Osprey - Men-at-Arms 227 Napoleon sea soldiers[Osprey MaA 227].pdf

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OSPREY
MILITARY
MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES
227
NAPOLEON'S SEA
SOLDIERS
RENE CHARTRAND FRANCIS BACK
Chronology
1789
Bastille taken on 14 July start of the
French Revolution.
25 August:
Declaration of
the Rights of Man.
1 December,
mutiny of
sailors in the Toulon fleet.
1790
October,
difficulties concerning the introduc-
tion of the tricolour flag in the Navy.
1792
20 April.
France declares war on Austria and
Prussia.
10 August:
Tuilleries taken and royal
family imprisoned,
22 September,
the Repub-
lic is proclaimed.
1793
21 January:
Louis XVI executed.
1 February.
England, Spain, Holland, Sardinia, Naples
and Portugal at war with France.
July-October.
French fleet from Saint-
Domingue at New York,
22 August-19 Decem-
ber:
Toulon occupied by British and
royalists.
1794
February-August:
Corsica revolts against
France and is occupied by the British.
1 June:
British fleet defeats French fleet ('Glorious
first of June').
1795
January.
Holland overrun-becomes the
Batavian Republic ally of France.
12-14
March:
indecisive fighting of Genoa between
French and British fleets.
23 June:
British
defeat French squadron at Ile-de-Groix.
22
July:
Spain and Prussia cease hostilities with
France.
1796
French squadron raids Grand Banks off
Newfoundland.
October:
British evacuate
Corsica.
November-December:
French expe-
dition to Ireland fails to land.
1797
14 February:
Spanish defeated by British at
Cape St. Vincent,
22 February:
French troops
land at Fishguard in Wales.
21-24 July:
British repulsed by Spanish at Tenerife,
Canary Islands.
11 October:
Dutch fleet de-
feated by British at Camperdown.
The siege of Toulon, August to December 1793. The great
French naval base on the Mediterranean was occupied in
August by allied troops - mostly British - and Royalists. The
port was slowly won back by the French Republican troops,
although it was a disaster for the French fleet with 19 whips of
the line and 14 frigates lost. A crucial element of the
Republicans' success was the excellent artillery tactics dis-
played by Captain Napoleon Bonaparte, who was promoted
General as a result. (Private collection)
3
Navy officer in 1793 by JOB, after a miniature in his
collection. The uniform follows the 16 September 1792 regu-
lations but has blue lapels with red piping in spite of the
specific instruction that there were to be 'no lapels'. JOB also
showed red cuffs, but this is not specified in the regulation.
(Private collection)
1798
19 May:
French fleet bearing Napoleon and
his army sail for Egypt.
11 June:
takes Malta.
2 July:
captures Alexandria.
1 August:
British
destroy French fleet on the Nile (Abukir
Bay).
October:
French fleet gets to Ireland
and lands a few troops but is driven back.
1799
18 May:
French squadron defeated at Cape
Carmel (Israel).
August:
Anglo-Russian
expedition to the Netherlands captures part
of the Dutch fleet but is forced to withdraw
by Franco-Dutch forces. Coup of the 18-19
Brumaire (9-10 November); Napoleon takes
power as First Consul.
15 November:
Minorca
surrenders to British.
1800
5 September:
Malta surrenders to British.
1801
2 April:
Danish fleet raided by British at
Copenhagen.
6 July:
French fleet fights off
4
British at Algeciras.
3 and 5-16 August:
British
raids fail off Boulogne.
August:
French in
Egypt capitulate.
12 October:
cessation of
hostilities between Britain and France.
1802
27 March:
peace of Amiens with England.
26
April:
amnesty for royalist emigres,
19 May:
Legion of Honour instituted.
2 August:
Bonaparte proclaimed Consul for life.
1803
16 May:
Britain declares war on France.
1804
18 May:
Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of
the French 'Napoleon Ier'. Summer: small
craft and troops are assembled at Boulogne.
1805
22 July:
inconclusive engagement between
British and Franco-Spanish fleet at Cape
Finisterre.
