Napoleonic Era

Military History Glossary

Armi del XIV secolo were relatively standardized - musket, cannon, sword - but uniforms had become quite varied e detailed. (F)rench e (G)erman terms dominate in this period, e they refer primarily to oggetti dell’uniforme.

Term	Definition
à cheval (F)	on horseback
à pied (F)	on foot
atiradores	Portuguese sharpshooters. One company per battalion of cacadores.
Bashkirs	Asiatic tribal cavalleria nel servizio russo. The Bashkirs continued to use bows durante le guerre napoleoniche. Apparently, Lt-Col. Lee del 44^o Reggimento britannico advocated the re-introduction of the longbow as late as 1792. The longbow was at least as accurate as the musket, it had a longer effective range, a much higher rate of fire, ed a more devastating effect on morale. Nevertheless, the musket prevailed, because a recruit could learn to use it in a few hours of training. Archery took years to perfect.
belgic shakò	Short shakò britannico, con raised front plate (false front). First introduced in 1812, it gradually replaced the earlier cylindrical shakò in reggimenti fanteria di linea britannici, with the exception of the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment which still wore the stovepipe shakò in 1815. Also worn by truppe belgi engaged at Waterloo.
Beschussdelle (G)	A bullet dent indicating that a newly manufactured carozza breast plate has been tested for its resistance to shot. The small dent was an important confidence builder for the corazziere who might be ordered to charge into a storm of musketry. To this day, soldiers are known to test elmetti in Kevlar ed armour vests by firing at them.
bicorne Zweispitz (G)	A hat con due corners, replacing the tricorno of the early e mid XVIII secolo. Fanteria rivoluzionaria francese, e pre-1808 Saxon, prussiana, spagnola, e many German soldiers wore the bicorno until the more practical shakò took its place. Many officers maintained the bicorne even after their troops had adopted shakò o elmetti. The bicorne was worn side-to-side or fore-and-aft, depending on national o regimental preference.
breeches	Trequarti length trousers, wide at the waist e narrow at the calf. Designed to be worn con gaiters o long boots.
busby colback (F) Pelzmütze (G)	A wide, cylindrical fur hat, flat on the top, con a cloth bag hanging over one side. Worn by elite ussari francesi e britannici, some reggimenti di ussari prussiani, carabinieri della fanteria leggera francese, e Nassau granatieri.
cacadores	Portuguese fanteria leggera.
carabinier (F)	Granatiere della fanteria leggera francese. Anche un cavaliere d’élite francese.
chasseur (F)	Literally, cacciatore. Fanteria e cavalleria leggera francese.
cockade	A circular decoration in national colors usually held onto a hat with a strap e button. Red, white, e blue - Francia revolucionaria, white - Francia borbona, yellow & black - Austria.
cohorte (F)	Unit in the Guardia nazionale francese, similar to a battalion.
Congreve	Rocket field battery named after major-general britannico Sir William Congreve who invented it.
cuirass (F) Kürass (G)	Torso armour consisting of a back e breast plate. In some armies, only the breast plate was worn. Corazzieri prussiani took the field without armour in 1813, for reasons of economy, e they were instructed to equip themselves con captured corazze francesi in the course of the campaign.
czapka Tschapka (G)	Hat polacco con square top, con the corners pointing fore & aft e side to side. Worn by most soldati polacchi e lancieri of various nations.
dolman (F)	Short, tight-fitting, braided jacket worn by ussari.
éclaireur (F)	Cavalleria scout. A cavalleria della Guardia imperiale francese unit.
épaulette	A shoulder board con fringe, either wool o mettalic, indicating elite o officer status. Junior officers might have one épaulette ed one contre-épaulette, the latter without fringe.
flanker	Fanteria skirmisher nell’esercito britannico. The term derives from the fanteria britannica formation which differentiated center companies e flank companies. The left flank company was a fanteria leggera company, granatieri stood on the right flank of the battalion.
flanqueur (F) Flankeur (G)	Cavalleria skirmisher protecting a formed unit against surprise attack. Flanqueurs used rapid figure-8 movement to evade fuoco nemico, e to keep pace con the slower-moving parent formation. Tipo di fanteria della giovane Guardia francese.
flounders raquettes (F)	Large, flat, round knots on hat cords.
