You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 3.87.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪Blablubbs‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 11:04, 19 October 2026.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪Jon Kolbert‬. The reason given is Open proxy: Amazon.
- Start of block: 04:19, 18 April 2019
- Expiry of block: 04:19, 18 April 2024
Your current IP address is 3.87.13.95. The blocked range is 3.87.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((Short description|None))
((more citations needed|date=May 2009))
((War))
[[Napoleon I]], [[Emperor of the French]], is recognized as the greatest [[early modern warfare]] commander in military history. His main strategy was focusing on one part of the enemy, quickly defeating them, and continuing onward. His success was made possible not only by his ambition, but also through the dynamic composition of his army. Napoleon would see his equipment being gained through provisional control of the armories of France, thus allowing the weapons direct control by government.((attribution needed|date=June 2020))

==Movement==

One of Napoleon's largest advantages was the speed of his troop movements. Napoleon insisted on extreme speed when conducting the marches, movements and attacks of his army. He claimed that "loss of time is irreparable in war... I may lose a battle but I should never lose a minute."<ref>Chandler, David, The Campaigns of Napoleon, The Macmillan Company 1966, Toronto Ontario, pg 149</ref> Many factors contributed to Napoleon's ability to perform these flexible movements, from the division of his army into an independent corps system, to the avoidance of slow-moving, lengthy [[Military Supply Chain Management|supply lines]]. Instead, Napoleon's army looked to live off the land, acquiring the motto, "The war must feed the war." Napoleon sought to acquire food from his surrounding environment, whether that meant paying friendly countries or simply foraging. These factors, combined with Napoleon's innate persuasive ability to inspire his troops, resulted in successive victories in dominating fashion. His opponents were often confused and unsettled as Napoleon intricately coordinated strategic attacks on profound scales.

==Strategy==

The [[French Revolution]] and subsequent [[Napoleonic Wars]] revolutionized [[military strategy]]. The impact of this period was still to be felt in the [[American Civil War]] and the early phases of [[World War I]]. With the advent of cheap [[small arms]] and the rise of the drafted citizen soldier, army sizes increased rapidly to become mass forces. This necessitated dividing the army first into [[division (military)|divisions]] and later into [[corps]]. Along with divisions came divisional [[artillery]], light weight, mobile [[cannons]] with great range and firepower.

In the Italian campaign, Bonaparte conversed much about the warriors of antiquity, especially [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]], [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]], [[Scipio Africanus|Scipio]] and [[Hannibal]]. He studied their strategy and combined it with his own. To a question from Bourrienne, asking whether he preferred Alexander or Caesar, Bonaparte said that he placed Alexander in the first rank, the main reason being his campaign in Asia.<ref>Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne, pp 158.</ref>

His application of conventional military ideas to real-world situations enabled his military triumphs, such as creative use of artillery as a mobile force to support his infantry. He is credited as saying: "I have fought sixty battles and I have learned nothing which I did not know at the beginning."<ref>((Harvnb|McLynn|1997|p=145))</ref>

Bonaparte could win battles by concealing troop deployments and concentrating his forces on the "hinge" of an enemy's weakened front. If he could not use his favourite [[Pincer movement|envelopment strategy]], he would take up the central position and attack two cooperating forces at their hinge, swing round to fight one until it fled, then turn to face the other.<ref>((Harvnb|McLynn|1997|p=142))</ref>

Napoleon invariably sought to achieve decisiveness in battle, with the sole aim of utterly destroying his opponent, usually achieving success through superior maneuver. As ruler and general he dealt with the [[grand strategy]] as well as the operational strategy, making use of political and economic measures.

While not the originator of the methods he used, Napoleon very effectively combined the relatively superior maneuver and battle stages into one event. Before this, [[Generals|General Officer]]s had considered this approach to battle as separate events. However, Napoleon used the maneuver in battle to dictate how and where the battle would progress. The [[Battle of Austerlitz]] was a perfect example of this maneuver. Napoleon withdrew from a strong position to draw his opponent forward and tempt him into a flank attack, weakening his center. This allowed the [[French army]] to split the allied army and gain victory.

