1814 The Campaign For France

Montmirail, Champaubert, Reims, Laon, Craonne, Montereau, Paris... Each of these names is synonymous of tumultuous victories and heroic fighting. Each is them is also a sign of the genius of Napoleon as a military leader, and a testimony of the sacrifice accepted by the men which followed him on the battlefields. In this new book, the Authors survey the whole campaign of France, stating facts and explaining the opponents' views. And, in the now famous third part of the book, they introduce us to the main actors of the drama: marshalls and generals, but also the obscure, ordinary NCOs and privates of Napoleon's army. And, as usual in this series, the intricately detailed color plates by André Jouineau render the richness and diversity of the uniforms of all armies involved in the Emperor's most dashing campaign.

In 1814, after two successive years of defeat in Russia and central Europe, Napoleon was faced with the ultimate disaster - an Allied invasion of France itself. The conduct of the intense, fast-moving campaign that followed has been widely hailed as one of his greatest feats as a commander, yet it has rarely been described fully and objectively. Andrew Uffindell, in this gripping and original study, reconstructs the campaign, reassesses Napoleon's military leadership and provides a masterly account of a campaign that helped shape modern Europe.Using numerous eyewitness accounts, Napoleon 1814 records the swift succession of clashes in graphic detail, leading up to the final battle outside Paris, the biggest and bloodiest of the entire campaign, and then the extraordinary drama of Napoleon's abdication. It shows for the first time how the course of the campaign was repeatedly determined by the weather and the terrain. The author also covers events off the battlefield, and examines a strangely neglected aspect of the campaign: the devastating impact on the civilian population. He provides a vivid and moving portrayal of a society traumatized by the brutal experience of war, as ordinary people struggled to survive and confront the moral dilemmas posed by enemy occupation.

Part of the acclaimed "Special Campaign" series of works intended for serious professional students of military history each volume is interspersed with strategical and tactical comments and illustrated by numerous sketches. The 1814 campaign in France was Napoleon's final campaign. Following their victory at Leipzig, Russian, Austrian and other German armies invaded France. Despite the disproportionate forces in favour of the Coalition, Napoleon managed to inflict many defeats. However, the Coalition kept advancing towards Paris, which capitulated in late March 1814. Napoleon was deposed and exiled to Elba and the victorious powers started to redraw the map of Europe. Napoleon escaped from Elba the following year leading to the last conflict in the Napoleonic Wars, the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

Beset along the northern border of France by enemies that out-numbered him by at least five to one, where ordinary generals might have despaired, Napoleon went on to win a remarkable series of victories that recalled the rapidity of his brightest early campaigns. Although not enough to turn the tide of the Allies march on Paris, they are hugely important for the methods used by the Emperor in his last campaign before Waterloo. Turning on isolated parts of the Prussian Field Marshal Blücher’s army, composed of both Russians and Prussians, Napoleon won the battles of Champaubert, Montmirail, Château-Thierry and Vauchamps, inflicting nearly 20,000 casualties for a loss of 3,000 of his own men. However, this magic could not last... A well-known and respected writer on the Napoleonic Wars, Captain Maycock’s work is a fine addition to any bookshelf on a much neglected campaign. This book is part of the Special Campaigns series produced around the turn of the 20th century by serving or recently retired British and Indian Army officers. They were intended principally for use by British officers seeking a wider knowledge of military history. Title – The Invasion of France, 1814

Looks at Russia's efforts in the French Campaign against Napoleon's forces during 1814.

This revisionist history offers a fresh analysis of Napoleon and the French army as they defended their empire against the massive Coalition invasion of 1814. French defeat in 1814 is too often shrugged off as the result of obvious and understandable factors. Napoleon Against Great Odds: The Emperor and the Defenders of France, 1814 challenges the widely accepted notion that war-weariness and internal political opposition to Napoleon were the decisive and direct causes of French defeat. At least as important, it argues, were material shortages, diplomatic missteps, and even faulty strategic planning on Napoleon's part. The book not only traces the narrative of Napoleon's 1814 Campaign in France, but explores the formation of the French army tasked with defending France against the Coalition invasion. Diplomatic, political, and social factors are taken into account and the issue of war-weariness is analyzed carefully and critically. Each branch and arm of the French forces is examined, as are military mobilization under difficult circumstances and partisan and guerilla warfare. Designed to encourage fresh debate about the 1814 campaign, the book offers thought-provoking reading for scholars and general readers alike.