor and his army, with 350 piecesof artillery, marched from Boulogne into Ger­many, the Austrian army under General Mackadvanced into Bavaria. Napoleon's army com­prised 186,000 men divided into seven army corps,each with their own infantry, cavalry and artillery.This gave Bonaparte the flexibility he needed todefeat the Austrians. While Mack was waitingfor the French to appear through the BlackForest, Napoleon passed to the north with part of

24

his army and cut the Austrians from Vienna,while the other army corps completed the en­circling of the enemy. The French inflicted severaldefeats on the Austrians who clashed with themin an attempt to break out. Eventually, on 17October, Mack capitulated; the campaign hadlasted for fourteen days and had cost the Austrians62,000 men, 80 stands of colours and 200 piecesof artillery.

The news of the defeat of the combined Frenchand Spanish fleets at Trafalgar confrontedNapoleon with the need for rapid militarydecisions. He had beaten the Austrians, but theAustrian armies were re-grouping and formingwith those of Russia. Prussia, until now a neutral,was swaying uneasily on the brink about to jointhe Coalition. Napoleon hastily set his army inmotion and entered Vienna without oppositionon 13 November. Resting for two days, he pushedon to find the concentrated armies of Russia andAustria who were now near Olmutz, ninety miles

MICHAEL ROFFE

3

Gunner, Foot Artillery, 1804

2 Gunner, Foot Artillery of the Line, 1807

3 Officer, Horse Artillery, 1804

A

B

Officer, Horse Artilleryof the Guard, 1807

2 Sergeant-Major,Horse Artillery of theGuard,1807

2

MICHAEL ROFFE

Pioneer, Foot Artillery of the Guard, lBog

2 Driver, Artillery Train of the Guard, lBog

3 Gunner, Foot Artillery of the Guard, 1808

MICHAEL ROFFE c

Gunner, drivers and four-horse team with" 12 pdr gun andlimber, Foot Artillery of the Line, 1810

D MICHAEL ROFFE

E

F

Musician, 9th Regiment, Foot Artillery of the Line, 1811

2 Drummer, Foot Artillery of the Line, 1812

3 Gunner, Horse Artillery of the Guard, 1811

2

MICHAEL ROFFE

Driver, Artillery Train of the Guard, 1812

2 Gunner, Horse Artillery of the Line, 1812

3 Driver, Artillery Train of the Line, 1813

MICHAEL ROFFE G

H

2

3

Officer, Horse Artillery of the Line, 1813

Gunner, Foot Artillery of the Line, 1815

Gunner, Foot Artillery of the Guard, 1814

MICHAEL ROFFE

French artillery in harshconditions crossing theSierra Guadarranta. Frontthe painting by Taunay.(Musee de Versailles)

from Vienna. The combined enemy armiestotalled some 95,000 men while that of theFrench - weakened by battle and also by havingto leave troops behind to garrison and guard thelines of communication - had fallen to 80,000.

The scene was set for Napoleon's finest victory,that of Austerlitz. What Marengo had done forhim as First Consul, Austerlitz would do for himas Emperor.

Although the artillery played its usual importantrole in Napoleon's tactics at Austerlitz, it was hisskilful strategy which half-won the battle beforeit had started. In his usual fashion, Napoleonchose the field of battle and 'positioned his troopsin such a way that the enemy thought him

prepared only for a defensive action. He purposelyoffered a weak right flank for the Coalition forcesto attempt to turn, with a view to their cuttingthe French retreat from Vienna. As soon as theenemy drew strength from their centre to attackthis 'decoy', the French would strike at thatnewly weakened centre. Immediately he saw theenemy in motion, the Emperor realised that theyhad fallen for his ruse. 'Before tomorrow evening'he exclaimed, 'that army will be mine!'.

The battle was a long-drawn and bloody con­flict between three great armies. Nothing theRussians and Austrians attempted could altertheir initial mistake of falling into the Frenchtrap. Once it was sprung, the battle was lost. In

25

the centre and on their left the French weremasters of the field, the retreating Austrian andRussian troops being harassed by the artillery ofthe Imperial Guard ' ... whose fire ploughedthrough their long columns, carrying with itdeath and consternation.' On the right, the onlyway of escape lay across the frozen Lake Menitz.' ... I nan ins tan t the whi te expanse was blackenedby the flying multitude. The most horribledisastrous phase of the whole battle was at hand.The shot of the French artillery which was firingon the retreat broke the ice at many points, andits frail support gave way.... Thousands of

Russians, with horses, artillery and train sankinto the lake and were engulfed .... '

