"Infantry categorisation" Topic

I'm very new to historicals and may be asking a bit of a silly question but I can't seem to find a definite answer to the following. As a little context, I have started my adventure into the period with Napoleons 1812 invasion of Russia. The Grande Armee is a smorgasbord of units of varying nationalities and uniforms and the Russian army has been largely reformed and is much better able to face the French than its predecessor. In looking through the Order of Battle for the French I wanted to try to recreate the Young Guard (as their use as a first reserve would make them an appropriate addition) yet am slightly perplexed by their composition. It is referenced in multiple resources that the Young Guard is broken up as; Voltigeurs, Tirailleurs, Chasseurs and Grenadiers. Each being designations given to entire battalions. This seems to be a significant difference to the way in which Grenadiers and Voltigeurs are designations to companies of line regiments elsewhere in the army. Not so surprising for Grenadiers as I am aware Grenadier regiments can be found elsewhere but I am slightly confused by the designations of the light battalions. My understanding is that Voltigeurs, Chasseurs and Tirailleurs are all forms of light infantry often deployed in loose order. By 1812 what discernable differences were there in the use and equipment of these battalions that warranted their different descriptors?
If I wanted to represent these on the table would all Voltigeurs, Chasseurs and Tirailleurs be best shown by skirmish order bases or would some battalions be more likely to fight in close order?

Couple of potentially useful links:

link

link

in theory, Chasseurs were the center companies of Light Infantry battalions, which were often called Chasseur battalions. Voltigeurs and Tirailleurs were used to designate the flank companies and both were used as skirmishers. Again in theory, Voltigeurs ("vaulters") were trained to work in combination with horsemen, vaulting onto horseback and then off again when close to the enemy. They were recruited from men who were agile and short. Tirailleurs were more traditional skirmishers. Again in theory. In practice, I suspect that there was not that much difference, in the same way that regiments designated as Grenadiers in Napoleonic times no longer carried grenades but had the tradition of being elite units that recruited the tallest, most imposing men.

In short, I suspect Chasseurs, Voltigeurs and Tirailleurs were all fairly generic light troops used for scouting and skirmishing, the difference in names being a matter of unit history/tradition and reflected in different color facings or plumes within the different companies of the same battalion. Since voltigeurs and tirailleurs were also found as flank companies of line/ligne and light (legere) battalions specifically designated as for use as skirmishers, they would be more likely used in that role. But I'm sure that someone can find plenty of accounts of Legere battalions (including their indigeous companies of chasseurs, voltigeurs and/or tirilleurs) deployed and fighting in line of battle.

But all of what Chris related falls apart when referring to the Imperial Guard.

There were no "flank" companies in any of the Guard battalions. All regiments, Old or Young, had two battalions, each of four identical companies.

The Old Guard regiments were either Grenadiers a Pied (1st – 3rd) or Chasseurs a Pied (1st & 2nd) but they were "heavy" infantry.

The Young Guard regiments had several different names -- one Fusilier Grenadier, one Fusilier Chasseur, six Tirailleur, six Voltigeur, one Flanquer-Chasseur, and one National Guard [from George Nafziger's Napoleon's Invasion of Russia]. But although they had "light" infantry names, they were to all intends and purposes line infantry although they were trained to fight both in battle line and in skirmish order. Their names were indicative of their "special" category as Guard regiments.

They should all be represented on your battlefield as close order battalions but with a skirmish capability similar to both the regular line and legere battalions of the French Army.

Hope this helps. Getting some reference books about the French Army (and other countries' armies) is always helpful in sorting out the sometimes confusing nomenclature of various naming conventions.

Good gaming to you and stay safe!

Jim

I agree with both Chris and Col Campbell. Just to help you think matters through, despite having been raised on very complex categorizations of Napoleonic infantry, I've come to think we're really talking only three--infantry trained only to fight in close order, infantry trained only to fight as skirmishers, and infantry which could do both. Beyond that, we're either talking equipment--the very rare rifle-armed units--or we're discussing training and morale, which mostly but not always run together. (I suspect in the "twilight of the Empire" the expanded Young Guard consisted largely of units which were braver than they were trained.)

In the French army of the First Empire, much of the infantry and especially the Guard infantry, is capable of both close order and skirmisher combat: it's just wasteful to use long-service veteran Guard units on the skirmish line when conscripts will do well enough. So the Old Guard Chasseurs, say, COULD skirmish, but almost never do. Even in the Young Guard their morale and cohesion pay off better in formation, but they were perfectly capable of going into skirmish order if the situation called for it.

Excellent comments so far. I can only add that all Guard troops in the French army are seen as "shock troops". To be used to smash throught enemy formations once they had been softened up by the line infantry/artillery, etc. So their most common formations were in close order and should be based that way. In certain periods/situations the Young Guard was put into the role of front line troops and would deploy skirmish formations of any size to fit the requirement of the situation. So similiar to the role of Leger (the point of the spear). So, yes any Guard unit could perform any task in any formation but their primary role was to be used as shock troops.

I think an easy way to look at the problem is to consider the designation de la Garde Imperiale as the indicator of tactical employment and the titles Grenadiers, Chasseurs, Flanquers etc more as indicators of uniform disctinctions according to the mode of the period as well as indicators of seniority within the organisation.