The French Imperial Naval Corps () was the branch of the French Imperial Navy responsible for administering the infantry and artillery which was tasked with manning and utilising the weapons on the Navy's ships. The corps comprised two 'official' branches, Naval Infantry and Naval Artillery and one 'unofficial branch' (Coastal Artillery). The Naval Infantry and Naval Artillery formed the 'official' branches as they were under the direct control of the navy and Naval corps. However, the Coastal Artillery was de facto an 'unofficial' branch, as it remained under control of the army for operational duties, while administration and supply was given to the Navy (those troops defending the naval bases were under control of the naval artillery).
Background The Royal Corps of Cannoneers-Sailors was disbanded on 14 June 1792. On the same day, four regiments of Naval Infantry and two regiments of Naval Artillery were decreed to be raised, which signalled the end of the 'soldier-sailor' experiment, which had seen sailors trained as artillery and infantry. Personnel from the cannoneers-sailors and the colonial artillery were to be incorporated into the new organisation. Each regiment had two battalions of eight companies, each having 87 men and three officers, for a total of 2,880 officers and men plus staff. The establishment strength was obviously never reached since some of the colonial artillery corps continued to exist until absorbed into the army as the 8th Artillery Regiment in 1793.Chartrand, Napoleon's Sea Soldiers, pp. 5–8
By decree of 28 January 1794, the Naval artillery and infantry regiments were abolished and absorbed into battalions of the National Volunteers, which were to provide the sea-soldiers for the ships of the Republic. This measure was applied gradually during 1794, but appears to have achieved little beyond a certain amount of chaos as infantrymen who had never been to sea were suddenly told to be naval gunners, while the sea-soldiers resented the abolition of their corps.Chartrand, Napoleon's Sea Soldiers, p. 10
Naval Infantry
Revolution Under the reorganisation of the naval corps in 1793, the four naval infantry regiments each had an establishment of two battalions of nine companies of 80 men each, including one of grenadiers. The establishment of 1,440 men may have been augmented, since the 4th Naval Infantry Regiment for example with 1,504 men at sea out of a total of 2,089 in early 1794. The uniform of the sailors was a dark blue coat and breeches with dark blue lapels, cuffs, and shoulder straps piped with red; red waistcoat, collar, cuff flaps, and turnbacks piped with white; the turnbacks also had white anchors. Hats were bicornes with red pom-pom or a fatigue cap. White or black gaiters were worn with black accoutrements and a cartridge box with a brass anchor badge; buttons were also brass. There were, however, difficulties in the issue of clothing and equipment to some of the men of the Naval units.
Following the disbandment of the naval infantry in 1794, there was no naval infantry to speak of. Even after the 1795 reformation of the artillery, the infantry were still non-existent.Chartrand, Napoleon's Sea Soldiers, pp. 11–12
Fleet dilemma Napoleon found himself with weak and demoralised remnants of the high-seas fleet and flotilla. The Boulogne Flotilla crews had been organised into 14 battalions on 10 August 1805. This time, however, the flotilla was not disbanded and its better gunboats were used for coastal service, escorting convoys of small commercial vessels along the Channel. Gunboat No. 88 for instance had a crew 60 sailors with 15 fusiliers detached from a line infantry regiment.Chartrand, p. 19
1808 reorganisation One of the main problems of the French Imperial Navy after ship procurement was that of manpower. There were not enough sailors, and in Napoleon's view they should have had military training. He also did not with to see again the undisciplined mobs who had formed the crews of some ships in the days of the Revolution. His solution was clear and simple: militarise the sailors. This would seem quite normal today, but it was almost a heresy in his day.Chartrand, pp. 20–34
On 2 March 1808 Napoleon ordered the formation of 50 Battalions of Imperial Sailors (Bataillones de la Marine Impériale), each battalion assigned to man a ship of the line or two frigates. It was a radical step. Each battalion was numbered and had 500 officers and men (divided into four companies of 120 each plus staff). Each sailor was issued with a distinctive uniform, a musket, a bayonet, and accoutrements. The battalions were organised to accommodate about 150 conscripts as apprentice sailors. There was considerable grumbling at first among the officers, but they came around as they realised the benefits of having better-trained crews. On 7 April 1808 all the crews of the flotilla gunboats were also formed into Flotilla Battalions (Bataillons de Flotille). Probably in order to avoid confusion and give more naval names, the battalions were renamed as the High Seas Crews (Équipages de Haut-Bord) and Flotilla Crews (Éqipages de Flotille) in 1810. The list of High Seas Crews according to a despatch from Napoleon to the Minister of Navy and the Colonies Denis, Comte de Decrès were as follows in July 1810: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 16th, 19th, and 21st Crews in Toulon; 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 13th, 15th, and 17th Crews in Rochefort; 11th and 12th Crews in Lorient; 14th and 32nd Crews in Brest; 31st Crews in Le Havre; 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th, 37th, 38th, 39th, and 40th Crews with the Escaut Squadron in Antwerp.
