Book Review:
The Leipzig Campaign of 1813
by Dave Watkins, UK.
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Author: Colonel F.N. Maude, C.B. (Royal Engineers) first published in 1908, facsimile limited edition of 250 now published by Ken Trotman Ltd. Telephone: 0223 211030. Price £ 29.50. `Maude's 13' is a much sought after account of Napoleon's last German campaign, (at least by me!), written at a time when the British Empire was winding itself up for a major European conflict, the prowess and tenacity of the `Prussian' against `superior' opponents is forcefully pointed out. That aside, however, this is one of the easier books to read on this subject. Maude carefully and logically explained how the various political and strategical events following the 1812 campaign enabled the Allies to take the field in 1813 (bearing in mind that the Russian's couldn't, the Austrian's wouldn't and the Prussian's were undecided!). The easy flow is maintained by the use of brigade and divisional descriptions of battles, (no pornography of violence here!) This does not detract from the battle accounts and does simplify the understanding of what went on and where and which brigade did it. The orders of battles reflect this, being of the format - 1st Division, Morand, 4 brigades, 16 battalion 8,000 men, and so forth. More than sufficient. Students of the campaign will also benefit from the very precise start locations of the various formations. I have only one query with the book, Maude states that Bertrand's IV Corps was made up of French "cohorts", Italian and Neapolitan Infantry and, wait for it..... , an Algerian Battalion! Whilst answering many questions, Maude's `13 has now left with a really irritating trivial one! (Who were they?). Well worth the money and no doubt this edition will become as scare as the original very quickly. More Book Reviews:
Book Review: Cavalry in the Waterloo Campaign Book Review: The Leipzig Campaign of 1813 Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #13 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |