Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany, 1813

 

A study of how Napoleon raised 600,000 men for this campaign and at first waged war like the old Napoleon, winning at Lutzen & Bautzen, then slowly losing his grip and plagued by inferior subordinates, and lost at Leipzig, Dresden, Katzhbach , Gross Beeren and Kulm. By 1813 the flame of Napoleon's military genius was almost burnt out. His defeat in Russia in 1812 had set the seal on a decline that had begun in 1809. Yet a little of his old fire remained, and despite the reverse in Russia the year before he was still able to wage a campaign in Germany in 1813, raising an army of 200,000 men in April that had swelled to 600,000 three months later, and it was a campaign that showed dramatic signs of his former brilliance. But it was not to prove enough. With inadequate commanders, an ill-equipped and undertrained army and above all the inability of his cavalry to consolidate its initial successes, even Napoleon found himself fighting against impossible odds, a situation that reached a climax in the disastrous battle of Leipzig. The campaign began in April 1813, when Napoleon stood firm against the advance of Russo-Prussian forces, and in a counteroffensive won the battles of Lutzen and Bautzen. A period of calm followed an armistice as both sides prepared for the greater conflict to come. This broke out in mid-August, and was characterised by a series of reverses broken only by Napoleon's victory at Dresden. After the battle of Leipzig, called 'the battle of nations' since the enemy now consisted not of hired army facing its like but of nations against nations, Napoleon retreated to the Rhine, making a stand against the Bavarians at Hanau. His forces had by now diminished to 70,000.

 

F Loraine Petre

Hardcover with d/w 403pp with fold-out maps Arms & Armour Press 1974 reprint of 1912 original

 

Fine/Near Fine

Book Code:  SH2853