French Order of Battle for Friedland: 14 June 1807

By Stephen Millar

The growing disorder in the Russian ranks provided the French gunners with a target which it was practically impossible to miss. Victor made the most of the opportunity and moved more than 30 guns to the front of his corps area. Commanded by the able artillery general Senarmont, the gunners manhandled their pieces boldly, starting at 1,600 yards, the range rapidly shortened to 600 paces, where the guns paused to pour a crippling salvo into the dense Russian masses. A short time later, the cannon were within 300, then 150, yards of the Russian front line. At last, the sweating gunners brought their smoking pieces to within 60 paces of Bennigsen’s infantry. At such point-blank range, the French case-shot wrought terrible havoc upon their opponents, whole companies being reduced to gory shambles in a matter of seconds. The remnants of the Russian cavalry tried to destroy this impudent, death-dealing battery, but only shared the fate of their infantry colleagues.

-- David Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon

Best known for General de Division Hureau de Senarmont’s ‘artillery charge’, the Battle of Friedland was fought on 14 June 1807 near the modern-day Russian city of Kaliningrad (formerly Konigsberg).

The battle can be divided into two phases: in the morning phase, Marshal Jean Lannes’ Reserve Corps, along with two cavalry divisions (21,900 men and 33 guns), holds the advancing Russian army (46,000 men under General of Cavalry Leonti Leontievich, Baron Bennigsen) while French reinforcements gradually arrive; in the afternoon phase, the reinforced Grand Armee under Napoleon goes over to the offensive, driving Bennigsen out of Friedland and across the Alle River.

Napoleon’s losses were 10,400 killed and wounded (out of about 75,000-80,000 men total); Benningsen’s army sustained 18,000 killed and wounded.

Researchers should note that French officers at the Battle of Friedland had not yet received their Napoleonic titles and should be referred to by their ‘common’ name; examples include General de Division Etienne-Marie-Antoine Champion (comte de Nansouty), General de Brigade Pierre-Louis Binet (baron de Marcognet) and General de Brigade Antoine-Louis Popon (baron de Maucune). The sole exception was General de Division Alexandre-Antoine Hureau, baron de Senarmont, who held an ancien regime title.

A. Initial deployment (21,900 men and 33 guns)

Reserve Corps (15,470 men and 27 guns)

Marshal Jean Lannes

1st (Provisional Grenadier) Division (16 battalions; 6,650 men)
General de Division Nicolas-Charles Oudinot

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Francois-Amable Ruffin

1st Provisional Regiment (2 battalions)[1]
2nd Provisional Regiment (2 battalions)[2]

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Nicolas-Francois Conroux

3rd Provisional Regiment (2 battalions)[3]
4th Provisional Regiment (2 battalions)[4]

3rd Brigade
General de Brigade Louis-Jacques Coehorn

5th Provisional Regiment (2 battalions)[5]
6th Provisional Regiment (2 battalions)[6]

4th Brigade
General de Brigade Joseph-Jean-Baptiste Albert

7th Provisional Regiment (2 battalions)
8th Provisional Regiment (2 battalions)

2nd Division (8 battalions; 4,440 men)
General de Division Jean-Antoine Verdier

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Dominique-Honore-Antoine-Marie de Vedel

2nd Light Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Michel-Sylvestre Brayer
15th Light Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Jean-Claude Desailly

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Jean-Isidore Harispe[7]

3rd Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Laurent Schobert
72nd Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Florentin Ficatier

3rd (Saxon) Division (part only; 3 battalions, 3,900 men)
Generalleutnant Georg-Friedrich-August von Polenz

1st Brigade

Grenadier Battalion ‘Cerrini’
Infantry Regiment ‘Bevilaqua’ (1 bn)

2nd Brigade

Grenadier Battalion ‘Sussmilch’

Reserve Corps Artillery (480 men and 27 guns)
Colonel Alexandre-Pierre Navelet de La Massoniere

11/1st Foot Artillery Regiment
15/1st Foot Artillery Regiment
2 Saxon foot artillery batteries

