Napoleon’s Soldiers Used This Tactic To Terrify the Enemy

[@survivehistory]

If you enjoyed this Short, check out the full length episode and please consider supporting the channel at: ko-fi.com/survivehistory

[@jamesdykes517]

Garbage edit mate. Piss off.

[@JamesDBlanc]

I for one would love to be in the 3rs rank. You have 2 rows of dudes as a shield against return musket fire.

[@somedude335]

only after the first round of musket fire

[@davehart3860]

typical 3rd rank,,in the charge you would be 1st and 2nd ranks cannon foder

[@cloroxusthestainlessone4324]

It's great until the 18 pounder finds you

[@brandoncampanaro7571]

You guys must have played too many games that have line battles... most people left from lost of moral.. not were shot, seeing 30% casualties from specifically deaths was almost unheard of

[@angeldump1three]

​@@cloroxusthestainlessone4324after going through your musket shield 😂

[@garrettr2]

Remember it’s always faster to switch to your buddys firearm than reload

[@jacksonpettit4690]

Buddy: mate I was about to fire that thing. Other buddy: now give me your sidearm maggot!

[@alyssatipton5080]

Ha ha ha nice

[@jamesdocherty5904]

Wait till they bayonet the watermelon

[@sirjanska9575]

Call of Duty 2 reference?

[@J.Wolf90]

Old

[@shickey718]

“Not as much fun for the guys in the 3rd rank.” Those boys were only 25 inches further from the hail of bullets and cannonballs than the first rank.

[@That_One_Kobold]

My thoughts exactly

[@ivoivic2448]

was just typing that.

[@syewilliams2372]

Not my idea of fun tho be in rank 1 2or 3

[@greg_4201]

yeah, but the guys in front of you will eat the whole volley as long as there aren't any gaps 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@chadgrov]

Yeah and to sit there reloading guns unable to protect themselves. It’s like being in the passenger seat during a 105mph police chase and your buddy is NOT going back to jail. ….I’d rather be driving 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@maunz5791]

Nice description of the technique, I only knew it by name but not how it was performed in detail. Interesting!

[@jackjones9587]

What a ridiculously short sighted technique! 😂

[@turquoisephoenix6548]

so its essentially semi auto with extra steps?

[@pierreo33]

@@jackjones9587 you have dog brain

[@dgray3771]

@@turquoisephoenix6548 Not exactly, usually you got 3 ranks firing. With rank 1 kneeling rank 2 and 3 behind that. But each rank of men has to reload its own weapon. The trick is that you can get slightly more rounds out if you have 2 ranks performing only 1 task at all. So while rank 1 shoots, reloads, rank 2 shoots, then rank 3 shoots and reloads, then rank 1 should almost be done and shoot again in this cycle. This is the regular way. With the 2 rank fire system you have rank 1 shoot, reload, rank 2 shoot, immediatly switch and shoot again, while rank 3 is reloading, then a slight pause and rank 1 shoots, then rank 2 shoots again with a quick 3rd shot again since rank 3 already finished loading and is working on the 3rd gun. This could get as fast as almost having 4 shots compared to 3 shots a normal line could have.

[@Joe1qz]

You guys are truly passionate. Thanks for bringing back to life the Grande Armée. May the legend live....

[@AnglandAlamehnaSwedish]

Seng

[@AS-np3yq]

It was actually a brutal conquest for no reason and france conquered other countries... nice...

[@ThatOneRussianTank]

This is so good! Would love to see an entire battle re-enacted by them in a full video!

[@KennethMachnica-vj3hf]

With live ammo !

[@ThatOneRussianTank]

@@KennethMachnica-vj3hf HUH

[@KennethMachnica-vj3hf]

@@ThatOneRussianTank it came right into my head. I couldn't resist.

