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.

Unit of the Week: Russian Hussars (Napoleonic Wars)

While the Cossacks who hounded Napoleon on his retreat from Moscow in 1812 and 1813 may be the best known of the Russian cavalry units, every European army had hussars. And by the Napoleonic era, Russia had regarded itself as part of Europe for a full century.

By 1805, the Russian army had eight regiments of hussars, with a ninth forming part of the impressive Russian Imperial Guard. In the reorganization of 1812, just prior to Napoleon’s invasion, this number had increased to 16, with two regiments in each of the eight cavalry divisions present. A division would typically be led by a knyaz (prince), a regiment by a graf (duke), and an infantry batallion or cavalry squadron by perhaps a baron.

A Russian Light Cavalry (Dragoon, Hussar or Cossack) regiment comprised ten squadrons each of 140 men (7 figures).

The light cavalry (dragoons, hussars, uhlans and cossacks) were primarily intended for reconnaissance, screening, raiding, pursuit and “field security”. Typically their weapons would be a carbine, two pistols and a sword. Carbines would be used for longer range "shoot outs", and if drawn into combat, the hussars would discharge both pistols at close range then turn to their swords.

All Russian cavalry was of very high quality, and man-for-man, was the match of any army in Europe. (The big failing of the Russian army of this era was its leadership, with the junior officers suffering from a lack of education, and the senior officers often more fond of gambling and vodka than matters military).

My regiment of Russian Hussars will be led in 2010 by Graf (Duke) Rostov, who at 61 years of age is one of the older generals in my Russian Napoleonic Wars division. (That's him on the white horse on the right). Straight off the paint shelf, my regiment is still "being raised" and only consists of three of its full 10 squadrons. This won't be a major problem though, as not all squadrons would be sent on campaign anyway. Logistical aspects such as maintaining the home base, recruitment (to replace troops killed in the field), and so on would make it extremely rare for all squadrons of a particular regiment to appear on the field at once. And given the further limits imposed by the size of a wargames table, it will be unusual for more than one or two squadrons to appear in any given table-top battle.

My hussars haven't yet seen any action, however in its two battles to date, both against French armies, my Russians have lived up to their reputation as steady, if somewhat unspectacular, opponents.

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.