In the French Army, the 'Corps' comprised two or three divisions of infantry plus a single cavalry brigade. Each division of infantry, in turn, comprised two or more infantry brigades, each of two or three regiments.

The regiment was the soldier's 'nuclear family' which looked to his needs, and it was to the regiment’s eagle that he rallied on the battlefield. Each regiment comprised two or three battalions in the field and one in the depot at home, which provided a stream of replacements from the same region. The battalions in turn contained seven 'line' companies, plus one of tall grenadiers, and one of light and nimble voltigeurs.

The Grande Armee comprised the First through the Seventh Corps (except the II Corps, serving on detachment outside the theater), plus the Cavalry Reserve and the Imperial Guard. The Cavalry comprised three divisions of armor-clad cuirassiers on huge Belgian mounts; a single light division of hussars and chasseurs; and five divisions of dragoons, wobbly horsemen supposedly capable of fighting mounted or dismounted and at times attached to the infantry corps. The Imperial Guard, infantry and cavalry, were seasoned veterans of several campaigns.

One or more batteries of artillery followed each infantry division into the field, while each corps maintained a separate reserve of engineers and more guns. Attached to Imperial Headquarters, the 'grand park' carried ammunition, baggage, ambulances, and bridging trains with their pontonniers, to round-out the whole organization.

The second-line infantry corps, the VIII, IX and X Corps, with many French conscripts, Italians, Dutch, Germans and Poles, besieged Prussian fortresses on the flanks of the Grande Armee. Armies of Observation in Germany, Italy, and France watched the lines of communication and the coasts.

The tables (coming soon) provide details on the arrangements of regiments and divisions in the Armies at different times. An organization labelled 'Ad Hoc' ('for this specific purpose') comprised elite detachments put together usually to serve as an army’s advanced or rear guard on a temporary basis.

ABBREVIATIONS: III/12 means 3rd battalion of the 12th (Line) Regiment. Bde = Brigade.
Bn = Battalion. bty = battery (usu. 8-12 guns). Gde = Guard. hart = horse artillery (lighter guns). Ln = Line. Lt = Light. Rgt = Regiment. Art/illery (cannon). Bav/arian. Cav/alry (horsemen of any type). Cuir/assier (heavy cavalry wearing armored breast-and-backplates. Chas/seur (light cavalry). Drag/oon. Eng/ineer. Gar/rison (assigned to fortress duty, usu. 2nd-line troops). Hus/sar (light cavalry). It/alian. Inf/antry (foot soldiers armed with muskets). Kos/sacks (ethnic horsemen of the steppes armed with lances). Prov/isional. Repl/acement. Wuertt/emberg.