Anyone interested in designing or playing a miniatures ruleset on Napoleonic warfare should find the following facts of at least some interest and perhaps useful. The most important references used include the following: Imperial Bayonets by George Nafziger. Tactics & Grand Tactics of the Napoleonic Wars, by George Jeffrey's. Weapons & Equipment of the Napoleonic Wars, by Philip Haythornwaite. A Year at War 1809, by C A Sapherson. Troop Frontages The space allotted for an infantryman in the ranks and between the ranks was: Country Width Interval between ranks Austria ??? 2 paces (40 ins) Britain 22 ins 1 pace France 26 ins 13 ins Prussia ??? 26 ins Russia 27 ins 14 ins The dimensions of line infantry in line of battle at full theoretical strength was: Country Year Battalion Length Austria 1807 228 to 254 yds Britain 1792 213 France 1791 187 France 1808 160 Prussia 1792 120 Prussia 1808 115 Russia 1802 123 Infantry was deployed in 3 ranks (3 men deep) except for Great Britain and some of her allies which used a 2 rank formation. In 1813 Napoleon issued plans for the elimination of the 3rd rank from the French army. I do not believe that this was widely implemented. For cavalry and artillery I have been unable to locate the frontages for individual countries. The French regulations state that 12 files should occupy a space of 9 to 10 meters. This works out to 29 to 33 inches frontage per horse. George Jefferies says a cavalry squadron of 150 men, deployed in two ranks would have a frontage of 100 yards (48 inches per horse.) Hence a regiment of 6 squadrons would have a frontage of 600 yards. Cavalry was generally deployed in two ranks. Artillery guns were placed every 12 to 20 yards giving a 6 gun battery a frontage of 72 to 120 yards. Movement Rates Infantry movement rates by country are as follows: Country Type Paces per Minute Yards per Minute Austria Ordinairschritt 90-95 63-66 Austria Geschwindschritt 105 73 Austria Doubleirschritt 120 83 France Pas ordinaire 76 55 France Pas de route 85-90 61-65 France Pas accelere 100 72 France Pas de manoeuvre 120 87 France Pas de charge 120 87 Britain Ordinary Pace 75 63 Britain Quick Pace 108 90 Prussia Ordinaire schritt 75 52 Britain Geschwindschritt 108 63 Russia Tchyiszag 60-70 50-58 Britain Skoryi szag 100-110 83-92 Britain Udwonyi szag 140-160 117-133 Apparently the Russians used the "goose step" and one must wonder if they were ever able to march at the fastest rates listed for any distance. The French and Prussians marched with a locked knee with the foot swung forward as if to kick the leg of the man in front. The fastest paces were only used over short distances by almost all troops. The French Old Guard was able to charge 300 yards and maintain order, but this was considered to be most remarkable. Both the French & Prussian systems contained a back-step that was a pace of 12 inches. This was only used to make minor tactical adjustments. An oblique step was used to angle to the left or right. When using it troops would move at an angle of 22.5 degrees from their front. The step was shorter, covering about 1.5 feet, & the slower pace was used. French troops would advance at about 40 yards per minute when obliquing & other nations at about 37 yards per minute. A short-step of about 12 inches was apparently allowed for & one must suspect that it was frequently used on the uneven fields on which battles were normally fought. The calculated infantry rates of advance using it are as follows: Rate of March France Britain Ordinary Step 25 yds/min 25 yds/min Quick Step 33 36 Charge Step 40 40 Personally I suspect that these slower movement rates (shorter paces at least) would have frequently been used on the battlefield. I can't imagine a line of men 150 yards long wheeling or moving swiftly through the cow pastures near my home without falling into disorder (or perhaps something a little smellier!) George Nafziger states that the medium cadences of 100 to 120 paces per minute were the most popular on the battlefield in the years from 1792 to 1815. 1 would assume that columns on good ground would use this rate whereas Nnes would have a tenclancy to use the slower rates on all types of ground. I have found only two references regarding the movement rates of artillery. They state that a French horse artillery team walked at 86 meters per minute, trotted at 189, & galloped at 200 or 370 meters per minute. The French regulations list cavalry movement rates as follows: Walk 97-107 meters per minute Trot 194-214 meters per minute Gallop 300 meters per minute As it is more than challenging to teach horse how to march in cadence cavalry movement rates were less regimented. Of course troops may not necessarily spend an entire game turn moving so one should not necessarily simple multiply out the above rates by the length of the turn to obtain the movement allowance. The Russians were by no means considered to be the most mobile army on a battlefield. There are other factors, such as command, that determined which army was more capable of moving troops around the battlefield than simply the theoretical rates of march. When the faster movement rates were used then, presumably, there was more disorder in the ranks leading to more stops to redress the lines. Finally there was more than one tactical system in use with the French system generally being superior & allowing for a faster change of formation & more tactical flexibility on the battlefield. Back to MWAN #112 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com