barr7430 wrote:French battalions of 1200
.. that means companies of 200...
is that really true.... establishement strengths were more in the region of 120.. why so big here?
thanks
That is what Nafziger's orders of battle consistently show, both in the online collection and his excellent
The Defense of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Northern Italy, 1813-1814.
For example, the 2nd Division, 1 January 1814:
2nd Division: Général de division Rouyer
Brigade: Général de brigade Schmitz
1/9th Line Regiment (26/9l9)
2/9th Line Regiment (22/876)
3/9th Line Regiment (21/471)
Artillery Co/9th Line Regiment (2/54)
28th Demi-brigade provisoire
6/52nd Line (21/1,0l0)
6/67th Line (21/1,042)
Brigade: Général de brigade Darnaud
1/35th Line Regiment (24/796)
2/35th Line Regiment (24/796)
3/35th Line Regiment (25/852)
Artillery Co/35th Line regiment (2/43)
1/1st Regiment Etranger (33/659)
2/1st Regiment Etranger (18/646)
3/,4/1st Regiment Etranger (28/619)
Artillery Co/1st Regiment Etranger (2/66)
Artillery:
4/2nd Foot Artillery (2/118)
5/4th Horse Artillery (2/103)
6/10th Principal Train Battalion (0/33)
9th Equippage Militaire (1/52)
The largest battalion in the Armee d'Italie is 3/1st Légère (15/1,319), and the smallest are 1/Regiment of Volunteers (21/255) and 2/Regiment of Volunteers (17/230).
Even the cavalry is pretty strong, with 100-200 man squadrons!
It certainly doesn't hurt that Eugene was a good deal less prolifigate with lives than his stepfather. There are lots of skirmishes, and the potential for some VERY interesting fights (Franco-Italians vs Austrians, Franco-Italians vs Neopolitans, Franco-Italians vs British, etc) but not the kinds of wastage seen up north. Much more like a Seven Years War campaign, though the Mincio was pretty Napoleonic in concept.[/i]