Recriminations between the allies ensued afterthe battle. The Russians accused the Austriansof incapacity and even treason. In a report tothe Em peror of Russia, one general wrote: 'They[the Austrian generals] conducted your majesty'sarmy rather in a way to deliver it to the enemy°than to fight. ... ' Some considered that Napoleonknew the disposition of the Allied forces, whichhe undoubtedly did, but the Russians could notadmit to being duped. 'The plan had beentreacherously communicated to Bonaparte; forty-

'The attack and capture of Ratisbone' 180g. While the troopsare moving forward with scaling ladders, the artillery, inthe middle, still continue to pound the walls. The officerwatching the gunners is wearing the pelisse. From thepainting by Thevenin (Musee de Versailles)

26

eight hours before we were ready, the latter beganthe attack at break of day.... '

On 4 December an armistice was agreed andon Christmas Eve 1805 the Peace of Presburgwas signed. By his brilliant strategy at Austerlitz,Napoleon seemed to have made himself master ofCentral Europe. The following year, in attemptingto make peace with Russia, the French were atwar with Prussia. The Prussians, like the Austriansthe year before, did not allow time for the Russianstojoin them, resulting in the twin defeats atJenaand Auerstadt. Once again the French victorywas due to the superior tactics of the Emperorand his skilled balancing of the three combatarms.

While Napoleon realised the value of artillery,he also appreciated its value to his enemies, eventhough they used it with less skill than he. AtLandsberg in October 1805 the 26th Cuirassierscharged and surprised Prince Ferdinand's Austrianartillery, so crippling it as to prevent its taking anymajor part in the battle. Napoleon's carefulapplication of his artillery was not confined tothe attack. The night before the battle ofJ ena in1806 Napoleon had his pioneers enlarge a smallpathway to the Landgrafenberg plateau to enablehis artillery to attain thei r posi tions and su rprise

the enemy. He personally stood holding a lanternthroughout the night, as the gunners struggledand toiled, cursed and heaved their pieces intoplace. With the aid of twelve horse teams, theartillerymen attained their objective and wereready at daybreak to open a heavy bombardment.

At Eylau in February 1807, where Napoleonwas at a disadvantage with artillery - he hadbarely 200 pieces against the Russian 400 - hesuccessfully used it in a defensive role and won aclose victory. Alfred Rambaud in his History ofRussia (1882) described the morning of the battleand the setback experienced by Augereau'sdivisions. 'A thick snow was falling, which ever,and anon hid the battle-field from sight; the skywas of a livid gray; the landscape was as gloomyas the result of the action. The battle began by aformidable cannonade, which lasted all day. TheFrench, sheltered by the buildings of the town ofEylau, and disposed in thin lines, suffered from itless than the Russians, who had little cover, andwere ranged in compact masses. The corps ofAugereau and the division of Saint Hilaire,entrusted with the attack on the Russian leftwing, went astray, blinded by a squall of snow;when the sky cleared, the twodivisionsofAugereaufound themselves opposite the Russian centre,

French Horse Artillery ntanhandling a gun and lintber overdifficult terrain. The shortage of horses, on occasion madeit necessary to reduce teants front six to four. (ParkerGallery)

27

forty paces from a battery of seventy-two guns;mown down at the cannon's mouth, they lost ina few minutes five thousand two hundred men.'Luckily the twenty-four pieces of the HorseArtillery of the Guard, with those of the cavalryand 7th Corps reserve, were able to stop thecounterattack of the Russians. The Emperorhimself urged on the gunners, and as at Toulonfourteen years before, took the rammer, loadedand trained the field pieces. 'The French' wroteRambaud, 'had more right to call themselvesvictorious, as they remained masters of the fieldof battle. Unlike the Russians, some of theirtroops were still intact ... and a gloomy sadnesshung over the survivors.' Napoleon in his despatchmentioned the thousands of heaped-up corpsesand the gunners killed beside the pieces, ' ... allthrown into relief by a background of snow.'

The Russians fell back towards their own fron­tiers pursued by the French, and although theEmperor's troops were checked at the beginningof June at Heilsberg, they were victorious atFriedland four days later.

To offset the poor manocuvring powers of theirinfantry the Russians utilised great numbers ofcannon, but they never attained anything likethe advantage Napoleon obtained from hisartillery. At Eylau, as we have seen, he wascompletely outnumbered in cannon, but by asuperior application managed to carry the day.

At Friedland, Senarmont's remarkable use ofartillery finally opened the way for the infantryassault. Napoleon himself, seeing Senarmont'saccomplishment, remarked to an ADC 'Theseartillerymen are an unruly lot who see things attimes better than we; let them carryon.' TheRussian army was forced back across the river,battered by grape shot and harassed by cavalry.'Ney led this charge with irresistible fury', wroteRambaud, 'the Russians were riddled by hisartillery at one hundred and fifty paces ... heburnt Friedland with his shells, and carronadedthe bridges, which was their [the Russians] onlyway of retreat.' The Russians lost about 25,000men and all their artillery and, unable to resist

apoleon, proposed an armistice which wassigned at Tilsit on 22 June.