[@ThatOneRussianTank]

@@KennethMachnica-vj3hf lool

[@cooperofchaos9225]

​@@KennethMachnica-vj3hf just like this hot musket ball you mf

[@caf407]

'We're gonna let you guys show us how it's done' proceeds to cut the video and not show us at all

[@helly7385]

The first half of the video is the demonstration bruh, it’s a KZbin tactic they do so you watch the video again

[@mloxard]

And you can watch the full video (which you now know is very interesting) instead of mindless scrolling

[@danielwilmott9830]

They tried to show us, these fat old blokes just look really shit at it. I imagine some fit fighting men who are taking return fire probably move with a bit of urgency. Not like these guys who are scared they might risk another triple bypass of they move any quicker

[@CoffeeFiend1]

The domain of the cocktease exists within many mediums.

[@ianyeager2893]

Yes, it's unclear and needs a reedit--great vid concept , tho

[@kammthardecombat5507]

As a French person, I find it funny when they're saying the french order

[@anaussie213]

Yeah I knew the French would be cringing when the Brit started yelling his commands in [his attempt at] French.

[@ejovo]

@@anaussie213 it's soooooooooo bad hahahaha

[@TonyM540]

I bet !

[@edernhaushofer2011]

I mean it's not quite french but it's also not so bad. Every sentence has a weird twist but a good chunk is actually correct.

[@ZanderNH]

Not even French (can speak it though) and I was cringing.

[@joshdavis3743]

A British man in a roughly 1805 French uniform in 2024, now I've seen it all.

[@matthewishunting]

There's way more to see than that

[@joshdavis3743]

@@matthewishunting You must be fun at parties.

[@alexanderrobins7497]

Napoleon must be rolling in his multilayered sarcophagus in disgust.

[@boobtoob2507]

🤓🤓🤓

[@juangalton999]

​@@joshdavis3743 You must be original at parties.

[@SG-on8ix]

As i understand it, the British preferred volley fire as opposed to this method. The idea being to unleash everything you got in one powerful burst maximize the volume of fire at a given instant. They also trained their men to reload within 20 seconds so that helps in fire sustainment. Also i think they used to do something similar in the volley fire, where they would have 3 ranks, and each rank would fire in succession...something like that.

[@toothedacorn4724]

British troops formed up in 2 lines ever since the American revolution, they also used ripple fire, each man firing in sequence

[@theguybehindyou4762]

Slow punch vs fast pin pricks Both have their pros and cons

[@STho205]

There are several types of regimental or battalion fire that all organized armies used. Volley fires can be alternated such as the most common, fire by company where each company fired in a pattern so that by the time the last had fired the 1st had reloaded. Typically companies 1&5 2&6 3&7 4&8 Which took about 15 seconds to complete so 1&5 were ready again. In a brigade this would be happening in 3 different battalions so 6 companies would constantly be firing. This could alternate in smaller battalions with companies firing by rank and by company Then it could be altered to firing by company by file (what you called ripple fire) which produces a fully automatic precursor to ram load musketry. Company may also alternate by platoons or even by sections (8 men) to achieve smaller versions of what a regiment or battalion did with fire by company. 3 rank firing was typically done with 1st rank kneeling with bayonet fixed while the 2 rear ranks fired together. Firing in this manner is only done when the kneeling rank was not tactically an advantage, as in expecting a dragoon charge or a bayonet duel. This could be done at a wall or embrasure as a kneeling rank is extraneous. The Continental Army in the new US tossed out the 1st kneeling rank due to shortages of personnel and terrain. Fairly quickly the Crowne Forces did the same for similar reason. Eventually most European regulars dispensed with the kneeling 1st rank...leaving rank 2 and 3 as 1 and 2.

[@Schattengewaechs99]

**Proceeds to not show how it’s done**

[@GiraffeFeatures]

It’s part of the longer video. It’s not hard to find.

[@evlkenevl2721]

​@@GiraffeFeaturesNot the point. It's not hard to edit out the man saying as much if the clip isn't going to.

[@mmrchive]

It shows it at the start. I guess you wanted a cool transition which is what this was missing, but when he asks to have the tactic shown, it loops back to the beginning where it is shown.