1st Cavalry Division (3,250 men and 3 guns)
General de Division Etienne-Marie-Antoine Champion

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Jean-Marie-Antoine Defrance

1st Carabinier Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Francois Laroche
2nd Carabinier Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Amable-Guy Blancard

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Jean-Pierre Doumerc

2nd Cuirassier Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Claude-Louis Chouard
3rd Cuirassier Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Jean-Louis Richter

3rd Brigade
General de Brigade Antoine-Louis Decrest de Saint-Germain

9th Cuirassier Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Pierre-Louis-Francois Paultre de Lamotte
12th Cuirassier Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Joseph Dornes

4/2nd Horse Artillery Regiment (1/2 battery – 3 guns)

Reserve Cavalry (3,180 men and 3 guns)

General de Division Emmanuel de Grouchy

2nd Dragoon Division (1,630 men)
General de Division Emmanuel de Grouchy

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Jacques-Louis-Francois Milet

3rd Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Joseph-Claude Grezard
6th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Cyrille-Simon Picquet

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Jean-Augustin Carrie de Boissey

10th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Jean-Baptiste Dommanget
11th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Pierre-Francois-Marie-Auguste Dejean

2/2nd Horse Artillery Regiment (1/2 battery – 3 guns)

I Corps Light Cavalry Brigade (1,300 men)
General de Brigade Jean-Louis-Chretien Carriere

2nd Hussar Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Francois-Joseph Gerard
4th Hussar Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Andre Burthe
5th Chasseur Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Pierre Bonnemains

1st (Provisional) Grenadier Division’s Cavalry Brigade (250 men)

9th Hussar Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Pierre-Edme Gauthrin

B. Reinforcements (60,285 men and 122 guns)

VIII Corps (12,970 men and 28 guns)

Marshal Eduard-Adolphe-Casimir-Joseph Mortier

1st Division (10 battalions; 6,850 men)
General de Division Pierre-Louis Dupas

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Antoine-Joseph Veaux

4th Light Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Jean-Baptiste Lecat de Bazancourt
15th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Hilaire-Benoit Reynaud

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Claude-Ursule Gency

58th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Jean Arnaud
Paris Municipal Guard Regiment (2 battalions)

3rd Brigade
General de Brigade Balthazar Grandjean

Wurzburg Infantry Regiment (2 battalions):

2nd (Polish) Division (4,060 infantry; 700 cavalry)[8]
General de Division Jan-Henryk Dabrowski (dit ‘Dombrowski’)

Infantry Brigade
General de Brigade Amilcar Kosinsky

1st Regiment, Polish-Italian Legion (2 battalions): Colonel Gregoire Chlopicki
2nd Regiment, Polish-Italian Legion (2 battalions): Colonel Simon Biatowieyski
3rd Regiment, Polish-Italian Legion (2 battalions): Colonel Pierre Swiderski

Cavalry Brigade
General de Brigade Sokolnicki

Polish-Italian Legion Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Alexander Rozniecki

VIII Corps Artillery (1,360 men and 28 guns)
Colonel Basile-Guy-Marie-Victor Baltus de Pouilly

1/1st Foot Artillery Regiment
1/8th Foot Artillery Regiment
1 foot artillery battery (Polish)
1 horse artillery battery (Dutch)                   

I Corps (19,990 men and 30 guns)

General de Division Claude-Victor Perrin

1st Division (10 battalions; 6,850 men)
General de Division Pierre Dupont

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Andre-Adrien-Joseph de Labruyere

9th Light Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Claude-Marie Meunier
24th Line Regiment (3 battalions): Colonel Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Semelle[9]

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Pierre Barrois

32nd Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Luc Duranteau
96th Line Regiment (3 battalions): Colonel Jean Chrisostome Cales

2nd Division (8 battalions; 5,970 men)
General de Division Pierre Bellon (dit ‘Lapisse’)

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Michel-Marie Pacthod

16th Light Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Jean-Pierre Dellard
45th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Jean-Leonard Barrie

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Augustin Darricau         

8th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Jean-Francois-Etienne Autie
54th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Armand Philippon

