During the wars of the Revolution and the Empire, the French army and navy used both weapons of supply, manufactured on French territory, and those taken from the enemy during battles or surrenders.
We'll only deal here with the first category.
Artillery
The engineer and artillery officer Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval (1715-1789) designed the first standardized artillery system before the French Revolution, which was definitively ratified by the royal ordinance of October 3, 1774.
In this system, artillery pieces were originally divided into four categories, according to their tactical use:
- Field artillery: these were 4-, 8-, 12-pounder cannons and the 6-inch 1-line howitzer
- Siege artillery: 12-, 16-, and 24-pounder cannons, 8-inch howitzer, 8-, 10-, and 12-inch mortars, swivel guns
- Stronghold artillery: 4-, 8-, and 12-pounder cannons, mortars of various calibers
- Coastal artillery: 12-pound, 18-pound, 24-pound and 36-pound cannons.
The cannon fired solid iron balls along a straight trajectory. Its caliber was expressed by the weight in pounds of the ball it launched (the so-called "Paris pound" corresponded to 489.5 g).
The howitzer fired shells along a more or less curved trajectory, which were hollow projectiles filled with explosive powder ignited by a rocket. Its caliber was defined by the diameter in inches (one inch in the "Toise du Châtelet" system was worth 2.707 cm and was divided into 12 lines) of its muzzle.
The mortar, for its part, fired bombs along a pointed trajectory, which were also projectiles filled with black powder. Its caliber could be expressed in pounds or in the diameter of the muzzle (the 24-pounder howitzer, for example, corresponded to 5 inches 7 lines).
At the end of the Second Campaign in Italy (1800), the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte established on December 29, 1801 an "Artillery Committee", chaired by General François Marie d'Aboville (on which Generals Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, Jean Jacques Basilien Gassendi and Jean-Baptiste Eblé sat in particular) tasked with modernizing and simplifying this system. This committee would publish on May 2, 1803 the result of its work, known as the "system of the year XI".
Field artillery
It included equipment intended to be used during battles in open country. The transport and mobility of weapons on the battlefield were essential, which is why this service used the most maneuverable pieces. There were two categories: foot artillery, composed of companies of eight cannons, and horse artillery, more mobile, with companies of six cannons.
Cannons
For reasons of weight, the 4-pounder was first assigned to infantry divisions and the 8- and 12-pounders to reserve units. However, the 4-pounder proved too weak to support troops in contact and the 8-pounder too heavy to follow front-line units, so the modernization commission decided in 1803 to replace them with a single intermediate model: the 6-pounder.
Howitzers
As for the 6-inch 1-line howitzer, a lighter model of 5 inches 7 lines was added for similar reasons.
Grapeshot
The Canister shot (called biscayen in France) was a cylindrical projectile filled with lead, cast iron or iron balls, the size of a small egg. During the Napoleonic Wars, it was usually fired by a Gribeauval system cannon:
- The 6-inch howitzer could receive a cartridge of 61 large balls of 17 lines (= 3.84 cm in diameter)
- The 12-pounder cannon could receive either a cartridge of 41 large balls of 1 inch 5 lines (= 3.84 cm in diameter), or a cartridge of 112 small balls of 1 inch (= 2.707 cm in diameter), or small caliber balls of 11 lines 6 points (= 2.59 cm in diameter)
- The 8-pounder cannon could receive either a cartridge of 41 large balls of 1 inch 2 lines (= 3.16 cm in diameter), or a cartridge of 112 small balls of 10 lines 6 points (= 2.37 cm in diameter), or small caliber rear bullets of 10 lines 2 points (= 2.30 cm in diameter)
- The 4-pounder cannon could receive either a cartridge of 41 large bullets of 11 lines 10 points (= 2.67 cm in diameter), or a cartridge of 63 small bullets of 10 lines 6 points (= 2.37 cm in diameter).
These projectiles, dispersing in a cone as soon as they left the cannon, caused terrible devastation in the enemy ranks. However, the grapeshot was really only effective at short range: about 250 meters.
Shrapnel, a spherical projectile operating on the same principle, even more lethal or damaging, was at that time only used in the British army, from 1808.