[@evlkenevl2721]

@@mmrchive Oh, that. Was hoping to find out how it was so much more effective (terrifying) than the common 2-tier formation of the day. Seems like these guys are taking about as long per volley.

[@mmrchive]

@@evlkenevl2721 ah, fair enough. I guess it would have been nice that they include that, too.

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

I would absolutely prefer to be the guy in the third rank, to hell with "fun"

[@sclerenasya2369]

Napoleon left the chat 😂

[@guih3438]

Love how the English people are into Napoleon. Sometimes it feels you respect the man more than us French do. 🤓

[@topbreak38]

That is for one plain and simple reason: Napoleon was not French, he was Corsican.

[@wolfman3650]

@@topbreak38 naaaah. He considered himself french

[@timyumichuck9262]

They respect him because he wasn't French and that's why he was capable

[@comradekarlvonschnitzelste8218]

@@wolfman3650 "Um!! I identify as a French person"

[@toatatoa]

As a German I can tell you it's the same with the British and the Nazis.

[@nunyabeeswax275]

Remember, having your mate reload a primary is faster than reloading your primary

[@CJ_1406]

Imagine training your whole life as a soldier. Shooting and practicing your weapon to hit your target, only for you to end up being a rifle-loader, loading weapons for your comrades while they do the actual shooting. Personally, I wouldn't mind it.

[@julianscaeva4334]

You'll be happy to hear that they didn't practice much shooting, gunpowder was expensive. They did practice a lot of reloading and dry-firing though.

[@indyspud]

Musket's effective range was only 100 yards so maybe they did the bulk of the shit talk on the battlefield too, since the enemy was easily within shouting distance when engaged.

[@trollege9618]

You know you can replace your fallen comrades in the first and second lines right?

[@noreply-7069]

Musket* loader. These are smoothbore muskets, not rifles.

[@badart3204]

Definitely not their whole life. France was big on mass conscription to the point that the country lost inches of height because tall men were preferred who subsequently died

[@H4nik0rei]

This is surprisingly used during the battle of waterloo! In hougoumont farms, it is documented that British soldiers behind the walls of the farm done this tactic in order to keep up firepower and throwing down bullets at the enemies attack hougoumont farm.

[@trainknut]

I like how the British countered this by just training their men to reload faster 😂

[@jamesmacdonald1116]

someone beat me there XD

[@niono1587]

Highest practice rounds in the world UNBeATEN!!!!!!! GB GBGBGB

[@trainknut]

@@niono1587 "How am I supposed to shoot the frogs if some other bloke's run off with me musket?"

[@johnhickman8391]

Its not as "effective" as many think. The 3rd rank guy wasn't loading fast enough to keep the 1st 2 ranks firing consistently. Why not fire in 3 ranks....or 4. Maybe have 3rd an 4th rank load for the first 2 ranks?

[@GyroGarrison]

You're going to have to show it in its full entirety. As ever, a short does not do it justice.

[@billder2655]

click the text above the title 'Could you survive as a Soldier of...' there is a 45 min video that this is from

[@EukalyptusBonBon]

Kuddos to you for actually going back in time just to interview these napoleonic soldiers 🫡

[@williamfrankferge1957]

I'm really enjoying and excited to watch and learn more about Napoleon and the battles

[@marvwatkins7029]

They suceeded because they each exercised on 'Pelaton'!

[@lettersandnumbers81]

I dont know how accurate this is. Ive seen a documentary called sharpe and that shows the french marching calmly forward as the British shoot them which seems to be the natural order of things

[@corvodaud2024]

La réticence des Français à utiliser la baïonnette? C’est la première armée d’Europe à l’avoir utilisée, arme inventée en France. La garde Napoléonienne s’est rendue célèbre pour ses charges uniquement à la baïonnette. Les armées Napoléoniennes auraient gagnées autant de batailles à un contre trois en étant indisciplinées?

