THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPONS OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE'S ARMY

Napoleon Bonaparte is known as one of the greatest imperialist symbols in the entire history of Europe. His fame emerged during the French Revolution, first as consul and then as emperor, demonstrating his great skills as a strategist, expanding his empire thanks to the Napoleonic Wars, winning The Battle of Eylau and The Battle of Dresden, among many others.

That said, and without underestimating the great emperor as the protagonist of the Napoleonic Wars, these could not have been carried out without La Grande Armée and the revolutionary artillery that the army brought with it.

The Great Army (also known as French Imperial Army) was the name that Napoleon gave to his army at the gathering of troops that took place in Boulogne-sur-Mer in order to invade England. Unable to mobilize such an army to the British Isles, Napoleon managed to gather a total of 600,000 soldiers (plus one million in reserve) to contain the Austrians and Russians plans to invade France.

As a former artillery officer, it was to be expected that Napoleon would arm his ground army with cannons in a defensive manner, preventing direct action by infantry and cavalry. Although cannons were the most versatile weapon in the Napoleonic Wars, Emperor Bonaparte armed his entire army with various and innovative rifles, pistols, sabers and axes that, like his tactical skills, would find their place in French and European global history.

 

1. FIREARMS

1.1 Rifle with Bayonet

1.2. flintlock rifle

1.3 Flintlock carbine

1.4 Cavalry pistol

1.5 Double-barreled gun

 

2. WHITE WEAPONS

            2.1 Lighter Sand

 

3. HEAVY ARTILLERY

           3.1 Napoleonic Cannon

 

 

 

Rifle with bayonet

These types of weapons required manual reloading of their ammunition after each shot. Although they could be more accurate than pistols and gave a longer effective range, the bullet's trajectory was imprecise and during combat it was impossible to aim well.

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Flintlock rifle

Like the rest of the rifles, they had a flint or flint stone, which when activated by the hammer produced the spark that ignited the gunpowder. The ammunition, which was introduced through the mouth of the cannon, consisted of gunpowder, a projectile and a wad of paper, which served as a plug to keep the previous two compressed inside the cannon. 

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Flintlock carbine

The flintlock carbines had a flint or flint stone, which when the hammer was operated produced the spark that ignited the gunpowder. These types of weapons required manual reloading of their ammunition after each shot. Like rifles, the bullet's trajectory was imprecise.

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Cavalry pistol

These pistols were used as self-defense weapons until the mid-19th century. Their effective range was short and they were frequently used as a complement to a sword or knife. These weapons were used for a single shot, since the reloading method was very slow and there was usually no time to reload it. 

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2 barrel gun

This 2-barreled pistol was manufactured in St. Etienne by Nicolas - Noël Boutet in 1806 by express order of Emperor Napoleon I, and bears his insignia on the handle. Napoleon used it as a travel pistol and since it was double barreled, it provided a clear advantage against his opponents, due to the slow reloading process of the other flintlock pistols of the time.

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Sand Lighter

The Briquet saber is a curved, single-edged sword, designed for cutting, commonly used by cavalry and Napoleonic infantry and navy officers.

It arose from the need for speed in combat, which is achieved by cutting and not leaving the blade of the weapon embedded in the opponent's body thanks to the curvature of the edge.

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Napoleonic cannon

In 1776, Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, mathematician, engineer and artilleryman, managed to get his reform of the French artillery approved, converting the cannon into the most important and decisive weapon in the campaigns of the armies of the Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte. .

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Without a doubt, Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the best-known historical figures. Perceptive, hard-working and revolutionary, he marked a before and after not only in his country, completely decentralized as a result of the French Revolution, but throughout Europe, leaving behind a historical legacy of incalculable value.

 

In DENIX We have a wide variety of replicas of the most famous Napoleonic weapons. Visit our CATALOG and feel like a true protagonist of the Napoleonic conquests.