If the use of artillery at Friedland in 1807 hadbeen spectacular, its employment at Wagram in

28

July 1809 was superb. After the defeat at Esslingon 21 and 22 June, the French were forced toretire across the Danube and, luckily for apoleon,Archduke Charles made no move to take ad­vantage of the situation. At Wagram, on 6 July,the battle opened at four o'clock in the morningand again the Austrians at first appeared to havethe upper hand. Everywhere the French wereforced to give ground. apoleon reinforcedMassena and Bernadotte and sent forward theentire Artillery of the Guard. Six foot-batteriesand six horse-batteries of the Guard and fivehorse-batteries of the Line formed in column,received the order 'En avant, en batteries." (Forwardby battery!) and on a front of about 2,000 yardsa hundred cannon cut down the Austrians withdeadly accuracy, opening the way for the infantry.By three o'clock the Austrians had lost theinitiative. The decisive charge of the artillery hadwon the day. During forty hours nearly 1,100pieces of artillery of both sides battered oneanother, the French alone firing 100,000 roundsofvarious types ofammunition. However, Wagramcould never be considered a second Austerlitz.With trouble in Spain still continuing, theEmperor decided that Wagram had ended thecampaign and a peace was signed on II July 1809.

Spain continued to be a problem for the Frenchand demanded the attention of large numbers oftroops and much-needed artillery, but apoleonwas content to consider it a side show and onlyonce visited the country. He' preferred to con­centrate on Central Europe and Russia. Britishsea domination had forced Napoleon to look eastfor territorial gain and there he saw the vastexpanse of Russia stretched before him. TheTsar's refusal to be subservient to Napoleon'swishes and demands was eventually voiced inthe words 'lor Napoleon, we cannot both ruleat the same time.... ' In March 1812 Napoleonjoined his Grande Armee at Dresden, and the Tsarjoined his at Vilna; 'This was the first move inthe great game of chess in which the interests ofall Europe were involved', wrote Sonia Howe inA Thousand Years oj Russian History (19 I 7).

apoleon crossed the iemen river on 24June;half a million infantry, 80,000 cavalry and nearly600 guns drawn from France, his Italian king­doms, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, the Con-

Above: French artillery inaction at the siege andcapture of Tarragona 29May 1811. Note that in thisartist's impression, theartillery are placed muchtoo close to the walls.(National Army Museum)

Right: Bavarian troopsincluding artillery at thebattle of Polotsk, August1812. Note the two gun andone howitzer battery in theforeground complete withits complement of teamsand ammunition wagons

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A gunner of the French Horse Artillery. This engravingshows the various parts of the uniforDl, as weD as the swordand pistol with which the gunners were arDled. (NationalArDlY MuseuDl)

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federation of the Rhine and other allies accom­panied the Emperor. The Russian generals,against their will, wisely retreated and drewNapoleon's troops into the interior of Russia.Movements were slow as the roads were bad andthe artillery suffered as a conseq uencc. Horseswere dying, but the French hoped to replacethem as was their usual practice by requisition inan enemy country. The French and Russiansclashed at Krasnoe on 14 August, the dayfollowing Napoleon's forty-third birthday, andat Smolensk on 16, 17 and 18 August in a stale­mate battle similar to Eylau.

At Borodino on 6 September Napoleon caughtup with the Russian forces. That night, for thefirst time French troops dined off dead artilleryhorses; it was an ominous sign of what was tocome. On the following morning at 5.30 anartillery battery of the Guard opened thebombardment, followed by the deafening roarofthe three massed batteries ofthe French artillery,directed at the great redoubt the Russians hadthrown up at Borodino: a total of 587 heavy fieldpieces. The infantry assaulted and captured theredoubt but a violent Russian counter-attack wasonly halted by disciplined use of the Frenchbatteries. When Murat led his Cuirassier charge,a hundred horse-artillery pieces galloped to hisaid. At the end of a day of heavy and continuousbombardment, Napoleon united his entire artil­lery effort and blasted the Russians from thefield. 'Puisqu'ils en veulent encore' said the Emperor,'donnez-leur en.' (As they seem to want more, giveit to them.) For the French it was a resoundingvictory which opened the road to Moscow, butto some it was a disquieting victory, even though587 French guns manned by 16,000 artillerymenhad outgunned 640 guns manned by 14,000artillerymen. The Russians now fell back todefend Moscow, but the question was asked, wasit necessary to sacrifice the last remaining armyin Russia to protect the city? 'It would beglorious to die under Moscow' wrote a Russianartillery officer, 'but it is not a question of glory.'

