Voltigeurs
Encyclopedia
The Voltigeurs were French military skirmish units created in 1804 by Emperor Napoleon I
.
s) hold their name from their originally conceived role of cavalry-transported skirmishers: the voltigeurs were intended to jump onto the croup
of cavalry horses in order to advance more quickly on the battlefield. This proved unworkable and they were trained to be elite skirmishers while retaining their original name. They formed an integral part of la Grande Armée's basic building blocks, the Line and Light infantry battalions.
In 1804, each French Line (Ligne)
and Light (Légère)
infantry battalion
was ordered to create one company of ninety of the best shots who would serve as elite skirmishers.
This company would frequently be detached from the battalion to perform specialised light infantry tasks - operating in loose formation, forming the skirmish line and screening the battalion from the enemy. The voltigeurs were skilled at sharpshooting and received specific training in marksmanship, using cover and taking the initiative.
Although the original concept of skirmishers using cavalry to transport them during battle quickly proved unworkable in any large scale, voltigeurs did on occasion ride with French dragoons to battle, as recalled by a British officer on the harrowing retreat of John Moore
's army prior to the Battle of Corunna
.
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.
After the huge losses incurred during the 1812 Russian Campaign
the quality of the French voltigeurs declined as the new units lacked the experience and training to set them apart from their 'non elite' compatriots in the regular light infantry
chasseur
companies. The hastily reformed regiments of 1813, numbering up to 19, were not up to the same standard as the elite units of the Voltigeurs before the Russian campaign. Despite this, the Voltigeurs of the Guard performed admirably in the 1813-14 campaigns.
s, but some had bicorne
hats with green pompoms and a yellow brush. By 1807, all Voltigeurs had a shako which could be plain black, and have a yellow top or bottom band, or have yellow chevrons, green cords, and an all-green plume or a green plume with a yellow tip. Line voltigeurs had white trousers and lapels
, while light voltigeurs had blue trousers and lapels.
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.
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.
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
.
Etymology
Voltigeurs (lit. VaulterEquestrian vaulting
Equestrian vaulting, or simply Vaulting , is most often described as gymnastics and dance on horseback and, like these disciplines, it can be practised as a non-competitive art/performance or as a competitive sport. Vaulting has been an equestrian act at the circus from its early days. It is open...
s) hold their name from their originally conceived role of cavalry-transported skirmishers: the voltigeurs were intended to jump onto the croup
Rump (animal)
The rump or croup, in the external morphology of an animal, is the portion of the posterior dorsum that is posterior to the loins and anterior to the tail. Anatomically, the rump corresponds to the sacrum....
of cavalry horses in order to advance more quickly on the battlefield. This proved unworkable and they were trained to be elite skirmishers while retaining their original name. They formed an integral part of la Grande Armée's basic building blocks, the Line and Light infantry battalions.
Line and Light Infantry Voltigeurs
In 1804, each French Line (Ligne)
Line infantry
Line infantry is a type of infantry which composed the basis of European land armies from the middle of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century....
and Light (Légère)
Light infantry
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 battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
was ordered to create one company of ninety of the best shots who would serve as elite skirmishers.
This company would frequently be detached from the battalion to perform specialised light infantry tasks - operating in loose formation, forming the skirmish line and screening the battalion from the enemy. The voltigeurs were skilled at sharpshooting and received specific training in marksmanship, using cover and taking the initiative.
Although the original concept of skirmishers using cavalry to transport them during battle quickly proved unworkable in any large scale, voltigeurs did on occasion ride with French dragoons to battle, as recalled by a British officer on the harrowing retreat of John Moore
John Moore
- Clergy :*John Moore , British Scholar*John Moore , English Baptist minister from Northampton*John Moore , Archbishop of Canterbury, Privy Counsellor...
's army prior to the Battle of Corunna
Battle of Corunna
The Battle of Corunna refers to a battle of the Peninsular War. On January 16, 1809, a French army under Marshal Soult attacked the British under Sir John Moore...
.
"The French had much the advantage of us in these petty warfares, for I have frequently seen their light troops mounted behind their dragoons, so that when they came to a favourable place to make an attack, these fellows dismounted quite fresh, and our light troops who had been always marching, had to oppose them; still we managed to beat them off."
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.
After the huge losses incurred during the 1812 Russian Campaign
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...
the quality of the French voltigeurs declined as the new units lacked the experience and training to set them apart from their 'non elite' compatriots in the regular light infantry
Light infantry
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...
chasseur
Chasseur
Chasseur [sha-sur; Fr. sha-sœr] is the designation given to certain regiments of French light infantry or light cavalry troops, trained for rapid action.-History:...
companies. The hastily reformed regiments of 1813, numbering up to 19, were not up to the same standard as the elite units of the Voltigeurs before the Russian campaign. Despite this, the Voltigeurs of the Guard performed admirably in the 1813-14 campaigns.
Uniform
The uniform was made of a blue coat with yellow collar and cuffs piped red, red and green epaulettes with a yellow crescent, and yellow bugle horns on the turnbacks. From 1804, they wore shakoShako
A shako is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a peak or visor and sometimes tapered at the top...
s, but some had bicorne
Bicorne
The bicorne or bicorn is an archaic form of hat widely adopted in the 1790s as an item of uniform by European and American military and naval officers...
hats with green pompoms and a yellow brush. By 1807, all Voltigeurs had a shako which could be plain black, and have a yellow top or bottom band, or have yellow chevrons, green cords, and an all-green plume or a green plume with a yellow tip. Line voltigeurs had white trousers and lapels
Jacket lapel
Jacket lapels are the folded flaps of cloth on the front of a jacket or coat, and are most commonly found on formal clothing and suit jackets. Usually they are formed by folding over the front edges of the jacket or coat and sewing them to the collar, an extra piece of fabric around the back of the...
, while light voltigeurs had blue trousers and lapels.
Voltigeurs of the Guard
During the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
the Voltigeurs, along with the Tirailleurs, conducted a tenacious defense of the town of Plancenoit
Plancenoit
Placenoit is a village in the commune of Lasne, Walloon Brabant, Belgium. The village was a key strategic point during the Battle of Waterloo as it was the main focal point of the Prussians' flank attack on Napoleon's army....
against a major Prussian
Prussian Army
The Royal 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...
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.
Voltigeurs of France's Allies
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 battalion system included:- The Duchy of WarsawDuchy of WarsawThe Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I 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 ItalyKingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)The Kingdom of Italy was a state founded in Northern Italy by Napoleon, fully influenced by revolutionary France, that ended with his defeat and fall.-Constitutional statutes:...
- The Kingdom of NaplesKingdom of NaplesThe Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
- The Kingdom of BavariaKingdom of BavariaThe Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian 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 WestphaliaKingdom of WestphaliaThe Kingdom of Westphalia was a new country of 2.6 million Germans that existed from 1807-1813. It included of territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the First French Empire, ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte...
- The Kingdom of WürttembergKingdom of WürttembergThe 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 BadenGrand Duchy of BadenThe Grand Duchy of Baden was a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918.-History:...
- The Kingdom of SaxonyKingdom of SaxonyThe 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
See also
- ChasseurChasseurChasseur [sha-sur; Fr. sha-sœr] is the designation given to certain regiments of French light infantry or light cavalry troops, trained for rapid action.-History:...
- SkirmisherSkirmisherSkirmishers are infantry or cavalry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to harass the enemy.-Pre-modern:...
- Grande Armée
- Les Voltigeurs de QuébecLes Voltigeurs de QuébecLes 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 VoltigeursCanadian VoltigeursThe 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:...
- Light InfantryLight infantryTraditionally 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...