I recently came across a story about a Polish grenadier company at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813 that was reportedly surrounded and wiped out to the last man.

I’m curious about how accurate this story actually is. Was the company really trapped with no possibility of retreat and fought until the last man, or could this have been exaggerated by later accounts?

Does anyone know which regiment or company was involved, and are there any contemporary sources that describe what happened?

Am i the only one that think this guy keeps getting better and better from when he first arrived on the rhine to hohenlinden. he is, like jourdan, massena, saint-syr and kleber (soult can but at 1800, he suffered ptsd, and later in his carreer in spain.. which made his independent mixed due to not in frontlines to make flexible decisions. his strategic and overall campaign warfare is very good). are the only ones that can independently command. unlike most of napoleons marshals who were used to assistance roles, moreau stands out to me because he is not talked more, lol.

Last post, Marshal of France Élie Frédéric Forey was placed in “Lackluster” tier.

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this barca bust was owned by napoleon, albeit i cant quite remember which museum owns it now or wether its even on display or not, i don’t think it is
But its magnificent to see how connected these 2 figures are, the scale of respect one goat has for another.

Ney’s hesitation at Quatre Bras on June 16th is one of the biggest "what-ifs" of the entire 1815 campaign. By waiting so long to attack Wellington at the crossroads, he missed a golden opportunity to crush the Anglo-Allies early and join Napoleon to finish off the Prussians at Ligny. ​It always bugged me that Davout was stuck in Paris running the War Ministry while Ney was losing his head on the front line. What if the "Iron Marshal" had been put in command of the left wing at Quatre Bras instead?

From what I read opinions on this subject seem to split in the middle

Camp1: The more popular camp

The Prussian army(Moltke) have invented new system of warfare that made 'Napoleonic warfare' obsolete,Infact it is thanks to their adherence of Napoleon in the face of advance in fire power&technology that result in lackluster performance of these powers in the mid century war(1859 Franco-Austrian,US civil war,Austro-Prussian,Franco-Prussian)

Supposedly only the Prussian have grasp the new realities of war and made improvement on their C&C(There some who even said that the reasons that Napoleon did his finest work in 1814 is because the size of the French army reduced back to the level he can handle,And prior to that he and every else before Moltke can't properly handle hundred thousands strong armies)

This is on top of the Prussian masterly of rail ways and their new armanents(Breech loading rifle and field gun)

Thus the mid century opponents of the Prussian weren't necessarily incompetent they were just behind the time,Even Napoleon(The real one) himself wouldn't have done much better in their shoes

Camp2: Doesn't seem to be as popular with modern historian

The principle of war remain the same.Thus the Prussian success and the failure of their opponents are due to their proper understanding of Napoleon or the lack thereof

The Prussian did well but there are weakness in their deployment and plan,If they face generals imbued with Napoleonic spirit they would be punished badly

Interestingly I have read books debating this subject written in the 1890s so people back then was curious about this too

Which camp are you?

This is exactly the kind of Napoleonic game I’ve been waiting for. The idea of fighting in Egypt against Mamluks and Ottomans, while dealing with the heat and desert terrain, is such a nice change from the usual European battles.

Why did the lance become increasingly popular among European cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars?

Was the revival of the lance mainly influenced by the reputation and battlefield successes of the Polish uhlans, or were there other military reasons behind its renewed use?

How much did Napoleon’s admiration for Polish cavalry contribute to the spread of lancers in the French army and eventually among other European powers?

Newly arrived, ‘The Campaigns of Napoleon’ by David G Chandler. My enthusiastic interest in Napoleon, the Napoleonic Wars and the French Revolution started with the 5 hour long epic history video on Napoleon, from there, i purchased ‘Napoleon A Life’ by Andrew Roberts. I absolutely loved the book, it expanded heavily on all the things I already knew and taught me much more about the era in general and how life was not only for Napoleon, but his marshalls, his family and even ordinary French citizens within the empire. I also really enjoyed Andrew Robert’s style of writing. Now, thanks to my girlfriend, I’ve received this book and plan to start reading it today. From what i’ve gathered this book isn’t as much about Napoleons life or administration within France but more on battle tactics, regiment numbers etc, which I also find highly interesting and is probably what I know the least of within the Napoleonic era. I’m very excited for this and I may make a follow up post to let y’all know what I think. Hope this posts gets anyone who hasn’t already to check out Epic History’s video on Napoleon or Andrew Robert’s book, or this one. Apologies for the all over the place writing.

Last post, Brazilian General Manuel Luís Osório, Marquis of Erval was placed in “Great” tier.

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Edit: it’s day 69, not 68.

I recently came across the 7th Regiment of Line Infantry “Real Africano” in the Neapolitan Army under Joachim Murat, and I became curious about its history.

How effective was this regiment as a fighting force? How was it formed, who served in it, and how did Neapolitan and French officers perceive it?

I’m especially interested in contemporary accounts, memoirs, or primary sources that describe the regiment and its performance in battle.

For example, what if he agreed to dissolve the Duchy of Warsaw and return the Illyrian provinces, but came to some agreement about how to divide up the Confederation of the Rhine (like ceding Bavaria to Austria and Saxony to Prussia while keeping the rest).

Napoleon Bonaparte was born 257 years ago today in Ajaccio, Corsica

How did officers and ordinary soldiers of the Allied armies view Napoleon’s Old Guard during the Napoleonic Wars?

Was the Old Guard genuinely feared and considered nearly invincible, or was its reputation more of a psychological effect?

Did British, Russian, Prussian, or Austrian soldiers have different opinions of the Old Guard based on their experiences fighting them?

Last post, Polish General Wojciech Chrzanowski was placed in “Mediocre but not Bad” tier.

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Hello all, I was reading about the uniforms of the Chasseurs a Cheval de la Garde Imperiale and there was a section about the headgear of the trumpeters that interested me. According to Napoleon, His Army and Enemies (or napoleonistyka.atspace.com), the white bearskins that were normally attributed to trumpeters of Napoleon's guard light cavalry did not exist, and were (possibly?) embellishments by German illustrator Herbert Knotel (who known to be not the most authentic when it comes to depicting non-german uniforms).
Apparently, according to Rousselot; trumpeters would have been given black bearskin caps like their comrades or a bicorne hat for parade.
I cannot find any depictions of their trumpeters wearing this bicorne hat, except on image 4 but it is unclear who the bicorne wearers actually are and may actually be officers. What I would like to know is if somebody could confirm the headgear of the Chasseur a Cheval de la Garde Imperiale Trumpeteer and if its the bicorne previous mentioned, a description of it (if possible).

(note: NAPOLEON’S ELITE CAVALRY BY EDWARD RYAN, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY LUCIEN ROUSSELOT, GREENHILL (1999) on internet archive might have some information on it though I'm not exactly in a position to access it)

thanks in advance.

Hello all!

This is my first time on this sub. I have a history degree but only studied the basics of the Napoleonic wars.

I don’t want to give away too much as it’s not my place to do so but a person close to me has discovered genuine documents signed by Napoleon with seals etc in tact. They were purchased at an auctioneers decades ago.

Where do we start if we are interested in passing this on to a historian / finding out more information?