C2 675 Grande Armée juin 1809

@Hans - Karl Weiß

Colonel Berthezene in his memoirs believes it was a political and he says, "At the time of the innovations which I have related, there was an important one in the army: the regiments underwent a new organization. They were increased to five battalions, including four for war, instead of three, of which they had been composed until then; but the battalions were reduced from nine companies to six for the battalions of war, and to four for those of the depot. By this measure, the number of companies was increased by regiment, without any advantage for the war battalions, which, on the contrary, in several circumstances, experienced a real decrease. It is easy todo the math: in fact, these regiments, which had only two battalions in the army, when these were nine companies, had eighteen companies; with three new six-company battalions they did not have more. Those which had three battalions in the army, and this was the largest number, had twenty-seven companies, while with four new battalions, they had only twenty-four, which constituted them. a pertereal of three companies. It is probable that this change was due to political thought, and that the desire to send part of our old troops to Spain, without reducing the number of regiments and battalions of the Grand Army, determined this formation. It seems bad to me: it gives battalions that are too weak or companies that are too strong, and one of the most serious inconvenience it offers is that it reduces too much the number of companies in the center, which, reduced to four, can no longer suffice to supply two elite ones" (Berthezene, ,1855, pp. 163-164)