Light Infantry

Light Infantry

"The 1st [Light Infantry Regiment] has covered itself with glory; it is rivalled in ardour and courage by the French regiments" - General Digonnet

The Light Infantry formed the infantry's mobile arm, always being the first on the field and the last to leave it.

Overview

Light Infantry was the arm of the Neapolitan Army that focused on prowess in firing and manoeuvring as fast and accurately as possible. As suggested by the name, the light regiments focused on being the most rapid infantry component of the Army, always marching in the vanguard of their brigades and divisions. In the Neapolitan Army, four light infantry regiments were raised, among which was the famed Légion Corse. They would contribute greatly to fighting the insurgency in the Kingdom and display notable prowess against Spanish and Tyrolean sharpshooters. Unfortunately, the Neapolitan light troops would be largely outclassed by experienced Austrian jaegers during the 1815 campaign.

The main principle of Light Infantry was to fight in open order or in small, mobile detachments. By harassing the enemy from a distance and never engaging in close combat (known as “skirmishing”), light infantry could bring formed masses of infantry into disorder by firing accurate, timed shots at them from behind cover, while they themselves avoided being killed by volleys. While generally meant to be used as skirmishers, light infantry could also fight in line or in column, as regular troops.

The use of light infantry was so standard in the French system of warfare that their client states, including the Neapolitans, absolutely had to have someone, aside from the battalions' light companies, capable of performing in a skirmisher role. Naples raised its first light regiment in February 1806, followed by a second one in May. Alongside the regular regiments came numerous “free companies”, raised from volunteer hunters and locals in the regions affected by brigandage. These, alongside the Royal Corsican Regiment, had the most success in fighting insurgent groups. Overall, the Neapolitan light infantry arm was by far the Army’s most developed. The Army’s light regiments fought in every single campaign that the Neapolitans took part in, demonstrating several times their agility and determination. Victories like the capture of Capri or the Medes Islands are testament to the Neapolitan ability to fight individually as a man.

Tactics, Function and Recruitment

Q. Cenni's depiction of a voltigeur and chasseur of the 1st Light in 1806-7.

The primary and foremost function of light infantry is to skirmish. The fundamental trait of the light regiments was their specific training that allowed them to operate in open order, in a skirmish line.

This involved firing from behind cover, in small groups of two men each (or even individually), and constantly moving to use the surrounding terrain to its utmost advantage. When confronted by such an enemy, the opposing line infantry would have little choice but to retreat and reposition itself; if it attempted to fire a volley at the skirmishers, it would be as if attempting to hit a fly with a table. Even if several of the skirmishers fell, the infantry would then be exposed to cavalry attack with its muskets unloaded. In the case of an attempted melee attack against the skirmishers, the troops would immediately retreat to their parent formations (or other units formed in solid formations).

Skirmishers had two goals. The first was to engage the enemy’s formed units with a lively, concealed fire, until eventually the effect of seeing so many men fall around them would cause the unit to break or fall into disorder. This could be compounded by directly targeting the unit’s officers and non-commissioned officers. Generally, skirmishers alone were not meant to be able to break units by themselves, but instead shake them enough to make them flee upon encountering actual formed infantry.

In the French Army, skirmishers always operated as a screen for their line infantry. On battalion level, the voltigeur company could be detached and form a skirmish screen in front of their regiment’s centre companies formed in line. However, as formations grew, so did the need for more skirmishers; hence, designated light infantry regiments were raised, which enabled entire battalions, regiments, or even brigades could be arrayed in skirmish order to operate ahead of their line counterparts. In the Neapolitan Army, light regiments were raised for a similar reason: the need for more light troops to combat the insurgency in 1806. By employing locals trained in light infantry tactics against the brigands, the French could free their regular troops to fight the more urgent threat: the British and Bourbon regulars.

On the other hand, the Light Infantry regiments of the Neapolitan Army also fought frequently in the same capacity as their counterparts in the line infantry: deployed in solid formations, such as the line, column, or square. The regulations and tactics attached to these formations was entirely based off the 1791 Réglement, a French document defining the entirety of a regiment’s drill and formations. Notable examples of the Neapolitan light regiments fighting in line are at the Battle of Carpi in 1815 (where the 2nd Light delivered organised volleys against the Austrian assault), at Bautzen (where the 4th Light assaulted the Hochkirch heights arrayed in column) and at Tolentino, where the 3rd Light attacked formed into a huge square.

Light Infantrymen were recruited in the same manner as the rest of the troops of the line: through conscription and volunteering. Upon undergoing a medical examination, volunteers would be sent to the corps that suited their physical stature the most. For the light infantry, typically shorter men were chosen, however it was not exclusive to them only (unlike the voltigeurs, which had a maximum height restriction for new recruits). Like the line regiments, light infantry battalions had two elite companies each: the volteggiatori (voltigeur) company, and the carabinieri (carabiniers, grenadier equivalents). These followed the same height and service regulations as their élite counterparts in the line regiments.