Marengo and Hohenlinden:
Napoleon's Rise to Power

Book Review

Reviewed by Nicholas P. Goursky

By James R. Arnold
Published by James R. Arnold, 301 pp

On May 26, 1800 the vanguard of the armée de réserve attacked Austrian positions holding the line of the little Chiusella River. In James Arnold's description of the day's events (p. 105), we read the following romantic passage:

On May 26, 1800 the vanguard of the Armée de réserve attacked Austrian positions holding the line of the little Chiusella River. In James Arnold's description of the day's events (p. 105), we read the following romantic passage:"Looming in the smoke behind the squares was a mounted party of French officers. Although the La Tour Dragoons did not immediately recognize them [sic], they included army commander Berthier, corps commander Duhesme, and divisional commander Boudet. And there as well was First Consul Bonaparte."

We seek in vain for the footnote explaining how the author manages to situate Berthier and Bonaparte at Lannes' forcing of the Chiusella. Unfortunately, there is none to be found and, on the evidence, it is really highly unlikely that they were present (See: Napoleon I, Correspondance, # 4848, Vol. VI, pp.315 - 316; de Cugnac, Campagne de l'armée de reserve en 1800, Vol. I pp. 526 - 527, Vol. II, pp. 9 - 20 and particularly p. 20, n. 3). This is only one of many unsubstantiated contentions that Arnold makes in his new study of the Marengo campaign.

In this book, it would appear, footnotes are reserved, almost exclusively, for quotations. The reader is left to accept, on faith alone, the accuracy of Arnold's narrative; in view of the little flaws he has so liberally sprinkled throughout the text, this is unsafe. Thus, we read " ...divisions commanded by Jacques-Antoine Chambarlhac and Gaspard-Amédée Gardanne marched through Paris ..." in the early spring of 1800. This could not be so, and for quite interesting reasons that Arnold overlooks. Gardanne, former governor of Alexandria (in Piedmont), was besieged and captured by the Austrians in 1799. An unexchanged prisoner on parole, Gardanne was ineligible to serve against the Austrians until formally exchanged (ironically for General Mack who had fled his Neapolitan command after his own soldiers threatened to kill him -- they must have known something). He was not appointed to the Armée de réserve until April 29th (after the events Arnold describes above) and his division was not formed till June 5th. (Six, Dictionnaire Biographique, Vol. I pp. 482 - 483; de Cugnac, Op. Cit. Vol. II, pp. 173 - 174; Napoleon, Correspondance, # 4678, Vol. VI p. 192 to Gardanne regarding his status and # 4732, Vol. VI, pp. 233 - 236 on the composition of the Armée de réserve on April 26th, 1800). These are not difficult sources to find and, since Arnold lists them in his bibliography, he has no excuse for getting caught out with such alarming regularity. To list all the little errors in Arnold's book would be tedious; in most cases they are trivial but annoying, somewhat on the order of his mastery of English prose ("On a smaller scale Suchet did the same, including a brilliant surprise attack out of the fog that enveloped a mountain top redoubt and captured 1,200 men. Struggle as they might, superior Austrian numbers told." [p. 70]).

A constant irritant is his insistence of pluralising cannon with a superfluous 's'. Usage of proper nouns is inconsistent: in his text, for example, Arnold uses, for a time, Plaisance for Piacenza, then, for reasons unknown, changes to the Italian form. Elsewhere he uses the French Tessin for the river Ticino which appears on his maps as Tincio. And speaking of maps, it is here that we find an egregious error. In his chapter on Hohenlinden, Arnold's tactical maps are rotated 90 degrees to the left, but their compass roses are not, bravely indicating east as being north. Though Arnold is in good company here (on page 200 of Chandler's Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars we find the same mistake), such a blunder is unacceptable. It illustrates the sloppiness that undermines the book's credibility while perhaps underlining the pitfalls of self-publishing: This book would have benefited enormously from a good edit and proof-reading.

Marengo and Hohenlinden contains 11 subdivided chapters followed by appendices (OOBs for the two battles, an essay on numbers and losses, and a section on what became of a selection of officers) and a bibliography. The narrative portion divides naturally into three sections: introduction and background (Chapters I - III), the campaign and battle of Marengo (chapters IV - VIII) and Moreau's German campaign and its consequences (chapters IX - XI). Bonaparte's campaign occupies pride of place, naturally, but Moreau's minuet with the Archduke John receives adequate attention. Arnold's description of Hohenlinden is fairly detailed, but at first slightly confusing because of his mishap with the maps. Once this is understood, however, things become clear and the reader is fairly well able to follow the development of this complex and interesting battle.

This is fortunate, as the only other English-language account of Hohenlinden that is readily available is Colonel Furse's 1903 Marengo and Hohenlinden which devotes only six pages to the events of 3 December, 1800. For those who read French, of course, there is Ernest Picard's authoritative Hohenlinden (1909) with its superb 1:50,000 maps. Arnold's account will probably remain the best available in English until someone produces a new monograph on the subject.

The physical layout of the book is attractive, it is well-supplied with maps (although, as mentioned, some of these are problematic), and contains interesting -- if sometimes obscure -- illustrations.

The orders of battle are clearly presented and appear to be about as accurate as the sources permit. Not all French Demi-brigades possessed three battalions, as we are told, and Arnold overestimates the number of guns the French had available at Marengo, (on the evidence, probably 19 or 20 pieces), but all in all, useful information is to be found here. If you know nothing of Marengo and Hohenlinden, this book will provide the basics, embellished by some questionable 'facts'. If you are already knowledgeable on these subjects, avoid it; it will only make you cross.

Author! Author!

James Arnold Responds

by James Arnold

"It is probably counter-productive to argue with Mr. Goursky's "factual criticisms." Let us just take his first dispute regarding Bonaparte's presence at Chiusella. Among my sources for this assertion is "Itineraire de Napoleon au jour de jour" by Jean Tulard and Louis Garros published by Tallandier in 1992. As you probably know, these gentlemen are considered two of the Napoleonic giants in France. For their entry on May 26, 1800 (p. 158) they write (and I translate) that "Bonaparte left Verres at 13h" and participated "in the combat of Chiusella. Bonaparte, Duhesme, Boudet are behind the 40e demi-brigade. When suddenly menaced, they drew their swords. The First Consul returned to Ivree at 18h."

More Old Duffer's Book Corner (book reviews)

Marengo and Hohenlinden: Napoleon's Rise to Power Book Review.

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