"Quick general Napoleonic era questions" Topic
10 Posts
All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.
Please remember that some of our members are children, and act appropriately.
For more information, see the TMP FAQ.
Back to the Napoleonic Discussion Message Board
Areas of InterestNapoleonic
Featured Hobby News Article
Featured Link
Featured Ruleset
Featured Showcase Article
Featured Profile ArticleThe Editor is invited to tour the factory of Simtac, a U.S. manufacturer of figures in nearly all periods, scales, and genres.
Featured Book Review
|
Slappy | 27 Jan 2015 6:18 p.m. PST |
1. Was the flag or the eagle more sacred to french regiments? 2. Who was responsible for repairs of armaments both Cannon and musket? 3. Could low socio-economic individuals work hard an gain a commission in the army? 4. Was the french army at the time a dumping ground for petty criminals? |
Brechtel198 | 27 Jan 2015 6:27 p.m. PST |
1. The eagle. 2. Artillery artificers (ouvriers). 3. To be an NCO and an officer the man had to be able to read and write. So, if that was the case, then yes. 4. No. B |
vtsaogames | 27 Jan 2015 7:01 p.m. PST |
The French army was the first nation-in-arms where the army was to a large extent a cross-section of the society. Ancien regime armies tended to have poor rank and file led by aristocratic officers. The French army, a product of the Revolution, was the army where "every soldier has a marshal's baton in his knapsack". While commoners of skill and courage could sometimes advance in other armies, it happened much more often in the French. Think meritocracy (however imperfect) opposed to aristocracy. Sometimes aristocrats made good generals, like Wellington and Archduke Charles. |
Glengarry5 | 27 Jan 2015 7:02 p.m. PST |
4. Well, there was a penal battalion formed in 1811,"Penal Regiment Ré Island", formed with draft dodgers. |
AussieAndy | 27 Jan 2015 7:37 p.m. PST |
With respect to the the third question, many senior officers came from comparatively lowly backgrounds and almost certainly would not have risen to become officers under the Ancien Regime. However, as time went on, there was less social mobility as those that had progressed up the chain sought to protect their status and Napoleon sought to cement his position as an hereditary ruler. Hence, Napoleon's creation of a new aristocracy and attempts to encourage the return of emigres. |
Slappy | 27 Jan 2015 7:42 p.m. PST |
Thanks chaps you are life savers |
xxxxxxx | 27 Jan 2015 8:38 p.m. PST |
4. There were four (full) French penal regiments, not one battalion …. -- régiment de l'Île-de-Walcheren -- régiment de l'Île-de-Ré -- 1er régiment de la Mediterranée -- 2e régiment de la Mediterranée Should we count the forced labor of convicts at military manufactories, constructing army depots and casernes, working at marine arsensals and on rowing galleys in the Mediterranean? The (Black) Haitian supporters of Toussaint Louverture who were not shot out of hand (or worse) were condemmed to penal miitary service in a "bataillon des pionniers noirs". Transferred to the kingodom of Naples in 1806, they were taken into service as an infantry regiment, the Real Africano. - Sasha |
Mike Petro | 27 Jan 2015 8:59 p.m. PST |
I have read of many poor or untrustworthy regiments being disarmed, and used for engineering/manual labor duties. |
xxxxxxx | 27 Jan 2015 9:26 p.m. PST |
I was restricting my answer to French citizens who violated the civil law and were forced into some sort of military service. All sorts of non-French ended up in construction labor units after either (i) they were captured, or (ii) Napoléon thought their government might not be "loyal" to France. Additionally, the municipal guard of Paris were packed off to the "front" as punishment for permitting or not quickly stopping the attempted coup by Malet in 1812. Getting transferred to a colonial unit was a punishment for middling military crimes (more severe than could be handled in the unit, but not a major felony). - Sasha |
vtsaogames | 28 Jan 2015 3:28 p.m. PST |
An example (and a digression): Marshal Soult. His father was a notary who gave Soult a good education. He enlisted as a private in 1785 and was a sergeant by the time the Revolution broke out. He was commissioned in 1792, made general de brigade in 1794, general de division in 1799 and marshal in 1804. Had he not been a marshal he might well have made an excellent museum curator. He was a prodigious looter. I went to an exhibition of Spanish paintings that influenced French paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art a few years back. A major – and I mean major – part of the exhibit was the collection of Marshal Soult. He had a fine eye for art as well as grasping hands. |
|