Though there are several aspects of the western way of war discipline and the unique system of war finance best characterizes warfare in the age of Napoleon. While several of these aspects of the western way of war played crucial roles during Napoleons age, the shift of the army from a private dynastic property of the King to a public institution, publically funded, and publically commanded and controlled proved to be colossal. As a publically funded and commanded army, the overall strength, discipline, logistics, morale, and public acceptance increased and proved to be successful for Napoleon. During the French Revolution, a transition took places shifting armies from a dynastic, private entity to a public institution. The transferal
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Shortages of food, pay, shoes, and uniforms plagued the army as they did in previous years. However, Soldiers were more apt to deal with these issues as they felt they had personal stake in the war. During the old regime, Soldiers would have deserted due to these issues. In addition to the overall increase in the size of the force, Napoleon brought back the mobility and operational reach of the military. A lot of the logistical systems developed by the old regime adapted to the new scale and pace of the operations under his command. Nevertheless, organization was made more efficient and the loads of the baggage trains were scaled down and shifted to the backs of the Soldiers. Napoleon transitioned some of the services performed by contractors and civilian personnel to military personnel during this time. Supplies and services remained civilian run, but under military control. A significant logistical change came in 1807 with the establishment of a military train service that operated over part of the line of communication. This service was system that was divided into sections and was conducted by shuttling. This system was validated during Napoleons advance into Russia in 1812 which was conducted over 600 miles. Even though Russia tried to sabotage the system, it helped Napoleon’s army victorious to …show more content…
However, technology throughout the Napoleonic era was mostly unchanged. His troops largely used the same weaponry that the troops used in Frederick the Great’s Prussian Army. What separated the new regime from the old was the ability to use these weapons with different tactics. The way he was able to reorganize his forces and mass his fire made him very affective. Depending battlefield and the situation, he could detach companies as skirmishers. This was something that the traditional forces had never seen before. He strongly relied on speed and surprise to defeat his enemies. To this day, we still focus heavily on the ability to surprise our enemies as well as move quickly across the battlefield to gain the operational advantage over our
Shortages of food, pay, shoes, and uniforms plagued the army as they did in previous years. However, Soldiers were more apt to deal with these issues as they felt they had personal stake in the war. During the old regime, Soldiers would have deserted due to these issues. In addition to the overall increase in the size of the force, Napoleon brought back the mobility and operational reach of the military. A lot of the logistical systems developed by the old regime adapted to the new scale and pace of the operations under his command. Nevertheless, organization was made more efficient and the loads of the baggage trains were scaled down and shifted to the backs of the Soldiers. Napoleon transitioned some of the services performed by contractors and civilian personnel to military personnel during this time. Supplies and services remained civilian run, but under military control. A significant logistical change came in 1807 with the establishment of a military train service that operated over part of the line of communication. This service was system that was divided into sections and was conducted by shuttling. This system was validated during Napoleons advance into Russia in 1812 which was conducted over 600 miles. Even though Russia tried to sabotage the system, it helped Napoleon’s army victorious to …show more content…
However, technology throughout the Napoleonic era was mostly unchanged. His troops largely used the same weaponry that the troops used in Frederick the Great’s Prussian Army. What separated the new regime from the old was the ability to use these weapons with different tactics. The way he was able to reorganize his forces and mass his fire made him very affective. Depending battlefield and the situation, he could detach companies as skirmishers. This was something that the traditional forces had never seen before. He strongly relied on speed and surprise to defeat his enemies. To this day, we still focus heavily on the ability to surprise our enemies as well as move quickly across the battlefield to gain the operational advantage over our