“Á l’eau c’est l’heure!”

“To the water, it is the time!”

(Motto of the French Navy)

(… probably…)

Many, many moons ago, I wrote a profile of my Sailors (Marins) of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard (pictured below).  Initially formed in preparation for Napoleon’s planned invasion of Britain, the Sailors of the Guard were simply that; sailors of boats who came in very handy when Napoleon wanted to create lake and riverine flotillas and to build bridges across wide rivers, where men experienced in operating river-craft would a useful supplement to the Army’s engineers.  Being naval sailors, they were also excellent at carpentry and ropework (so again a useful adjunct to the engineers) and were also very handy in a close-quarters scrap, so like the French Army’s engineers, they did sometimes end up fighting as infantry. 

What they absolutely were not is ‘Marines’ in the British/American sense of the word; i.e. shipboard infantry used in ship-to-ship actions and amphibious warfare.  The French Infanterie de la Marine had been disbanded in 1794 and from that point forth, their role was sometimes filled by line infantry regiments from the Army, posted to serve as marines (a practice also commonly applied by the British, even though they did have a dedicated corps of Marines), though was increasingly filled by the sailors themselves following Napoleon’s wholesale reform and militarisation of the Navy in 1808.  The idea that Napoleon had ‘Marines’ is a very common and oft-repeated mistake. 

When I posted that article, a forum thread popped up elsewhere soon afterwards, suggesting that pointing out mere actual historical fact and correct translation of the French-language terms is somehow ‘pedantic’ and that these were most definitely ‘Marines’, regardless of how they were historically titled, roled and employed by the French, because that’s what English-speaking wargamers have always called them…

Well everyone is of course, perfectly entitled to their own opinions…  Even if those opinions are complete bollocks…

Anyway, on to THIS article…  This time I look at another body of Frenchmen that is commonly and incorrectly termed ‘Marines’.  These of course, are the four infantry regiments formed from the Régiments d’Artillerie de la Marine.  Often abbreviated simply to Régiments de Marine, this simply means ‘Sea’ or ‘Naval’ Regiments, not ‘Regiments of Marines’. 

These hard-fighting regiments became something of a legend and it’s difficult not to have them in your figure collection if you have even a passing interest in refighting the battles of 1813-1814.  Their dark-blue Navy-issue greatcoats, red and gold distinctions and preponderance of red epaulettes, allied to their prowess in battle, gave the Prussians the distinct impression that they were fighting the Imperial Guard.  They’re also very easy to paint, so what’s not to like?

The Formation of the Artillerie de la Marine

The corps of Artillerie de la Marine were initially formed in 1795, to provide the Navy with trained artillerists to supervise the manning of guns at sea, as well as in naval fortresses.  Initially formed as seven Demi-Brigades, two additional independent battalions were added in 1802 to serve in the Caribbean. 

In 1803 Napoleon reorganised the corps into four regiments.  The 1st & 2nd Regiments each had four battalions, while the 3rd & 4th Regiments each had two battalions.  Each battalion consisted of six companies, each of 204 men.  There were also four companies each of Ouvriers (‘workers’ for repairing the guns and equipment, each of 153 men) and Apprentis-Canonniers (‘apprentice gunners’, each of 141 men).  In 1805 the 2nd Regiment added a 5th Battalion and various other independent companies, provisional battalions, artillery parks and depots came and went during the war.

In 1805 the deployment of the Regiments of Artillerie de la Marine was as follows:

1st Regiment:  4 Bns at Brest.
2nd Regiment:  1st Bn at Genoa, 2nd & 4th Bns at Brest, 3rd & 5th Bns at Toulon.
3rd Regiment:  2 Bns at Rochefort.
4th Regiment:  2 Bns at Lorient.

On 29th February 1812 the company strength was increased from 204 to 250 men and the deployment of the Regiments of Artillerie de la Marine was now as follows:

1st Regiment:  4 Bns at Brest.
2nd Regiment:  1 Bn at Genoa, 2 Bns at Toulon, 1 Bn at Lorient & 1 Bn at Rochefort.
3rd Regiment:  2 Bns at Cherbourg.
4th Regiment:  2 Bns at Antwerp.

Conversion to Infantry 1813

With the disastrous end to Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, Napoleon immediately started rebuilding his Grande Armée from scratch.  The most immediate pools of manpower available to be tapped in France were the Cohorts of the Garde-Nationale and the Corps Impériale des Troupes de la Marine, which included the four regiments of Artillerie de la Marine.  To that end, on 24th January 1813 Napoleon decreed that all but 500 men of the Artillerie de la Marine would be transferred from the Ministry of the Navy to the Ministry of War with effect from 1st February 1813.  The four regiments would now serve as infantry regiments with Marshal Marmont’s VI Corps in Germany. 

In order to create new battalions to serve as depots at their home-ports and at the fortress of Mainz on the line of communication to Germany, the company strength was decreased to 140 men, though they also now incorporated the apprentice companies and a fresh draft of conscripts from those men who had already escaped previous rounds of conscription.  Men considered unfit for field service were weeded out and assigned to depots and the contingent that would remain under Navy command.  The depot battalions were largely filled out with 17 year-olds from the ‘Class of 1814’ (i.e. those who would turn 18 and therefore normally be eligible for conscription in 1814).  The structure of the Artillerie de la Marine now looked like this:

1st Regiment:  8 Bns (4 in the field, 2 at Mainz and 2 in port).
2nd Regiment:  10 Bns (6 in the field, 2 at Mainz and 2 in port).
3rd Regiment:  4 Bns (2 in the field, 1 at Mainz and 1 in port).
4th Regiment:  4 Bns (2 in the field, 1 at Mainz and 1 in port).

Company Organisation (140 men):
3x Officer
14x NCO
16x Canonnier 1er Classe
16x Canonnier 2ème Classe
88x Canonniers-Aspirants
3x Drummers

I’ve also found another company organisation (below), but I’ve no idea when this was applied:

Company Organisation (134 men):
1x Captain-Commandant
1x Second Captain
1x First Lieutenant
1x Second Lieutenant
1x Sergeant-Major
5x Sergeant
1x Corporal-Farrier
10x Corporal
25x Canonnier 1er Classe
5x Canonnier 2ème Classe
81x Canonniers-Aspirants
2x Drummers

Having converted to infantry, the four regiments didn’t create élite companies, yet this did not prevent them from deploying skirmishers or indeed acting as light infantry regiments when required

Despite the draft of conscripts brought in to bring the regiments up to strength for service in the field, the overwhelming majority of men serving with the Regiments of Artillerie de la Marine were older veterans, who while being perhaps unused to formed infantry combat, were well used to military discipline and were better able to cope with the stresses and rigours of campaign than the great masses of teenage conscripts then being raised to fill out other infantry regiments.

Those other regiments for the most part, were only being trained at this time, to deploy from column of march into attack columns, then into square and then back to attack columns, as these would be the most useful drill evolutions for conscripts to learn in the small amount of training-time available (most units were literally being trained ‘on the march’).  However, Marshal Marmont himself commented that the Artillerie de la Marine were among the only troops under his command who knew how to manoeuvre and fight in line formation, which at this stage of the war gave them a far better degree of battlefield-flexibility and combat-power than most other regiments outside the Imperial Guard.

Here is the order of battle for the Artillerie de la Marine with VI Corps in Germany on 15th April 1813.  Note that the 1st & 3rd Regiments formed Général de Brigade (GB) Calcault’s 1st Brigade of Général de Division (GD) Compans’ 20th Division, while the 2nd & 4th Regiments formed GB Desailly’s 1st Brigade of GD Bonnet’s 21st Division.  I’ve shown numbers of officers and men in ‘Nafziger Notation’; e.g. (79/3,269) meaning 79 officers and 3,269 men and where only a single number is shown, this is the total number of men of all ranks.

1st Regiment:  1st to 4th Bns under GB Calcault (79/3,269).  5th Bn at Mainz (16/110).  6th Bn at Mainz (16/106).
2nd Regiment:  1st to 6th Bns under GB Desailly (91/3,169).  7th Bn at Mainz (15/107).  8th Bn at Mainz (13/110).
3rd Regiment:  1st & 2nd Bns under GB Calcault (27/1,367).  3rd Bn at Mainz (9/106).
4th Regiment:  1st & 2nd Bns under GB Desailly (33/1,400).  3rd Bn at Mainz (10/730).

Baptism of Fire: Lützen & Bautzen, May 1813

By 25th April, the 3rd Battalions of the 3rd & 4th Regiments at Mainz seem to have been brought up to full strength and had been added to the field-deployed element of those regiments.  The situation of the field battalions at this time is available in much more detail, with strength broken down by battalion.  This would have been their rough strength and organisation as they received their baptism of fire at the Battle of Lützen on 2nd May 1813:

GB Calcault’s Brigade, 20th Division:
1st Bn, 1er Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (20/609)
2nd Bn, 1er Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (15/617)
3rd Bn, 1er Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (18/605)
4th Bn, 1er Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (17/661)
1st Bn, 3e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (15/710)
2nd Bn, 3e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (12/625)
3rd Bn, 3e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (16/785)

GB Desailly’s Brigade, 21st Division:
1st Bn, 2e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (20/529)
2nd Bn, 2e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (15/467)
3rd Bn, 2e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (15/429)
4th Bn, 2e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (16/427)
5th Bn, 2e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (12/460)
6th Bn, 2e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (13/489)
1st Bn, 4e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (15/710)
2nd Bn, 4e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (16/687)
3rd Bn, 4e Régiment d’Artillerie de la Marine (10/715)

To summarise the regimental field-strengths on 25th April 1813:

1st Regiment (total strength: 70/2,492)
2nd Regiment (total strength: 91/2,801)
3rd Regiment (total strength: 43/2,120)
4th Regiment (total strength: 41/2,112)

Marshal Marmont had this to say about their performance on the battlefield as they arrived on the field of Lützen:

“So he brought his great strength against me, directing the fire of a hundred and fifty pieces of cannon entirely against my forces.  My troops endured this terrible fire with great calm and with a remarkable courage.  The soldiers of Compans’ division, especially more exposed than others, were worthy of admiration.  The ranks thinned at every moment but re-formed again without uncertainty, and no one thought of running away.

The brave Navy gunners, accustomed especially to fights at sea where artillery plays the main and almost the only role, appeared to be in their element.  Immediately after this terrible fire, the enemy cavalry began a move, and made a great and vigorous charge, directed mainly against the 1st Marine Artillery regiment.  This regiment, commanded by Colonel Esmond, showed that it could be as good as infantry, and the enemy ran aground against its bayonets.  Other charges were renewed, but in vain and all unsuccessful.”

Sadly, the strength of these regiments is not available for the Battle of Bautzen on 20th/21st May 1813, though one known organisational change is that Desailly’s brigade was now commanded by GB Buquet.

Armistice and Return to War (June-November 1813)

Although Napoleon won the Battle of Bautzen, he was unable to land the knockout blow and was therefore forced on 4th June to agree to the Armistice of Pleischwitz, which would pause hostilities until August.  Both sides now used this time to rebuild their forces and in the case of the Artillerie de la Marine, four of the home-port depot battalions were sent to Germany, leaving only one battalion apiece in Brest and Toulon.  571 men were sent to reinforce the artillery of the Imperial Guard, while the 1st to 4th Regiments in the field were apparently increased to 5, 6, 3 and 3 battalions respectively (one source says 7 battalions with the 2nd Regiment, though this was actually assigned to the garrison of Erfurt (see below)).

The four regiments were also now re-distributed more evenly across their divisions, with one regiment of Artillerie de la Marine being present of each brigade of the 20th and 21st Divisions.  The field strength and organisation was recorded on 1st August 1813, just before the recommencement of hostilities.  This is the last strength return available before the Artillerie de la Marine went into action at the Battle of Dresden on 26th/27th August:

20th Division – GD Compans (1st August 1813)

1st Brigade – GB Pelleport
2nd Bn, 32e Légère (27/427)
3rd Bn, 32e Légère (19/461)
1st Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (34/547)
2nd Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (18/514)
3rd Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (18/605)
4th Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (19/517)
5th Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (13/705)

2nd Brigade – GB Joubert
2 Bns, 20e Régiment Provisoire (44/894)
2 Bns, 25e Régiment Provisoire (46/1,149)
1st Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (26/736)
2nd Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (17/699)
3rd Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (16/703)

21st Division – GD Lagrange (1st August 1813)

1st Brigade – GB Jamin
1st Bn, 37e Légère (30/647)
2nd Bn, 37e Légère (20/592)
3rd Bn, 37e Légère (20/567)
4th Bn, 37e Légère (20/570)
1st Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (29/676)
2nd Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (17/679)
3rd Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (17/596)
1st Bn, Spanish ‘Joseph Napoleon’ Regiment (13/470)

2nd Brigade – GB Buquet
1st Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (29/570)
2nd Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (16/535)
3rd Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (18/543)
4th Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (19/527)
5th Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (20/520)
6th Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (20/555)

(NB the high number of officers shown in each 1st Bn probably includes the regimental staff)

To summarise the regimental strengths on 1st August 1813:

1st Regiment (total strength: 102/2,888)
2nd Regiment (total strength: 122/3,250)
3rd Regiment (total strength: 59/2,138)
4th Regiment (total strength: 76/1,951)

Following the Battle of Dresden, Marmont’s VI Corps, along with Vandamme’s I Corps, were actively engaged in the pursuit of the defeated Allied army of Bohemia and on 28th August, defeated an enemy rearguard at Dippoldiswalda.  Marmont again singled out the Artillerie de la Marine;

“Particular praise goes to General Lagrange and General Compans, the 32nd Light Infantry, the 1st and 4th Regiments de Marine; and the 37th Light Infantry deserve high praise in particular.”

And at Falkenhayn on 29th August;

“The 37th Light Infantry, the 4th Regiment de Marine, and the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment de Marine… covered themselves with glory.”

General Lagrange wrote of the action at Falkenhayn;

“A special attack force consisting of two battalions of the 37th Light Infantry, the entire 4th Regiment de Marine, and the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment de Marine, was assembled under the command of Chef de Bataillon Durand, an officer of great distinction.  The élan of our troops could not have been greater, for they attacked and routed the entire enemy force, capturing 12 guns and several hundred prisoners.”

Thankfully, Marmont’s VI Corps managed to avoid the total disaster that befell Vandamme’s I Corps at Kulm during the same period.

Despite their victory at Dresden, the Grande Armée was thrown onto the defensive and was simply starving during the weeks following the Battle of Dresden.  The supply system had almost completely broken down and the army suffered over 40,000 ‘non-battle casualties’ during the 30 days leading up to the start of the Battle of Leipzig on 16th October.  Having a greater number of older, tougher troops probably helped VI Corps cope better than most, but they still lost 904 men to ‘strategic consumption’ from the 1st to 15th October. 

This was the order of battle on 1st October 1813 and is the last-available snapshot of unit strengths before the Battle of Leipzig on 16-19th October:

20th Division – GD Compans (1st October 1813)

1st Brigade – GB Pelleport
2nd Bn, 32e Légère (19/231)
3rd Bn, 32e Légère (15/313)
Staff, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (8/14)
1st Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (16/333)
2nd Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (16/335)
3rd Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (14/358)
4th Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (16/344)
5th Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (15/364)

2nd Brigade – GB Joubert
2 Bns, 20e Régiment Provisoire (40/619)
2 Bns, 25e Régiment Provisoire (41/802)
Staff, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (8/13)
1st Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (11/487)
2nd Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (1/186)
3rd Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (13/447)

21st Division – GD Lagrange* (1st October 1813)

1st Brigade – GB Jamin
Staff, 37e Légère (8/21)
1st Bn, 37e Légère (16/339)
2nd Bn, 37e Légère (18/382)
3rd Bn, 37e Légère (?)
4th Bn, 37e Légère (16/322)
Staff, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (11/27)
1st Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (15/414)
2nd Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (12/456)
3rd Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (17/431)
1st Bn, Spanish ‘Joseph Napoleon’ Regiment (14/316)

2nd Brigade – GB Buquet
Staff, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (21/34)
1st Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (18/436)
2nd Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (10/426)
3rd Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (14/397)
4th Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (17/446)
5th Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (14/404)
6th Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (18/453)

To summarise the regimental strengths on 1st October:

1st Regiment (total strength: 85/1,748)
2nd Regiment (total strength: 112/2,596)
3rd Regiment (total strength: 33/1,133)
4th Regiment (total strength: 76/1,951)

* One of Nafziger’s lists shows General Friedrichs commanding the 21st Division, but it was definitely Lagrange who led them through Dresden and Leipzig.  Friedrichs commanded the 22nd Division.

Marmont’s VI Corps, with Dabrowski’s 27th (Polish) Division and three cavalry divisions under command, was stationed in the northern sector of the Leipzig perimeter, around the village of Möckern on the road to Halle.  Here on 16th October, they were attacked by Marshal Blücher’s Russo-Prussian Army of Silesia.  Marmont again described the battle;

“The enemy army marched at me rapidly; his forces appeared to get larger and larger as they came forward, as if they had sprung from the ground.

“The enemy assault was initially directed against the village of Möckern; the village was attacked with vigour, and my fire could not dissipate the fighting spirit of the enemy; the village was defended by the troops of my 2nd Division [i.e. Lagrange’s 21st Division] under the orders of General Lagrange.  The 2nd Regiment de Marine, was charged with the defence of this post, and fought with vigour and tenacity; they hung on for a long time, lost it, then retook it again; but the enemy redoubled his efforts by sending more troops to capture this point.  Then, I ordered a change of facing by brigade, and the troops immediately executed an oblique move by forming six lines in echelon, so that by doing, we were placed in a position to keep the village under our control, the village being the focal point of the entire battle.  The 37th Light Infantry Regiment and the 4th Regiment de Marine were successively sent into the village; these men retook the entire village and defended it with all the courage you would expect from good troops.

“The fighting continued with the same stubbornness and tenacity for more than three hours.  The enemy suffered enormously heavy casualties caused by the advantageous positioning of our artillery; but new enemy forces were coming all the time and renewed their attack time and time again: a simultaneous explosion of four caissons belonging to 12-pdr guns, caused one of our reserve batteries to cease fire for an instant, happening at the same time that the enemy was launching an attack, which proved decisive.  I decided to send some of the troops of the 1st Division [i.e. Compans’ 20th Division], who formed in echelon the centre, and directed these to assist those already engaged against the enemy, who was moving against the centre of our line.

“The battle took on a new character, and our masses of infantry found themselves, for one moment, less than 30 paces from the enemy.  No action was more lively; in a few moments I was wounded and my uniform riddled; the situation began to deteriorate rapidly.

“It was in this situation, that the enemy made a furious cavalry charge in which several battalions belonging to the 1st and to the 3rd Regiments de Marine were literally crushed.

“Nevertheless, we continued fighting without retreating until nightfall; then we moved to the rear.”

Marmont doesn’t mention it, but the 1st Artillerie de la Marine had been hit particularly hard in the latter Allied cavalry charge and lost their Eagle to the Mecklenburg-Strelitz Hussars, then serving with Yorck’s Prussian I Korps.

Having fallen back over the River Parthe, the Artillerie de la Marine were only lightly engaged on 17th October, but the battle renewed with a vengeance on the 18th, as Marmont’s VI Corps defended the village of Schönefeld. 

“The enemy deployed 150 artillery pieces at the same time that they were attacking the village of Schönefeld with the strongest vigour: seven times the enemy was able to take over the largest portion of the village and seven times they were driven off.  Once again it was the 2nd Division [i.e. 21st Division] commanded by General Lagrange, and a detachment of the III Corps [Delmas’ 9th Division] that had the glory of defending the village, and no troops acted in such a heroic way, being so outnumbered as they were.

“I do not know any praise too great for these deserving troops, so brave and devoted, even though they had a lot of casualties two days before, they still fought with great courage.”

Due to the chaos following the French retreat from Leipzig, a full casualty-count for the Artillerie de la Marine or VI Corps as a whole is not known.  However, officer casualties for Leipzig are known and this can give us some idea of the overall severity of the losses.  Casualties on  (Dead/Wounded):

1st Regiment (11/39)
2nd Regiment (11/51)
3rd Regiment (10/34)
4th Regiment (9/27)

In the meantime, the forward depots had moved from Mainz to Erfurt.  The Erfurt garrison in October 1813 included (among other units):

6th Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (17/400)
7th Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (10/490)
8th Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (20/600)
Total Artillerie de la Marine assigned to Erfurt garrison: (47/1,490)

During the retreat to the Rhine, the number of men from the Artillerie de la Marine assigned to the Erfurt garrison was recorded as 1,384.  This was presumably the above-named units, minus a few men who perhaps had died from sickness or who had been withdrawn to France.  Erfurt’s garrison, besieged by the Prussians, would hold out until the end of the war, finally marching out with full military honours on 16th May 1814.

The Artillerie de la Marine fought in the latter stages of the the Battle of Hanau on 31st October 1813.

Of the 17,338 men sent to Germany, 2,412 were KIA, 571 were transferred to the Guard Artillery, 2,319 were PoW, 7,291 were left behind as WIA in German hospitals and probably became PoW and 1,384 were left at Erfurt, leaving only 3,361 when the roll was taken on 2nd November 1813.  However, as appalling as these casualties were, the war was still far from over for the Artillerie de la Marine.

On 7th November, the situation of the Artillerie de la Marine regiments in the field was recorded as:

1st Regiment (557) – Home depot at Brest
2nd Regiment (1,897) – Home depot at Toulon
3rd Regiment (632) – Home depot at Valognes
4th Regiment (575) – Home depot at Abbeville

All regiments were now supposed to have four field battalions and a depot battalion, though in reality the 1st to 4th Regiments respectively only had 2, 3, 3 and 3 very weak battalions in the field.  This does not include the battalions left at Erfurt.

By 15th November the 21st Division had been disbanded, with all four regiments being massed along with other elements, in the 20th Division:

20th Division – GD Lagrange (15th November 1813)

1st Brigade – GB Pelleport
3rd Bn, 23e Légère (20/146)
1st Bn, 37e Légère (21/530)
4th Bn, 1er de Ligne (17/212)
4th Bn, 16e de Ligne (16/217)
3rd Bn, 14e de Ligne (2/66)
2nd Bn, 15e de Ligne (768 – detached)
3rd Bn, 15e de Ligne (16/217)
3rd Bn, 70e de Ligne (20/309)
3rd Bn, 121e de Ligne (20/257)
4th Bn, 121e de Ligne (12/231)

2nd Brigade – GB Joubert
3rd Bn, 32e Légère (23/272)
4th Bn, 32e Légère (17/272)
1st Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (13/251)
2nd Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (11/282)
1st Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (22/298)
2nd Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (13/188)
3rd Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (11/100)

3rd Brigade – GB Buquet
1st Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (42/530)
2nd Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (18/430)
3rd Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (18/402)
1st Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (19/165)
2nd Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (11/183)
3rd Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (11/186)

To summarise the regimental strengths on 15th November:

1st Regiment (total strength: 24/533)
2nd Regiment (total strength: 78/1,362)
3rd Regiment (total strength: 46/586)
4th Regiment (total strength: 41/534)

The Campaign of France 1814

By 15th December, Marmont’s VI Corps had been reorganised again, with new 20th & 21st Divisions being created and the Artillerie de la Marine all being massed in a new 22nd Division.  It looks as though the 2nd Regiment, having already been reduced to three reasonably strong battalions, had tried to implement the new four-battalion organisation by re-distributing its personnel.  The number of battalions in the 1st to 4th Regiments was now therefore 2, 4, 3, 3 respectively, though the battalions were all now painfully weak:

22nd Division – GD Lagrange (15th December 1813)

1st Brigade – GB Joubert
3rd Bn, 23e Légère (20/150)
1st Bn, 37e Légère (23/394)
2nd Bn, 37e Légère (26/219)
3rd Bn, 37e Légère (12/184)
1st Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (19/169)
2nd Bn, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (23/415)

2nd Brigade – GB Pelleport
1st Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (17/317)
2nd Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (17/287)
3rd Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (17/275)
4th Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (17/315)
1st Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (20/184)
2nd Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (12/137)
3rd Bn, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (8/91)
1st Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (18/145)
2nd Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (10/167)
3rd Bn, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (11/160)

To summarise the regimental strengths on 15th December:

1st Regiment (total strength: 42/604)
2nd Regiment (total strength: 68/1,194)
3rd Regiment (total strength: 40/412)
4th Regiment (total strength: 39/472)

In January 1814, all four depot battalions of the Artillerie de la Marine were ordered to send a cadre to form the 2nd Division of the Corps de Réserve de Paris.

Given the organisational chaos and flux, many divisions now temporarily lost their old numberings and reverted to the old system of being known as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc divisions of a particular corps.  Lagrange’s division was now therefore the 3rd Division of Marmont’s VI Corps.  This was recorded as having the following organisation on 6th January 1814:

3rd Division of VI Corps – GD Lagrange (6th January 1814)

1st Brigade – GB Joubert
3rd Battalion, 23e Légère (20/350) (4th Battalion forming)
4 bns, 37e Légère (31/802)*
2 bns, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (42/584) (3rd & 4th Battalions forming)
3 bns, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (39/472) (4th Battalion forming)

2nd Brigade – GB Pelleport
4 bns, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (68/1,194)
3 bns, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (42/472)

* Nafziger for some reason, lists the 37e Légère as the 37e de Ligne in quite a few of his 1814 orbats and the identity keeps flipping back and forth from one list to the next. Given that the excellent 37e Légère had filled this slot throughout 1813 and then reappeared in this slot at the end of the war, I can only assume that this is a mistake on Nafziger’s part.

The organisation of Lagrange’s 3rd Division of VI Corps was recorded again at Châlons on 25th January 1814:

3rd Division of VI Corps – GD Lagrange (25th January 1814)

1st Brigade – GB Joubert
3rd Bn, 23e Légère (76)
4 bns, 37e Légère (721) (again listed as ‘37e de Ligne’)
2 bns, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (508)

2nd Brigade – GB Pelleport
4 bns, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (740)
3 bns, 3e Artillerie de la Marine (543)
3 bns, 4e Artillerie de la Marine (279)

These units fought at the Battles of Brienne on 29th January, St Dizier on 31st January, La Rothière on 1st February, Champaubert on 9th February, Montmirail on 11th February, Vauchamps on 14th February, Meaux on 27th February and Laon on 9-10th March 1814, as well as a number of small actions.  

At the start of the disastrous Battle of La Fère-Champenoise on 25th March 1814, Lagrange’s 3rd Division of VI Corps was down to only 2,060 men in total, with the following organisation:

3rd Division of VI Corps – GD Lagrange (25th March 1814)

1st Brigade – GB Fournier
1er de Ligne
62e de Ligne
132e de Ligne
1er Artillerie de la Marine
2e Artillerie de la Marine
3e Artillerie de la Marine
4e Artillerie de la Marine

2nd Brigade – GB Joubert
23e Légère
37e Légère (this time listed once again as ‘37e Légère’, not ‘de Ligne’)
15e de Ligne
16e de Ligne
70e de Ligne
121e de Ligne

Following the hard fighting through February and March, the organisation of Lagrange’s 3rd Division of VI Corps at the Battle of Paris on 30th March 1814 is recorded as having a total strength of just 1,395 men, with exactly the same organisation as shown above for La Fère-Champenoise. 

By the close of the war on 5th April, the divisions of Marmont’s VI Corps had been renumbered and the corps now consisted of the 8th and 9th Divisions, as well as the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the Reserve of Paris.  The 9th Division and was placed under the command of GB Joubert, who had commanded one of the Artillerie de la Marine brigades since August 1813.  However, this was a division in name only and was actually just a weak brigade, comprising company-sized ‘regiments’:

9th Division – GB Joubert (5th April 1814)

37e Légère (20/111)
1er de Ligne (6/31)
15e de Ligne (12/61)
16e de Ligne (11/20)
70e de Ligne (28/154)
121e de Ligne (7/63)
132e de Ligne (13/86)
1er Artillerie de la Marine (15/65)
2e Artillerie de la Marine (16/134)
3e Artillerie de la Marine (16/104)
4e Artillerie de la Marine (12/90)
Bataillon des Garde-Nationale de la Somme (13/320)

As mentioned above, the four depot battalions of the Artillerie de la Marine had been ordered to send a cadre to form part of the 2nd Division of the Reserve of Paris.  These now finally made an appearance in the order of battle (this also ties in with the earlier mentions of additional Artillerie de la Marine Battalions being formed).  The division was commanded by the very experienced GD Souham:

2nd Reserve Division of Paris – GD Souham (5th April 1814)

3rd & 4th Bns, 1er Artillerie de la Marine (10/346)
4th Bn, 2e Artillerie de la Marine (19/266)
1st Bn, 135e de Ligne (20/286)
1st Bn, 28e de Ligne (18/295)
1st Bn, 46e de Ligne (14/339)
4th Bn, 145e de Ligne (25/817)
1st Bn, Garde-Nationale de Ile-et-Vilaine (25/817)

With the war finally at an end, the shattered remnants of the Artillerie de la Marine finally marched back to Normandy for demobilisation on 2nd May 1814, exactly one year after their first battle at Lützen.  Of some 18,000 men who had served with the four regiments in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814, only 693 remained with the Eagles.

Following the Restoration they became the Corps Royal des Canonniers de la Marine and were reorganised as three regiments.  With Napoleon’s return to power in 1815, the Corps rallied to the Emperor and sent battalions to Paris and Lyon, but saw no action (there was however, a ‘Marine Horse Battery’ with Napoleon at Waterloo, but I’ve not been able to find anything about this unit).

Figures, Uniforms & Painting

The uniforms of the Artillerie de la Marine are reasonably well known, but there is thankfully enough uncertainty to enable unscrupulous wargamers to follow the Rule of Cool with reasonable confidence…

The basic uniform was very much in the style of the Foot Artillery of the Army; a dark blue cutaway coatee with dark blue small-clothes, brass buttons and shakoes with red distinctions and the typical brass eagle-over-crescent plate.  The square-ended lapels, cuffs and tail-turnbacks were dark blue with red piping.  Collar and cuff-flaps were red.  Tail-turnbacks were decorated with red grenades and anchors (gold for officers).  ‘Apprentice’ or ‘Aspirant’ Gunners wore dark blue shoulder-straps with red piping.  2nd Class Gunners wore red shoulder-straps.  1st Class Gunners and Corporals wore red fringed epaulettes.  SNCOs wore red epaulettes with mixed red/gold crescent and fringe.  Officers wore gold distinctions, the same as the line infantry.  Gaiters were black for everyday wear and white for parade.  Greatcoats were dark blue with brass buttons and usually displayed the same rank-straps/epaulettes as the coatee.  Cartridge pouches were black leather and had a brass crossed-cannon badge (possibly superimposed on an eagle).

So far so good…  Now we come to the vague and contradictory bits…

First with regard to epaulettes, I must confess that I have stuck with artistic convention (some might say the ‘Rule of Cool’) when it comes to the Artillerie de la Marine and have depicted every man and his dog wearing red epaulettes, when in reality they were only worn by at most, one-third of the men (1st Class Gunners and above).  This was certainly the impression that they gave the Prussians, who through they were Guard, so that’s what I’ve gone for.  

