Napoleon as a general

Author(s)

    • Riley, J. P. (Jonathon P.)

Bibliographic Information

Napoleon as a general

Jonathon Riley

Hambledon Continuum , Bloomsbury Academic, 2007

Other Title

Napoleon as a general : command from the battlefield to grand strategy

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-220) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

'In war, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns. Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or peril...' ("Sun Tzu The Art of War"). We speak of Caesar who conquered Gaul, not the legions; MacArthur who landed at Inchon, not the Marines - and we speak of Napoleon, one of history's most successful generals. Major General Jonathon Riley is supremely well qualified to write on Napoleon's generalship and has written an informed and insightful account. He opens with a short treatise on generalship in order to define Napoleon's achievement before moving on to the man himself. He examines Napoleon as a strategist; as a coalition commander; Napoleon's campaigns and Napoleon on the battlefield. Areas often ignored in the context of pre-industrial warfare - logistics and counter-insurgency - are also examined. Riley proceeds to three specific case studies beginning with Napoleon's first essay in generalship and the conquest of Piedmont; Napoleon at the height of his powers at the conquest of Prussia, to Napoleon's final defeats and the Battle of the Nations in 1813.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter 1: Generalship
  • Chapter 2: Napoleon as Strategist
  • Chapter 3: Napoleon as Coalition General
  • Chapter 4: Campaigning - Napoleon and Operational Art
  • Chapter 5: Napoleon on the Battlefield
  • Chapter 6: Counter-Insurgency and Rear Area Security
  • Chapter 7: Logistics, Pillage and Plunder
  • Chapter 8: The Mask of Command - Napoleon's Personal Character in his Generalship
  • Chapter 9: Exporting Revolution 1793-1797 - Napoleon's First Essay in Generalship
  • Chapter 10: Conquest of Prussia 1806 - Napoleon at the Height of his Powers
  • Chapter 11: From the Congress of Prague to the Battle of the Nations 1813 - The Beginning of the End.

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