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Well, the Sun King could field more than 300.000 soldiers during the Nine years' war (1688-1697) so I wouldn't be so definitive about the "decisive" impact of the invention of railways...
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Last edited by Oscar; 01 Jun 08,, 11:12. -
Again that's a myth. The population of France was on par with England and the population of England was around 2 to 3 million men at that time. So you are telling me that the "Sun King" could field 10% of the population? Does that not tell you that certain sectors of the economy would be hard hit by the lack of labour such as agriculture and blacksmiths, etc.?Originally posted by Oscar View Post
So forgive me if I have a strong disbelief as to the numbers that the Sun King could field. Hell even Napolean's numbers, too.Comment
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Louis did not reduce his troop strength after the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, but increased it. By 1672, the French army numbered almost 120,000 men
The wars of Louis XIVComment
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-- "Louis XIV's Army", by Chartrand, p.9.The size of the army grew, especially from 1666, and stood at about 125,000 when the War of Devolution broke out in 1667.Comment
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Louis fielded nowhere near 300,000 men in the 9-Year-War.
In 1688, Marquis de Vauban attacked Phillipsburg in Palatinate with an army of between 30 and 40,000 men, 52 heavy-caliber guns and 24 mortars. They had 1600 casualties in this siege.
In 1689, German Imperial forces activated three armies to counter the French expansionism; two with 30,000 men, the third with 40,000 men. Mobile Elements were usually around 4,000 to 5,000 men. Phillipsburg itself was retaken with 10,000 men, 100 guns and 48 mortars in 1689.
At the same time, a French expeditionary corps of 20,000 men also attacked the Netherlands; there, an army of 70,000 men opposed them.Last edited by kato; 01 Jun 08,, 23:22.Comment
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I told people to ignore the anti-Bible rants, Glyn, but they were probably the bits that excited you most! :)Originally posted by glyn View Post
Cheers,
ClackersComment
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Louis XIV had to deal with logistics like any other monarch in history, Oscar.Originally posted by Oscar View Post
Let me ask you ... during the Nine Years War, the French army was 400,000 strong on paper ... but they would have been spread out over Europe ... what was the largest number it ever actually put into a battle during that time?Last edited by clackers; 02 Jun 08,, 03:15.Comment
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See my post above. A "Corps" of 30-40,000 men was apparently the utmost of a supportable unit operating away from home in a single theater with some host nation support at the time.Originally posted by clackers View Post
This was not limited to French troops, the German units were also "expeditionary", with one Prussian Corps, one Bavarian Corps and the third - the 40,000-man Corps - being more locally grounded and integrating the men of the German state actually attacked in this war.
The French tactic in the War - along the entire front - was to move with these up to 40,000 men, take a fortress, and leave behind a small defense force or similar while moving on with the rest of the men. Essentially it was an application of 'scorched earth' to some extent.
Of course, at some point attrition doesn't allow you to move on anymore with this tactic.
The German tactic was a three-pronged defense - one flank in the North that would protect Cologne and the Rhineland while able to push into the theater from the North, one blocking further advances east of the Rhine in the South, and one of similar strength to the initial French forces to counterattack along the Rhine as the front.
By the time the French hit Mayence/Mainz, they still had around 30,000 men. The German troops were often split into smaller units (5,000/10,000 men) during their advance for logistical reasons such as bridge capacity; these would split and regroup a few weeks later before major battles.
In the Netherlands, the French tactic didn't work out that well - their 20,000-strong expeditionary corps was met in open field battles there, and while winning these battles, had some 50% casualties in the end.Last edited by kato; 02 Jun 08,, 07:29.Comment
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My mistake, I didn't mean the French army could deploy corps of more than 300.000 soldiers, I was talking of the entire land army. And for the size of the corps I have to agree with Turenne: "an army of more than 30.000 men can only embarass me".Originally posted by clackers View Post
The battle of Oudenarde in 1708 (war of Spanish succession) gathered 200.000 soldiers (with an army of 100.000 men strong on the French side) but we had to wait the revolutionary and imperial wars to witness other such battles involving hundreds of thousand of soldiers (Borodino, Wagram).Last edited by Oscar; 02 Jun 08,, 11:36.Comment
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Demographics of France - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaOriginally posted by Blademaster View PostComment
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I checked the citation for your source. It is from the Government of France website so I guess it checks out.Originally posted by Oscar View Post
Just wondering, how did they do their population census back in their day? How does the Government of France trust these figures?Comment
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Pre-1789, there'd still be fiefdoms and such, with certain numbers of subjugate farmers. Add up documents from that, documents of cities about their population (usually kept tightly too), and tax evaluations from back then, and you'll get a relatively reliable number.Comment
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That is an interesting question worthy of some investigation. From what I have read, Napoleon Bonaparte took censuses and we can trust those as accurate. (Census - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). I don't know how we can trust the medieval figures. I remember reading Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, in which she cited the 14th century population of France as 20 million. I can check her source next time I go home.Originally posted by Blademaster View Post
We should look into this more.Comment
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