The Kingdom of Naples 1806-1815
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Naples in the Napoleonic Realm
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The Army of the Kingdom of Naples was the most active component of the Kingdom’s Armed Forces. Organised along French lines, it was founded in February 1806 from volunteers and the wreckage of the army of the Bourbon Kingdom of Naples.
As a modern force, it was compromised of various regiments of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineers, quite literally organised as replicas of their French counterparts within the Grande Armée. At its peak size in 1815, the Neapolitan army had a total (on-paper) strength of 94,463 men split into 35 regiments and numerous smaller units.
The army consisted of four main “branches”: the Royal Guard, the troops of the Line, the technical troops, and the troops of the interior.
It was almost completely shaped and modelled to mirror the French armed forces, save for the interior troops.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Bayonne, Naples was obliged to supply the Grande Armée with 16,000 infantry, 2,500 light cavalry, and twenty pieces of field artillery; these goals were never met in full, although the Army itself far exceeded this number by 1810.
In 1815, over 70% of the regular army was composed of infantry, three fifths of which were from the line regiments. The cavalry composed around 11%, the split between Guard and Line being relatively even; the remainder of the army was composed of the technical troops (artillery, engineers, and train). This meant that the overall ratio of infantry to cavalry within the army was 6:1, almost double that of the French Army at Waterloo.
Neapolitan troops would serve for many years across various theatres, including in home territory against insurgents and British landings, and in foreign lands such as Spain, Russia, and Germany, albeit with a minor role. In Calabria, the Neapolitans played a crucial role in maintaining the Napoleonic Empire’s southern border in the face of continuous naval landings. Upon Murat’s change of allegiance, the Army fought with little distinction against their old allies in Northern Italy; Neapolitan honour would fortunately be redeemed a year later in the brave but ultimately disastrous Neapolitan War.
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Joseph Bonaparte's Reign
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The Army of the Kingdom of Naples was the most active component of the Kingdom’s Armed Forces. Organised along French lines, it was founded in February 1806 from volunteers and the wreckage of the army of the Bourbon Kingdom of Naples.
As a modern force, it was compromised of various regiments of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineers, quite literally organised as replicas of their French counterparts within the Grande Armée. At its peak size in 1815, the Neapolitan army had a total (on-paper) strength of 94,463 men split into 35 regiments and numerous smaller units.
The army consisted of four main “branches”: the Royal Guard, the troops of the Line, the technical troops, and the troops of the interior.
It was almost completely shaped and modelled to mirror the French armed forces, save for the interior troops.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Bayonne, Naples was obliged to supply the Grande Armée with 16,000 infantry, 2,500 light cavalry, and twenty pieces of field artillery; these goals were never met in full, although the Army itself far exceeded this number by 1810.
In 1815, over 70% of the regular army was composed of infantry, three fifths of which were from the line regiments. The cavalry composed around 11%, the split between Guard and Line being relatively even; the remainder of the army was composed of the technical troops (artillery, engineers, and train). This meant that the overall ratio of infantry to cavalry within the army was 6:1, almost double that of the French Army at Waterloo.
Neapolitan troops would serve for many years across various theatres, including in home territory against insurgents and British landings, and in foreign lands such as Spain, Russia, and Germany, albeit with a minor role. In Calabria, the Neapolitans played a crucial role in maintaining the Napoleonic Empire’s southern border in the face of continuous naval landings. Upon Murat’s change of allegiance, the Army fought with little distinction against their old allies in Northern Italy; Neapolitan honour would fortunately be redeemed a year later in the brave but ultimately disastrous Neapolitan War.
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Joachim Murat's Kingdom
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The Army of the Kingdom of Naples was the most active component of the Kingdom’s Armed Forces. Organised along French lines, it was founded in February 1806 from volunteers and the wreckage of the army of the Bourbon Kingdom of Naples.
As a modern force, it was compromised of various regiments of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineers, quite literally organised as replicas of their French counterparts within the Grande Armée. At its peak size in 1815, the Neapolitan army had a total (on-paper) strength of 94,463 men split into 35 regiments and numerous smaller units.
The army consisted of four main “branches”: the Royal Guard, the troops of the Line, the technical troops, and the troops of the interior.
It was almost completely shaped and modelled to mirror the French armed forces, save for the interior troops.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Bayonne, Naples was obliged to supply the Grande Armée with 16,000 infantry, 2,500 light cavalry, and twenty pieces of field artillery; these goals were never met in full, although the Army itself far exceeded this number by 1810.
In 1815, over 70% of the regular army was composed of infantry, three fifths of which were from the line regiments. The cavalry composed around 11%, the split between Guard and Line being relatively even; the remainder of the army was composed of the technical troops (artillery, engineers, and train). This meant that the overall ratio of infantry to cavalry within the army was 6:1, almost double that of the French Army at Waterloo.
Neapolitan troops would serve for many years across various theatres, including in home territory against insurgents and British landings, and in foreign lands such as Spain, Russia, and Germany, albeit with a minor role. In Calabria, the Neapolitans played a crucial role in maintaining the Napoleonic Empire’s southern border in the face of continuous naval landings. Upon Murat’s change of allegiance, the Army fought with little distinction against their old allies in Northern Italy; Neapolitan honour would fortunately be redeemed a year later in the brave but ultimately disastrous Neapolitan War.
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