Later years The four companies of the 4th Crew Battalion were ordered to be withdrawn from Spain, but the 44th and 45th Crews were later sent to Spain in turn, serving from 1810 to 1813. Detachments from some of the crews also served in Germany and Austria during the 1809 campaign, more as soldiers assisting the artillery rather than sailors. Napoleon's was concept was that sailors could also be marines if need be, with military training.
In 1811, the establishment of the crews grew to 63 battalions, of which 18 were in the Mediterranean Fleet, including three with the Venice Squadron, seven with the Rochefort Squadron, four with the Lorient Squadron, two with the Brest Fleet, three with the Cherbourg Squadron, 22 with the Escaut Squadron, and seven with the Dutch Squadron. There were also 22 Flotilla Crews, including two Dutch, for a total of 85 Crews totalling 59,000 men.
By 1812, there were 76 High Seas Crews and 24 Flotilla Crews. On 28 March 1813, the flotilla crews were ordered to be abolished and their men incorporated into the High Seas Crews, although this does not appear to have been completely carried out. In any even, the total number of crews now reached 110. Each crews' strength was not between 700 and 900 men each. In round figured, this meant an establishment of 100,000 men for the navy. While this figure was probably never reached, it shows a considerable increase in strength since 1808 and Napoleon's determination to rebuild the French Imperial Navy.
The majority of the crews and rebuilt ships never sailed out of their harbours to break the Royal Navy's blockade of French ports, as the fleet was still not strong enough for significant actions. Instead, as enemies of France approaches on land from the east, the sailors were called to fight the invaders. The 1813 conscripts for the navy went to the army instead, while others were detached to reinforce the battalions of pontonniers and workers in Italy and Germany. In January 1814, each High Seas Crews was instructed to send a 120-man company of sailors-gunners to serve with the army. Some, such as the company of the 9th Crew, took part in the last battles right up to the Battle of Paris. Following the exile of Napoleon the new government of Louis XVIII disbanded the High Seas Crews and went back to the old ways.
Napoleon returned to France from Elba in 1815 and on 24 April decreed the formation of 40 High Seas Crews. Each was now organised like the infantry, now with four companies of fusiliers, one of grenadiers, and one of voltigeurs. Two Crews formed a 'Naval Regiment'. But many of these crews were never raised before the Battle of Waterloo in June. Toulon only had time to form the 17th Naval Regiment before the orders came to disband the crews. None of the crews were in action during the Hundred Days, except for minor incidents such as the 9th Naval Regiment's retaking of Fort-la-Latte from Royalists near Saint-Malo.
Naval Artillery
Revolution
The uniform of the naval artillery regiments was dark blue coat, lapels, waistcoat, and breeches with red collar, cuffs, epaulettes, and turnbacks, and red piping edging the lapels, waistcoat, and short gaiters. Buttoners were brass. Headdress was a bicorne and/or the Tarleton-type crested helmet (casque).
Naval gunners participated in several actions, but some in Toulon rallied to the Royalist/Federalist cause following the occupation of that port by the First Coalition in August 1793. During the ensuing siege by French Republican forces, there were naval artillerymen on both sides; the gunners of the Republican being commanded by a certain Captain Napoleon Bonaparte. Coalition forces evacuated Toulon in December, but many French warships were lost. The Toulon arsenal was set aflame by British forces, but Royalist naval gunners extinguished the flames, an action which saved the lives of many of them when they surrendered to the victorious French Republican forces. At the Brest Arsenal, the naval artillerymen were sent to serve as infantry during the Vendée Revolt, replacing them on the ships was the 'National Volunteers' who knew nothing of artillery – an outstanding example of the typical mismanagement of the French Republicans.
During the Siege of Toulon, the naval artillery provided 77 troops to the Republican artillery command, 295 troops spread throughout the front, and 39 troops in the eastern division.
On 25 October 1795, the government recognised its mistake in the National Volunteers sea-soldiers scheme, and decreed the formation of a corps of Naval Artillery of seven demi-brigades (the new title given to regiments), each having three battalions of nine companies, each company having 120 men. This gave the new corps a maximum establishment of over 22,000, not counting the officers. There were three demi-brigades based in Brest, one in Lorient, one at Rochefort, and two at Toulon.
The uniform of the seven demi-brigades was a dark blue coat, lapels, cuffs, turnbacks, waistcoat, and breeches; red collar piped white, red cuff flaps, red piping edging the lapels, cuffs, and turnbacks; yellow metal buttons; bicorne hat; black accoutrements; musket and bayonet. Epaulettes and rank distinctions were the same as in the land artillery. A hanger was worn only by the Non-Commissioned Officers and First Class gunners. There was also a dark blue paletot, linen pantaloons, and an undress cap for fatigue duties, and 'all artillery and infantry drills'. Officers had a similar uniform, but with gilded buttons and a gilded gorget when on duty; they wore boots instead of gaiters; and were armed with a sword carried on a shoulder-belt.