by Kerry Hanscom
Strength figures given by Siborne for the French army are also more highly aggregated than those given for the allies; with the exception of specialist troops like marines, headcounts for units are averaged (mean) from corps (for line and light infantry and reserve cavalry), division (for line cavalry), or brigade (for Imperial Guard) strengths. One result of this aggregation is an army composed of homogeneous units; for variety some players may wish to build units which are larger or smaller than the "average" units given below; in any case the total number of figures in each corps, division or brigade should remain unchanged. All French units listed below are organized as follows unless otherwise indicated CHART III French Infantry Bn. = 12 Type of Battery and Composition
Imperial GuardMarshal Mortier Old Guard Bde., Lt-Gen. Friant [18]
Old Guard Bde., Lt-Gen. Morand
Middle Guard Bde., Lt-Gen. Roguet
Middle Guard Bde., Lt-Gen. Michel
Young Guard Bde., Lt-Gen. Duhesme
Young Guard Bde., Lt-Gen. Barrois
Cavalry Bde., Lt-Gen. Lefebvre-Desnouettes (19)
Cavalry Bde., Lt-Gen. Guyot (13)
Artillery, Lt-Gen. Desvaux
Marines of the Guard (1/3)
1st Division Lt-Gen. Alix
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Quiot
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Bourgeois
2nd Division Lt-Gen. Donzelot (9)
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Schmitz 2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Aulard 3rd Division Lt-Gen. Marcognet
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Nogues
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Grenier
4th Division Lt-Gen. Durutte
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Pegot
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Brue
1st Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. Jaquinot
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Brune
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Gobrecht (5) Artillery . [19]
Lt-Gen. Reille
5th Division Lt-Gen. Bachelu (11)
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Husson 2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Campi 6th Division Lt-Gen. Prince Jerome (11)
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Baudouin
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Soye 7th Division Lt-Gen. Girard (8)
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Louis 2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Piat
9th Division Lt-Gen. Foy (10)
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Gauthier 2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Jamin 2nd Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. Pire
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Hubert
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Wathiez (7) Artillery
8th Division Lt-Gen. Lefol (11)
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Billiard 2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Corsin 10th Division Lt-Gen. Habert
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Gengoult
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Dupeyroux
11th Division Lt-Gen. Berthezene
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Dufour
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Legrade
3rd Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. Domont
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Dommanget (5) 2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Vinot Artillery
12th Division Lt-Gen. Pecheux (10)
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Romme 2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Schoeffer
13th Division Lt-Gen. Vichery
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Le Capitaine 2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Desprez [23]
14th Division Lt-Gen. Hulot [24]
1st Bde., Brig-Gen.
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Toussaint
7th Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. Maurin
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Vallin
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Berruyer
Artillery
Lt-Gen. Lobau
19th Division Lt-Gen. Simmer
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. de Bellair
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Jamin
20th Division Lt-Gen. Jeannin
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Bony
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Boudin 21st Division Lt-Gen. Teste (5)
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Lafitte 2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Penne Artillery
4th Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. Soult
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Houssin
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Ameil
5th Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. Subervie
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. de Colbert
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Merlin
Artillery
Lt-Gen. Excelmans
9th Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. Strolz
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Burthe
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Vincent
10th Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. Chastel (15)
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Bennemains
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Berton
Artillery Lt-Gen. Kellermann
11th Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. l'Heritier
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Picquet (7)
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Guiton (5)
12th Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. Roussel
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Blanchard
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Donop
Artillery
Lt-Gen. Milhaud
13th Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. Wathier (11)
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Dubois
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Travers
14th Cavalry Division Lt-Gen. Delort (13)
1st Bde., Brig-Gen. Vial
2nd Bde., Brig-Gen. Farine
Artillery
[1] All British field batteries were normally organized with 5 9-pdr. guns and 1 24-pdr. howitzer. The best way to simulate this unusual organization is as follows:
2nd-In fire fights this section operates like any other, but separate die rolls "to hit" are made for the 9-pdr. and the howitzer represented by the single stand.
3rd-If hits are scored against the target by gun or howitzer fire from this stand, the value of these hits is halved. I have no data on the 24-pdr. howitzer used here, but it (and the Prussian 24-pdr. mentioned later) is probably similar in effect to the ACW 24-pdr. howitzer described in Grand Army. Horse artillery batteries were probably organized similarly, a 51/2" howitzer being used in 6-pdr. batteries and an 8" howitzer being used in 9-pdr. batteries.
