by Terry J. Senior
Of Napoleon's some 1,400 Generals, about 500 of them were from the Cavalry branch of the service and just to be different I thought I would list who I consider to be the top 20 exponents of that arm. I have excluded from this exercise, the Marshals. This is not an easy task and requires a good deal of thought and appraisal. Many will find it surprising that such talented cavalrymen as Sebastiani, Exelmans, Arrighi di Cassanova, Jacquinot, Bourcier, Marulaz, Klein, Beker, and Coehorn etc failed to make my list. If I had been including the Marshals, I would say that Murat would have been number 3, Bessieres at number 8, but Grouchy would not be in my listing. For what it is worth, here are my top 20 cavalry commanders, and some comments on each of them. If anyone wishes to enter into a discussion, offer any additional information or comment on the content of this article or indeed any of the Emperor’s Generals I can be contacted in the usual way.
Napoleon's Cavalry Commanders # 15 - # 17
Napoleon's Cavalry Commanders # 12 - # 14
Napoleon's Cavalry Commanders # 6 - # 11
Napoleon's Cavalry Commanders # 18 - # 20
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