Siege artillery
Its role was to support the sieges of strongholds, and it had ammunition suitable for destroying fortifications, in particular cannonballs. It was equipped with carriages (frames designed to support, point and move the cannons) which allowed a certain mobility.
The 12-pounder mortar, used for example during the siege of Danzig in 1807, was the most powerful artillery piece of the Napoleonic era. Mounted on a carriage made up of two cast iron flasks connected by wooden spacers, it fired bombs weighing over 70 kilograms. There were also 10-pounder mortars. In Spain, mortars were used in particular at the sieges of Zaragoza (1809) and Tarragona (1811).
As for the howitzers, designed from 1803 by Colonel Pierre Laurent de Villantroys, the first (a dozen, cast in Seville) to be used as siege pieces were in Cadiz from 1810 to 1812. Their range was exceptional for the time: about 4800 meters. The two most imposing ones, 9 and 11 inches respectively, cast in Douai [50.36835, 3.07460] and tested at La Fère [49.65885, 3.38862], were taken to Berlin following the campaign in Northeast France of 1814. They were returned to France by the Soviets after the defeat of the Third Reich, and have since been exhibited in the courtyard of Les Invalides in Paris.
Stronghold artillery
Designed to equip the defense of fortified towns, citadels or strongholds, it was composed of the same pieces as siege artillery.
The difference lay in the carriages, adapted to the fortifications it protected, designed to fire over the parapets and not through embrasures. The three-wheeled carriage had two large wheels at the front and a small one at the back, which fitted into the guide rail (a sort of slide) of a chassis placed on the ground.
Coastal artillery
The coastal artillery ensured the defense of the coast and the ports. Its role was to prevent enemy ships, in particular at that time those of the Royal Navy, from approaching too close to the coast.
The targets it aimed at were by nature difficult to hit since they were moving ships on which it fired at long distances. It therefore used powerful pieces: 36 and 18-pounder naval guns, 24, 16 and 12-pounder guns and 12-inch mortars. Since the problem of their movement did not arise, they were mounted on massive carriages, composed mainly of wood and with few fittings, in order to avoid their deterioration by the marine atmosphere. Their aiming system was adapted to firing at moving targets. The carriage was placed on a chassis that could move laterally thanks to a system of wheels. In addition, the geometry of this chassis minimized recoil, and simplified the replacement of the piece and its re-aiming.
Most of these pieces were the same as those used in siege artillery or especially the navy (because of their lower cost, see below). The 12-inch mortar, however, was distinguished by its truncated cone chamber which minimized wind and improved both range and accuracy. The aiming screw which equipped its mount also distinguished it from siege mortars for which the elevation was adjusted using a corner of sight.
Each cannon was a unique piece with an identity card with the inscription of its caliber, its weight, its name, that of the founder, the arms of France.
After 1803, the so-called system of the year XI, introduced the use of the plate mortar, less manageable but more accurate. In 1814, some coastal batteries, particularly on the island of Oléron, were equipped with Villantroys howitzers, 9 or 11 inches in caliber, developed by the latter during the siege of Cadiz.
The red-hot cannonball, easier to handle than at sea, was widely used. Some stone cannonball furnaces were sized to simultaneously incandescently fire several hundred projectiles. Once red-hot, the cannonball was placed in the cannon where a water-filled clay plug separated it from the powder charge.
The specificities of coastal service justified the creation of a corps of specialized artillerymen: the coastguard cannoneers. Unfortunately suppressed by the Revolution in 1791, this corps was restored by the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803. Its numbers grew as the maritime borders of the Empire expanded. In 1812, it comprised no fewer than 145 companies, to which were added thirty-three companies of sedentary coastguard gunners, formed of local inhabitants, and ensuring the protection of the coastal islands.
In 1813 the coasts of France, Belgium and Holland had approximately 23,500 muzzles (mortars and cannons) pointing towards the sea.
Marine artillery
The equipment used complied with the regulations of 1786, moderately amended in 1792.
The guns
The range of naval guns was based on the weight of the solid iron balls fired by the different guns: 36, 24, 18, 12, 8, 6 and 4 pounds. It had not changed since King Louis XIV, except for the addition of ship howitzers in 1786.