[[File:Charles Meynier - Entrée de Napoléon à Berlin. 27 octobre 1806.jpg|thumb|''[[Entry of Napoleon into Berlin]]'' by [[Charles Meynier]]. After defeating the Prussian forces at [[Battle of Jena-Auerstedt|Jena]], the French Army entered Berlin on 27 October 1806.]]

Napoleon used two primary strategies for the approach to battle. His "Manoeuvre De Derrière" ("move onto the rear") was intended to place the French Army across the enemy's [[lines of communication]]s. Using a "pinning" force to keep the opponent stationary, he would swing around onto his opponents rear with the bulk of his army, forcing the adversary to either accept a battle on Napoleon's terms or push further into the pinning force and hostile territory. By placing his army into the rear, his opponent's supplies and communications would be cut. This had a negative effect on enemy morale. Once joined, the battle would be one in which his opponent could not afford defeat. This also allowed Napoleon to select multiple march routes into a battle site. Initially, the lack of force concentration helped with foraging for food and sought to confuse the enemy as to his real location and intentions. This strategy, along with the use of forced marches created a morale bonus that played heavily in his favor.

The "indirect" approach into battle also allowed Napoleon to disrupt the linear formations used by the allied armies. As the battle progressed, the enemy committed their reserves to stabilize the situation, Napoleon would suddenly release the [[Flanking maneuver|flanking]] formation to attack the enemy. His opponents, being suddenly confronted with a new threat and with little reserves, had no choice but to weaken the area closest to the flanking formation and draw up a [[Line (formation)|battleline]] at a right angle in an attempt to stop this new threat. Once this had occurred, Napoleon would mass his reserves at the hinge of that right angle and launch a heavy attack to break the lines. The rupture in the enemy lines allowed Napoleon's cavalry to flank both lines and roll them up leaving his opponent no choice but to surrender or flee.

The second strategy used by Napoleon I when confronted with two or more enemy armies was the use of the central position. This allowed Napoleon to drive a wedge to separate the enemy armies. He would then use part of his force to mask one army while the larger portion overwhelmed and defeated the second army quickly. He would then march on the second army leaving a portion to pursue the first army and repeat the operations. This was designed to achieve the highest concentration of men into the primary battle while limiting the enemy's ability to reinforce the critical battle. The central position had a weakness in that the full power of the pursuit of the enemy could not be achieved because the second army needed attention. So overall the preferred method of attack was the flank march to cross the enemy's logistics. 
Napoleon used the central position strategy during the [[Battle of Waterloo]].

===Waterloo===
[[File:Waterloo Campaign map-alt3.svg|300px|thumb|The map of the Waterloo campaign.]]
((see also|Waterloo Campaign))

Napoleon masked [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Wellington]]'s army and massed against the [[Prussian Army]], and then after the [[Battle of Ligny]] was won, Napoleon attempted to do the same to the British-Allied army (British, Dutch and [[Kingdom of Hanover|Hanoverian]]) located just to the south of Waterloo. His subordinate was unable to mask the defeated Prussian army, who reinforced the Waterloo battle in time to defeat Napoleon and end his domination of Europe. It can be said that the Prussian Army under [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher]] used the "maneuver de derrière" against Napoleon who was suddenly placed in a position of reacting to a new enemy threat.

Napoleon's practical strategic triumphs, repeatedly leading smaller forces to defeat larger ones, inspired a whole new field of study into military strategy. In particular, his opponents were keen to develop a body of knowledge in this area to allow them to counteract a masterful individual with a highly competent group of officers, a General Staff. The two most significant students of his work were [[Carl von Clausewitz]], a Prussian with a background in [[philosophy]], and [[Antoine-Henri Jomini]], who had been one of Napoleon's staff officers.

===Peninsular===
((see also|Guerrilla warfare in the Peninsular War))
One notable exception to Napoleon's "strategy of annihilation" and a precursor to [[trench warfare]] were the [[Lines of Torres Vedras]] during the [[Peninsular War]]. French Armies lived off the land and when they were confronted by a line of fortifications which they could not out flank, they were unable to continue the advance and were forced to retreat once they had consumed all the provisions of the region in front of the lines.