Freiregiment (G) Freibataillon (G)	Volunteer unit of fanteria o - rarely - della cavalleria.
Freikorps (G)	Mixed volunteer formation of fanteria e cavalleria, sometimes including a detachment of artiglieria. Freikorps del XVIII secolo consisted primarily of foreigners, enemy prisoners e deserters. In the period of 1813-1814, German Freikorps were recruited among patriotic citizens, they were well disciplined e very reliable in combat. Formations like the Lützow e von Thielemann Freikorps eventually became army units regolari. When Freikorps converted to line status, the fanteria e cavalleria contingents were separated to join their particular arm of service. If the individual contingents were too small to form a battaglione o reggimento regolare, they were incorporated into an existing line unit o amalgamated con other former Freikorps detachments.
Freischar (G) Francs-Tireurs (F)	Literally "horde of volunteers", the individual guerilla is called a Freischärler in German. A troop type commonly used in the XVIII e XIX secolo, but made illegal by modern conventions.
Freischütz (G) Robin des bois (F)	A legendary figure in possession of seven magic bullets - Freischüsse - which hit their mark at any range. One of the seven bullets – The last o a randomly chosen one - is controlled by the devil, i.e. it takes a path unkown to the marksman. Johann agosto Apel first told the tale in his Gespensterbuch - book of ghosts (with F. Laun, Leipzig 1810-1814); Johann Friedrich Kind wrote the text e Karl Maria von Weber composed the music for the famous opera by the same name which premiered in Berlin on 18th giugno 1821.
Freiwilliger (G)	Volunteer, literally "free-willed". Prussia allowed the formation of Freiwillige Jäger in 1813, small units of marksmen attached to fanteria e reggimenti di cavalleria.
fusilier (F) Füsilier (G) fusileer	Originally an artiglieria train soldier armed con the flintlock fusil which eliminated the need for burning match, thereby reducing the danger of accidental powder explosions. Fusiliers became an fanteria troop type when the flintlock musket was introduced as the standard fanteria weapon. Nel servizio prussiano e tedesco, fucilieri were usually 2nd rate fanteria, they received the young ed unusually short men who were issued con slightly shorter muskets to facilitate loading. By 1806, fucilieri units prussiani e most tedeschi had evolved to fanteria leggera, e they adopted the green coat previously limited to Jäger units. In servizio britannico, fusileers became an elite troop type similar to granatieri, distinguished by bearskin caps.
gaiters guêtres (F) Gamaschen (G)	Long cloth sleeves usually worn from the shoe to the knee, like false boots. Often black in winter, white in summer. These became shorter in later years, o were replaced con long trousers o short boots.
Grenzer (G)	Literally a borderer. Austrian fanteria leggera raised in Croatia. Given land in return for service protecting border areas against le turchi. I battaglioni della Grenzinfanterie were used as skirmishers, although they did fight in closed order as well.
Inhaber (G)	Literally the owner of a reggimento of fanteria o cavalleria.
Jäger (G)	Literally a hunter. Fanteria leggera d’élite tedesca typically recruited among professional foresters e game wardens.
Kaiserliche (G)	Kaiserliks, imperial troops. Short for Kaiserliche und Königliche Armee or K.(u.)K.-Armee. The term referred to all imperial troops in the XVII e XVIII secolo, e what was left of the Habsburg empire after Napoleon had annexed most of its German e Italian satellites.
Kalmyks	Asiatic tribal cavalleria nel servizio russo.
kiver	Shakò russo con curved top - high front & back, low on the sides. Nicknamed "the coal scuttle". Introduced in 1812.
Kollet (G)	A short German coat.
Krümper (G) Kremper	Nickname for soldati prussiani recruited e trained under the Krümpersystem. Implemented by Gerhard von Scharnhorst, this system of recruitment circumvented the trattato di pace di Tilsit of 1807 which limited the armata prussiana to 42,000 soldiers under arms. Regiments were instructed to reduce their active strength, e make the vacant slots available for Krümper, men who were trained only for a few months e then returned to civilian life. By 1813, every reggimento had a pool of 5,000 - 6,000 active soldiers e partially trained Krümper available. When mobilization came, the Krümper were called up to form 12 new battaglioni moschettieri e 39 battaglioni di fanteria reserve.
