Napoleonic Wars: Introduction Part 2

Few soldiers, however, become emperors. Even fewer emperors are crowned who came from a foreign land to serve in an enemy army. Napoleon is certainly the only emperor to survive a foreign revolution as an artillery lieutenant and go on to lead his soldiers into every major Continental European capital from Lisbon to Moscow in the space of only a decade. In ten years Napoleon crafted an empire in breadth to rival the Caesars whose Roman legions had taken several generations. His soldiers accompanied him from the barren mountains of Spain’s Sierra Morenas to the Pripet Marshes in snowy Russia and from the blistering heat of Cairo to the damp streets of Berlin. The Napoleonic eagle stood atop the great buildings of Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Warsaw, and even Moscow. The name of Napoleon was on the lips of every Western statesmen and general as they scrambled to keep up with his phenomenal pace. No sooner had Napoleon begun solidifying his rule than his empire collapsed around him. As Julius Caesar was betrayed by his compatriots, so to was Napoleon as those who benefited so much from his benevolence turned coat during the emperor’s direst hour. Such is the fate of great men!

As Napoleon himself later reflected, his sixty-plus major battlefield victories and hundreds of skirmishes would all be forgotten or glossed over because of his final pitched battle: Waterloo. (I have already written a substantial essay on this battle, although a little dated, it can be found here at Cossacks Heaven) Most people think of Waterloo when they first hear the name Napoleon. Waterloo has become almost a cliché in the English language since that fateful Sunday nearly two hundred years ago. Many would be hard pressed to name even five of his sixty-plus victories. Napoleon, for as victorious and successful as he was on the battlefield, campaigning across Europe, and ruling an empire of tens of millions, is more remembered for his mistakes: the Peninsular War, the Russian campaign of 1812 and his stay in Moscow, and the Battle of Waterloo. The fascinating history to be found underlying each of these mistakes is forsaken by so many in this era of generalizations and simplicity. People don’t want to investigate Napoleon’s motivations for removing the Bourbons from the Spanish throne, they don’t want to research his invasion of Russia, and the details of 1815 are simply ignored. This is the history that I pursue; this is the history that interests me. I want to understand Napoleon as a rational human being who acted as most humans: in their own interest. This is not to suggest Napoleon did not care about the interests of France, on the contrary, I think those motivations had a substantial role in his thinking. That brings us farther away from Napoleon and more towards politics and history and military strategy. These are all necessary and crucial areas of study, but we must not lose our focus on Napoleon as Napoleon. Napoleon slept, ate, and wept just as we sleep, eat, and weep today. Napoleon enjoyed playing with children, he was terrible at chess and cards, and he shaved himself nearly every morning. Although Napoleon had palatial residences, armed escorts, and more personal wealth than most of us can imagine, he still had his personal idiosyncrasies and habits that made him as human as you or I.

During his entire career, Napoleon always remained in the midst of his soldiers. He breathed the same dust and fumes his soldiers did as they marched down the highways of Europe and in battle across the Continent. He was there alongside them as they marched across the regions we know as Spain, Italy, Germany, and Eastern Europe. He was every bit the emperor of the soldiers as he earned their accolades as the Little Corporal. His soldiers loved him as they would their father, but they also feared and respected his power and genius. That was part of Napoleon’s key to success. The love of the army was able to sustain him through many defeats and trials during his reign, including his fall and his brief return. On the eve of Austerlitz and the anniversary of his coronation, Napoleon’s troops filled the army camp with the light of their torches and the thunderous acclaims of Vive l’Empereur! As we open up our new copies of Cossacks II and begin mustering our armies for battle, let us join in spirit with those heroes from generations past who raised their hands in salute to one of the greatest men Almighty God ever gave life: Napoleon! Vive l’Empereur!

By Cherub Marechal

<<Back