Most of these guns were not made of bronze, like their land-based counterparts, but of cast iron, although this material was less resistant and more dangerous in the event of an explosion of the gun (it shatters, which is not the case with bronze). However, its noise, less likely to cause deafness in the gunners, but also its lower cost, compensated for these defects. It was indeed necessary to keep in mind that a single ship of the line aligned almost as many cannons as the entire Grande Armée at Austerlitz. A few rare 24- or 18-pounder pieces, the deck (or ship) howitzers of 36 Model 1787, the stone throwers, the blunderbusses, were exceptions by remaining cast in bronze.
The deck howitzer, also called bronze carronade, appeared in the French navy in 1787. It was derived from Gribeauval's land howitzers. It was initially intended to fire shells (hollow cylindrical balls equipped with an explosive charge). However, its handling was quickly judged too dangerous, and the shell was in fact very quickly replaced by solid cannonballs and canisters of grapeshot. The range of 36, 24 and 18-pounder howitzers initially envisaged remained a project. Only the 36-pounder would be mass-produced and put into service.
From 1801 (or 1804), under the impetus of Napoleon and his Minister of the Navy, Denis Decrès, iron carronades began to be produced, copied from those that the English had been manufacturing since 1774 (first in Carron, hence the name of this cannon). Two calibers were planned: the 36, intended for ships and the 24, for frigates. These carronades, known as "model of year XIII", were intended to replace deck howitzers. They actually coexisted with them for a long time, until the latter were scrapped.
The blunderbusses and the swivel guns (pierriers in French) constituted the light artillery. Both fired full one-pound cannonballs or cans of grapeshot, filled with lead balls. The blunderbuss was lighter. It weighed around 20 kilograms, and its shot was triggered by a trigger operating the flintlock, like a musket. The swivel gun was a reduced cannon, weighing around 80 kg. Both weapons required a support, called a candlestick. This consisted of an iron rod that branched into two branches at the end of which two stirrups received the trunnions with which both swivel guns and blunderbusses were equipped.
The use of these different pieces varied according to their caliber (and therefore their weight):
- The 36-pounder cannon equipped the 1st battery (also called the lower battery) of two-decker or three-decker ships of the line.
- The 24-pounder cannon equipped the 2nd battery of the two-deckers, the intermediate battery of the three-deckers, as well as the main battery of some frigates, called heavy or large, built between 1793 and 1799.
- The 18-pounder cannon was the standard cannon for frigate batteries (apart from those mentioned above).
- The 12-pounder cannon armed the third battery of the three-deckers and some frigates of older construction.
- The 8-, 6- and 4-pounder cannons were only installed on the upper deck, the forecastle and the poop of ships of the line and frigates. But they were also found on lighter units, such as corvettes or brigs. They came in two models, short (cheaper) and long (more accurate, longer range and less likely to set fire to the ship's upper works).
- The ship's howitzer, with an internal diameter of 169 mm, a length of 843 mm and a weight of 350 kg, was a short and light piece. It was placed on the poop of ships of the line and frigates.
The tolerances in use for casting and machining allowed for differences of several millimeters on the external and internal diameters or the length of the bore.
The windage was the difference between the diameter of the ball and that of the bore of the gun. In land artillery, it was set at 2.3 mm for field guns and 3.4 mm for siege and field guns, regardless of their caliber. It was higher than these values for naval guns, and varied according to the caliber.
Projectiles
Once loaded, the cannon contained either a round ball, a rammed ball, or a packet of grapeshot and a quantity of powder whose weight was equal to a third of that of the projectile.
- The round ball: the 36 weighed in fact a little more than 26 kilograms, the 24 approximately 17.5 kg, the 18, approximately 13 kg.
- The rammed ball consisted of two half-balls connected by an iron bar. It was used to cut shrouds, tear sails, break yards or the top of masts. In this role it was effective. On the other hand, if it hit the hull of the enemy ship, it was almost ineffective.
- The grapeshot consisted of small one-pound cannonballs. Its preferred targets were the rigging and the men. But it only had an effect on the latter if they were on the upper deck or if it entered through the gun ports. Its effectiveness was therefore moderate.
- The red cannonballs were an innovation of the French Convention which attempted to introduce on board ships what was then only practiced in coastal artillery. The risk of fire, not insignificant since the cannonball had to be heated in furnaces installed in the tween-deck, was however not the worst drawback of this type of projectile. Its main disadvantage was that it reduced the rate of fire. In practice, after having greatly worried the British, it would prove ineffective and would in fact only be used very rarely.