The Peninsular campaign was notable for the development of another method of warfare which went largely unnoticed at the time, but would become far more common in the 20th century. That was the aid and encouragement the British gave to the Spanish to harass the French behind their lines which led them to squander most of the assets of their Iberian army in protecting the army's line of communications. This was a very cost effective move for the British, because it cost far less to aid Spanish insurgents than it did to equip and pay regular [[British Army]] units to engage the same number of French troops. As the British army could be correspondingly smaller it was able to supply its troops by sea and land without having to live off the land as was the norm at the time. Further, because they did not have to forage they did not antagonise the locals and so did not have to garrison their lines of communications to the same extent as the French did. So the strategy of aiding their Spanish civilian allies in their guerrilla or 'small war' benefited the British in many ways, not all of which were immediately obvious.

==Firearms==
[[File:Charleville exploded view.jpg|300px|thumb|An [[exploded view]] of the [[Charleville musket]], the main French firearm.]]
[[File:Girandoni Air Rifle.jpg|thumb|The Girardoni M1780 repeating air rifle.]]

As for the infantry soldier himself, Napoleon primarily equipped his army with the [[Musket Model 1777|Charleville M1777 Revolutionnaire musket]], a product from older designs and models. Used during the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars, the Charleville musket was a .69 caliber, (sometimes .70 or .71) ((convert|5|ft|m|adj=mid|-long)), [[Muzzleloader|muzzle-loading]], smoothbore [[musket]]. 
Properly trained French infantry were expected to be able to fire three volleys a minute. A trained soldier could hit a man sized target at 100 yards but anything further required an increasing amount of luck,<ref name=Moore>Moore, Richard [http://www.napoleonguide.com/weapinf.htm Napoleonic Guide: Weapons of War: Infantry] 2006</ref> the musket was wildly inaccurate at long range. French officers were usually armed with a .69 [[pistol]] as a secondary weapon to their sword. This still had to be muzzle loaded and fired with a [[flintlock]] after reloading. Besides guns, soldiers used a variety of [[Pike (weapon)|pikes]], [[sword]]s and [[bayonets]] for close range or [[melee combat]]. Officers, sergeants, other higher-ranked officials and [[cavalry]] mainly used swords, while the majority of infantry soldiers were equipped with bayonets.

The cavalry and engineers of the army essentially carried the same musket as the infantry. At 10&nbsp;inches shorter, the [[carbine]] and the [[musketoon]] were less cumbersome, making them more suitable for the mobility that horseback riders required but at the expense of accuracy. Besides the usage of the firearms, the [[heavy cavalry]] typically wielded straight [[sabers]] with a ((convert|38|in|mm|adj=mid|blade)), and the [[light cavalry]] wielded curved sabers with a ((convert|33|in|mm|adj=mid|blade)).<ref name=Connelly/> 
 
Throughout the Napoleonic Wars [[rifle]]s were also introduced into the battlefield. Rifles were substantially more accurate at a maximum range of 200 paces because the barrel put spin on the [[bullet]].<ref name=Moore/> Despite this advantage, rifles were more expensive and took longer to load, something Napoleon was not fond of and a reason why he did not incorporate them into his army. Instead, he settled for the speed of the musket, as it allowed for his rapid maneuvers. The British did utilize the rifle such as the [[Baker rifle|Baker Pattern 1800 Infantry rifle]] equipping some units, most notably with the creation of an entire elite rifle regiment, the [[Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)|95th Regiment (Rifles)]]. One success of the British 95th Rifles was picking off French General [[Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais]] in 1809 during the Peninsular War. The British themselves were to lose General [[Robert Ross (British Army officer)|Robert Ross]], himself a veteran of the Peninsular War, to American long range rifle fire in 1814. Rifles were also utilised in smaller numbers by [[Jäger (military)|Jäger]] companies in several German states.

