A Tribute to John R. Elting

Maj. Kevin F. Kiley USMC

Napoleonic researcher and writer and family friend

"I first met John Elting in September 1989 while doing research in the library at West Point, where he had taught for 11 years and from where I had graduated. To my great fortune and eternal gratitude, we became good friends. We had corresponded before meeting as I had reviewed two of his recent books. As I was coming to West Point that fall to do research, I asked if it would be possible to meet him. He gave me directions to his home and met me at the door. As he ushered me into his study I entered a world of wonder.

"Not large, but packed full of books, manuscripts, and files it became my favorite room in the world. That first meeting was four to five hours of question-answer, and just listening to him talk was a treat. In that short time, many notions and ideas I had of the Napoleonic period were quickly changed, as he calmly and quietly discussed what I did know, which wasn't much, and what I had to learn, which appeared to be immense.

"When it was time to leave he presented me with a uniform print and Parquin's memoirs in French with the comment: 'I'm done with it and you're going to need it.' It sits, well used, on my bookshelf still.

"This was the first of our many meetings, and each one was like coming home. I had never met an intellect such as his, and we became good friends, and I would say comrades, sharing a common interest and background, both of us being professional soldiers, as well as artillerymen.

"We continued to correspond, including when I was deployed to Saudi Arabia for the Persian Gulf War. I wrote religiously, he later telling me that my letters were more informative than any newscast. He took them to the local meetings of The Company of Military Historians, reading them to the members. I was never given a higher or greater compliment.

"He came alive when discussing history, the Grande Armee in particular. He showed me his stunning collection of Knotel watercolor uniform prints [just published in his last work, volumes III and IV of Napoleonic Uniforms, by the Emperor's Press]. Watching him sitting behind his large desk in his study, a pencil in his mouth, looking up some small point of interest will stick in my mind as long as I live.

"The ancient Greeks believed that if a man's name is remembered, he will live forever. To me, John Elting will never die, and he has left us a legacy in his wry, witty, and accurate prose of the Grande Armee and those soldiers with which he would have fit in perfectly. Hail and Farewell, old friend and mentor, until we meet again, when we both can walk a gun line together. You live in my heart and mind and in the books you have given me, the lessons you taught me, and the memories of good times we shared. I will try to live up to your example. The world is a better place for you having been in it."

More Elting Tribute

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