When the distances between adversaries were very short, they sometimes fired double (two round balls or a round ball and a rammed ball or a round ball and a bundle of grapeshot) or even triple (a round ball, a rammed ball and a bundle of grapeshot) loaded in the order indicated. However, two successive shots with such charges were likely to cause the piece to explode.
With a large-calibre cannon, the rate of fire was of the order of one shot every three and a half to four minutes. It fell to one shot every 6 or 8 minutes for rammed balls.
Other firearms
The Model 1777 rifle
The Model 1777 infantry rifle, designed by engineer Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, was the infantryman's main weapon. It was initially produced at the Charleville arms factory [49.7736, 4.71631 and 49.81722, 4.75355 for Nouzon] in the Ardennes, then during the Empire, at the imperial factories of Saint-Étienne [45.43475, 4.39203], Roanne [46.03995, 4.07308], Tulle [45.26242, 1.74750], Maubeuge [50.27147, 4.00294 for Rousies, 50.26014, 3.99720 for Ferrière-La-Grande], Versailles [48.80305, 2.12208], Mutzig [48.53629, 7.45354], Culemborg [51.95995, 5.22548] in Holland and Turin [possibly 45.08632, 7.67167] in Piedmont.
Without the bayonet, it measured 1.515 m and weighed, empty, 4.5 kilograms.
It was a single-shot, barrel-loaded, which fired 16.54 millimeter spherical bullets weighing 27.2 grams at a speed of 420 meters per second, at a rate of two to three shots per minute. Its range could reach 250 meters (100 to 150 meters in practice). For close combat, a bayonet with a 38-centimeter blade usefully complemented it.
It was known for its robustness. Modified in the year IX (1800-1801) and the year XIII (1804-1805), it would be produced in total in nearly two million copies, and copied in the United States of America from 1795 by the Springfield Armory, in Massachusetts.
It came in other lengths, depending on the uses for which it was intended:
- The cavalry carbine
- The artillery musket
- The dragoon rifle, equipped with a double rib
- The ship's rifle, some parts of which were made of brass in order to limit corrosion.
The hussar musket, model 1786, modified in year IX
Defined by the regulation of July 7, 1786, its simplified version in 1792 (called "number 1") was produced in 6,000 copies until 1800 and served until 1810. At that time it was decided to restart the production of the 1786 model in Maubeuge by making some modifications; this model was paradoxically known under the name "of year IX".
It measured 1.065 m to 1.082 m depending on the batch and weighed, empty, approximately 3 kilograms.
This was again a single-shot loaded by the barrel. Of 17.1 mm caliber, it fired spherical balls weighing 29 grams. Its practical range was 25 meters.
17.1 mm cavalry pistols
The 1763-66 model
From the first years of the Revolution, this old model was put back into service with some modifications, under the name of "model no. 1". 402 mm long with a barrel length of 230 mm (9 inches), weighing 1.220 kilograms, it was manufactured in pairs so that the riders could garnish the two cast irons of their saddles, at the Manufacture of Libreville [name of Charleville during the revolutionary period].
It was a single-shot loaded by the barrel, which fired 16.5 mm spherical lead balls (weight: 27.2 g), this at a rate of two to three shots per minute. Its practical range was 5 to 10 meters.
The year IX model (1801)
This development, which in addition to Charleville would be produced in 80,000 copies until 1808 in the factories of Maubeuge, Saint-Etienne, Versailles, Tulle, Mutzig and Turin, was a little shorter (352 mm long, 207 mm barrel) and slightly heavier (1290 g).
In addition to the cavalry, this handgun would also equip the navy.
The year XIII model (1804-1805)
Its main improvement consisted of a system allowing the barrel to be held more firmly.
It would be produced from 1806, until the end of the Empire and beyond (1819), approximately 150,000 copies.
Bladed weapons
The weapons intended to equip the combatants were mainly produced by the edged weapons factory of Klingenthal [48.46918, 7.40768] in Alsace. The Versailles Arms Factory, for its part, produced luxury weapons under the authority of Nicolas-Noël Boutet, intended mainly as rewards for distinguished officers, such as "honorary weapons" and ceremonial sabers, as well as weapons for the Mamluks of the Guard.
