Picture shows French soldiers performing the French drill.explain. The effectiveness of skirmishes through the use of the musket on enemy soldiers and supply lines highlight how guerrilla warfare at the time was the most effective form of warfare.
North American battlefield
Picture shows a North American battlefield. The fighting of wars across continents meant soldiers had to adapt to their surroundings to ensure victory. Famous examples include wars fought between the British and the native Americans; lack of being trained in North American soil meant they were more prone to skirmishes and being overrun.
Supply train
Picture showing a typical supply train used to supply large armies with food and other necessities. Lack of food preservation at the time meant these wagons came to supply armies very often. Also, up to the French revolutionary wars, most wars were fought by nations attacking the opposing nation's supply line in order to starve their armies, this minimized a full on, bloody battle and thus made wars more economical.
Bayonet Charge
Photo shows members of the British foot artillery charging with their bayonets. Advancements in metal works meant that soldiers no longer had to put on or put off the bayonet on their guns when firing, they could simply keep the bayonet on their weapon throughout the battle. In the French revolutionary wars, the fact most French soldiers were untrained meant that the bayonet charge fully utilized the French army's strength in numbers and thus gave them a better chance of winning the battle.
Flintlock musket
picture shows a flintlock musket, a weapon which repalced the slower matchlock musket. The musket works by pouring sachets of gunpowder into a cartridge, dropping a ball down the barre land ramming it with a rod attached to the musket. The best shooter could shoot around 3-4 times a minute. The effectiveness of the musket to kill the enemy at a distance meant that battle tactics had to change with soldiers walking in close file the minimalize the damage of musket but also work together to use them at their best.
A painting of a battle scene during the American war of independence called 'The surrender of Lord Cornwallis'. The soldiers standing in close quarters highlights how warfare was adapted to deal with the effectiveness of the musket (through how it enforced discipline and allowed soldiers to fire volleys at each other to cause maximum damage). The man on the horse walking in between the opposing armies highlights the strong etiquette in the military at the time but also the huge emphasis on discipline in the army.
Liberty Leading the People
Picture shows Liberty guiding the French revolutionaries onward. This highlights how the French Revolution and its wars were enforced through deep patriotism and freedom from their autocratic monarchs. This hugely supported the French armies whose members joined by means of defending their country rather than being forced to work in order of the king. This gave French soldiers more eagerness and determinism in the battlefield.
Oblique order
levee en masse
The painting shows a person enlisting for the French Army. This refers to the passing of the levee en masse decree on the 23rd of August 1793. This required all unmarried men from 18 to 25 for conscript to the army and all married men between that age gap to work in military factories. This paved way for the use of the term 'Total war' meaning directing all facilities of a country to warfare. This decree meant that the French had the second biggest army in Europe (followed by Russia which was much bigger than France).