21 October:
Franco-Spanish fleet
completely defeated at Trafalgar.
12 Novem-
ber:
Napoleon enters Vienna.
1806
6 February:
French squadron defeated by
British off Santo Domingo.
May:
British
declare blockade of European coast from the
Elbe River to Brest.
12 July:
Confederation of
the Rhine created. 27
October:
Napoleon
enters Berlin.
21 November:
Napoleon issues
the Berlin decree instituting the Continental
blockade against Britain.
1807
16 August-7 September:
British seize Danish
fleet at Copenhagen.
31 August:
Danish Heli-
goland taken by British.
November:
British
Order-in-Council prohibiting trade of neu-
tral nations with French Empire unless they
first call in Britain.
November-December:
Napoleon issues Milan decrees followed by
Holland and Spain, stating that neutral
vessels submitting to British procedures
would be seized.
1808
French occupy Spain.
2 May:
insurrection in
Madrid which soon spreads across Spain.
Spanish colonies remain loyal to the Spanish
Bourbons and become allies of the British.
14
June:
French squadron in Cadiz surrenders.
1809
24 February:
British fought off at Sables-
d'Olonne.
11-12 April:
successful British raid
on Ile d'Aix.
28 July:
British land at Wal-
cheren but evacuate at beginning of
September.
1810
February:
last French forces in West Indies
surrender,
9 July:
Holland is amalgamated
in to France.
23 August:
French squadron
defeats British at Grand Port in Ile-de-
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1840
France.
6 December:
French squadron at Ile-
de-France surrenders.
13 March:
Franco-Italian squadron defeated
by British at Lissa in the Adriatic.
18 Septem-
ber:
last Dutch-French forces in East Indies
surrender.
30 September:
British defeat a
French flotilla ofTBoulogne.
19 June:
United States declare war on Great
Britain.
24-26 June:
French Army crosses the
Niemen River into Russia.
13 and 19 August:
first US Navy successes against British.
13
September:
Napoleon enters Moscow.
24 Octo-
ber:
French start the retreat.
25-29 November:
crossing of the Beresina.
May-October:
campaign in Germany.
16-19
October:
allies win at Leipzig.
21 December:
allied armies cross the Rhine.
February-March:
campaign of France.
31
March:
allies enter Paris.
6 April:
Napoleon
abdicates and arrives at Elba on 4 May.
24
December:
Treaty of Ghent ends the war
between Britain and the United States.
1 March:
Napoleon returns to France.
18
June:
battle of Waterloo.
22 June:
Napoleon
abdicates and is sent to St. Helena, where he
dies on 5 May 1821.
15 October:
ashes of Napoleon transferred on
board the French warship
Belle-Poule
at St.
Helena, arriving in Cherbourg on 29
December.
for the defeats of the Seven Years War. The
standard French ships of the line were of 74 guns
and were of excellent design. The officers and
crews were competent and the 'sea soldiers' were in
the large
Corps royal de l'Infanterie de la Marine,
of 100
companies supported by three companies of
Bombardiers
- a force of over 10,000 men. Some
reforms were made in 1782, but it was the general
regulations of 1786 which reorganized the French
navy in the most sweeping fashion since the days of
Louis XIV. The whole navy was divided into nine
fleets or squadrons with many measures made for
greater efficiency.