Although the French occupied Moscow theinhabitants set the city on fire. Unable - becauseof the cold and lack of supplies and horses - tomaintain such an advanced position, Napoleonretreated. It was the beginning of the end. In the

disastrous retreat thousands died of frostbite andcold, artillery was abandoned because there wereno horses left to pull it (the Polish artillery, how­ever, managed to save a large part of their equip­ment) and there was nothing to eat, the Russianshaving forced the French to revert to the areas ofcountryside already laid waste. It was a generalsignal for Europe to rise against the Emperor,and slowly the Allies closed in. At Leipzig, on 18October 18 I 3, despite massed batteries and atremendous bombardment, the French werebeaten. France, for the first time in many years,was threatened and had to be defended. Artillerywas massed on the frontiers to repel the invaders,but in vain. Despite the campaigns of 1813, andthat of the early months of 1814, French troopswere forced back from the east by the Russians,Prussians and Austrians and from the south byWellington and his Peninsular army. On 30 May1814 Napoleon abdicated, and was sent to thesmall island of Elba.

Uniform of the Ecole Pol)'tec1Illique, the leading French artilleryschool. The figure shown is in tell/It de villr or walking outdress

12 pdr gun, limber and team, complete with harness andequipment. This model was presented by Czar Nicholasto the King of Sweden. It is typical of the artillery in useduring the Napoleonic wars and shows the method oflimbering and harnessing. (Kungl. Armemuseum)

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mterloo G'ampaign/8/5

On 20 March 1815 apoleon, who had landed atAntibes from his exile on Elba, entered Paris.This tim he wanted peace, but the Allies, waryof apoleon's power and ambitions, decided onwar. Amassing men and equipment, recallingthe National Guard, the veterans and garrisongunners, he re-formed his artillery, his mostimportan t tool. 'Jl faut du canon partout', he wrote,'on se bat a coups de canon comme on se bat a coups depoings.' (We must have ordnance everywhere, onefights with artillery as one would with one's fists.)The Imperial Guard Artillery was reconstituted,consisting of nine foot-batteries, four horse­batteries and four batteries of the Young Guardwi th 126 pieces.

In the north, Napoleon was opposed by theAnglo-Dutch army under the Duke of Wellingtonand the Army of the Rhine under MarshalBlUcher. Napoleon planned to destroy eachseparately before they could unite and beforeother allies came to their aid. On 15 June theFrench cros ed the Sambre at Charleroi on afive-mile front and on the following day attackedthe British at Quatre Bras and the Prussians atLigny. The Prussians were beaten and withdrew;the British held their ground but retired thefollowing day and formed up on the ridge ofMont St Jean near the insignificant village ofWaterloo. Napoleon had detached 32,000 menand 96 pieces of ordnance to pursue the Prussiansto prevent them from re-joining their allies.

On the morning of 18 June 1815 the Britishartillery was drawn up on the forward slope ofthe ridge while the infantry, in typical Wellingtonfashion, were ordered to position themselves onthe reverse slope to lessen the effects of theinevitable French artillery bombardment. 'Thecoming battle' said Napoleon, 'will save Franceand be renowned in history. I shall bombardthem with my great weight of artillery, I shallcharge them with my cavalry, so that they willshow themselves... .' apoleon was superior inartillery, 266 pieces against 96 manned by the

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French foot artillery gunner of J8Jz. Note the shako andplate and the short brass hilted sword or briqlltl. The plategives some idea of the size of a gun wheel compared withthe height of a man. (National Army Museum)

Royal Artillery and 156 manned by their allies,but he was in no hurry to open the battle, thewet state of the ground after the night's torrentialrain making it difficult to posi tion his batteriesearly.

At 12.20, 80 French guns opened fire, havingbeen positioned on the forward slopes with somedifficulty. The shots were not as effective as washoped, the round shot falling in the mud andnot rebounding and the shells burying themselvesbefore exploding. Even so many were findingtheir mark. Twenty-four of the French pieceswere the dreaded 12 pdrs with an accurate rangeof 2,000 yards. The bombardment took away thebreath of the young soldiers and even startled thePeninslliar veterans by its intensity, but little

French officer of Foot Artillery 1812. Plate front The MilitaryCostume of Europe published by T. Goddard. Cocked hats werenot always worn and shakos were contnton head dress.(National Arnty MuseUDl)

harm was done except to a brigade of Belgianswho had been drawn up in the Continentalfashion on the forward slope.

