| patrick766 | 16 Aug 2018 5:34 a.m. PST |
At what strength would a 3 rank battalion extend to 2 ranks to cover a wider front?
Would a 400 or 500 strong battalion extend to cover a 600 or 700 strong battalion front?
Any thoughts appreciated!
Thank you,
Patrick |
| von Winterfeldt | 16 Aug 2018 5:59 a.m. PST |
It is in the regulations, but when the battalion was a third short of normal strength it would deploy in two ranks to keep identical frontage to 3 ranks, it varied however from army to army. |
| patrick766 | 16 Aug 2018 7:06 a.m. PST |
Thank you for the response. It was very helpful.
One more question; generally, would the Russians have adhered to this? Thank you,
Patrick |
| marshalGreg | 16 Aug 2018 10:53 a.m. PST |
There has been some evidence, in soldier memriors or reports that at Borodino some weak Russian battalions where in 2 ranks and/but deployed one battalion behind the other of that regiment for a 4 rank formation, against the incoming attack.
Unfortunately, I cannot remember the source to lead you to it. |
| patrick766 | 16 Aug 2018 11:04 a.m. PST |
Thank you for the responses, Patrick |
| Rittmester | 16 Aug 2018 11:06 p.m. PST |
Coignet describes the combat at Aspern Essling so that his batallion (French Old Guard Grenadiers) had to reduce down to one rank due to excessive losses, in order to keep up the frontage. |
| Rittmester | 16 Aug 2018 11:09 p.m. PST |
See pos 2859 in Kindle version of Coignet's memoirs. |
| patrick766 | 28 Aug 2018 4:36 p.m. PST |
One more question.
As an example, would a 500 strong battalion extend its front to a full strength 720 strong battalion at the start of a battle, or would it start the battle with a 3 rank frontage of roughly 160 files and thin out as losses occurred to maintain that front throughout a battle?
Thank you, Patrick |
| Lion in the Stars | 28 Aug 2018 6:38 p.m. PST |
I would expect that they'd start the battle in 2 ranks rather than 3. But Napoleonics isn't my core area of interest. |
| patrick766 | 29 Aug 2018 6:00 a.m. PST |
In other words, should a 500 strong French battalion occupy the same frontage of a 700 strong battalion at the start of a battle, assuming reduced ranks? thank you,
Patrick |
 McLaddie  | 29 Aug 2018 11:57 a.m. PST |
While a 500 strong battalion could occupy the same frontage as a 700 man battalion, there isn't a 'should' in this case. Whether a unit formed two or three ranks was an option open to the commander of the battalion as well as higher ranks. It all depended on the situation, the number of men and what the commander[s] wanted… There are examples of battalion, brigade, division and army commanders dictating how many ranks would be formed under a variety of conditions. |
returns to Flintloque to paint an Ogre.