3rd Division (8 battalions; 5,490 men)
General de Division Eugene-Casimir Villatte

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Bernard-Georges-Francois Frere

27th Light Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Clement-Jean-Etienne Lacoste
63rd Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Regis-Barthelemy Mouton-Duvernet

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Jean-Baptiste Girard

94th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Jean-Antoine-Francois Combelle
95th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Marc-Nicolas-Louis Pechaux

I Corps Artillery (1,680 men and 30 guns)
General de Brigade Alexandre-Antoine Hureau, baron de Senarmont

6/1st Foot Artillery Regiment
11/1st Foot Artillery Regiment
1/8th Foot Artillery Regiment
2/8th Foot Artillery Regiment
2/3rd Horse Artillery Regiment
3/3rd Horse Artillery Regiment

Two formations attached to I Corps:

4th Dragoon Division (1,840 men and 3 guns)
General de Division Armand Lebrun

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Pierre Margeron

17th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Frederic-Auguste Beurmann
27th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Aime-Sulpice-Victor Pelletier Montmarie

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Laplanche        

18th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Justin de Lafitte
19th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Jean-Marie Delisle de Falcon Saint-Genies

3/2nd Horse Artillery Regiment (1/2 battery – 3 guns)

Saxon Cavalry Brigade (700 men)
Major Johann-Adolf, Freiherr von Thielmann

Leibkurassier Chevauxleger Regiment (3 squadrons)
Karabinier Chevauxleger Regiment (3 squadrons)
Prinz Johann Chevauxleger Regiment (3 squadrons)

VI Corps (13,415 men and 22 guns)

Marshal Michel Ney

1st Division (8 battalions; 5,600 men)
General de Division Jean-Gabriel Marchand

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Antoine-Louis Popon

6th Light Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Jean-Gregoire-Barthelemy Rouger de Laplane
69th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Joseph-Francois Frirjon

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Pierre-Louis Binet

39th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Jacques-Pierre Soyer
76th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Jean-Pierre-Antoine Faure-Lajonquiere[10]

2nd Division (10 battalions; 5,400 men)
General de Division Baptiste-Pierre-Francois-Jean-Gaspard Bisson

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Francois Roguet

25th Line Regiment (3 battalions): Colonel Louis-Victorin Cassagne
27th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Menne

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Labassee[11]

50th Line Regiment (2 battalions): Fiacre-Joseph Frappart
59th Line Regiment (3 battalions): Colonel Alexandre d’Alton-Shee

3rd Division (3 battalions; 1,200 men)
General de Division Brun[12]

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Martial Bardet

31st Light Regiment (3 battalions): Colonel Louis-Joseph Mejan

Light Cavalry Brigade (900 men)
Colonel Pierre-David de Colbert-Chabanais

3rd Hussar Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Louis-Marie Laferrier-Levesque
10th Chasseur Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Jacques-Gervaise Subervie
15th Chasseur Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Pierre Mourier

VI Corps Artillery (315 men and 22 guns)
General de Division Jean-Nicolas Seroux

9/1st Foot Artillery Regiment (6 – 12pdr)
10/1st Foot Artillery Regiment (6 – 8 pdr)
12/1st Foot Artillery Regiment (4 – 8pdr)
1/ 2nd Horse Artillery Regiment (3 – 4pdr)
5/ 2nd Horse Artillery Regiment (3 – 4pdr)

Two formations attached to VI Corps:

1st Dragoon Division (2,400 men and 3 guns)
General de Division Marie-Nicholas-Marie de Fay

1st Brigade
General de Brigade Andre-Thomas Perreimond

1st Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Paul-Ferdinand-Stanilas Dermoncourt
2nd Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Pierre Ismert

2nd Brigade
General de Brigade Stanilas-Marie-Joseph-Ignace-Laurent d'Oullembourg

4th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Auguste-Etienne-Marie Lamotte
14th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Joseph Bouvier des Eclaz

