THE NAPOLEONIC MILITARY REVOLUTION - Volume 3, Combat

Having analysed operational strategy and general tactics from the perspective of the conduct of operations, this third volume deals with the tactics of the individual arms, prioritising an approach grounded in the combatant's lived experience, his motivations and his daily life. It emphasises the sociological and anthropological aspects of the fighting of this period, within the framework of a "total history" of the Napoleonic military revolution.

Like the preceding volumes, it employs a thematic and cartographic presentation, making use of text boxes and organisational charts. Part One: The Actors of Napoleonic Combat — Chapter I: From conscript to grognard: The context of conscription - From conscript to soldier: induction - Marches and bivouacs: the daily life of the Imperial soldier — Chapter II: Black-powder combat - The experiences of combat / The different forms of combat / The motivations of the combatant / The question of the "brutalisation" of Napoleonic warfare — Chapter III: Towards glory or misery.

The wounded, prisoners and pensioners, the dead and the wounded / The promoted, pensioners and retirees — Part Two: The Springs of Napoleonic Combat — Chapter IV: A nimble infantry - The origins of nimbleness / The successes of nimbleness — Chapter V: A powerful cavalry - A new organisation of the Napoleonic cavalry: growth and independence / The cavalry in manoeuvre: surprise and strategic pursuit / The cavalry in battle: massed charges — Chapter VI: A mobile artillery - An artillery at the service of manoeuvre / Towards the coordination of fire — Chapter VII: Systematic combined-arms coordination — Stéphane Béraud is a jurist and military historian.