There are some excellent examples of dueling in Parquin's memoirs. Elzear Blaze in his memoirs also mentions them.

Napoleon regarded duels 'as a waste of useful manpower.' He especially disliked the 'professional duelist, and he compared that species of predator 'to a cannibal.'

The foremost example of that was Reseda Fournier, whom Napoleon later cashiered for insubordination. He then took up the name Fournier-Sarlovese and supported the Bourbons after 1814. His nickname was 'The Demon of the Grande Armee.'

French regiments each had their maistre d'armes, whose duty was to train enlisted men interested in swordsmanship. They also represented their units 'in the ritual duels that were certain to take place between regiments, either over old grudges or as a professional way of getting acquainted.

There were also duels between armies before the main event. A French infantryman answered a Russian infantryman's challenge to a one-on-one bayonet fight before Friedland. The Frenchman 'sallied out' and killed the Russian. Coignet also had a duel with a Prussian after Waterloo and won.