Battle of Albuera 1811 by Oliver Hayes

Author:Oliver Hayes [Hayes, Oliver]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bretwalda Books
Published: 2013-05-29T00:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 4

The French Army

The system of army corps was a new French innovation and although it would later be copied by nearly every army in the world was unique to the French in the Peninsular War. The basic idea was that a corps would be a miniature army complete with infantry, cavalry, artillery, staff, engineers and a commander. The unit was intended to remain together more or less permanently wherever the corps had to go, thus enhancing the willingness of the various component regiments to trust each other to do their jobs properly on campaign.

Because each corps was a complete little army it could operate on its own, often detached by many miles from the rest of the army. At the same time, different corps could combine quickly and easily into a single larger army when necessary. The corps system was a very flexible way of operating the armed forces on campaign. It enabled a large army to break up into smaller units to move along different roads before concentrating at a prearranged spot to assault the main enemy army. This gave the French more mobility on the march, a factor that Napoleon used time and again to defeat his more slow moving opponents.

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