Battle of Bailen 1808 by Oliver Hayes

Author:Oliver Hayes [Hayes, Oliver]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bretwalda Books
Published: 2014-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

A French grenadier (left) and voltigeur (right) from a line infantry regiment. These men were considered to be the elite of the infantry. Note that both men have blue jackets to show that they are French, though the detailing varies in colour.

The new French army was simply incapable of carrying out the careful battlefield manoeuvres of established armies, so they did not even try. Instead the French developed an aggressive style of fighting a battle that aimed to deliver a knock out blow quickly before the better trained opponents could use their training to good effect.

A French attack began with an artillery bombardment that was delivered by as many cannon as could be mustered. Instead of cannon being distributed along the front of the army, as was previously usual, the French bunched them all together at the spot where they intended to attack.

Once the cannon had deluged the enemy units with cannon ball, the French infantry would advance in one or more tightly packed columns. The recruits could march more easily in column than in line, getting over obstacles and keeping formation quickly and with ease. Ahead of the column was spread a large number of light infantry. These men were spread out and used what cover they could find to hide their movements. Their task was to get to within a hundred yards of the enemy, then open fire. The light infantry cloud was aimed both to pick off enemy soldiers and to lure the enemy into firing their first volley too early. The light infantry were too spread out for a volley to have much effect and casualties would be low. It did mean, however, that the enemy would have wasted their first, most effective volley and might even still be reloading when the column came within range.

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