The
Voltigeurs (lit. Vaulters) were
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
military skirmish units created in 1804 by Emperor
Napoleon BonaparteNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
. They formed an integral part of
La Grande Armee'sThe Grande Armée first entered the annals of history when, in 1805, Napoleon I renamed the army that he had assembled on the French coast of the English Channel for the proposed invasion of Britain but failed at the Battle of Trafalgar and re-deployed it East to commence the Campaign of 1805...
basic building blocks, the Line and Light infantry battalions.
In 1804, each French Line (Ligne) and
Light (Légère)Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
infantry
battalionA battalion is a military unit of around 1000-1500 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel...
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.
The
Voltigeurs (lit. Vaulters) were
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
military skirmish units created in 1804 by Emperor
Napoleon BonaparteNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
. They formed an integral part of
La Grande Armee'sThe Grande Armée first entered the annals of history when, in 1805, Napoleon I renamed the army that he had assembled on the French coast of the English Channel for the proposed invasion of Britain but failed at the Battle of Trafalgar and re-deployed it East to commence the Campaign of 1805...
basic building blocks, the Line and Light infantry battalions.
Line and Light Infantry Voltigeurs
In 1804, each French Line (Ligne) and
Light (Légère)Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
infantry
battalionA battalion is a military unit of around 1000-1500 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel...
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 CampaignThe French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength...
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 infantry 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:
- The Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...
- The Kingdom of Italy
There have been several distinct entities known as the Kingdom of Italy. Italy under the rule of Odoacer from 476 to 493 is often called the kingdom of Italy, since it encompassed the Roman province of Italy and Odoacer is periodically styled rex...
- The Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples is the modern day name for a polity which existed on the southern part of the Italian peninsula. Also known contemporaneously, and somewhat confusingly, as the Kingdom of Sicily, this kingdom was founded after the secession of the island of Sicily from the old Kingdom of...
- The Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806–1918. Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
(After 1810)
- The Kingdom of Westphalia
The Kingdom of Westphalia was a historical state that existed from 1807-1813 in parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the First French Empire, ruled by Napoléon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was named after Westphalia, but had little territory in common...
- The Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg was a state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which came into existence in 1495...
- The Grand Duchy of Baden
The Grand Duchy of Baden was a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918.-History:...
- The Kingdom of Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...
(After 1809)
- Several minor Rheinbund states
Voltigeurs of the Guard
In 1809, the French 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 Voltigeurs 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 campaignThe Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Napoleon Bonaparte's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
.
During the
Battle of WaterlooIn the Battle of Waterloo forces of the French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and Michel Ney were defeated by those of the Seventh Coalition, including an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher...
the Voltigeurs, along with the Tirailleurs, conducted a tenacious defense of the town of
PlancenoitPlacenoit is a village in the commune of Lasne, Walloon Brabant, Belgium. The village was a key strategic point during the Battle of Waterloo.In June every year, the village plays host to an annual re-enactment of the battle.-External links:*...
against a major
PrussianThe Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War. Elector Frederick William developed it into a viable...
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'sOriginally founded as an independent developer in 1995, Ensemble Studios was a Microsoft-owned developer from 2001 to 2009, when it was officially disbanded. Ensemble has developed many games including the Age of Empires game series and Halo Wars...
Age of Empires IIIAge of Empires III is a real-time strategy game developed by Microsoft Corporation's Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Released on October 18, 2005 in North America and November 4, 2005 in Europe, it is the third game of the Age of Empires series and the sequel to Age of...
as French skirmisher units.
Voltigeurs also appear in
GSC Game World'sGSC Game World is a Kiev-based computer game developer. Founded in 1995 in Kiev, Ukraine, it released titles such as Cossacks: European Wars, American Conquest, Alexander, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl , S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky , and is currently working on sequel S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of...
Cossacks II: Napoleonic WarsCossacks II: Napoleonic Wars is the fourth computer game in the Cossacks series of real-time strategy games, released in Spring 2005 to mixed reviews. This game focuses exclusively on the Napoleonic era, meaning it has a much shorter time span than others in this series, which spanned several...
as French, Polish and Rheinbund light Infantry units.
See also
- Skirmisher
Skirmishers are infantry or cavalry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside of a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to either harass enemy troops or to protect their own troops from similar attacks by the enemy...
- Grande Armée
- Les Voltigeurs de Québec
Les Voltigeurs de Québec is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. The name of the regiment commemorates another older French-Canadian militia light infantry unit, the Canadian Voltigeurs...
- Canadian Voltigeurs
The Canadian Voltigeurs were a light infantry unit, raised in Lower Canada in 1812, that fought in the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.-Formation:...
- Victoria Voltigeurs