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"Paddy Griffith's "French Napoleonic Infantry Tactics 1792-1815 "covers the history of Bonaparte's Grande Armee, surveying tactics and using original drill manuals and writing to discuss French infantry organization and strategy." - "The California Bookwatch" (January 2008)
"This is superbly illustrated by Peter Dennis, who provides an excellent series of diagrams of some of the more famous battles to go along with the descriptions of these events. Period illustrations are also included as are modern day photos of the various battlefields. In all, a book that draws you in and one that I found to be especially interesting. I know you will as well. Overall another superlative Osprey book and one that is both an interesting and enjoyable read. I'm sure you will agree." -Scott Van Aken, "modelingmadness.com" (January 2008)
"This is superbly illustrated by Peter Dennis, who provides an excellent series of diagrams of some of the more famous battles to go along with the descriptions of these events. Period illustrations are also included as are modern day photos of the various battlefields. In all, a book that draws you in and one that I found to be especially interesting. I know you will as well. Overall another superlative Osprey book and one that is both an interesting and enjoyable read. I'm sure you will agree." -Scott Van Aken, "modelingmadness.com" (January 2008)
Product Description
This book will provide a careful analysis of the preparation of the French troops from manual regulations to the training ground, as well a study of the changing quality of command and control within the army. Initially this ensured that the French infantry were virtually unstoppable and for several years they enjoyed blistering triumphs at Austerlitz and Jena. Paddy Griffiths explores the role of the French infantry at the apex of their powers and their role in these key battles. However, he also provides a detailed explanation of their eventual decline until their final defeat at Waterloo providing a critical overview of French Napoleonic Infantry tactics.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a very good introduction to the tactics employed by the French Army during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Griffith writes engagingly and manages to hold the attention for what can be a very complicated and involved subject. The illustrations for this volume are marvellous and I certainly came away with a better understanding of how the French manoeuvred in battle. This is an excellent volume to familiarise yourself with this subject and will doubtless inspire many readers to pick up something more sophisticated. Highly recommended.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Paddy Griffith is an undoubted authority when it comes to re-evaluating the historical battlefield. Examining the tactical evolutions employed and their impact on combat, he has looked at how wars have been fought over the last two hundred years in previous publications. In this volume, he attempts to describe how French practises developed from the shambolic improvisations of 1792-3 to the "corupt gigantism" of the later Empire.
Using the timeline of the wars as his framework, he progresses through in a readable enough fashion (as always; Griffith's seeming distaste for Bonaparte aside), but says little new.
The plates by Peter Dennis are excellent in conveying the sheer scope of the manoeuvres described, and serve as a useful corrective to TV and film imagery of Napoleonic battles.
The book, as with most Ospreys, suffers from the restrictions of the format - there is simply too much to say for the space available, so becomes simply a "primer" for further reading. A guarded recommendation.
Using the timeline of the wars as his framework, he progresses through in a readable enough fashion (as always; Griffith's seeming distaste for Bonaparte aside), but says little new.
The plates by Peter Dennis are excellent in conveying the sheer scope of the manoeuvres described, and serve as a useful corrective to TV and film imagery of Napoleonic battles.
The book, as with most Ospreys, suffers from the restrictions of the format - there is simply too much to say for the space available, so becomes simply a "primer" for further reading. A guarded recommendation.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have been trying to understand how the French Revolutionary army actually manoeuvred for about thirty years. Thanks to Mr Griffiths I finally know. His text and illustrations are clear and concise and the colour plates are excellent.
The chapters are
The Legacy of the Seven Years' War
Guibert and the 1791 Regelement
'Revolutionary Warfare'
From the 'Terror' to the Coup of Brumaire
La Grand Armee
The Peninsular War 1808-14
'Corrupt Gigantism' 1809-15
The colour plates are
Jemappes - November 1792 - skirmishers, 'blobs' and 'swarms
Wattignies - October 1793 - weakness against in-depth defences
The Pyramids - July 1798 - an'Egyptian square' in action
Bergen - September 1799 - Defence and recapture of a village
Auerstadt - October 1806 - Morand's flexible manoeuvres
Wagram - July 1809 - Macdonald's 'monstrous column'
Sorauren - July 1813 - the difficulty of deployment during up-hill attacks
Waterloo - June 1815 - The attack of the Middle Guard
Each plate has at least two vignettes illustrating the events depicted.
He begins by discussing the state of the art in the period leading up to the Revolution. The army was in two minds about lines and columns - 'Les grandes querrelles'. Eventually, Guibert's theories were adapted in the Regulations of 1791, and these, with minor modifications continued in use until the next major revision in 1831. What actually affected the use of the various formations was the quality of the troops. The Grand Armee was so well-trained that its commanders were able to use the tactics to their greatest effect, but as the quality of the troops declined over the following years, so their ability to be manoeuvred with precision declined. The value of the original regulations is clear from the fact that Napoleon didn't interfere with them - as he did in so many other areas, political and military.
This is an excellent introductory book to this subject.
Further reading
Battle Tactics of Napoleon and His Enemies
The Anatomy of Victory: Battle Tactics, 1689-1763
The Art of War of Revolutionary France, 1789-1802
Napoleon; a History of the Art of War: From the Beginning of the Consulate to the End of the Friedland Campaign, with a Detailed Account of the Napoleonic Wars
The chapters are
The Legacy of the Seven Years' War
Guibert and the 1791 Regelement
'Revolutionary Warfare'
From the 'Terror' to the Coup of Brumaire
La Grand Armee
The Peninsular War 1808-14
'Corrupt Gigantism' 1809-15
The colour plates are
Jemappes - November 1792 - skirmishers, 'blobs' and 'swarms
Wattignies - October 1793 - weakness against in-depth defences
The Pyramids - July 1798 - an'Egyptian square' in action
Bergen - September 1799 - Defence and recapture of a village
Auerstadt - October 1806 - Morand's flexible manoeuvres
Wagram - July 1809 - Macdonald's 'monstrous column'
Sorauren - July 1813 - the difficulty of deployment during up-hill attacks
Waterloo - June 1815 - The attack of the Middle Guard
Each plate has at least two vignettes illustrating the events depicted.
He begins by discussing the state of the art in the period leading up to the Revolution. The army was in two minds about lines and columns - 'Les grandes querrelles'. Eventually, Guibert's theories were adapted in the Regulations of 1791, and these, with minor modifications continued in use until the next major revision in 1831. What actually affected the use of the various formations was the quality of the troops. The Grand Armee was so well-trained that its commanders were able to use the tactics to their greatest effect, but as the quality of the troops declined over the following years, so their ability to be manoeuvred with precision declined. The value of the original regulations is clear from the fact that Napoleon didn't interfere with them - as he did in so many other areas, political and military.
This is an excellent introductory book to this subject.
Further reading
Battle Tactics of Napoleon and His Enemies
The Anatomy of Victory: Battle Tactics, 1689-1763
The Art of War of Revolutionary France, 1789-1802
Napoleon; a History of the Art of War: From the Beginning of the Consulate to the End of the Friedland Campaign, with a Detailed Account of the Napoleonic Wars
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