How was pay for men during the era?

[BigG]

Was the pay for an average infantryman good, or did they receive a poor pay? Also, who had the best paying army in the Napoleonic Age?

[schoenkoenig]

Well, pay was uniformly poor. On campaign, it often never came through at all. People who could obtain decently-paying civilian jobs just did not voluntarily enlist in the military in any appreciable numbers (excepting, of course, the nobility). Even the French levées en masse, while a contrary example, resulted in far fewer volunteers joining the ranks than expected. For most Europeans, military service was somewhat of a disaster on a magnitude only slightly worse than death.

[skimyy]

Wonder if they had GI Joe insurances and military benefits back then.

[schoenkoenig]

Wonder if they had GI Joe insurances and military benefits back then.

There were a few hospitals/rest homes for invalids, a few countries had a few paltry pension programs, but other than that, nothing.

[Prince of Essling]

Was the pay for an average infantryman good, or did they receive a poor pay? Also, who had the best paying army in the Napoleonic Age?

The following only relates to the British.

Page 47, of "Britannia Rules" by C Northcote Parkinson says that following the various mutinies by some of the British navy
"By proclamation of 25 may 1797 that a private soldier was promised 1 shilling (1s) a day, an increase of 2d a day. From this 1s a day a sum not exceeding 4s a week was to be applied for his messing, a sum not exceeding 1s 6d was to be applied for necessaries and the remainder 1s 6d, less certain deductions, would be paid to the private soldier."

Dragoons received 8s 9d per week less stoppages of 7s 1.5d which meant he ended up with 1s 7.5d

Dummers received 1s 1.75d per day, Corporals 1s 2.5d per day, Sergeants 1s 6.75d per day.

Sailors also received 1s per day, but were better off as they had their food provided in addition to their pay.

[Prince of Essling]

Further to yesterday's post, the info that follows is for the French drawn from John R. Elting's "Swords Around A throne".

Amounts per day: Fusilier 30 centimes, Corporal 45 centimes, Sergeant 62 centimes and Sergeant Major 80 centimes.
For elite companies privates 35 centimes with NCOs in proportion.

Officers base pay per month - Sous-Lieutenant 90 francs, Lieutenant 104 francs, Capitain 200 francs, Chef de Bataillon 300 francs, Colonel 417 francs, General de Brigade 834 francs, General de Division 1,250 francs and a Marshall 3,333 francs!

(These figures are extracted from footnotes 15 & 16 to Chapter XVIII Soupe, Pret, et Comptibilte (apologies for the lack of French accents).

From the main text of that Chapter (pages 582 - 584) - soldiers pay consisted of a base pay plus additional allowances for service under various circumstances or in specific areas.

When in garrison on a peace footing the soldier had to buy most of his own food; on war footing he received a field ration inaddition to his pay, when en marche (i.e. moving from one posting to another) he received his pay plus his ration of pain de munition.
If he went into hospital or the guard house his pay was reduced (5 centimes private; 10 centimes for a corporal and 20 centimes for a sergeant) and if he went on extended leave

After 10 years service he drew 1 franc (100 centimes) extra a month; after 15 years service 1.5 francs; and after 20 years service 2 francs.
50 centimes additional per day if he had to work on fortifications.
Troops stationed in paris or Northern Italy received a cost of living allowance.

Officers in the field received a supplement de guerre which amounted to 25% of their base pay, but they lost their housing allowance - ranging from 18 francs a month for a Sous-Lieutenant to 66 francs for a Colonel.

Troops in the Imperial Garde were treated the equivalent of arank higher than their line equivalent e.g. Garde private = line corporal. Pay was also much higher with a Garde Sergeant receiving 222 centimes per day, a Garde Capitain drew as much as a line Chef de Bataillon.

[Degiorgio]

@ Prince of Essling
Nice info.
Any idea what the values would be in today's currency, or e.g. how much would a loaf of bread cost?

[Prince of Essling]

Unfortunately I do not have data on bread, but using the website http://www.measuringworth.com/index.html in 2008, £1 0s 0d from 1805 is worth £62.60 using the retail price index or £715.00using average earnings. From the same website the annualised inflation rate from 1805 to 2008 for the UK was 2.08%