From: will@tallis.saic.com
Subject: Re: Napoleonic daily march rates
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 98 11:19:32 CDT

In article <35ec4cab.27702143@news.inasec.ca>,
  icarter@newspam.ca (Ian Carter) wrote:
>
> Looking for opinions on 'average' march rates for the Napoleonic Wars.
>
> FWIW, I am considering it for campaign/operational interaction purposes.
>
> Ian

Hi Ian,

  I've got a book here titled "Napoleon's Campaigns in Miniature" by Bruce
Quarrie (ISBN 0-85059-785-4).  In it, he gives a table of movement rates.  I
don't have any idea where he got his figures, but they're probably a good
starting point.  The table gives rates in miles per hour, miles per day and
miles per week.  I'll type up the figures for miles per day (which assume an
eight hour march day) for the sake of brevity and my poor hands :-)

On roads         Austrian  British  French  Prussian  Russian
Line infantry        6        14      16       12        8
Light infantry       8        18      20       16       12
Heavy Cavalry       12        22      24       20       16
Light Cavalry       16        24      32       24       24
Foot Artillery       6        14      16       12        8
Horse Artillery     12        22      24       20       16
Wagons               6        14      16       12        8

Cross-country    Austrian  British  French  Prussian  Russian
Line infantry        3         7       8        6        4
Light infantry       4         9      10        8        6
Heavy Cavalry        6        11      12       10        8
Light Cavalry        8        12      16       12       12
Foot Artillery       2         5       6        4        3
Horse Artillery      4         9      10        8        6
Wagons               2         5       6        4        3

Notes:
  - All rates represent an average.  French should be able to use forced
    marches more readily.
  - Russian Cossacks move at French light cavalry rates
  - Messengers move at appropriate light cavalry rate
  - Allies move at rates of their major ally (except Spanish, who move at
    Austrian rates)
  - Corps move at the rate of their slowest member
  - Prussians rates are for late war...1806 Prussians use Austrian rates

Weather:
  - Continuous rain reduces movement rates by 10% for each consecutive day.
  - Dry weather removes the rain penalty at a rate of 25% per day.

I hope you find these numbers useful.

Will Scarvie

From: jafd26@aol.com (Jafd26)
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 98 00:47:41 CDT

Salutations!

John R. Elting, in his book "Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon's Grande Armee"
(IMAO, an excellent book that everyone interested in pre-20th-century warfare
should read.) says, (on p.463 of the hardcover edition, NY, 1988)

"The average _etape_(6) varied from 10 to 22 miles; the average was
approximately fifteen.  If a maneuver required "forced" marches, the usual
solution was to increase the length of the daily march, "doubling the etapes"
to cover 30 to 35 miles a day, rather than increase the rate of the march."

(6) (footnote in original) "'Etape' was used interchangeably for either the
length of a day's march or the actual halting place at teh end of that march."

_Command #10_ (the 'Alexandros' issue) had an article "The Marching Man", which
covered teh subject pretty well.

Hope this is of help

Yours, John Desmond  -  jafd26@aol.com