Napoleonic Conscription in Indre-et-Loire 1798-1814

Abstract

Scholarship around Napoleonic conscription has often focused on the contest and resistance with which the state’s quest to impose compulsory service was met, and has emphasised the broad means by which conscripts sought to avoid or evade military obligations. This article will focus on outlining the experience of conscription in the Napoleonic department of Indre-et-Loire and will argue that while open evasion was a clear challenge to the authority of the state, the largest numerical challenge to filling the ranks of the army came from those who complied with conscription legislation in order to seek legal exemptions.