John R. Elting's extensive work "Swords Around A Throne: Napoleon's Grande Armee" gives some detailed info on the weapons and tactics or that period.
"The standard French target was 5 & 1/2 feet high and 21 inches wide (French measurments), with a 3-inch-wide band of bright color across its middle and a similar one at its top. Troops fired at ranges of 50, 100 and 150 'toises' (one 'toise' equals 6 feet)....There was also the practical knowledge veterans passed to conscripts: When the enemy was 50 yards away, aim at the knees. (Having a low velocity, the musket ball would "climb" quickly into a high trajectory, then drop as quickly.) Therefore, at 100 yards, aim at the waist; at 140 to 200, at the head. Some soldiers became quite expert after they had carried the same musket for several years and learned how to compensate for its built-in inaccuracies."
In the above comments, the French "foot" is 12.75 inches long compared to 12 inches for the English "foot".
