'Aussie Rick'’s Comments (group member since Jun 13, 2009)

'Aussie Rick'’s comments from the THE NAPOLEONIC WARS group.

Great post Betsy, very interesting indeed! A bit like how the mosquito humbled many empires over the centuries!

Betsy wrote: "I just reread that commentary. Maybe it's his 'comical' attitude, but you get the idea that the author had a real hate out for Napoleon. Maybe he's a descendant of Blucher? But then he made that ji..."

No, maybe he likes to stir things up a bit to gather a new and younger audience - not to my taste nut it may get others interested in history and some further reading.

Betsy wrote: "Corsican mushroom??? Sarcastic? That's downright hostile!"

I've never heard Napoleon being referred to that before either :)

"Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany 1813" - The author is critical of Ney again and his actions during the Battle of Bautzen but does not let Napoleon off the hook either. He has however high praise for the Prussian soldiers:

"Before going further, we may note here that Lanrezac freely admits that much of the failure of the French was due to the superior morale of the allied troops, especially of the Prussians, who were animated by a noble spirit of patriotism, and by the desperation of men fighting for the preservation of hearth and home. They had a long series of grievous wrongs to avenge. But this spirit alone could hardly have saved them against Napoleon's overwhelming superiority of numbers, had his scheme been executed as it was designed."

And;

"That the failure to make Bautzen a complete and decisive victory was mainly Ney's fault is held by all critics. But the Emperor must bear his share of the blame, inasmuch as he chose Ney for a command for which he was very ill-suited. Perhaps most of the other marshals would have done no better, but with Davout, Soult, Marmont, or Gouvion St Cyr there was at least a better chance."

The Battle of Bautzen:
https://www.frenchempire.net/battles/...

And a more sarcastic account:
https://mmbennetts.wordpress.com/2013...

Betsy wrote: ""By the beginnings of November, Napoleon had only 75,000 of his original 440,000 front line troops--365,000 had died in a little over four months. He had lost an average of 3,000 men every day of h..."

A loss on average of 3,000 men every day of his campaign is truly staggering!

Betsy wrote: "After Prussia's history with France, and Napoleon's contempt for them, Was there any reason to believe they wouldn't go to the ends of Europe to defeat him? [Or at least from Ligny to Mont-Saint-Je..."

Indeed Betsy, hatred can be a great motivator!

"Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany 1813" - The aftermath of the Battle of Lutzen:

"The Prussians had fought splendidly, and had shown to others and to themselves that they were able to fight the French on equal terms. Even Napoleon contemptuously admitted the improvement since 1806 when he remarked, 'ces animaux ont appris quelque chose' (AR's translation: "These animals have learned something"). Nesselrode, writing to Vienna, expressed the idea in more courteous terms: 'The Prussian troops have covered themselves with glory; they have become once more the Prussians of Frederick.' Up to 3 P.M. they had generally been fighting against double their numbers, and had more than held their own."

Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany 1813 by F. Loraine Petre

Betsy wrote: "Ah, that's it: "My sheep is a lion." Another example of Napoleon being served well. The trouble was that so many didn't survive the experience."

The very best hardly ever do, sadly :(

He was a brave character, later became a Marshal of France:

https://www.frenchempire.net/biograph...

"Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany 1813" - An account of the closing actions of the Battle of Lutzen which occurred around the decisive point at the quadrilateral of four villages:

"Towards 3 P.M. Napoleon ordered Mouton (Lobau) to take Ricard's division forward through Kaja. On the way he was joined by all that were fit to move of Souham's, Girad's, and Brennier's men. Kaja was cleared of the enemy, and the French once more stormed Klein Gorschen and Rahna in the face of a desperate defence by the Prussians. The French attack was supported by a battery between Kaja and Starsiedel. The villages and the space between them presented a dreadful picture. They were a veritable shambles, for the fighting had been for hours of the most desperate description. The Prussians, inspired by a hatred of their foe bred of years of oppression, fought with a bitterness which had been unknown in their earlier wars against the French. Perhaps the most graphic description is that quoted by von Caemmerer from the diary of a Prussian Guard Jager battalion: 'The field between Klein and Gross Gorschen resembled a bivouac where whole battalions had laid down'."

Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany 1813 by F. Loraine Petre

Betsy wrote: "It would seem that Ney had begun his slow descent from the high of his effort leading the Rear Guard in 1812. His occasional instability which was apparent in the Peninsula took odd moments to appe..."

Indeed Betsy. I wonder if those around Ney recognized his tactical decline at that time. Poor Ney paid the ultimate price in the end.

Good point about the loss of Scharnhorst, seems many of the big names were being taken off the board eh!

"Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany 1813" - I've just started the chapter covering the Battle of Lutzen and the author has made it very clear that Marshal Ney failed in his duties as ordered by Napoleon.

He failed to move his divisions forward to a quadrilateral of four villages essential to Napoleon's plans and even more importantly he failed to send out two strong reconnaissance's to the villages of Pegau and Zwenkau which would have spotted the Allied forces moving towards Lutzen.

The Battle of Lutzen:
https://www.napoleon-empire.org/en/ba...

Betsy wrote: "As in most wars the particpants hoped for an 'ultimate' weapon.

"The Russian commander even requested a secret weapon that was to be deployed early in the war: a gigantic balloon designed to floa..."

Hmmm, an early attempt at a WMD!

Betsy wrote: "As the French crossed the Niemen, the destruction of their army already stirred in their bodies and blood. They didn't even have to fire a bullet. It was there. Plus the Russians had the stirring w..."

The Russians had a few things going their way after all!

"Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany 1813" - Napoleon trying to rebuild his army for the campaign of 1813:

"In the west of France it became necessary to hunt up the 'refractaires' with mobile columns, and the commander of one of these reported that he was afraid to use his young recruits for this purpose. He would, he said, rather have 100 old soldiers than 600 conscripts of 1813, such as filled most his companies, They had never had a musket in their hands before quitting the depots, and were unfit for the necessary marches. The training seems to have been less than elementary at the depots. There was an order which required that no conscript be sent forward till he had fired at least six blank and two ball cartridges! Yet commanders at depots who tried to insist on this very rudimentary fire training often found themselves censured for delaying their conscripts. Camille Rousset gives the following as a common type of report on inspection: 'Some of the men are of rather weak appearance. The battalion has no idea of manoeuvring; but nine-tenths of the men can manage and load their arms passably'."

And;

"From Osnabruck General Lambardiere writes, on the 15th April: 'These battalions arrive very fatigued; every day I supply them with special carriage for the weak and lame ... All these battalions are French: I must say that the young soldiers show courage and good-will. Every possible moment is utilised in teaching them to load their arms and bring them to the shoulder'."

With these young, untrained men, Napoleon waged war, and these young soldiers conducted themselves well considering the circumstances under which they entered battle.

Napoleon in 1813:
https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-o...

"Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany 1813" - From the author's Preface:

"His marshals, who had served him well when they were only required to command units of the army which the Emperor controlled in person, showed themselves unfitted, as some of them had already done in Spain, for semi-independent command. When the leading strings to which they had hitherto been accustomed were perforce relaxed, Oudinot, Macdonald, and Ney in succession showed themselves incapable of walking alone. Marmont, at least, had the wisdom to foresee the result when he wrote, 'I fear greatly lest on the day on which your Majesty has gained a victory, and believe you have won a decisive battle, you may learn that you have lost two.' It was but a few days after this was written that Napoleon, flushed with victory at Dresden, learnt that Macdonald had been disastrously beaten on the Katzbach, that Oudinot had been checked at Gross Beeren, and Vandamme destroyed at Kulm."

Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany 1813 by F. Loraine Petre

Mike wrote: "Found this one on sale for $1.99 at all the ebook sites (Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Google & Kobo):

[book:How Far from Austerlitz? Napo..."

I quite liked that book although it did get mixed reviews.

Betsy wrote: "Since you changed the topic slightly, I hope my book is still okay since I got it a few weeks ago more for the 1812 topic: The Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon's..."

Still fits the theme perfectly Betsy. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!

The book that I have chosen for this month's theme read is; "Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany 1813" by F. Loraine Petre. I've enjoyed this author's books on the Prussian and Polish campaigns, so fingers crossed this is a good read as well.

Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany 1813 by F. Loraine Petre

The April theme read page is open and ready to go for comment:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...