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  • 5 - Napoleon’s Grande Armée

  • from Part II - The State of the Armed Forces
  • Edited by Bruno Colson, Alexander Mikaberidze, Louisiana State University, Shreveport
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars
    Published online:
    20 December 2022
    Print publication:
    02 March 2023, pp 89-105

  • Summary

    The Grande Armée is an incredible military institution that allowed Napoleon to implement well-defined operational process within the framework of conventional wars. Favoring mobility (in particular by living off the land), the Emperor innovated by creating an army model that reflect his conceptions of war, with an unparalleled staff organization, military structure based on corps that incorporated infantry, cavalry, a large artillery reserve (from 1809) and a “large park of artillery, engineers and crews” to meet various logistical needs. The operational and tactical superiority born out of this conceptual advance shone in early years but diminished due to sustained campaigning, internal entropy, and advances made by the opponents in response to the French victories. From a historical point of view, the Grande Armée served as a model for the field armies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.