A Reappraisal of Column Versus Line in the Peninsular War

Abstract

The writings of Sir Charles Oman provide the foundation for English-language readers' understanding of the tactical details of Napoleonic warfare. Oman explained British success against the French as the inevitable consequence of French tactical orthodoxy. Oman reduced tactics to a mathematical relationship between the number of effective marksmen in the French column versus the British line. This article demonstrates that Oman's understanding of French tactics was deeply flawed. Most importantly, it shows that Oman's "musket counting" analysis derived from a complete misapprehension about the 1806 Battle of Maida.