Dispatches
Letters to the Editor
from First Empire Readers
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On Friedrich Staps Dear Mr. Watkins, I am interested in getting info on Friedrich Staps, an eighteen year old who tried to assassinate Napoleon in Oct. 1809. I have ample information on what happened after he got caught. I need information on his family and love life. And on anyone else who may have influence him. I wonder if you could help me with information or sources where I could find it. Thank you. Mark Conrad. mdana@genie.idt.net Battle of Waterloo I am trying to trace a member of the Gourd Family who served in the French Army. Maurice Gourd, maurice.gourd@virgin.net In Reply to Didier Dear Dave, I read Didier Vidal's letter in issue 44 with interest and very much wish there was a much greater liaison with Napoleonic enthusiasts in France. I have no doubt that healthy debate would do much to balance our own understanding of the Napoleonic wars and also open up to a wider audience information that is currently only generally available to one nation or the other. I congratulate Didier on his thirst for the facts and a recognition that there are two sides to every story. I envy him what must be an excellent grasp of our language, my own researches would be a lot easier if I had concentrated harder during my French lessons at school! Personally I would very much welcome articles from French readers giving their own nation's perspectives on battles on which we have only an English account. Each nation's history has, of course, been written by its own historians and it is therefore no surprise that they have been somewhat bias in their writing; not least because initial histories of any great war are based on purely national accounts at a time when nationalistic feelings are at their height. It is only later that the oppositions' perspective tends to come out, and as the saying goes, 'history is written by the victor'. It is inevitable that that each participant will write up their own successes and write down their failures, this is as true now as it was two hundred years ago, and we are all guilty of it (didn't I hear that Iraq celebrates the Gulf War as a victory?). However, an encouraging trend is now emerging where many modern historians are beginning to question some of the long accepted myths and base their arguments on thorough research which consults the accounts and archives of all participants. It would take too long to explore all the points Didier makes about the British performance during the Napoleonic wars but I feel there are a couple of comments which are worth making: Montgomery said 'there are no bad soldiers, only bad officers". Although a rather sweeping statement there is no doubt that given a rough parity in the ability of their soldiers, it is the ability of the commanders that makes the essential difference. Just as Napoleon routinely defeated all before him almost throughout his career, so Wellington had the measure of Napoleon's less capable marshals. Perhaps this goes some way to explain British failures in other theatres of war, and in Spain, when Wellington was not present. There is no doubt in my mind that there would have been a lot more 'near run things' if Napoleon himself had commanded in Spain. I do not believe Wellington was a genius but had identified a way of defeating the French given all the special conditions found in the Peninsula and the way the French forces operated. One could argue that it did not work quite so well against Napoleon himself in the different conditions of Belgium or perhaps when used by other commanders in other situations. At the end of the day my feeling is it was the British leadership and tactics which were superior in the Peninsula, not necessarily the troops. Having accepted Didier's point about the biased accounts of many wars I feel he goes a little too far in suggesting British accounts dismiss French capabilities or suggest the battles were all a push over. Whilst British history does present the war as a succession of British victories most constantly refer to hard fighting and considerable British casualties. Hardly the stuff of a pushover. Just as the French fought with the considerable disadvantages Didier mentions (although it could be argued most of them were self-inflicted, even the guerrilla war) so Wellington had to contend with many of his own (such as the vagaries of his allies) which ensured there was never going to be a quick victory. I believe the increasing numbers of books becoming available that have been translated will allow us amateur historians to take an increasingly balanced view of our chosen period and that this will be enhanced by new books which have been more professionally researched. Long may this trend continue! I hope Didier's letter will open an interesting debate and I for one would love to read a French account of Fuentes d'Onoro, Toulouse or any others that he would like to present for us. Keep up the good work! Andrew Field On Ugo Pericoli Dear David In reply to K.B. Clayton's enquiry for details of Ugo Pericoli's military costumes for the 1970 film Waterloo, is he aware that Pericoli wrote a book on the subject entitled; 1815: The Armies at Waterloo. Published by Seeley, Service & Co. 1973, reprinted 1979. It was available in both hard back and paper back, with several hundred colour illustrations. I hope that this is of some help. Regards Richard J Ransome, 21eme NA Newmarket, Suffolk What a Waterloo! Dear Dave. How good it was to see the 1.85:1 widescreen version of Sergei Bondarchuk's 1970 epic "Waterloo" on C4 recently! Did anyone else notice the falling horses during the charge of the Scots Greys which I have never seen on the pan and scan version - or was it just my eyesight playing tricks on me? A television magazine at the time came out with the startling revelation that the original cut of the film stretched to almost four hours in length! Is this true. and if so where would I be able to obtain a copy of this much longer version? Also, is the original film soundtrack still available to buy? Yours sincerely, Sarah Coombs. Sheffield, South Yorkshire More L'Moniteur E-mail to the Editor
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