organisation, command & control (FRW)

• Why was a change in command and organisation essential?

  The growth in size of forces due to levee en masse and

  the nature of soldiers (citizen forces) meant that a change in organisation and command was essential
• The divisional system?


  Divisions were divided into corps – each acting as a miniature army with artillery, infantry, cavalry all combined into single fighting units allowing greater speed and flexibility of movement. This also overcame the issue of distributing resources to such a large army as each division could forage and locate resources from different areas
• Commissaire du Conseil?


  Otherwise referred to as deputies on mission, these were set up to enhance discipline within each division – they would report back to Paris concerns such as poor performance and counter-revolutionary activity
• Command structures?

  • Command was now organised into a strictly meritocratic system – allowing skilled commanders to rise through the ranks rather than the high-ranking positions being automatically given to relatives/aristocrats
  • Napoleon Bonaparte rose through the ranks due to his own personal skill rather than aristocratic value. Despite being outnumbered Bonaparte managed to make skillful use of artillery at Rivoli in 1797 to inflict 14,000 casualties on the Austrian forces, leading to their eventual surrender, ending the War of the First Coalition 1792-97