Sabers
The saber was, on the battlefield or at sea, a particularly effective weapon, lethal or damaging both in pointing blows (estoc) and in cutting blows.
Infantry saber
Made regulatory under the Ancien Régime (1767), the saber known as "briquet" with a curved blade initially equipped the grenadiers, then was issued to non-commissioned officers, corporals, soldiers of the elite troops, drummers and musicians, as well as quartermasters. Later it equipped the Consular Guard and then the Imperial Guard. The artillerymen were also equipped with it, using it in practice not so much for close combat as for pruning vegetation when installing the guns in battery.
The different models used during the Napoleonic Wars were:
- The 1767 model, which had a flat blade 59.5 centimeters long, with a light arrow, 3.6 cm wide at the heel. The mount was made of cast brass, in two parts, with two upper half-lugs. The scabbard was made of black leather, with a slotted or buttoned chape
- The 1790 model: it differed from the previous one by its one-piece cast brass mount, the half-ears being abandoned
- The model of the year IX (1801) had a blade that could be longer (59.5 to 62 centimeters), a little less wide at the heel (3.38 to 3.5 cm). The mount had 36 grooves. The scabbard, still in black leather, had two brass fittings and a trigger guard chape added. A slightly modified version was also created for the Navy.
- The year XI model saw the number of grooves reduced to 28, while the shape of the quillon was different from the previous one. Here too a slightly modified version was created for the Navy, as well as for the National Guard.
- The Imperial Guard's lighter saber: issued in 1804, it was longer than the previous one (68 to 69 centimeters) and had a different mount. The blade had a large hollow section on each side, in order to lighten it. The brass mount had a wooden handle covered in sheepskin and filigree. The scabbard was again made of black leather, with two brass fittings.
Cavalry saber
The light cavalry (hunters and hussars) successively used:
- during the Directory and until the beginning of the Consulate, the curved saber "model 1777", with a guard called "Hungarian style"
- then a saber of the model of the year IX (1801), called "à la chasseur", with a less curved blade and where a piece of guard with branches better protected the rider's hand; it weighed 1.040 kilograms and its scabbard 610 grams
- finally the model of the year XI, an evolution of the previous one (its mount was reinforced), 1.166 meter long (including 97.5 centimeters of blade, which was 27 millimeters wide in its middle) ; it weighed 1.227 kilogram and its scabbard, improved in terms of deformability, 1.770 kg.
The dragoons were equipped with:
- at the beginning of the Consulate, either the straight saber with fleuron guard and its derivatives from year IV (called Arco), or the saber with half-basket guard from 1780 or its descendant, the 1790 model of the horseback hunters
- from 1803 the line cavalry (mounted lancers and dragoons) used a model with a curved blade from year XI, 1.076 meter long (including 88 centimeters of blade, which was 31.9 millimeters wide in the middle) and weighing 2.997 kilograms including the scabbard.
Concerning officers' weapons, there was in practice no regulatory model.
The cuirassiers (and also the mounted grenadiers and some dragoons of the line) used successive versions of the straight-bladed saber, also called "latte":
- the model inherited from the Ancien Régime (1779 then 1784), with a fleuron guard
- the model of the year IX, whose brass guard had four branches, three of which joined at the cap in the form of three buttons; its 97-centimeter blade was flat, with a flat back, and ended with a point in the extension of the back
- the model of the year XI, which had a ferrule at the bottom of the handle; its blade was lighter, 97.45 centimeters long, 3.85 cm wide at the heel, and found the two hollow sides in use before the Year IX; its sheet metal scabbard was also improved (it was doubly embossed on the inside to perfectly wedge the blade, and its metal was thicker); without the latter the saber weighed 1.1 kilogram
- the model of the year XIII, which weighs 1.4 kilogram, for a total length of 111.6 centimeters (of which 97.5 cm for the blade).
The Mamluks of the Consular Guard then Imperial were equipped with a saber with a curved blade, in the oriental style, issued by the Versailles factory (the blade being forged in Klingenthal). Its wooden handle was covered with sheepskin; its mount was made of brass, with a rounded and pierced cap (on sabers of the 1st type) for the passage of the dragonne, the guard with orillons had two straight quillons with rounded sides; the curved blade had a flat back and a counter-edged edge. The wooden scabbard was covered with leather sheepskin and brass fittings; its chape was open on the back to help the blade pass through.
