"french infantry line formation early war 1914" Topic

guys
we all know ww1 was trench warfare
recently i came across a piece stating that early war 1914
the french army used line formations going into battle similar to what was used during Napoleonic war ,is there any truth in that?

Linear 'formations', Yes. Similar to Napoleonics, No.

Greetings

French infantry in 1914 would operate in relatively close formation in 1914 but this was not in 1815 formations. France changed to two ranks in the. 1830s.

Edward

Up in the front lines,i.e. being shot at,very open. Behind the lines,i.e. not being shot at,close order is most convenient for moving troops,still in limited use today.

This quote is from the book 'In the Fire of the Furnace', which was authored by 'A Sergeant in the French Army'. Here the author is describing the first attack by his unit, as part of the Battle of the Frontiers. The unit fought near the Mangiennes, not far from Longwy, in August 1914. In preparation for the attack:

"…the captain said only a few words. He was nothing of an orator. I was afraid for a moment that his speech might end in gibbering. He recovered himself and concluded. And the men seemed moved by it.

The company formed up again, by platoons, in columns of four. I considered my companions, one by one, with passionate curiosity.

Once having left the wood, we reached the little hill-top…

In spite of having been told that the modern battlefield is empty, I had never imagined anything so desert-like as this. Not a man to be seen in these fields which sloped gently downwards: it was abandoned territory.

Down below us, yonder, there rose a puff of smoke, then another nearer; a third; all in a line. They might have been bonfires lit by an invisible hand.

The noise of the sharp reports reached us.

We had stopped, silent and non-plussed. The captain galloped along the line.

'To fifty paces – Extend!'

We had taken up an extended order and went on marching, but with rather broken ranks.

Our 'connecting file' [sic. – I think this is a mistranslation of serre-file – an officer who followed behind an advance] rushed up.

'Blob formation!'

[The unit then came under artillery fire and went to ground. When the fire subsided…] we raised ourselves up on our knees. Some aeroplanes were circling over us. Taubes, of course!

'Up you get!'

The neighbouring section had started off again. We advanced rapidly. Our serre-file came towards us at the double.

'By sections!'

Henriot repeated:

'Dreher, Guillaumin, by sections!'

We looked at each other, then I exclaimed:

'Come along, the 2nd [Section] with me!'

We covered a good bit of ground, two or three broad undulations. The bursts of firing grew less frequent. We advanced in rushes, for longer distances but not so fast. We felt comparatively safe."

Robert

Here is a link to a web page that I have just uploaded. It shows a set of battle maps, with Waterloo and Mars-la-Tour overlaid on the Battle of Mons. This illustrates how much more spread out WW1 formations were, compared with Napoleonic battles for example:

link

Robert

From the maps the difference between 1914 and 1870 frontages is abundantly clear, but I expected the difference between the dispersion in 1870 and that in 1815 to be more noticeable! They look almost the same.

Robert –

Excellent quotation, like many others you have supplied down the years. Clearly debunks the myth of some Napoleonic close order under fire.

But for clarity: can you specify what is meant by the command levels used in the passage?

Does 'Platoon' refer to the fire group or the standard subdivision of the Company (which according to French practice then and since – and some British drill texts in 1914 – is called a Section)?

Equally, does 'Sections' therefore refer to a (in British terms) Platoon – a Subaltern's command – or a (British terminology) Section/Squad – French Escouade – under the command of an NCO?

The varying numbers and density make a bit of a difference when visualising the scene.

Thank you, laretenue. My understanding is that the terms relate to the British command levels – 'section' translated to 'platoon' and 'escapade' translated to 'section'.

Robert

For a very well informed presentation on the evolution of post-Napoleonic infantry tactics, I would recommend Balck's "Infantry Tactics"

link

B

Apologies – 'escouade' subjected to spell check…

Robert