Landsturm (G)	The Landsturm Edict of 20th marzo 1813 was a directive regulating the formation of the Landsturm, second line milizia. Scharnhorst e Gneisenau introduced the idea of an armed populace, but this was not completamente implemented by the government prussiano. In light of the rivoluzione francese it is not surprising that the monarchy did not support the idea of a nation in arms. Nassau e the Austrian Empire raised Landsturm units durante le guerre napoleoniche.
Landwehr (G)	The Landwehr Edict of 17th marzo 1813 was a directive regulating the formation of the Landwehr, first line milizia, based on Scharnhorst’s publications supporting universal conscription.
légère (F)	Light.
Leib- (G)	Literally "body" o bodyguard. Prefix used to indicate elite o guard status, as in Leib-Garde, Leib-Regiment, Leib-Kompanie, etc. The Leib-Kompanie of the first battalion carried the Leib-Fahne (sovereign’s colour) of the regiment.
levée en masse (F)	Large-scale conscription della popolazione francese. The nation in arms successfully defended itself against counter-revolutionary forces.
licorne	Artiglieria piece russo, a hybrid between howitzer e field gun.
mirliton (F) Flügelmütze (G)	Hussar hat del XVIII secolo, still worn during the rivoluzione francese ed early guerre napoleoniche. A tall, e slightly conical shakò, narrow at the top e con a cloth trail or wing (Flügel) attached to one side. This relatively long Flügel could be wrapped around the shakò. Ussari prussiani are popularly known as Flügelmützen-Husaren o Pelzmützen-Husaren, depending on the type of hat the reggimento was issued.
ordananza	Portuguese milizia.
ordre mixte (F)	The regimental practice francese of deploying one battaglione fanteria in line, e protecting each of its flanks con a battalion in column. Reggimenti di fanteria francese consisted of tre battaglioni, e they were trained to form ordre mixte together.
pelisse	A short, braided, fur-trimmed coat worn by ussari. When not worn, the pelisse was carried over the left shoulder as a protection against sword cuts.
piping passepoil (F) Paspel (G)	Trim lines along cuffs, cuff flaps, lapels, turnbacks, shoulder boards, pockets, and other clothing edges. Often referred to as edging. The colour of the passepoil usually contrasts con that of the facing.
Plänkler (G)	Skirmisher. Plänkeln, blänkeln o blänkern was the act of skirmishing.
plastron	A single piece of cloth replacing the coat lapels, buttoned at the edges like a double-breasted coat.
pupilles (F)	Cadets. Usually recruited before they had completed their training o reached adulthood. A unit in the Guardia imperiale francese.
Schabrunke (G)	Cavalleria pistol cover usually made of the same cloth as the Schabracke.
shabraque chabraque (F) Schabracke (G)	Saddle cover made of cloth o sheepskin, the latter being more popular on campaign, because it provided additional padding e warmth.
sabretache (F) Säbeltasche (G)	Literally sabre pouch. A flat pouch worn over the scabbard, usually decorated with regimental denominazioni. More decorative than practical.
Schütze (G)	Literally a shooter, marksman. Fanteria leggera d’élite tedesca, slightly less adapt than the professional Jäger. Büchsenschütze - rifle-armed marksman.
Shrapnel	Fused exploding cannister shell fired from field guns, named after lieutenant britannico Henry Shrapnel who invented it.
stovepipe shakò	Cylindrical shakò britannico worn during much of the Napoleonic era, until gradually replaced by the belgic shakò after 1808.
tirailleur (F)	Bersagliere francese. Denominazione della compagnia d’élite della fanteria leggera nei battaglioni fanteria leggera francese.
troika (R)	Tre horses hitched in triangular formation to tow a carro russo o avantreno.
turnbacks	Turned coat tails, revealing the coat lining. The colour of the lining was often used to differentiate reggimenti in an army.
Ulan (G)	Lancieri tedeschi, based on the original tipo di truppe polacco. In 1853, Ulans prussiani received a special uniform coat known as Ulanka.
valise portemanteau (F)	Round o square pouch behind the saddle, usually used to hold a raincoat.
velites (F)	Juvenile recruits. A Guardia imperiale francese unit.
voltigeur (F)	Volteggiatore, fante leggero francese. Denominazione of the compagnia di fanteria leggera nei battaglioni di linea.
waistcoat	A vest worn over the shirt ed under the coat. Most pre-1812 style uniform coats were cut to reveal the bottom of the waistcoat.

Chris Salander

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– Pubblicato: 1997 – Aggiornato: 16.11.1997
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