[@hellomoto2084]

​​@tileuxfrench invented the bayonets! They invented bayonets, you see . What ever you have heard is a ridiculous French getting disorderly? Nobody likes facing a musket volley , the french would fire with discipline. Rather , the English were the ones terrified by them.

[@BRH0587]

​@@hellomoto2084Trust me the British were not terrified of the french lmao

[@jimmyny77]

as a french speaker, u can tell the guy doesn't fully understand what he said the way he said it. He probably learn the 3 words command and that's it.

[@SERGEYTIMOFEYOVICH]

So what

[@snowwhite7677]

Hey! being on the WINNING SIDE is ALWAYS FUN! I will gladly pick up the horse poop if I'm on the winning side. Besides, you put your best shooters up front, you put your best loaders to the rear.

[@benhorton141]

This is what extremely wealthy military power looked like. People forget that he was the emperor and conquer of Europe. He's the reason naval power is so advanced now and Beretta is still in business

[@conan2096]

napoleons naval power got bodies in trafalgar. they couldnt even sink a single ship and we had less and smaller ones. even if it cost us nelson thats embarassing.

[@wjowen]

Wish theyd actually shown more than a second of it in action

[@BoobooCOBRA]

This reenactment feels like a Ridley Scott movie.

[@May14533]

Marvelous video. Many thanks.

[@declarysm4052]

Cant believe they time traveled to interview napoleon's bois

[@hijakyurio2705]

He's like, "Buddy, that's going off right in my fuckin' ear"

[@tahagi7006]

I'm curious which one is better. This 3rd loader traffic by Napoleon or 3rd wave shotting by Oda nobunaga

[@brandoncampanaro7571]

Muskets main win was making the other guys run away, most soldiers barely even aimed at the enemy, they'd shoot above their heads (half from being scared to murder someone and half scared to die themselves and a bit of being drunk because every army gave spirits)

[@CHEESYHEAD684]

Napoleon, but don't forget the Russo-Japanese war, "never" is wrong.@user-ro8qn1ed9k

[@aktionreinhard8913]

I'm getting a bit confused about what Nobunaga did between reloads? Did he cover the down time with archers? He positioned the gunners in cover behind blocks of wood didn't he?

[@JordanTheMann]

Suppressive fire with muskets. Brilliant!

[@lnplum]

All fire is suppressive fire when you're using muskets tho.

[@janha5407]

This Brit would prefer to get shot in the first rank instead of having to reload in the third😂

[@tyrantula2484]

i have 616 hours in guts & blackpowder and suddenly this popped up in my recommended someone help

[@nohrii023]

In the Austrian Army, from the 1806 reforms, the third rank were trained for skirmish - but was rarely used.

[@davidhollins870]

Not true - the 1807 reg was a training manual for the 3rd rank to learn to be skirmishers, but skirmishing was used throughout the period.

[@nohrii023]

I know. Auszug aus dem Exerzier-Reglement für die k. k. Infanterie 1807 - Erzherzog Carl. We also have the Abrichtungs-Reglement 1806.

[@tempestive1]

"Aw, not as fun as it would to be killing people" And they end up not actually showing the tactic clearly 😂

[@dylanomara4575]

What a fantastic channel

[@AHersheyHere]

In the battle of 'who can shoot faster while maintaining order' this would be a huge advantage.

[@JimmySailor]

If all your doing is loading you don’t have to stow the ramrod after every shot. It wastes less movement. On the other hand the motion of passing the rifles back and forth is added. Also a unit split between loaders/shooters is essentially stationary, as the loaders can’t load while walking and the shooters can’t advance or retreat without outpacing the loaders. It’s a tactic that works if you know where the enemy is and will remain.

[@fjmackenzy]

I love the accent. I grew up in Canada and this is how our Anglo French teachers spoke. Ours had a quasi Irish/scouser hint. Absolutely hilarious thinking of it now. Bone jewer lays elevies.

