Wars in the mid 1700’s – 1800’s

Napoleon takes over

1799 Napoleon led the a coup d’etat and overthrew the Directory

He named himself the First Consul (leader of the new government).

By 1804 he crowned himself as Emperor of France.

As emperor he had complete control of the country’s affairs – he became a dictator and a tyrant. He was much more of a tyrant than King Louis XIV, King Louis the XVI and Robespierre.

Wars of mid 1700’s

Wars were fought face to face, no more than a hundred feet (50 meters) apart from each other.

Armies would march to the battlefield – usually a flat terrain, and line up into columns and rows.

They would face each other awaiting to see who was commanded to fire their guns first.

The people in the front row and second row had their guns loaded. The people in the thirds and forth row behind didn’t have any guns.

Wars of mid 1700’s

Upon the command of the General, the front row would fire. After they fire their weapon, they would proceed to move to the back of the line and hand off their gun to the person in the third row.

The person in the third row would load their gun by putting gun powder in, a circular bullet and then compress it together with an iron rod.

You had to do all of this before it was your turn to be at the front line and fire your gun.

Wars of mid 1700’s

If you were not fast enough, you would not be able to shoot your gun

If you were killed, you could not get the gun passed back to the third person in your row.

Once enough people were shot dead, you would attach a bayonet (a knife) to the end of your gun and charge your opponent.

You would hopefully kill them before they killed you.

Wars of mid 1700’s

The army that did not retreat, or did not raise the white flag of defeat was declared the winner.

The only way to win a battle like this was to have a) more men then your opponent, b) hope (and I do mean HOPE) your bullet that you fired killed someone and c) a lot of luck by killing more people with your bayonet than your opponent does.

Note – these guns were not that accurate, you could be aiming to kill the person in front of you and the bullet may stray like two people over and hit someone else in the leg.

Wars of mid 1700’s

Upon being victorious, the remaining military men would pack up their tents, grab all the guns from their dead comrades, and pack up all their gun powder, bullets, and anything they could find to ensure they had enough weaponry for the next battle.

This meant that the men had A LOT of baggage to carry with them – this extra baggage tended to slow down the pace of an armies movement from point A to point B.

Napoleon’s Plan

Napoleon revolutionized the way war was to be fought.

His first course of action was to create and design intricate maps of the land. They were very detailed, organized and well put together.

Secondly, as a military General he took the lead on building new factories in France to make more guns, clothing and gun powder.

He did not want to only have enough guns for two rows in each column, he wanted to mass produce guns and gun powder.

Napoleon’s Plan

By 1794 the factories in France were making 700 muskets (guns) a day, a sum equal to the total daily gun production of the rest of Europe.

French tailors were sewing hundreds and hundreds of uniforms and French cobblers were making ten shoes a week for the army (this alone was infinitely better then all other armies in Europe).

Napoleon’s Plan Thirdly, Napoleon also shed his army of tents, supply lines

(lines that would send supplies from France to the men on the battlefield) and told his army to “live off the land.”

This meant, after every victory his army was to steal any weapon, bullets, and gun powder they found on the battlefield.

They were to sack local villages for food, drink and shelter. They were to steal and take any valuables they could in

order to buy and purchase more weaponry, or to purchase new clothing, for their future campaigns.

Napoleons Military would constantly say to people in the towns that they took over, “Give me wine! Give me money! Make it snappy or you’re dead.”

Napoleon’s Plan

On the battlefield, Napoleon had to find ways to defeat his enemies whom had a stronger and more established military than France.

Napoleon employed what we call “Shock Tactics.” Napoleon would divide his army into corps and

divisions. He would have his newer and less experienced men

on the front line with guns in hand, much like the way wars were fought before. But he had much fewer rows and columns – this did make his army look small.

Napoleon’s Plan

He would then have his most disciplined military men follow the maps that Napoleon created, and have them curl around their opponent so as to create a semi-circle around the enemy.

Each corps or division would be given a number. Each number would be identified on his maps and each corps or division had to set up where Napoleon had instructed.

Napoleon’s Plan

The newer members of the army would start the battle by firing at the enemies front line.

The enemy, feeling over confident because the French army looked so small, would concentrate their fire power on the front line.

Then the corps and divisions that created a semi-circle around the enemy would appear on the flanks and fire at the opponent from the sides.

Napoleon’s Plan

As the enemy started to turn to attack/defend from the sides, the newer men on the first front line would then charge with bayonets and stab and kill their opponents.

Because the number of men in each corps and division, Napoleon was able to move them from one point to the next really quickly.

As such, if a corps or division had to be moved because they were losing the battle, he could command them to move to a different location with ease .

Napoleon’s Plan

This “shock tactic” was quick, versatile, and effective. It required a high level of discipline and a need to follow pristine orders.

The French would literally steamroll over their enemies as their opposition had no defence towards this tactic.

Napoleon’s Plan

Because Napoleon’s armies were light, lived off the land, and were able to deal quick and decisive blows to their enemies, they were able to move from one battlefield to the next at a quick pace.

So fast, in fact, that they would sometimes surprise their enemies and catch them un-prepared or napping.

Napoleon’s Plan

Napoleon was ruthless by making his military men move fast and quickly, and while the men grumbled about how fast Napoleon was moving his army across the land.

Despite their grumbles, they were grateful because the faster they moved, the quicker they surprised their enemies and as a result the loss French lives were kept at a minimal.

Napoleon’s Plan

One French military man said after the battle of Ulm, “The Emperor has discovered a new way of waging war; he uses our legs instead of a bayonets’.”

Ultimately, the shock tactic, the creation of divisions and corps, and a very aggressive marching tempo from one battlefield to the next led to an incredible level of success for Napoleon.