The artillery train, the wagon train, administration, the medical service, headquarters staff

Officers and Soldiers of The French Imperial Guard

Volume 5. The train, administration, medical service, headquarters staff

With this 5th volume our review of the Imperial Quard ends. The book starts with the follow-up of the chapter about Horse Artillery of the Quard, the units ail too often unloved by the militarian historians : the Artillery Train and the Wagon Train. An army is nothing without logistical support and the Emperor's army would never have been able to conquer Europe without the train drivers whose courage and abnegation, often in very difficult conditions, enabled him to win. Then we look at the Administration of the Quard, whose war commissioners, parade inspectors and personnel, dressed, equiped and supplied the glorious army for fifteen years. We look at the Medical Service which, thanks to the admirable Larrey and his famous mobile ambulances, brought succour to the wounded more quickly and effectively on the battlefields. We finish with the Staff, the indispensable element for the conduct of operations, with the Adjudant-Commandants, their Assistants and their indefatigable aides de camp. Without forgetting the famous Ordnance Officers, overflowing with activity, who were the "eyes" and the "ears" and the "voice" of the Emperor.