[@christopherthrawn1333]

Excellent breakdown here

[@luriddream]

I love how they didn’t show it

[@Bodkin_Ye_Pointy]

with regards to the puerile comment about the third rank, consider this. The loader is less likely to be hit by musket balls. They are unlikely to have the raging headache from inhaling the powder smoke, nor will they have powder burn or flash burn on their faces from the discharge of the weapon, You know the things the lucky guys get.

[@Irreverent_Radiation]

*Fires 2 shots* There's no way they'll be able to fire a third shot! *Fires another shoot* Spits Cereal. jpg

[@stunlord]

that dude's french pronunciation absolutely broke me more than it broke the austrian lines

[@whyiamhere7770]

Salute to cameraman for going back to battle of Waterloo to get interview of the soliders

[@Lewismcleo]

People making fun of his French accent has never heard every Frenchman butcher any language he tries to speak.

[@juanmontoya6622]

Les Rosbifs barking commands in frog language.🤣😂

[@leviuzumaki3903]

A good way to think about it is like an assembly line, because it works in a similar way. It also allows the guns to be fired faster than having each individual soldier reload one at a time.

[@AdmiralBob]

Describes shock and awe tactic. Proceeds to sluggish and fumbling demonstration. More drill lads... more drill.

[@ope7092]

The army being fired at: “How come we never thought of doing that?”

[@ShiverPlumbingTN]

Napoleon may have lost the battle but he earned himself an island w nice home and view .

[@jamesespinosa690]

Funny! I've done something like this a couple times when playing paintball. My visor always fogs up leaving me with maybe 1% visibility. When I was in a position behind cover with one or more of my friends, instead of trying to shoot hopelessly. I'd give them my fully loaded gun, take theirs, and reload it. Rinse and repeat. There was one great moment where I couldn't light up my last grenade. So my younger brother, like a mad lad, lit up his last grenade, and used it to light mine before chucking them behind him, up and over his head!! I remember feeling like I was in a movie scene in that moment!!

[@RommelsAsparagus]

Sounds like a Brit trying to read French, but we appreciate the effort. Looks fantastic.

[@evanbrown4242]

nice technique, i’ll try it next time i escape the catacombs of paris in guys and blackpowder

[@Sw3dish_Fish]

real

[@Yahyia-cv3sx]

Now every time I hear the word 'peleton', I will think of "le feu de deux rangs".

[@IRACEMABABU]

Peleton doesn't exists in french. It's peloton

[@sauceelf653]

Wow they had some good cameras back in the day

[@feakhelek1]

With respect, my emperor, we are whoopsies. We invented the tapestry, the soufflé and the sweet liqueur. We will be slaughtered the minute we mince up the hill.

[@PowersCooks]

Good educational content

[@KenjiMapes]

“We fire in two ranks, sir, that’s my style” - Sir Henry Simmerson

[@neimenovani7256]

So my childhood genius idea was done? And it was genius? Lets go!

[@rolandweitbrecht3860]

What a fine and great Re-enactment Group 👍

[@remydaitch9815]

As former FFL soldier I will remember this.

[@kenbo-2179]

Lol thanks for not showing us what it actually looked like... ... ... 🤔

[@keithhansen2427]

Interviewer:"Why did this use this tactic particularly?" French soldier with a British accent: "To shoot LOTS of bullets!"

[@Yaxoi]

I think it was actually most fun for the guys in the third row, side living is pretty fun

[@holdmybeer5165]

I never understud this ages where they are all in line and still firing at each other 😂

[@Bountyhopper]

A line of 1000 men shooting in volleys will do more damage then 500 men shooting from behind walls. If a gap is created in the line it can easily be filled It’s a big moral booster having 500 men on your left and on your right, both because you have a higher chance of not being targeted by a sharpe shooter, and if the enemy leads a charge, you are surrounded by dozens of comrades. It’s easier to give commands too a company of men in close order then it is to men randomly spread out

[@originalcharacterplznostea2749]

Its like firing by rank but you save the energy needed to keep squatting all the time, very clever

[@yrbelite8450]

So that’s why they were all deaf. Ain’t no one using ear muffs💀

[@Garthvador]

Most northern French accent I've ever heard 😂

[@bugler75]

Hahahaha!

