HOW AWFUL LIFE WAS FOR A NAPOLEONIC SOLDIER
Life was seemingly grand for Napoleon's army, but reality told a far different story.
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the author lacks depth of knowledge,
For French infantrymen in 1815, the musketry drill consisted of eight basic steps in loading their pieces.Nope, is was either charge en douze temps, or charge precipité or à volonté, the construction of the musket demanded a sequence of loading, this was identical to the British and French - there their muskets had the same characteristics of construction.
Also the dress was not that dysfunctional as the author describes, soldiers - at least French would throw away their superflous equipment to make life easier.
Undoubtedly true, but the privations should be balanced against the rest of society. The life of a peasant farmer could be non too pleasant either. Long hours behind the plough, hunger when crops failed. The almost slave labour of apprentices. The privations of the industrial workers, unhealthy working conditions, poor accommodation. At least soldiers were mostly fed and clothed, and when not actually on campaign barracked or billeted. Maybe not the glamour of the recruiting sergeant’s promises, but that has always been true (and I suspect still is!)