Voltigeur

The Voltigeurs (lit. Vaulters) were French military skirmish units created in 1804 by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. They formed an integral part of La Grande Armee's basic building blocks, the Line and Light infantry battalions.

Line and Light Infantry Voltigeurs

In 1804, each French Line (Ligne) and Light (Légeré) infantry battalion was ordered to create one company of 90 men who would serve as light infantry. This company would frequently be detached from the battalion to perform light infantry tasks - operating in loose formation, forming the skirmish line and screening the battalion from the enemy. Theoretically, the voltigeurs were more capable of sharpshooting, having received specific training in marksmanship. In practice, the quality of the French voltigeurs declined as the Napoleonic wars progressed, and after the 1812 Russian Campaign the voltigeurs were virtually indistinguishable from their 'non elite' compatriots in the fusilier or chasseur companies in both quality and role.

While the regulations of 1804 were the first that officially recognised the voltigeur company, it was extremely common for Revolutionary infantry battalions to select units of men to act in the light infanty role prior to this date.

With the reorganization of 1807 the voltigeur company was enlarged to 120 men. When the battalion was formed up in line formation, the voltigeurs took their place on the left of the line, the second most prestigious position. The top position, the right, was occupied by the battalion's grenadier company.

Several Napoleonic French allies based their battalion formation on that of the French. These allies also had voltigeur companies in their battalions. The allies using the French battlion system included:

Voltigeurs of the Guard

A French Voltigeur Porte Fanion of the Young Guard c.1811

In 1809, the Imperial Guard's corps of Chasseurs formed the Tirailleurs-Chasseurs and Conscrit-Chasseurs regiments, part of the Young Guard. In 1811, these units were renamed Voltigeurs, forming the 1-4th regiments. The Voltigeurs of the Guard, along with their sister regiments the Tirailleurs (formerly the Tirailleurs-Grenadiers and Conscrit-Grenadiers Regiments), provided the skirmish screen for the Chasseurs and Grenadiers of Napoleon's Old Guard.

The Voltigeurs suffered greatly in 1812, with only the 3rd Regiment emerging relatively unscathed. The hastily reformed regiments of 1813, numbering up to 19, were greatly removed from the elite units which the Voltigeurs of 1812. Consequently, the Voltigeurs were much more likely to operate as formed troops than deployed in skirmish formation. Despite this, the Voltigeurs of the Guard performed admirably in the 1813-14 campaigns. During the 1814 campaign for France, the Voltiegurs and Tirailleurs formed the backbone of Napoleon's much diminished army. They were reformed during the Hundred days and saw heavy action during the 1815 Belgian campaign.

During the Battle of Waterloo the Voltigeurs, along with the Tirailleurs, conducted a tenacious defense of the town of Plancenoit against a major Prussian flanking attack. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Young Guard, reinforced by some battalions of Old Guard Grenadiers, held the town until the defeat of the Middle Guard attack on the allied centre caused the army to collapse.

After the abdication of Napoleon and the Second Restoration of the Bourbon kings, the surviving regiments of Voltigeurs, along with the remnants of the entire Imperial Guard, were disbanded.

Appearances in modern media

Voltigeurs appear in Ensemble Studio's Age of Empires III as French skirmisher units.

Voltigeurs also appear in GSC Game World's Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars as French, Polish and Rheinbund light Infantry units.

References and notes

Elting - Swords Around the Throne
Nafziger - Imperial Bayonets
Nafziger - Imperial Bayonets
Haythornthwaite - Napoleon's Light Infantry
Haythornthwaite - Napoleon's Line Infantry
Haythornthwaite - Napoleon's Imperial Guard (2)
Blonde - La Grande Armee

External links

This article about the period of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.