[@MS-fp8si]

OMG WTFFF IS THAT!! SOME KIND OF NONSTOP MUSKET?!?!?!!!! *tuk…*tuk……*tuk.

[@cmendoza1094]

The accents 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂, love you Brit’s

[@houstonswisha143]

Empire total war taught me this

[@lanky2592]

"My officer told me to shoot faster... so I took the rifle from the man behind me" 😂

[@goofballbiscuits3647]

"Gents, I'm a terrible shot. I'll just park in the back here and reload."

[@jeffreysmith236]

they are using smoothbore muskets, everyone is a terrible shot.

[@goofballbiscuits3647]

@@jeffreysmith236 You are intelligent enough for the front line lol that joke has nothing to do with being a good shooter.

[@xenomorph3161]

That French soldier sounds British

[@onyxdragon1179]

Basically a bucket brigade, but with muskets instead of buckets

[@alexislarachiche5659]

And we love your « brits » accent 😊

[@davidedbrooke9324]

As wellington said , they came on the same old way and we beat them the same old way!

[@robertofulton]

I’ll take well disciplined 2 ranks firing 4/5 shots a minute. Now that’s soldiering.

[@robjones408]

I’m sure they weren’t thinking about fun when cannon balls and musket fire was flying overhead. It wasn’t a video game lol

[@eggsbacon607]

Let me stop you right there son, it was for the illusion of fire superiority and to keep ppl more accurate with more shots

[@CMichael2276]

Fascinating, abut the video cut was just plain bad.

[@ccityplanner1217]

Show us how everyone on a battlefield of the period would see it: fully zoomed out & with no jump-cuts.

[@WifeWantsAWizard]

Imagine if the "third rank" manned ballistic shields jammed into the ground in front of the first two ranks while they were reloading.

[@RageAye]

Id much rather be in the 3rd line 😂

[@davidhollins870]

There is nothing new in this. The Austrians used Lauffeuer - rolling fire along the ranks. The French broke the Austrians at Marengo with Kellerman's charge after an ammo wagon blew up.

[@earthcitizen7245]

good tactic

[@rrrhhu3651]

So functional and effective, truly a remarkable opponent for Swedish Ga Pa( Go Po) tactic by Carolean Army

[@thefrustratedraginggamer9840]

Nice 👍

[@e.d.4824]

Nice!

[@jershonruban5954]

What is the musket being used in this clip?

[@Floppa_Playr5]

Look, it's not meant to offend, but there's a game called Guts and Blackpower and the characters look a lot like these people.

[@xy2447]

So basically you see people fire constantly you are in fear

[@KeithHays-ek4vr]

Bloody hell! - David Beckham is a re-enactor!

[@yeussean]

It’s fascinating that these British guys are enamored by the French despite the huge historical rivalry that continues to this day.

[@famouswarrior327]

Didn't the French already do this in the American revolutionary war ?

[@seanbissett-powell5916]

They almost certainly did. The 1791 drill manual came out as a result of lessons learned; they dumped the stuff that didn't work or was superfluous, and kept the stuff that did. But feux de deux rangs was a technique that needed well trained troops who could operate on their own initiative, so most armies coulnd't or wouldn't copy it.

[@svyh]

This tactic was alteady used in ancient rome with the so called "pila".

[@andrewthompson10]

Cossacks used it in the 1600s

[@treycantrell8590]

Just remember when you are getting shot at you want a fully automatic rifle, if you don't have one you will adapt. You want accurate rounds down range and a quick pewpew

[@niallmartin4098]

I can't really see how this would be faster than just having three ranks fire, and reload their own weapons.