Armand,
The French 'handling' of refractaires was interesting. These were 'first offenders' and those caught were treated with a somewhat understanding attitude that would eventually turn them into willing soldiers. Eleven company-sized units for refractaires were formed in 1803.
These men were given uniforms without facings, a bonnet de police and were given extra drill as well as working on fortifications. They were issued muskets, but no bayonets, and received only partial pay. They were not allowed out of their barracks unless they were working, could not drill with other troops and their cadremen were hand-picked for their ability in training recruits. Once the refractaires learned 'subordination and responsibility' they were transferred to line regiments.
There were eight depots for refractaires in 1808 but when they started to become overloaded, Napoleon then created Disciplinary Regiments of four battalions each. They were named for where they were located (Mediterranean based on Corsica, Walcheren, Belle-Isle, and Ile-de-Rey). Mediterranean later became two regiments because of a flood of Italian deserters in early 1811.
The cadres for these units were carefully hand-picked and a good portion came from the Imperial Guard. These regiments did not receive second-offenders, or worse and they were very successful in rehabilitating refractaires. In late 1811 the regiments could be used as garrisons. They were also employed as replacement depots. The rehabilitation was so successful that a 'combat-worthy' infantry division was formed from them in 1812 and finally 1st Mediterranean and Belle-Isle were converted to light infantry regiments and the rest to line infantry.
There were also two battalions of sapeurs du genie formed from refractaires, one the 'Dutch' and the other the 'Italian.' The were converted to the 6th and 7th Engineer Battalions in 1812.
Conscrits mutiles volontaires, those who intentionally mutilated themselves to avoid service were first put into punishment companies in 1806 when self-mutilation became an active problem. The next year the punishment for this offense was fixed at five years pioneer duty where they worked on roads and fortifications. There were 10 companies by 1810, entitled pioniers francais, who did good work and were considered much more reliable than foreign pioneer units.
Interestingly, for all the chest-thumping by the Prussians for their so-called War of Liberation, there were many native Prussians that tried to avoid active service and were draft dodgers. In some parts of Prussia conscription had to be emplaced by force. They may have hated the French, but they didn't want to give the Grande Armee much desired target practice on the battlefield.
Sincerely,
K