Use of grenades had been conspicuously low in the French army until the spring of 1915 when newer, more effective models were distributed.
Weapons: muskets and rifles. At the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793, the army was a small, awkwardly administered force of barely 40,000 men. Combining the ideas of the foremost military theorists of his era with the study of the great generals of antiquity he transformed the way the French army fought. Oficially the horse carabiniers wore white coats (jackets) but according to Rousellot (in 'Sabretache' 1987) only their officers wore white coats, the privates wore light blue ones. The French Army, officially the Ground Army (French: Armée de terre [aʀme də tɛʀ], lit. French Line Infantry Battalion in Column Attack (Eureka Miniatures) In line my endeavour to replicate my miniature battalions as accurately as possible, this article discusses discuss the organisation of French line infantry and my basing methodology for wargaming infantry regiments during the 1815 campaign. In 1818 the French army was re-organised into a system of 86 “Departmental Legions”.
(Nafziger - "Napoleon's Invasion of Russia" p 13, 1998) The infantry was the basis of the Napoleonic army, which was the largest army in the World in that time. Even today, no army can take and hold any ground without the use of infantry." At the outbreak of the Napoleonic wars the French light infantry was the finest in Europe. The British infantry of the Napoleonic Wars is one of the best troops in military history.
Coinciding with this development, detachments of grenadiers were created at the company level, composed of 16 men with 1 NCO at the head.
Uniforms. The Bavarian line infantry regiments were normally two battalion affairs but after the exertions and losses of the 1812 Russian campaign the Bavarian Army was still reorganising through the 1813 campaign. Battalion Field Strengths during the Napoleonic Wars Throughout history, infantry have been organised into battalion sized formations of between 500 to 1200 men.
Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most influential generals in history. Both human dynamics and possible spans of command of one individual tend to lead to optimum structures of this size. Hence most regiments fighting for the French had but a solitary battalion in … By the end of the period, the numbers had vastly increased.
Future generations studied, developed, and adopted his techniques. His opponents adapted to try to match him. The British Army during the Napoleonic Wars experienced a time of rapid change.