Wagram

This battle, an undoubted victory, has not yet become as famous as one might have expected; it was, however, in the opinion of this author, the most beautiful demonstration of Napoleon's genius, his apogee as war lord. The Emperor may be liked or even disliked, the facts have to be accepted and placed in the context of the period. At Wagram, Napoleon's genius was obvious in two very particular ways: the organisation of his armies and his sense of strategy. During this great battle, one has the impression of watching a master craftsman at work, manipulating 200 000 men like chessman across the board, always several moves ahead of his opponent, who was himself no mean adversaries.

It was perhaps the quality of the orders Napoleon gave to his army corps or to his divisions, and the value traditionally ascribed to them, which obscures the actions of the regiments, and those of the soldiers even more. Acts of heroism were diminished a little in the mass of fighting, the contrary of what happened during the terrible confrontation at Essling. What Wagram in fact lacked was those epic qualities so dear to the French.

As a battle, it was too classic, too academic. Among French amateurs, it seems that there is a sort of morbid attraction to the more dramatic defeats in the country's history. How many books have been written about Waterloo, the Retreat from Russia, and in more modern times, June 1940 and Dien Bien Phu. The French adore heroism particularly in defeat. This is no doubt why the author has tried to rehabilitate this victory.

The beginning of the campaign however was rather bad. In Europe, Napoleon was bogged down in all sorts of difficulties when the Austrians decided to prepare for a large-scale offensive.

The English had suggested that this was an opportune moment and provided them with the necessary subsidies. Napoleon was incredibly active using his exceptional organisational skills. He sorted out the smallest details and constituted regiments from the fourth depot battalions of the regiments in Spain.

He also organised the army in Italy, his German allies and Poniatowski's Poles, and asked the Russians to help him threaten Galicia; but Alexander was turning out to be a poor ally and did not react.