 The "Composite Battalion" Project |  If there is one point that all historical military reenactors can agree upon, it is the usage (for French infantry) of the use of the 1791 drill manuel.
It is in this spirit that we have committed ourselves, to be part of a division, a brigade and a battalion, that has made us chose to represent this period of military history.
For many years, reenactement groups have tried to create battalions of uniformed, homogenous soldiers, based on the false premise that "an association equals a battalion"...despite not seeing the fact that these "battalions" were actually made up of 5-6 men! But has time moved on, each group has then tried to represent a company, but still couldn't attract suffisant numbers. Very few units have indeed achieved a satisfactory result. The reenacted battlefield looked chaotic and far from historical facts, with units of divers sizes ranging from 5 to 20 men zig-zagging all over the place under the command and initiative of their own officers and lacking a chain of command with a central head-quarters.
Then came the "Composite Battalion" project. A movement that advocated regrouping all groups without taking account of uniformes, numbers or egos, in order to form reduced replicas of infantry battalions in an historical coherent context. These battalions (with identical numbers of companies) would then manoeuvre solely according to the directives and doctrines of the 1791 manuel, and interact in a proper manner has to give the reenacted battlefield a more realistic look.
These battalions would be formed on an ad-hoc basis at different events, and the abolished once the event came to an end. It is not a project to create a "hyper group" or a federation of groups. It is rather a project to bring together the efforts of individual reenactors that wish to give a more historic spin to their hobby.
So don't hesitate to join in and cry out with pride: LET'S FORM OUR BATTALIONS!!! | |
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