He turned to Constant. "The quartermaster's report?"
Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.
In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior unit, post or base supply officer is customarily referred to as "the quartermaster". Often the quartermaster serves as the S-4 in US Army, US Marine Corps units and NATO units.
The term was first coined in Germany as Quartiermeister and initially denoted a court official with the duty of preparing the monarch's sleeping quarters. In the 17th century, it started to be used in various militaries in the sense of organizing supplies.
Interestingly, in many navies it is a non-commissioned officer (petty officer) rank for personnel responsible for their ship's navigation. In the US Navy, the quartermaster is a position responsible for the ship's navigation and maintenance of nautical charts and maps. Aboard merchant ships, the term quartermaster usually refers to the Able Seamen assigned to bridge watches. A naval quartermaster's main task is to steer the ship and apply the helm orders given by the Captain or watch officers.
Ahead, down the pass, there came a shout from the outriders.
Self explanatory, but:
1) an attendant on horseback who rides out ahead of or beside a carriage, stagecoach, etc.
2) a cowboy who rides over a range, as to prevent cattle from straying
3)a trailblazer; forerunner
He'd known Laurent since they were both 16, serving in the La Fere Artillery.
October 30, 1785: Napoleon reports to first posting with the La Fère Artillery Regiment at Valence-sur-Rhône.
After graduation in September 1785, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in La Fère artillery regiment and took up his new duties in January 1786 at the age of 16. Napoleon served on garrison duty in Valence and Auxonne where he was to be stationed. Although it was peacetime, and Napoleon could not win honor in battle, he was determined to improve himself and he spent his time in furthering his education through a rigorous reading program, with a particular emphasis on history and geography.
More at: http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=18126
As was his custom, Napoleon slep five hours.
Napoleon's sleep patterns have long been discussed. This paragraph is from www.supermemo.com, discussing those people iwht polyphasic sleept patterns.
Napoleon is not less frequently referred to in the context of napping or polyphasic sleep than da Vinci. And his case is rather easy to falsify through historical records. When compared with an artistic genius of Leonardo, it seems even more preposterous than a brilliant military commander could possibly retire for a nap during a prolonged battle or during his intense life peppered with plethora of engagements. He is indeed said to have slept little and frequently suffer from insomnia at times of great stress. He was also often interrupted by messengers that might perhaps increase his propensity to napping at daylight. Yet he was to be woken up only with bad news. The hard rule was that the good news could wait. His memoirs indicate that he did not mind dying young. Consequently, he would disregard his doctors on the matter of sleeping little and drinking buckets of strong coffee. As Napoleon's life was jam-packed with stress, his short sleep might have been a consequence of his lifestyle. Low sleep diet did not translate well to Napoleon's military skills. Some contemporaries attribute his errors at Waterloo to sleep deprivation. Yet, during slower days he would sleep for sound seven hours, waking up at 7 and often lazing until 8. Then he would yet add an nap in the afternoon. Records also indicate that at Saint Helena he was a normal sleeper, and while stress was replaced with boredom, he often slept late.
He had breakfast, then read the overnight dispatches from his deni-brigade commanders.
The Demi-brigade (English: Half-brigade) was a military formation first used by the French Army during the French Revolutionary Wars. The Demi-brigade amalgamated the various infantry organizations of the French Revolutionary infantry into a single unit. Each one was headed by a chef de brigade.
The term "Demi-brigade" was chosen to avoid the feudal ancien régime connotations of the term "Régiment". Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the term to be abandoned in 1803, and the demi-brigades were renamed "régiments". The term was reused by certain later units in the French Army, such as the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade, the only permanent demi-brigade in the modern French Army.
Demi-brigadeThe main problem faced by the French Revolution infantry was a lack of unity. The Army included three main types of infantry, all with different uniforms, organizations, equipment, and rates of pay:
regular infantry inherited from the old Royal regiments of the King, relatively well trained and equipped, dressed in white uniforms and wearing tarleton helmets
national guard units, less well-trained or equipped, with blue uniforms
fédéré volunteer battalions, poorly trained and equipped, with no uniform other than a red phrygian cap and a tricolour cockade
The variations between units created logistical problems, and animosity (due to different rates of pay) among units.
The purpose of the Demi-brigade was to blend all three formations into a single unit, with identical equipment, organization, pay, and uniforms. A Demi-brigade consisted of three infantry battalions: one battalion of regulars (from old Royal regiments), and two battalions of either volunteers or national guards. Each battalion had the same organization of one company of grenadiers (heavy infantry) and eight companies of fusiliers (regular infantry). On paper, a Demi-brigade would have 2,437 men and four six-pounder cannons.
The levée en masse had swelled the ranks of the French army, so by August 1794 over a million men (1,075,000) were under arms [1]. The Demi-brigade created a streamlined and simple method of organizing the infantry. Due to the current war situation, Demi-brigades were not formed until early 1794. Separate Demi-brigades were organised as line infantry (Demi-brigade de Bataille, 1792-96 and Demi-brigade d'Infanterie de Ligne, 1796-1803 ) and light infantry (Demi-brigade d'Infanterie Légère); all lacked uniformity in either weapons or equipment. As the French Revolutionary Wars progressed, demi-brigades were issued with specific coloured uniform jackets.
By late 1794, France had completed the re-conquest of the Austrian Netherlands and Rhineland of Germany. The Demi-brigade survived the transition of the French government to the French Directory in 1795, the ending of the First Coalition in 1797 after Napoleon's successful campaigns in Italy, renewed conflict with a Second Coalition, and Napoleon seizing power in 1799 to create the French Consulate.
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