At 1.30, as a prelude to D'Erlon's attack onWellington's left centre, the bombardment re­commenced. 'The gunners were standing in line'wrote a French officer, 'inserting the charges,ramming them home, swinging the slow matchesto make them burn more brightly. They seemedto move as one man. Behind them stood thecaptains of the guns; nearly all of them wereelderly and they gave their orders as if on parade.Eighty guns fired together, blotting out everyother sound. The whole valley was filled withsmoke. A second or two later, the calm clear voicesof the captain could be heard once more, "Load!­Ram! - Arm! - Fire!". This continued withoutbreak for half an hour. We could scarcely seeour comrades but across the valley, the Englishhad also opened fire. We could hear the whistleof their cannon balls in the air, the dull thud asthey struck the ground and that other sound whenmuskets were smashed to matchwood and menhurled twenty paces to the rear, every bonecrushed, or when they fell with a limb gone.'

Hougoumont was soon under severe pressurefrom infantry and horse artillery. The Frenchrode up to within 300 yards and unlimbered, butthey did not reckon on the accuracy of thedefenders' Baker rifles. 'We destroyed all their

French artillery in action atthe battle of Montereau,28 February 1814. Hoping tobeat his enenty between hisposition and the river Seine,Napoleon had orderedMarshal Victor to destroyall the bridges, whichunfortunately was notcarried out. The Entperorarrived as the Austrianswere crossing the bridgeand front the vantage pointoverlooking the town wherethe artillery were positioned,aided the gunners in servingtheir equipntent. It was onthis occasion that Napoleonntade his fantous rentark,'. . . Ie boulet qui doit me tuerII'est pas encore fOlldu.' (Thebullet that can kill nte hasnot yet been cast)

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artillerymen before they could give us a secondround', remembered a rifleman. D'Erlon's attackon the left-centre was repulsed wi th heavy fighting,Lord Uxbridge leading the Household andUnion cavalry brigades in pursuit. The UnionBrigade over-reached itself and charged almostup to Napoleon's position. Colonel Hamiltoncried to the Scots Greys, '''Charge! Charge theguns," and went off like the wind up the hill,'wrote a survivor of the charge, 'towards theterrible battery that had made such deadly workamongst the infantry. It was the last we saw ofhim, the poor fellow.... Then we got amongst

the gunners and had our revenge ! We sabred thegunners, lamed their horses and cut the tracesand harness. I can hear the Frenchmen crying"Diable!" when I struck at them, and the longdrawn out hiss through their teeth as my swordwent home.' The French cavalry counterattackedand the Union Brigade suffered such severecasualties in the retirement that they were of nofurther use to Wellington.

After a slight pause in the action, the Frenchgunners opened another barrage before a furtherattempt at breaking the Allied centre. Theaccuracy ofthe fire was impressive and Wellington

Driver of the Train of Artillery 1815. Note the horse equip­ment and the gun limbered to the single axle by its trail.After V. Adam (National Army Museum)

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withdrew his infantry a further hundred yardsbehind the crest, while the French once moresurrounded La Haye Sainte, held by riflemen ofthe King's German Legion. This withdrawal wastaken by Ney to be a retreat and as the Frenchartillery fell silent, to the relief of the Britishinfantry, Ney ordered forward 5,000 of the finestcavalry in Europe. As they charged up the slopesthe British artillery loaded case and round shot,one in front of the other, and as Mercer wrote,'Every man stood steadily at his post, the gunsready ... the tubes were in the vent; the port­fires glowed and spluttered behind the wheels.'

Five times the French charged and five times theywere driven back. As they retired the Britishgunners emerged from the safety of the squaresand the French artillery recommenced theirpounding of the Allied positions.

The battle continued unabated for the rest ofthe afternoon, Napoleon attempting to breakthe Allied line and Wellington holding on,awaiting the promised arrival of Blucher. TheFrench artillery fire took on a new intensity asNapoleon reinforced his mass batteries directedat the centre, trying to blast a hole for the in­fantry and cavalry. The fire was crippling. By

The charge of the Union Brigade, a print after the paintingby Dupre. '''Char~el Charge the guns," and went off likethe wind up the hill towards the terrible battery that hadmade such deadly work amongst the infantry ... We gotamongst the gunners and had our revenge.'

35

the crossroads 450 of the 700 men of the 27thFoot eventually lay in their square where theyhad fallen, while other regiments fared littlebetter. 'Hard pounding this, gentlemen' remarkedthe Duke, 'but we will see who can pound thelongest. '

Eventually apolcon launched his Guard,who had been inactive all day despite ey'splea for more troops. The Imperial Guard failedin their last desperate bid to break the line;sent reeling back by the I st Foot Guards, theywere eventually broken by the 52nd Regiment.The general cry of 'La Garde recule' (The Guardretires) was taken up in the French army andexcept for a spirited stand by some elementswhich covered Napoleon's escape, the battle wasvirtually over.

After the battle Wellington wrote to LordBeresford, who had won the narrow victory of

Albuera in the Peninsular War in 181 I, 'Neverdid I see such a pounding match. Both were whatboxers call gluttons. Napoleon did not mana;uvreat all. He just moved forward in the same oldstyle and was driven off in the same old style.The only difference was that he mixed cavalrywith his infantry and support d both with anenormous amount of artillery!' The French lostor abandoned 250 pieces of artillery in thecampaign, although Grouchy - who had pursuedBlucher - managed to save some of his.

