Zvezda 1:72 French Infantry Command (1812 – 1814)

Details

La Grande Arme (French for ‘The Great Army’; French pronunciation: [d ame]) was the main military component of the French Imperial Army commanded by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1804 to 1808, it won a series of military victories that allowed the French Empire to exercise unprecedented control over most of Europe. Widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest fighting forces ever assembled, it suffered enormous losses during the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812, after which it never recovered its strategic superiority.

The Grande Arme was formed in 1804 from the L’Arme des ctes de l’Ocan (Army of the Ocean Coasts), a force of over 100,000 men that Napoleon had assembled for the proposed invasion of Britain. Napoleon later deployed the army in Central Europe to eliminate the combined threat of Austria and Russia, which were part of the Third Coalition formed against France. Thereafter, the Grande Arme was the principal military force deployed in the campaigns of 1806/7, the French invasion of Spain, and 1809, where it earned its prestige, and in the conflicts of 1812, 181314, and 1815. In practice, however, the term Grande Arme is used in English to refer to all the multinational forces gathered by Napoleon in his campaigns.

In addition to its size and multinational composition, the Grande Arme was known for its innovative formations, tactics, logistics, and communications. While most contingents were commanded by French generals, except for the Polish and Austrian corps, soldiers could climb the ranks regardless of class, wealth, or national origin.