Among the many reforms was a novel experi-
ment: the marines and bombardier companies
were abolished and instead a new
Corps royal des
canonniers-malelols
(Royal corps of gunner-sailors)
was created on 1 January 1786. It was an attempt,
Marine infantry
Chef de Brigade,
or Brigadier General,
1792-94, wearing a general's dark blue coat with red collar,
cuffs, cuff flaps and lining, with gold buttons, lace and
epaulettes and a gold laced bicorn with red, white and blue
plumes. Note the spurs on the boots of this Marine. Print by
Labrousse. (Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown
University, USA)
The French Navy in 1789
In 1789 France had the second strongest navy in
the world. It had been rebuilt since the disasters of
the Seven Years War. During the War of Amer-
ican Independence the French managed quite a
few successes against a Royal Navy which could at
best contain this new, rejuvenated, navy. French
naval officers had become more talented and one,
Admiral SufFren, proved to be a brilliant opponent
in the Indian Ocean. Following the peace treaty of
1783, the French continued to make improve-
ments to the navy that had brought them revenge
5
Marine drummer and artilleryman, 1792-94. The drummer
has dark blue coat and turnbacks with red collar, cuffs and
epaulettes, white lapels (we have seen an example of this
print with blue lapels), tricolour lace, black plume on the hat,
white (?) metal buttons, white waistcoat, breeches, gaiters
and drum belt. The drum case is blue with blue and red
hoops. This appears to be a National Guard or Volunteer
drummer attached to the navy as the Marine infantry
uniform had dark blue cuffs and lapels, red cuff flaps and
turnbacks, and black accoutrements. The gunner wears a
dark blue uniform with red collar, cuffs, epaulettes, turn-
backs and piping at the lapels and waistcoat and red edging to
his short black gaiters, with black sabre belt, brass buttons,
and a bicorn with red pom-pom (instead of the helmet). Print
by Labrousse. (Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown
University, USA)
certainly one of the earliest on record, to consoli-
date the duties of soldier and sailor. There were
nine divisions (one division for each of the nine
squadrons of the navy), each division having nine
companies totalling 873 men. Naval sub-
lieutenants provided the junior officers while offi-
cers from the
Corps royal de l'artillerie des colonies
1
(Royal corps of colonial artillery) had more senior
command. The
canonniers-matelots
were trained in
gunnery, small arms as well as some aspects of the
1
sailor's duty. The ratio
of canonniers-matelols
embar-
ked on warships was to be seven for every ten guns,
so that a 74-gun ship would have about 52 on
board. Additional soldiers were to be provided by
detachments of line regiments, a system that had
worked well during the 1778-83 war.
The uniform of the
Corps royal des canonniers-
matelots
followed the general colour scheme in the
French navy, which was blue faced with red and
trimmed with gold, but it had some unusual
features (see Plate A). The men had a round hat
with a white cockade and pom-pom of the division
colour. The coatee was dark blue with red cuffs,
lapels and turnbacks; the collar was of the div-
isional colour. A blue 'sailor style' sleeveless waist-
coat was worn with long blue trousers tucked into a
pair of short gaiters, which laced up on the outside.
NCOs and First Class
canonniers-matelots
had red-
fringed epaulettes; Second Class had the same, but
with fringes on the left shoulder, and Third Class
had no fringes. NCOs had various rank distinc-
tions; for example, a Master Gunner had a gold
lace edged red on each sleeve, while a Master
Armourer had a yellow wool trefoil on the right
shoulder instead of epaulettes. The
canonniers-
matelots
were also issued a sailor's jacket, called a
paletot,
of blue linen trimmed with a collar of the
divisional colour, linen trousers, and so on. Arma-
ment was the M.1779 Colonial troops' musket,
with a ventral cartridge box holding nine rounds.
NCOs and First Class
canonniers-matelots
also had
hangers slung on a shoulder belt. Officers had a
more standard uniform in the same colours as the
men but with bicorn, long coat, breeches and
boots. The distinctive divisional colours were the
same as the squadron colours to which these sea-
soldiers were attached: 1st: crimson; 2nd: white,
3rd: Saxon green; 4th: lemon yellow; 5th: sky blue;
6th: orange; 7th: violet; 8th: buff; 9th: pink.
The dress uniform of naval officers was dark
blue with scarlet cuffs, lining, waistcoat and
breeches, with an elaborate system of gold em-
broidery, epaulettes and lace according to rank.
The coat collars were the colour of the squadron to
which the officer belonged. The bicorn hat was
laced with gold. Officers' undress uniform was
dark blue lined with scarlet, the colour of the cuffs,
with squadron-coloured collar, no, or some, gold
lace depending on rank, white waistcoat and
See MAA No. 211
Napoleon's Overseas Army.
6

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