The French artillery and apoleon's skilleduse of it had been one of the greatest factors inFrance's twenty-year series of victories. The keyto the advantages he obtained from it, eventhough often outnumbered, was the positioningof his massed batteries at exactly the right placein his overall battle plan.

'The batde of Waterloo' by Sir William Allan R.A. Napoleonon the right surveys the batdefield while the artillery infront of him continues to load and fire. Note the gunnersramming home the charge and projectile and the non­commissioned officer 'serving the vent' with his thumb.To the right, a gunner places the portfire into the vent fieldto fire the piece. (Wellington Museum, London)

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One of the French cannon captured at Waterloo. Note theweight and size of the trail and the rings at the rear for thehandspike and the hole in the trail for limbering up. Thispiece now stands before the Royal Military Academy atSandhurst. Note that the wheels are of a later and Britishpattern. (National Army Museum)

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'Ille'PlatesAl Gunner, Foot ArtiLLery, 1804The French, like most artillery in Europe, weredressed in a blue uniform, which had changedlittle since the French Revolution and the periodof the Consulate. The bicorn hat was worn acrossthe head and adorned with a scarlet plume andcockade in national colours. The coat was bluewith red piping and round cuffs with blue flapsand brass buttons. The front, as in the coat wornby other arms, was cut away to show the waist­coat. The turnbacks were red, decorated withblue cloth grenades, and as nether wear bluebreeches with whi te gai ters or 'spatterdashes'and black boots were worn. White infantry-stylecrossbelts holding ammunition pouch and bayonetas well as a short sword or briquet were issued,together with a musket.

A2 Gunner, Foot ArtiLLery of the Line, 1807The uniform differed little from that worn In

r804, except that the collar was now closed atthe front and high white or black gaiters wereworn, the former for parade and the latter forservice. The cocked hat was replaced by a blackshako with scarlet trim and plume, a cockade,and chinscales in brass. The brass plate wasdiamond-shaped and displayed a crowned eagleover crossed cannon and the number of theregiment. The pack was in natural cowhide anda rolled coat was strapped to the top.

A3 Officer, Horse ArtiLLery, 1804The French horse artillery was formed in theearly years ot the Revolution, and followed theunwritten law of all horse artillery with regard touniform, which decreed that they should adopta hussar style to emphasise their dash and alacrity.The early uniform comprised a black shakosuitably adorned with scarlet trim, cockade andplume. The heavily laced dolman was blue withscarlet-piped collar, pointed cuffs and froggedfront, while the pantaloons were blue with ascarlet stripe down the outer seam of the leg,passing over the seat at the rear. Chevrons on thefront thigh denoted ranks. Boots were 'Hessian'or hussar pattern with top edge in scarlet braid

38

adorned with tassels. A barrel sash in blue andred encircled the waist and white crossbelt andsword belt suspended respectively a pouch anda brass hilted sabre and sabretache on the leftside.

B I Officer, Horse ArtiLLery of the Guard, 1807This arm of Napoleon's Guard copied theiruniforms from their Line counterparts but withcertain refinements. The busby was in black furwith scarlet bag, trimmed in gold with a scarletplume. The dolman was in blue with a gold­laced collar, pointed cuffs edged in lace accordingto rank and a heavily gold-frogged front. Thepantaloons had chevrons on each thigh denotingrank and were worn with 'Hessian' boots trimmedin gold lace. The pelisse, worn in this case over theleft shoulder but eq ually useful as an 'overcoat',was decorated in similar fashion to the dolmanbut with grey fur down the front, around thebottom and on collar and cuffs. The crossbelt inred leather was adorned wi th gil t wire em broidery,as was the sword bel t.

B2 Sergeant-Major, Horse ArtiLLery of the Guard,1807

The sergeant-major wears in this instance acocked hat and a long blue riding coat over hisuniform. The coat was double breasted with goldtrefoil shoulder straps and an aiguillette on theleft. The badges of rank - laced chevrons - wereworn on the cuff. The white sword belt worn overthe coat suspended a brass-hilted sabre on theleft side.

C I Pioneer, Foot ArtiLLery of the Guard, 1809The pioneer or sapeur was an essential artificerin any army on campaign. In the Foot Artilleryof the Guard the uniform comprised a black busbywith scarlet bag, a blue coat piped in scarlet andscarlet worsted epaulettes with the 'trade' badgeof crossed axes with grenade above on the upperarm. The usual crossbelt equipment was worn,the belt over the left shoulder being adorned withcrossed axes in brass. The white waistbelt had aplate bearing a grenade; in common with pioneersof other armies, a white apron was worn and avarious tools such as axes, saws and billhookswere carried.

