Unit Of The Week - Revolutionary Wars French Infantry

If the French thought that overthrowing their nobility would solve all their problems in the 1790s, they were soon to get a nasty bump back into the real world.

The monarchs of Europe may have been able to "forgive" the American colonies for throwing off the yoke of the British monarchy - America was thousands of miles away. But when the ordinary people of France brought the revolutionary concepts of liberty, equality and fraternity (brotherhood) to mainland Europe, it was a little too much. Adding to the insult also, was the fact that the (now deposed) French royal family was related to many of the monarchs of Europe, and the need to satisfy family honor was thrown into the mix as well.

Prior to the revolution, the French army had been maintained by the nobility, with nobles holding most of the senior ranks. With the nobility now pushed aside, the French had no real "army" with which to defend themselves. Prussia and Austria were the first to swoop, and the French were forced to quickly put together whatever forces they could to resist the threat.

Initially, these armies were little more than disorganized rabble, who would often turn and run at the sound of the first shots. For the untrained soldier, self preservation soon overcomes any concept of duty!

In response to this, the French began grouping their soldiers together in large units (safety in numbers), with the most experienced men at the rear, with orders to shoot anyone who tried to turn and run. And as leaders with some ability began to emerge, the French gradually began to assemble armies that could hold their own.

Infantry formed the bulk of the French armies of the 1790s, with two main types (although the duties were essentially the same). Line infantry battalions (pictured above with the white trousers) and light infantry battalions (all blue) were led by a major and comprised seven companies of fusiliers (or chasseurs for the light battalions), and one company each of grenadiers (or carabiniers for the light battalions) and voltigeurs. Each company consisted of 140 men.

All were armed with cartridge loading flintlock muskets, although, given the initial shortage of ammunition, it was often only the voltigeurs who were well provided for in this regard.

The voltigeurs typically spread out in advance of the main battalion, chipping away at the enemy with musket fire. At the appointed time, the main battalion, formed up in a dense column, not unlike the ancient Greek phalanx, would charge home, using its numbers to overwhelm the enemy at a selected point in the line.

As the French military machine re-establihsed itself, artillery (thanks, at least in part, to the rise to prominence of a young Corsican gentleman named Napoleon Bonaparte) and cavalry (once the equine-rich German lands had been "pursuaded" into a more friendly relationship with France) also made their presence felt once again.

My own Revolutionary Wars French army has started well with five wins from five outings, but now suddenly finds itself with a leadership crisis, following the untimely death of the general who led them to those successes.

With upcoming battles against my Russians and British planned, they are desparately looking for a new leader to emerge.

Each week (famous last words) I hope to present a different "Unit of the Week", which will look at a different type of soldier from one of the many different armies I have in my collection. I'll give a brief historical outline behind the troops, and introduce any special features or personalities as they relate to my particular table-top army, and any recent battles it may have contested.