Old Duffer's Book Corner

The Wars of Napoleon

Charles Esdaile for Longman

From the Imbibing Bibliophile himself

Another in the Modern Wars in Perspective Series. Esdaile is well aware that certain military areas of the wars have been "done to death" but is also aware that this coverage has been very narrow (if only it were correspondingly deep dear Reader). There are whole areas of diplomatic, social and economic history missing which in turn inform the military situation at the Empires In Arms level. Esdaile's background (in that he has published most in it) is the Spanish Campaign from the Spanish point-of-view so he cannot be described as an "anti-military historian".

To start at the beginning; the personalities of wargamers are such that they often seem attracted to men of power, and Napoleon has the major advantage (like Alexander) that he was not a racist (he would kill anybody). That he was short and still managed to romp lusty lovelies fills another need. That he rose from comparative obscurity and by the force of his will and intellect ruled a great empire makes him an appealing middle-class role-model. None of this playing hearty sports shit with our Corsican Chum, Mr Weedy takes control and bullies the bullies. Even better anarchists like myself can take a perverse pleasure in watching the status quo rudely interrupted even if ultimately by a totalitarian regime. Finally, the volksgeist seems to imply that Napoleon brought an invigorating freedom to some parts of Europe - read Stendael for this. So to lots of the readers of this magazine Napoleon will be an immensely appealing character. To Charlie Esdaile he is properly a great bad man (as the impudent Clarendon said of Lord Protector Cromwell), Napoleon had the opportunity to halt the wars. He persisted in moving forward, pushing ever further outward, enraging Europe and debilitating France. Eventually, he went too far in Russia, refused (insanely) to politick his way out of that and fell. There are many opportunities for peace and Esdaile believes it was Napoleon who blindly refused to take them. I believe he makes a telling case.

Other large themes covered include the theory that Napoleon was beaten by the nation in arms. Esdaile thinks not, nor does he believe that the Allies beat Napoleon by taking up his army's doctrines. In Spain the guerrilla movement is seen as part of an internal war between monarchist-catholics (traditionalist in religion but anti-nobility in politics) and liberal-whigs (anti-Catholic, but keen on retaining power in the hands of the great) which appealingly is traced to the 1930s. (So the reason the Spanish behave so "oddly" in the Peninsula Campaign is that they are really many armies). The German rising is seen as espoused only by Prussia and then only as long as necessary to kick the thieving Frenchies out of Germany. Tactically, Esdaile believes that the Allies switched to column warfare not because it was the best but for the same reason as the French - because they lacked trained armies after Napoleon had bashed them about in the campaigns to 1809. He notes that the "people's armies" of Spain usually were beaten and the reactionary 18th century British were tactically superior to all the new techniques (the strategic lack of numbers in the corollary of this strength).

Although Esdaile usually comes down on the side of the "It was less Revolutionary than you think" Party he works through the full gamut of the wars. The use of the department system of provincial government for example seems to have been a successful export. But hanging over it all is that strange fact that after centuries of legitimist rule in Europe a Corsican adventurer establishes an "ottoman" state that lived by plunder and conquest until he ran out of conquest and perished. Fans of le tondu may find Esdaile's views annoying but I hope that they will give him a read. This is real history compared to the bumptious snot of On Infantry.

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© Copyright 1996 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
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