Swords Around the Throne

Napoleon's Grande Armee

review by Jim Arnold

By John R. Elting. The Free Press, $35.00.

John Elting will be a familiar name to many Napoleonic buffs. Many of us began our education with West Point's A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars, co-edited by Mr. Elting. Among various more recent endeavors, he contributed a chapter on Augereau for David Chandler's Napoleon's Marshals. So it is welcome indeed to read his latest work describing in great detail Napoleon's Grande Armee.

The text runs 673 pages and covers virtually every aspect of Napoleon's formidable war machine. The first chapter examines the forerunner to the Grande Armee, the Royal Army. Subsequent chapters detail the operation of Imperial headquarters, the development of Napoleon's subordinates, and all of the various components of the army including the genie and medical corps. Particularly interesting are chapters devoted to essential, but heretofore overlooked topics such as remounts and replacements and discipline and disciplinary units.

The book is full of details that will interest the wargamer. For example, in a chapter entitled "Dressed to Kill", Elting tells us that in 1805 the 3d Ligne had gray-blue and yellowish brown overcoats while the 4th Ligne had gray-blue and apple green. In an examination of the Grande Armee's opponents he cites a French officer's description of some national differences: "(If you have ridden over them) the Austrian infantry throws down its weapons, each soldier claims to be a Pole, they obey you honestly. The Prussian infantry throws down its arms, but will grab them up promptly if they see help coming. The Russian infantry falls flat, lets you pass, gets up, and starts shooting again."

Such vignettes are fascinating if not wholly accurate. For example, during the French pursuit before the Battle of Eckmuhl on 21 April, 1809, Marshal Lefebvre sent in his escort squadron of Bavarian dragoons against an Austrian battalion. The battalion threw down its arms in token of surrender (as the above quotation predicts) and then took them up again (in the manner of the Russians) to fire a volley that killed the Bavarian officer leading the charge! Herein lies one of my quarrels with Elting's book. As mentioned, he includes fascinating details. However, the footnotes do not permit one to check on their accuracy. He clearly has performed extensive research (even to the point of utilizing an article I published six years ago in an obscure historical journal, although there are some other notable omissions), butthe careful reader must accept his assertions on faith.

Another quibble relates to style. Elting has an off-hand, sometimes chatty style that some will find refreshing and others will find disconcerting. At a minimum, he paints with a very broad brush. Thus all Spaniards are cowards, Poles looters, and Jews rapacious. The book lacks due coverage of Napoleon's German allies. For reasons of economy, the fine Knoetel prints are rendered in black and white.

In sum, Swords Around a Throne tells an incomplete, but fascinating story. It is entertaining, thought provoking, and presents much information thatwill interest wargamerand buff alike. In the current book market, at $35.00 it is fairly priced.

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