C2 Driver, Artillery Train oj the Guard, 1809The drivers wore a steel grey coat, waistcoat,breeches and black shako with scarlet trim, brasschinscales and a plate showing a crowned eagleon crossed cannon over a tablet inscribed 'N'.The coat was piped in scarlet and cut away atthe front to show the waistcoat frogged in scarletcord. The breeches had elaborate 'Austrian'knots on each thigh and trefoil shoulder knotswere fitted to the coat. A white crossbelt adornedwith a grenade held a black pouch at the backwhile a ceinturon baudrier, a waist belt adapted forshoulder wear was worn over the right shoulder.

C3 Gunner, Foot Artillery oj the Guard, 1808The gunner is shown in fatigue dress or tenued'exercise consisting of a 'bonnet de police' in bluepiped scarlet and a blue sleeved waistcoat andblue trousers. The usual crossbelt equipment wasworn, and some gunners carried a cowhide haver­sack in addition, containing tools for the guns.

D and E Gunner, drivers and Jour-horse team with12 pdr gun and Limber, Foot Artillery oj the Line,1810

The 12 pdr was the largest calibre field gun inuse in the French artillery, with a range of justover I, 100 yards. The cast brass barrel wasmounted on an olive drab (dirty green) painted'double bracket' trail carriage which in turnhooked to asingleaxlelimberwithout ammunitionboxes. A small ammunition chest for immediateuse was carried between the trail but the mainsupply accompanied the piece in other wagons.The horses were harnessed to a single centralpole by means of straps, chains and wood collars.The drivers, men from the Train of Artillery,wore a steel blue coat with dark blue collar,lapels, cuffs with steel blue flaps, and shoulderstraps. The breeches were buff coloured and wornwith heavy reinforced riding boots. A shortsword carried in a baldric over the right shoulderand a black pouch was fitted to a white belt wornover the left. The saddle cloth was a steel bluerear housing with a white sheepskin front edgedin blue cloth with 'vandyked' edge. A square­sectioned valise was worn behind the saddle.The gunner in this case wears the shako with oiledskin cover, whereas the drivers have theirs

uncovered showing the white cording and silverfitments. The gunner wears a great coat with capein dark blue and overalls in blue with scarletstripe, buttons, and brown leather reinforcement.

FI Musician, 9th Regiment, Foot Artillery of theLine, 181 I

The 9th Regiment was peculiar in that it dressedits musicians in the unique fashion shown. Inplace of other head dress a lancer-style cap wasworn with scarlet squared top edged in gold lace,and a central band of gold lace at the 'waist'above the black leather body. The cords were ingold and the plate, sunray design with silvercentre, bore the initial 'N'. The coat was scarletwith blue collar, front and round cuffs worn overblue waistcoat and breeches and cavalry styleboots. The white crossbelt retained by a goldtrefoil shoulder cord suspended a short sword.

F2 Drummer, Foot Artillery oj the Line, 1812Up to 1812, drummers had been dressed in thesame way as gunners with the addition of variousgold lace distinctions to coat and shako, but inthat year the scarlet coat which had ousted theblue one in 1807 was in its turn replaced by theone shown here. This was in the colours of theImperial livery decreed by Napoleon. The greencoat was decorated, as was the practice fordrummers in many armies, with chevrons andbars of lace on the arms and chest. The Imperiallace used had a yellow background with scarletedge top and bottom, and alternate designs ofthe Imperial 'N' and eagle. It was so made andsewn to the coat that the 'N' and eagle werealways upright. A white crossbelt suspended abrass-hilted short sword, and the brass drumwith blue hoops and white cords was held by awhite belt that passed over the right shoulderand was ornamented with a brass plate in whichthe sticks were carried. A knee apron was alsoworn to prevent the drum from causing wear onthe breeches. The drum had two white strapsbeneath by which it was carried on the back, likea knapsack, during the march.

F3 Gunner, Horse ArtiLLelY oj the Guard, 1811The gunner is shown in full dress wearing theblack busby with scarlet plume, adornments and

39

bag. The dolman was blue with scarlet-pipedcollar and frogged front. A yellow and scarletworsted barrel sash encircled the waist and thewhite crossbelt was retained by a trefoil cordshoulder knot. The breeches in blue were decoratedwith scarlet 'Austrian' knots on each thigh. Thewhite waistbelt suspended the light cavalry stylesabre and the sabretache on the left hip. Thesabre tache had a blue cloth face edged in yellowlace with a crowned eagle over crossed cannon inthe centre.