Boarding saber
The boarding saber used by the French Navy under the First Empire was nicknamed "pot spoon" because it was equipped with a spoon-shaped shell designed to protect the hand.
The 1811 model, manufactured in Klingenthal, had a pitch-blackened iron guard, a solid shell made of sheet steel, a palmette-shaped quillon with five reliefs, a cap and an octagonal wooden handle covered in sheet metal. Its blade with a hollow face was 37 millimeters wide at the heel, and 67.8 centimeters long. The scabbard was made of leather with two brass fittings. The weight of the saber was 1.018 kilogram, that of the scabbard 265 grams.
Swords
For the entire period of the Directory, the Consulate and the Empire, the sword was essentially a parade and ceremonial weapon, for senior officers, generals and marshals, dignitaries of the Empire and of course Napoleon himself, such as:
- The "Coronation Sword", which he wore as First Consul since 1801, decorated with 42 brilliants, including the most beautiful diamond of the time, the Regent, the work of the jeweler Marie-Etienne Nitot and the goldsmith Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot
- The "Austerlitz Sword", the work of the goldsmith Martin-Guillaume Biennais, made between 1801 and 1804, worn by the Emperor during the eponymous battle, and which he kept until his death
- A new sword made in 1811 by François-Régnault Nitot, reusing the stones removed from the "Coronation" sword, including the Regent.
Lances and pikes
Cavalry lance
The 1st Polish Light Horse Regiment of the Imperial Guard, created in 1807, was equipped two years later with a 2.75-meter lance, made of a 38-centimeter flat iron with a double edge, fitted with a ball stop, fitted into a blackened beech shaft, which ended with a 10-centimeter sabot; a red and white flame was fixed under the iron by three screws.
Still in 1809, the lancers of the Grand Duchy of Berg were also equipped with it; they distinguished themselves in Spain and then during the Invasion of Russia.
In 1810, the 2nd Regiment of Light Horse Lancers of the Guard (nicknamed "Red Lancers") was created, composed mainly of Dutchmen, who were also equipped with a similar lance.
In 1811, the Light Horse Lancers were equipped with a new model of lance, called "à la française"; 2.65 meters long, it consisted of a flat iron 21.6 centimeters long, with two edges, two hollow sides and no stop ball.
The lance was also the main weapon of the Lithuanian Tartars, whose corps was created in July 1812; it was topped with a pennant, red on top and white or green on the bottom.
At the end of 1813, half of the Guard Scouts were equipped with lances, model 1812, without a pennant.
Boarding pike
This was a point mounted on a long handle, used in the navy, allowing the enemy to be wounded while remaining out of range of his saber, particularly during boardings.
The 1786 model had a strong point with a diamond section, a socket punched with an anchor and splints (or ears) with three rivets; its total length was 6 to 7 feet; its shaft was made of blackened ash wood, without a heel. It was succeeded by the An XI model, measuring 2.35 meters long. A shorter variant measured 2.10 meters and had two-rivet splints. Finally, the 1812 model was a cavalry lance from which the hoof had been sawn off.
Daggers and poniards
During the Consulate and the First Empire, many naval officers carried a dagger or poniard on board with their undress uniform. However, this was not a regulatory weapon; they were required to carry a saber or sword, which they did not fail to do on land. In a letter to the minister dated October 5, 1807, the Emperor even banned this custom, without putting an end to it.
The Mamluks of the Consular and then Imperial Guard, on the other hand, were equipped from the beginning with a specific dagger, manufactured in Versailles (the blade coming from Klingenthal). Its mount was made of brass, mounted in two parts on a fluted wooden fuse covered in sheepskin; the cap was topped with a trigger guard; the blade was curved with double edges with a central ridge; the scabbard was all made of brass. The total length of the dagger was 53.5 centimeters, the blade being 3.2 cm wide at the heel. The total production would be 445 pieces.
Axes
Boarding axe
This axe, of the same model as under the Ancien Régime (1786), was on the borders of the weapon and the tool.
