Napoleon S Men And Methods

Excerpt from Napoleons Men and Methods The history of Napoleon is of inexhaustible interest. When the English government decided to send him to St. Helena, after the battle of Waterloo, Lord Liverpool wrote to the Duke of Wellington, that in that island he would soon be forgotten; he even repeated this remark in another letter. 'Yes, ' he said, 'he will soon be forgotten.' Yet at the present time there is no individual about whom more is written in all languages and in all branches of literature. Histories, novels, plays, are never tired of his story, and a serious student finds that there is no personality about whom more discoveries are constantly being made and with regard to whom it is more necessary to reconsider his judgment. At the dawn of the XIXth century, two great names, one in literature and one in the world of action arrest the attention of mankind; Goethe and Napoleon. Their careers have been so minutely studied that we are acquainted with what they did every day, almost every hour of their lives. Yet subjected to this fierce light of publicity, which few could endure, they both gain by it, and Napoleon not the less. The more we know about him the more we admire him, the more reasonable do his actions appear, the less well founded the stories which are told to his discredit. Napoleon was born a French subject, in Corsica, of a noble family of Italian descent. He received an excellent education in military colleges, About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

At the turn of the 20th Century, the historical section of the French General Staff began to produce some of the most valuable and detailed studies of the Napoleonic period, and particularly Napoleon’s method for success in war. This upsurge in French military writing, and particularly of the period of greatest French success, was, not coincidentally, foreshadowed the upcoming hostilities with Germany during which Colonel Vachée was to serve in the French artillery. He wrote “Napoleon en Campagne”, of which this book is the English translation, to try to codify the rules of warfare for his contemporary French officers. Using the 1806 Jena campaign (an interesting counter viewpoint to Field Marshal Von der Gotlz’s - Jena to Eylau written from the Prussian point of view of the same campaign) as an example of Napoleon’s method of victory, Vachée gives a detailed account of the Emperor’s closest collaborators: Marshal Berthier, Generals Bacler d’Albe, Bailly de Monthion, Gourgaud, Montholon, Caulaincourt, his secretaries Bourienne, Méneval and Fain et al. He illustrates the methods used to inspire his men from the highest Marshal of the Empire to the lowliest grognard, and the punishments for failure, both on and off the battlefield. An excellent book, useful for the study of command in wartime and the Napoleonic methods in particular.

This is an original piece of research into the Napoleonic wars from the perspective of the ordinary soldier, available in paperback for the first time. >

“A fascinating study exploring the motivation of French soldiers during the Napoleonic Era, and the process through which they became Napoleon’s men.”—Frederick C. Schneid, author of Napoleon’s Conquest of Europe The men who fought in Napoleon’s Grande Armée built a new empire that changed the world. Remarkably, the same men raised arms during the French Revolution for liberté, égalité, and fraternité. In just over a decade, these freedom fighters, who had once struggled to overthrow tyrants, rallied to the side of a man who wanted to dominate Europe. What was behind this drastic change of heart? In this ground-breaking study, Michael J. Hughes shows how Napoleonic military culture shaped the motivation of Napoleon’s soldiers. Relying on extensive archival research and blending cultural and military history, Hughes demonstrates that the Napoleonic regime incorporated elements from both the Old Regime and French Revolutionary military culture to craft a new military culture, characterized by loyalty to both Napoleon and the preservation of French hegemony in Europe. Underscoring this new, hybrid military culture were five sources of motivation: honor, patriotism, a martial and virile masculinity, devotion to Napoleon, and coercion. Forging Napoleon’s Grande Armée vividly illustrates how this many-pronged culture gave Napoleon’s soldiers reasons to fight. “Hughes offers a tight and well-grounded exposition and analysis of French military culture in the Napoleonic period in which military honour is presented as a dynamic element.” —Journal of European Studies “Hughes’s book not only contributes to our understanding of the military success of Napoleon’s army, but also elegantly employs cultural history methods to better understand army operations and sustained troop motivations.” —Julia Osman, History: Reviews of New Book

An Australian Book Review Best Book of the Year One of France’s most famous historians compares two exemplars of political and military leadership to make the unfashionable case that individuals, for better and worse, matter in history. Historians have taught us that the past is not just a tale of heroes and wars. The anonymous millions matter and are active agents of change. But in democratizing history, we have lost track of the outsized role that individual will and charisma can play in shaping the world, especially in moments of extreme tumult. Patrice Gueniffey provides a compelling reminder in this powerful dual biography of two transformative leaders, Napoleon Bonaparte and Charles de Gaulle. Both became national figures at times of crisis and war. They were hailed as saviors and were eager to embrace the label. They were also animated by quests for personal and national greatness, by the desire to raise France above itself and lead it on a mission to enlighten the world. Both united an embattled nation, returned it to dignity, and left a permanent political legacy—in Napoleon’s case, a form of administration and a body of civil law; in de Gaulle’s case, new political institutions. Gueniffey compares Napoleon’s and de Gaulle’s journeys to power; their methods; their ideas and writings, notably about war; and their postmortem reputations. He also contrasts their weaknesses: Napoleon’s limitless ambitions and appetite for war and de Gaulle’s capacity for cruelty, manifested most clearly in Algeria. They were men of genuine talent and achievement, with flaws almost as pronounced as their strengths. As many nations, not least France, struggle to find their soul in a rapidly changing world, Gueniffey shows us what a difference an extraordinary leader can make.

Napoleon as commander and military genius Colonel Vachee's work, previously published under the title 'Napoleon at Work', is a somewhat different view of a great Napoleonic Campaign. Vachee takes his readers through momentous events by describing them from the perspective of the Emperor and his command structure. Thus Napoleon's strategic thoughts and instructions for implementation are explained as they were applied to the Imperial Staff, his Generals, the army as a whole and its soldiers. Each aspect of the great man's genius for war and his inspirational command of his subordinates is considered, culminating in an analysis of his management of his forces on the field of battle itself which brought about the victories of Jena and Auerstadt for the French. An important and different insight into Napoleonic warfare.