The Battle of Austerlitz, December 2, 1805, a painting painted in 1810 by François Gérard, is one of the emblematic works of the Battles Gallery of the Palace of Versailles • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Nearly two and a half million young people served in Napoleon's army, which fought battles across Europe in the early 19 th century. Some of them enlisted voluntarily, driven by patriotism or by their admiration for Napoleon, or quite simply by the desire to get out of poverty, or even by a taste for adventure. Others were, on the contrary, conscripts:called up by lot, they had to acclimatize as quickly as possible to the very harsh environment in which they were forced to serve. Most joined infantry regiments, which roamed the continent, from the Atlantic coasts to the snowy plains of Russia. Every Frenchman is a soldier The imperial organization had inherited the massive recruitments established during the Revolutionary Wars and especially by the Jourdan law of 1798 which, starting from the principle that "every Frenchman is a soldier", allowed each year to enlist by compulsory conscription or by draw leaves thousands of young single people between the ages of 20 and 25. Despite the exemptions, bribes or substitutes that the wealthiest conscripts could pay, this system fulfills its functions by providing replacements and new recruits to the "Grande Armée", whose needs increased as the conquests progressed. New recruits were drafted for one to five years of service in peacetime, and until the end of the conflict in wartime. Before taking up arms, they joined one of the training centers of the reserve regiments, where they received military training, dressed in uniform and were assigned to a battalion. Then they joined the military campaigns, where they mixed with the veterans, thus contributing to the “esprit de corps” which transformed the army into a second home. Dressed in a heavy uniform, the soldiers had to carry a rifle weighing more than 4 kilos, as well as a knapsack which weighed, when filled, from 15 to 20 kilos. Made in three sizes, the regulation uniform played a fundamental role in closing ranks, instilling values and distinguishing the different units of the army. Each soldier carried a knapsack which weighed 15 to 20 kilos when full, containing two packs of cartridges (50 to 60 for going into battle), trousers, gaiters and spare shoes for walking, biscuits for four days, a nightcap and personal effects. Soldiers also carried a leather bandolier fashioned from a block of wood, which they wore behind their right thigh and fastened with a strap hanging from their left shoulder. Added to this was the armament:all infantry soldiers, veterans and novices, carried a model 1777 rifle, corrected in the year IX, which weighed 4.6 kilos. In times of peace, Napoleonic soldiers lived confined in fortresses, barracks, "war cities" such as those built in Strasbourg or Mainz, or semi-permanent camps, such as the one set up around Boulogne-sur-Mer, on the coast of Pas-de-Calais, to disembark in England. The days of the troops were divided between severe instruction and the laborious routine of the militia, in sometimes very spartan conditions:it was common, for example, to see two soldiers sharing the same layer of straw. A daily salary was paid to them to cover their expenses. In the elite corps of the Imperial Guard, a grenadier received 23 sous, of which nine were intended for his food, four for his underwear and his shoes, while the remaining ten sous served as a reserve for the unexpected. A corporal received 33 sous and a sergeant 43. In times of war, soldiers engaged in long marches, the speed and distance of which surprised the enemy. Accustomed to being requisitioned, the recruits had become experts in the art of living on the spur of the moment. At the end of the day, and in the best of cases, the troops rested in tents erected in improvised camps; however, it was more common to see them bivouacking and lighting a wood fire to be able to sleep with a simple blanket. More than 40 km per day It was essential for them to plan these walks well, because the distances covered could vary from 20 to 30 km per day, even reaching or exceeding 40 km if necessary. A significant episode took place in 1805, before the Battle of Austerlitz:warned on the afternoon of November 29 by the Emperor, the army of Marshal Davout prepared to travel 130 km almost without rest and arrive in combat on the 2 December morning. It is not surprising that at the end of these grueling marches the soldiers complain of having “blooded feet. » In such harsh living conditions, the morale of the troops played a decisive role in the outcome of the battle. "The strength of an army depends on its size, its training, its experience and its morale, but the morale of the troops outweighs all the other factors put together", Napoleon said. He himself supported the morale of his men, whose battle cry "Long live the Emperor" resounded across Europe. His face even commanded the respect of his enemies:great adversary of Napoleon, the British Marshal Wellington affirmed that the presence of Napoleon's tricorn among the troops “added a force of 40,000 men. » A great adversary of Napoleon, British Marshal Wellington claimed that the presence of Napoleon's tricorn among the troops "added a force of 40,000 men". Maintaining morale was all the more essential as the battlefield was the scene of carnage for soldiers forced to fight or wait in close order for hours in the face of enemy fire. You had to be ready to give your life, and cowardice in battle was punishable by death. The surgeon Percy recounts the spectacle that met his eyes the day after the terrible battle of Eylau, on February 8, 1807:“Never had so many corpses covered such a small space. The snow was everywhere stained with blood […]. Thousands of guns, caps, breastplates were scattered on the road or in the fields. At the decline of a mountain, of which the enemy had doubtless chosen the reverse in order better to defend himself, there were groups of a hundred bloodied bodies. In his Memoirs , Jakob Walter remembers the retreat from Moscow, in winter, under the onslaught of the Cossacks:“I watched the men who were falling by the hundreds […], terrified by the ice and snow which were forming in their mouths. » Wounds in battle could be inflicted by rifles, spears, swords or artillery blows (bullets, shells or grenades). Those who survived the fight often succumbed after several days of agony or were left disabled due to the limitations of medicine at the time. Many of these survivors were then declared unfit for combat. After the defeat at Waterloo in 1815 and Napoleon's exile to Saint Helena, the Grande Armée was disbanded. After years of combat in the service of the Emperor, his soldiers had to resign themselves to enlisting in the new army of Louis XVIII, which restored the monarchy, or to cultivate nostalgia for past glories. Find out more Words of grumblers. 1792-1815. Unpublished letters from the Grande Armée, by Jérôme Croyet, Gaussen, 2016. Imperial decoration Attached to meritocracy, Napoleon was able to exalt the courage of his soldiers by awarding them decorations such as the Legion of Honor, instituted in 1802. Much appreciated by his troops, this distinction rewarded a heroic act on the battlefield or eminent merits returned to the nation. Women, Napoleon's other army Many women also played a vital role in the Grande Armée. At the Battle of Aspern-Essling in 1809, 600 women lent assistance to 75,000 soldiers. Some of them performed stewardship duties, such as canteens, vivandières and laundresses. The courage shown by many on the battlefield even earned decorations for some. In his memoirs, an officer said of the cantinières that “they were as brave as an army of grenadiers”. Deprived of their wives, the recruits fell back on garrison love affairs with ladies from the towns where they were quartered, or else "grisettes", French or foreign prostitutes who followed the troops in their movements.
