"Corps de Génie – French Napoleonic Engineers" Topic

"French Army engineers already had an excellent reputation during the Ancien Régime. Their education and training were organised along enlightenment ideas of rationality, so there was a strong emphasis on geometry and mathematics. Napoléon, who knew of the value of a scientific approach to warfare, organised the army engineers into the Corps Impériale du Génie in 1804. It comprised several special branches, such as sappers (general combat engineers), miners (specialists in mining) and "gardes" (responsible for the maintenance of fortresses). They were organised into companies, with each army corps nominally having one company of miners and at least one of sappers. Each company had their own caisson with tools. Usually marching with the advance guard, they facilitated the movement of their corps by making ad hoc improvements to roads and bridges. They also often worked alongside the pontoniers in building new bridges. One of their most famous exploits was the bridging of the Danube before the battle of Wagram, which was conducted under the supervision of engineer General Henri-Gatien Bertrand…"

THE RAFT

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