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Originally Posted by scott free
The Men of Waterloo: Sutherland - Extremely enjoyable read on a subject i didnt know much about until now, i feel like a real smartass now. But yeah, just learning about this and the men involved was really cool. Wellington, while brilliant, was a bastard of a man to his men, loved to dole out very harsh punishments for minor infractions, despised most of them to his core, thought "most enlisted for the drink (booze)", same feelings went for many of his officers, particularly artillerymen, though he depended heavily on them.
This man was quite the elitist snob and in later years hated and opposed pretty much any kind of modern reforms, both for the military and civilian govt... absolutely hated the thought of the hoi polloi having access to a ballot box.
Napoleon in contrast, wasnt just popular with his men, he was practically worshipped as a god, just the sight of him would rouse his men to extreme acts of bravery... he personified charisma. But what got him at Waterloo, though he felt a genuine affection for all of them, was a kind of disregard for the lives of his men... instead of working complicated flanking maneuvers that had won him so many battles in the past, he had started to rely on full frontal charges that wasted huge amounts of his manpower, his men would charge ahead more than willingly, but too many were wasted for no reason.
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Sounds like a good book.
I always respected Napoleon. He is very much misunderstood, mostly because he lost and the winners write the history.
I have always believed that Napoleon's ultimate goal was less megalomania, and more an ideal vision to create a United States of Europe - under French Imperial dictatorship of course. But everywhere he conquered, he built roads, founded schools, improved sanitation and water delivery, and supported the arts. He cared about Merit above all else, which is why he had the first black General - Thomas-Alexandre Dumas.
Meanwhile, you know that the British were all about Monarchy and station. The officers bought in to the army and bought their own uniforms and arms. So it was all about station for the officers of the British army. No wonder they looked down their noses at the conscripts. For them it was all about the Divine Right to command and the only world they knew was one of class stratification, the way the French Revolution tried to emulate the American Revolution.
I'll have to add that book to my Kindle list. It sounds compelling. Thanks.