[2] KGL light regiments are armed with Baker rifles; these units then have a maximum fire range of 9".
[3] Hanoverian Field Battalions Luneburg and Grubenhagen are light infantry units.
[4] Although trained to fight normally in a 3-rank line, Netherlandish infantry adopted the 2-rank line when Wellington took command of the Allied army. For this reason all Netherlandish units should be mounted with 3/8" front per figure. Other Allied infantry units probably used the 2-rank line as well.
[5] All Netherlandish guns were of 6-pdr. calibre; N )rth indicates that the Belgians did have one battery of 12-pdr., but these apparently did not take part actively in the campaign. Though no mention is made of howitzers by any of the sources, a typical battery of this period would have a section of light howitzers which could replace one of the 6-pdr. sections.
[6] Battalion strengths for units in this division are averaged (mean) from brigade strength figures.
[7] The Flankers are apparently a converged "battalion;"
[8] The Reserve was a corps-sized unit though not organized as such. It was under the direct control of the commander-in-chief.
[9] I have no ballistic data on the 18-pdr. At the time their employment was something of an experiment in the use of "super-heavy" guns. Since Siborne does no more than mention their presence on the campaign they couldn't have been unusually successful. The following data are based on some very rough extrapolations from data given in Grand Army for smaller calibre guns. If one is willing to spend the time, a proper linear regression should give more accurate results (assuming that the range of the piece as a function of shot weight is linear!), but these will serve until more accurate information is available:
High Trajectory Fire:
[10] Battalion strengths for units in the Hanoverian Reserve are averaged (mean) from aggregate Hanoverian Reserve Corps strength figures.
[11] I have no idea how many launchers were actually available. Siborne states that several "troops" were present, but as Vietmeyer gives the normal complement of a rocket troop as 24 launchers, Siborne probably mistakenly confused "troop" and "section" (or its equivalent).
[12] Ideally the Brunswick Cavalry was part of the Advance Guard of the Brunswick Corps. When attached to the Cavalry Corps this ad hoc brigade would be commanded by the senior cavalry officer (name unknown); players may wish not to use a command figure to recreate the "feel" of command problems which plague a multi-national army like this one.
[13] 28 squadrons of Netherlandish cavalry were available for the campaign. North writes that the 5th Lt. Dragoons had 2 squadrons and the 6th Hussars had 3, but gives no information for other regiments. Siborne's battle maps show the Netherlandish cavalry with homogeneous regiments of 4 squadrons each.
[14] Young gives variations on the organizations of the Reserve Cavalry and Reserve Artillery of this corps.
[15] Same as above.
[16] Siborne puts the 36th Line in the 9th Brigade in place of the 30th Line. This is apparently a misprint as the 36th was not organized until after the Waterloo campaign. Young also gives alternate organizations for the Reserve Cavalry and Reserve Artillery of this corps.
[17] Same as Note 15.
[18] Toward the end of the Napoleonic wars guard infantry in the French army often used a 2-rank formation; gamers who wish to experiment with this should mount figures with 3/8" frontage.
[19] Corps Reserve batteries did not have the usual section of howitzers; horse batteries used 4- or 6-pdrs. and had no howitzer section.
[20] North designates the 3rd as a light regiment.
[21] North puts the 4th Line regiment in the 2nd Bde., 7th Div. in addition to the 12th Light regiment.
[22] North puts the 6th Light regiment in this brigade in addition to the 63rd Line regiment.
[23] North gives the brigade composition as 48th and 60th regiments of the line.
[24] Hulot was originally commander of the 1st Bde., 14th Div. He replaced de Bourmont as divisional commander when the latter deserted early in the campaign. I do not know the name of the officer who succeeded to command of the 1st Bde. of this division.
French Guard Horse Grenadiers may have been composed of 7 squadrons; Guard Dragoons may have been composed of 6 squadrons. Since Easton's suggested organization for Guard Light Cavalry regiments is very suspect (e.g., the 3rd Guard Lancers is listed in the OoB, though this regiment may never have existed except on paper, and it was certainly non-existent by 1815) it might be wise to accept heavy cavalry organizations with a grain of salt.
Chandler, David. Campaigns of Napoleon, The MacMillan Co. (New York: 1966).
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