It was made of a symmetrical and regularly expanded iron, whose convex edge was parallel to the handle, having at its opposite a peak with a quadrangular section, slightly curved. The iron was fixed to the blackened wooden handle by two splints nailed to the latter. Quite thin, the handle was slightly swollen at its end and sometimes engraved with threads, to facilitate the grip. A belt hook was fixed to the handle by a rivet which crossed it, this just below the iron.
When starting the boarding, the peak could be nailed to the hull of the ship to serve as a ladder or foot support. Once on board, the convex edge cut the ropes and anything that could be cut. Both, during the hand-to-hand combat that followed, could of course complete the lethal or wounding action of the boarding saber.
Under the Consulate, fifty boarding axes of honor were distributed to sailors between 1801 and 1803. This distinction disappeared at the beginning of the Empire in favor of the Legion of Honor.
Sapper's axe
The infantry sapper's axe had a blade with a half-moon edge and a flat-section pick, all connected to the handle by a brass socket. The handle, still made of blackened wood, had a brass studded shoe. The total length exceeded one meter.
The Imperial Guard's sapper's had a very different blade: the edge was practically straight, while on its opposite side there was no pick but a sort of hammer or small anvil.
Mamluk axe
The Mamluks of the Guard were also equipped with an axe, of oriental inspiration, which was more of a ceremonial weapon than a combat weapon. Manufactured in Versailles between the years IX and XI, it included a mahogany handle of about sixty centimeters, connecting two grooved brass sockets, one forming the handle, the other supporting the axe head. The latter, made of polished steel, was straight on its upper edge and curved on its lower edge, and measured 12.9 centimeters long. The total length of the axe was 65.5 centimeters.
Other weapons
The mace
A blunt weapon similar to the club, it was one of the first weapons used by humanity. The fact that it was in service at the beginning of the 19th century may be surprising, but it was indeed part of the regulatory equipment of the Mamluks of the Consular and then Imperial Guard. It was, again, more of a parade weapon than a combat weapon.
With a total length of 60 centimeters and a weight of 890 grams, it consisted of a 38 cm fluted brass handle with a domed brass heel and a pierced brass stud at its base, and at the top a brass ring and an iron socket supporting a six-finned iron head.
A hundred or so left the Versailles factory in the year X (1801-1802) and the year XI, then a restocking of 25 pairs took place in 1809 on the occasion of Napoleon's marriage to Marie-Louise of Habsburg.
The grenade
It was a hollow sphere made of cast iron or iron filled with gunpowder, with an orifice through which a slow-burning fuse passed. The most common, about the size of a 4-pound cannonball, weighed about 1.5 kilogram.
During land combat until the 18th century, hand grenades were thrown by soldiers operating on the front lines: the grenadiers. The latter were responsible for lighting the fuse and throwing it at the right time to minimize the chances of the enemy throwing the grenade back. They were selected for their strength and large size, which allowed them to throw the grenades far enough not to injure their fellow soldiers.
However, under the Empire, the use of the grenade on the battlefield had fallen into disuse, the grenadiers (both on foot and on horseback) being above all tall elite soldiers within the Guard. It was only used as a defensive weapon, during sieges, such as that of Badajoz (Spain) in April 1812.
However, it continued to be used offensively during naval battles, such as the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
The submarine
The first known operational submarine, the American Turtle, dated from the American War of Independence. During the Directory, an American engineer, Robert Fulton, proposed to the French government to develop a similar vessel, powered by a sail when it was on the surface, and by the muscular power of its crew when it was submerged.
The first tests took place in 1800 with the approval of the Minister of the Navy, Pierre-Alexandre Forfait, and continued the following year. The Nautilus (that was the name of this boat), then benefited from the support of the First Consul.
In 1801, the new Minister of the Navy, Denis Decrès, on the contrary showed himself to be a declared opponent of the project, as was the general staff of the Navy. Not very favorable to innovation in general, they also criticized the ship for her low speed, which gave her potential victims time to get away. However, she had to get close enough to them so that his crew could attach the explosive charge that constituted his armament to the hull of the enemy vessels.
Despite rather conclusive tests, the French authorities soon lost interest in the project, which Fulton then proposed in vain to England.
It would be necessary to wait until the American Civil War to see the first submarines used in combat.