The [[Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars|Austrian Army]] introduced the [[Girandoni Air Rifle|Girardoni M1780 repeating air rifle]] as a specialist weapon and used them in the Napoleonic Wars. A multi-shot breech loader, it only had an effective full charge range to about ((convert|150 |yard|m|abbr=on)). It was nearly silent and made no smoke or noise, but was complex and needed a significant infrastructure to support it. The air rifle fell out of use after 1815 as more conventional types of weapons proved superior overall, in only a few more decades, all soldiers would be gunpowder rifle equipped.

Most weaponry provided would be gained due to the French hosting absolute control over all armories even if this control came from district and provinces command.

==Artillery==
[[File:Gribeauval cannon de 12 An 2 de la Republique.jpg|thumb|The [[Gribeauval system|Gribeauval]] 12 pound gun on display at the [[Musée de l'Armée]].]]
[[File:Thomas Whitcombe - The Battle of the Nile 1798.jpg|thumb|The battle of the Nile in 1798, engraving by [[Thomas Whitcombe]].]]

One of the major components in Napoleon's arsenal of weaponry was his [[artillery]]. With the development and improvement of combat weapons throughout the [[Seven Years' War]] prior to Napoleon, artillery had expanded to almost every European country, including France with 12-lb and 8-lb [[cannons]]. "The [[Gribeauval system|Gribeauval guns]] developed between 1765 and 1774 were [[Canon de 12 Gribeauval|12-pounders]], 8-pounders, 6-pounders and 4-pounders with 6-inch and 8-inch [[howitzers]]."<ref name="Connelly">((Cite book|last=Connelly|first=Owen|title=Blundering to Glory: Napoleon's Military Campaign, Third Edition, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.|publisher=ConnellyOwen|year=2006|pages=12))</ref>

This style of gun was the artillery of choice for Napoleon, considering they were lighter by one third than the cannons of any other country. For example, the barrel of the British 12-pounder weighed 3,150 pounds, and the gun with carriage and [[limbers and caissons|limber]] about ((convert|6,500|lb|abbr=on)). The Gribeauval 12-lb barrels weighed 2,174 pounds and the gun with carriage and limber 4,367 pounds. Since Napoleon insisted on speed and mobility in conducting his maneuvers, this lighter cannon provided the flexibility he desired. Along with the artillery, the army had vast quantities of [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, furnace bombs, grape and canister shots, all of which provided substantial support fire.

Artillery also played a role in the war at sea, with most ships containing anywhere from 50 to 100 cannons. In 1798 Napoleon's flagship [[French ship Orient (1791)|''L’Orient'']], with 120 guns, was the most heavily armed vessel in the world;<ref name=Connelly/> until it blew up that year at the [[Battle of the Nile]]. Napoleon's quick, destructive artillery force contributed to a majority of his victories.

==Special weapons==

The [[Congreve rocket#Napoleonic Wars|Congreve rockets]] based on the Mysorean technology were systematically used by the British during the Napoleonic Wars.

==See also==

*[[Military history of France]]

==References==

((Reflist))

((Napoleonic Wars))((Napoleon))((Weapons))

[[Category:Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:18th-century weapons]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Napoleonic weaponry and warfare (edit)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Attribution needed (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite book (view source) (protected)
Template:Convert (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Delink (view source) (protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fix-span (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fix/category (view source) (protected)
Template:Flatlist (view source) (protected)
Template:Harvard citation no brackets (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Harvnb (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ill (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Interlanguage link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:Military navigation (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Napoleon (edit)
Template:Napoleonic Wars (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Portal-inline (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:See also (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Separated entries (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:War (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Weapons (edit)
Template:\ (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Convert (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Convert/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Convert/text (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:DecodeEncode (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Delink (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Footnotes (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Footnotes/anchor id list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Footnotes/whitelist (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Format link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Labelled list hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Military navigation (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:Portal (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal-inline (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal/images/f (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:Separated entries (view source) (protected)
Module:Sidebar (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Sidebar/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Sidebar/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:TableTools (view source) (protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:WPMILHIST Infobox style (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to Napoleonic weaponry and warfare.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_weaponry_and_warfare"