G I Driver, Artillery Train of the Guard, 1812The d river is shown in tenue de route (marchingorder) comprising the shako in oiled skin coversurmounted by a scarlet ball tuft and a short,sleeved waistcoat in steel blue with plain cuffs.The overalls were in the same colour materialand reinforced on the inside of each leg andaround the bottoms with black leather. A cross­belt worn over the left shoulder supported apouch on the back and a sabre was suspendedfrom a waistbelt.

G2 Gunner, Horse Artillery of the Line, 1812The gunner wears the short habit kinski adoptedin 1812 wi th scarlet patches to the collar ·andfringed epaulettes. The shako was trimmed withscarlet cord and flounders and the top edge wasencircled with a scarlet band oflace and decoratedwith a national cockade and cord loop. Theoveralls 'or pantalons acheval were buttoned on theoutside of the leg and reinforced on the inner sideand around the bottoms with black leather. Thewaistbelt suspended a sword and the crossbelt apouch in the centre of the back.

G3 Driver, Artillery Train of the Line, 1813Drivers still wore the steel blue coat with bluecollar and round cuffs with steel-blue flap andwhite metal buttons. The turnbacks were alsodark blue edged white and adorned with em­broidered grenades in white. The breeches weredark buff and worn tucked into heavy riding

40

boots. The shako was black with steel-grey balltuft and white metal chinscales and plate. Whitecrossbelts suspended a short sword and a blackpouch.

HI Officer, Horse Artillery of the Line, 1813The officer shown wears the heavy riding coatand cape in dark blue cloth. This garment wasoften used on campaign. The lower edge of thecape was trimmed in gold lace and helped todistinguish an officer. The cocked hat, which wasoften worn, had gold wire 'pulls' and scarletplume. The blue pantaloons were decorated withrank chevrons and the black boots trimmed ingold lace.

H2 Gunner, Foot Artillery of the Line, 1815This figure shows the appearance of a gunnerduring the 'Hundred Days'. The shako is simple,without cording and with a small triangularplate, although many gunners who retained theirold plates wore them. The short coat, closed tothe waist, was in blue and piped scarlet with thesame colour turnbacks adorned with blue clothgrenades. Fringed epaulettes were worn by thosewho had them, but shoulder straps were morecommon. Blue breeches were worn with blackknee gaiters, and the rest of the equipment wasas before.

H3 Gunner, Foot Artillery of the Guard, 1814The bearskin cap was peculiar to the artillerybranch of the Guard, with its brass chinscales,black leather peak, red cloth patch and goldembroidered grenade. It was an imposing head­dress destined to be copied by many armies, withits scarlet plume on the left side fitted in a nationalcockade. The long coat continued to be worn bythe Guard after 1812 when the shorter coat wasissued; it was piped in scarlet with scarlet cuffsand turnbacks, worn over a blue waistcoat andbreeches. White gaiters were worn (black onservice) as were the usual crossbelt arrangementand a knapsack on the back with rolled coat. Theshort sword or briquet had a scarlet sword knot.

Men-at-Arms Series

THE SEVEN YEARS WARMONTCALM'S ARMYWOLFE'S ARMY-THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ARMY OF THESEVEN YEARS WARFREDERICK THE GREAT'S ARMY

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OTHER 19TH CENTURY CAMPAIGNSRUSSIAN ARMY OF THE CRIMEABRITISH ARMY OF THE CRIMEA-ARMY OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE 1870 88THE SUDAN CAMPAIGNSTHE BOER WARTHE ZULU WAR

WORLD WAR DTHE WAFFEN SSLUFTWAFFE AIRBORNE AND FIELD UNITSTHE PANZER DIVISIONSTHE JAPANESE ARMY OF WORLD WAR IITHE SOVIET ARMY

BRITISH REGIMENTSTHE BLACK WATCHTHE COLDSTREAM GUARDSTHE ROYAL SCOTS GREYSTHE ARGYLL & SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERSTHE CONNAUGHT RANGERSTHE BUFFSTHE ROYAL ARTILLERYTHE KING'S REGIMENTTHE GURKHA RIFLES­THE 30TH PUNJABISTHE SOUTH WALES BORDERERSTHE ROYAL GREEN JACKETS

AMERICAN SUBJECTSTHE STONEWALL BRIGADETHE IRON BRIGADETHE U.S. CAVALRYGEORGE WASHINGTON'S ARMYTHE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPSTHE AMERICAN PROVINCIAL CORPSTHE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AMERICA 1775 83­THE AMERICAN WAR 1812-14-THE ARMY OF THE POTOMACTHE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIATHE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR 184& 8WOLFE'S ARMY-MONTCALM'S ARMY

MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTSTHE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGIONTHE COSSACKSENGLISH CIVIL WAR ARMIESTHE ROMAN ARMY FROM CAESAR TO TRAJAN­MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN ARMIES 13°0--1500THE LANDSKNECHTSTHE ARAB LEGION

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