3rd Brigade
General de Brigade Armand-Joseph-Marie Digeon

20th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Jean-Baptiste-Juvenal Corbineau
26th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons): Colonel Vital-Joachim Chamorin

2/2nd Horse Artillery Regiment (1/ 2 battery – 3 guns)

Dutch Cavalry Brigade (800 men)
General de Division Maurice-Ignace Fresia[13]

2nd Hussar Regiment (3 squadrons)
2nd Cuirassier Regiment (3 squadrons)

Imperial Guard (8,170 men and 36 guns)

Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessieres

Infantry (12 battalions; 4,650 men)
General de Brigade Pierre-Augustin Hulin

1st Brigade (1,730 men)
General de Brigade Jean-Marie- Pierre-Francois Le Paige Doursenne (‘dit Dorsenne’)

1st Grenadier Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel-Major Claude-Etienne Michel
2nd Grenadier Regiment (2 battalions)

2nd Brigade (1,820 men)
General de Brigade Jerome Soules

1st Chasseur Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel Philibert-Jean-Baptiste-Francois Curial
2nd Chasseur Regiment (2 battalions)

3rd  Brigade (1,100 men)
Major-Colonel Joseph Boyer

1st Fusilier-Grenadier Regiment (2 battalions)
2nd Fusilier-Grenadier Regiment (2 battalions): Colonel-Major Jean-Parfait Friedrichs

Cavalry (17 squadrons; 2,430 men)
General de Division Frederic-Henri Walther

Horse Grenadier Regiment (6 squadrons; 740 men): General de Brigade Louis Lepic
Horse Chasseurs Regiment (6 squadrons; 940 men): Colonel Claude-Etienne Guyot
Guard Dragoon Regiment (2 squadrons; 280 men): Colonel Edme-Nicolas Fiteau
Elite/Ordonnance Gendarmes (3 squadrons; 460 men): Colonel Jean-Baptiste Jacquin

Artillery (1,090 men and 36 guns)
General de Brigade Joseph-Christophe Couin

3 Guard foot artillery batteries
1 Guard horse artillery battery
1 line horse artillery battery

Sources:

http://napoleon-series.org/

http://www.histofig.com/

http://www.magweb.com/sample/snap/s1vist.htm

http://piontek.pl/arsenal/colours.php

http://web.genealogie.free.fr/Les_militaires/1789-1815/Terre/Generaux_Brigade/L.htm

http://www.napoleon200.org/

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gnatowski/famous/Polish%20Legion/Legion.html

Notes

[1] This unit was composed of elite companies from the 8th, 27th, 45th, 54th, 94th and 95th Line Regiments.

[2] This unit was composed of elite companies from the 9th Light Regiment and the 30th, 32nd, 33rd, 51st and 96th Line Regiments.

[3] This unit was composed of elite companies from the 10th, 24th and 26th Light Regiments and the 4th, 18th and 57th Line Regiments.

[4] This unit was composed of elite companies from the 17th and 21st Light Regiments and the 34th, 40th, 64th and 88th Line Regiments.

[5] This unit was composed of elite companies from the 6th and 16th Light Regiments and the 39th, 44th, 69th and 105th Line Regiments.

[6] This unit was composed of elite companies from the 7th and 16th Light Regiments and the 24th and 63rd Line Regiments.

[7] Harispe was promoted to Marshal of France by President Louis-Napoleon, later Emperor Napoleon III, on 11 December 1851.

[8] Several sources state that Dabrowski’s two-brigade division was composed of the 2nd Polish Line, 3rd Polish Line, 4th Polish Line Regiments and the 1st Polish Chasseur and 5th Polish Chasseur Regiments. However, Polish infantry and cavalry units in 1807 all came from the ‘Polish-Italian Legion’ (in French service from 2 February).

[9] Semelle was promoted to General de Brigade on 1 July 1807.

[10] Colonel Faure-Lajonquiere was mortally-wounded during the battle.

[11] No further biographical information was found on this officer.

[12] No further biographical information was found on this officer.

[13] Fresia was promoted to General de Division 11 days before the battle.

Placed on the Napoleon Series: October 2007

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