There is some suggestion that they may have received the 1812 Bardin Regulation coats with square lapels.  As they were in barracks throughout 1812 this seems reasonably likely, though most artistic interpretations show them wearing the older style.  As in the Army, it’s highly likely that stocks of the older uniforms were used up before the new style was issued, though officers, having private tailoring, may have adopted the new style first, or wore a plainer campaign style, such as a single-breasted surtout.  One artistic depiction of an officer (see below) shows him wearing a Bardin coat with red cuffs and turnbacks and blue cuff-flaps piped red, which is slightly different to the usual colourings.  Note that the 1812 Bardin style of uniform was usually accompanied by shorter gaiters, which came up to just below the knee.

Campaign over-trousers were generally dark blue, though some may have been decorated with red stripes (or gold for officers).  There are also first-hand mentions of white or plain canvas trousers being worn.

Belts are variously described as white like the Army or black like the Navy.  It’s likely that black belts were worn when on shipboard duties and white when on parade, garrison or fortress/shore duty.  It therefore seems highly likely that both were worn on campaign.  However, I’ve gone for a more ‘regulation’ white look.

Shakoes are shown with red pompoms of spherical or ‘carrot’ shape.  Red plumes with a spherical pompom were worn in full dress.  Some depictions show red cords, while others show red lace tape around the top edge of the shako or no decoration at all.  Officers may have worn golden pompoms.  The brass shako-plate seems to have had a crossed-cannon motif on the crescent shield part of the plate for all four regiments and there is no indication of regimental numbers being used.  Cocked hats were also apparently popular; perhaps initially issued as ‘undress’ or ‘walking out’ dress and typically depicted with a carrot-shaped pompom, though there is also the famous picture (shown further up this article) of a soldier with a tricolour tuft and gold/red chevrons (perhaps an NCO?) on his cocked hat.  Shako covers would typically be Navy-issue black oilskin or waxed canvas, though plain canvas or other fabrics could have been used (I’ve gone all-black).

Gunners of all ranks would typically be issued with a sabre-briquet and would therefore have two cross-belts, much the same as infantry elite companies.  This would have a red sword-knot or mixed red/gold for SNCOs.  However, there is at least one artistic depiction of an ‘Apprentice’ or ‘Aspirant’ Gunner wearing just a single cartridge-pouch belt, supporting a bayonet-frog and no sabre-briquet or second belt.

I’ve used AB Figures 15mm grenadier figures in greatcoat for my Artillerie de la Marine, sprinkling in a few bicorne-wearing grenadiers.  The bicorne-earing chaps all have plumes in their hats, so I’ve filed these down into carrot-shaped pompoms.

Eagles & Flags

The four regiments of Artillerie de la Marine were each presented in 1804 with an Imperial Eagle of the usual pattern, together with a flag of the 1804 Picot or ‘Lozenge’ Pattern.  These flags were then replaced in 1812 by the standard heavily-decorated and fringed 1812 Pattern of tricolour.  Battle honours would be painted on the reverse of the 1812 Pattern flag, but as the Artillerie de la Marine didn’t have any battle honours at this time, the reverse of the flag remained blank.  The obverse of the flag had this inscription:

L‘EMPEREUR
NAPOLEON
AU 1ER RÉGIMENT
DU CORPS IMPÉRIALE
D’ARTILLERIE
DE LA MARINE

The inscription would obviously be slightly different for the 2nd, 3rd & 4th Regiments.

When the regiments went to war as infantry in 1813, the 1st Battalion would have carried the Eagle and the other battalions would have carried ‘fannions’ of an unknown pattern. There would also have been small marker flags attached to metal rods and carried by NCOs in their muskets, in order to provide a visual dressing-marker for the end of a rank.  One recorded pattern was dark blue with a red border and decorated with a central motif of an eagle superimposed with two crossed cannon.

One ‘fannion’ of the 1st Regiment (whether the large battalion type or the small company type is not mentioned) is known to have been captured by the Mecklenburg-Strelitz Hussars at Möckern, the same time as their capture of the 1st Regiment’s Eagle.

I usually use Fighting 15s or GMB Designs flags for my Napoleonics, but neither do the flags of the Artillerie de la Marine.  However, you must have VERY good eyesight indeed to tell them apart from the inscription carried on a line infantry flag, so I’ve just used 1812 Pattern line infantry flags by GMB.  I’ve used the flag-sheet for the 6th, 7th, 10th, 22nd, 26th, 47th, 66th, 70th, 82nd, 86th & 101st Regiments, as these also didn’t have battle honours painted on them.

Anyway, that’s enough for now.  Plenty more to come, including these rather pretty fellows…