by Andrew W. Field
Croydon, UK: Pen and Sword, 2012. Pp. x, 310.
Illus., maps, diagr., appends., notes, biblio., index. $50.00. ISBN: 1781590435
The French View of the “Nearest Run Thing“ at Waterloo
This is the companion volume to Field’s Prelude to Waterloo: Quatre Bras, The French Perspective. As he did for Quatre Bras, in this work Field delves into considerable
detail
on the organization, command, and
the operations and tactics of the French
Army during the decisive battle at Waterloo, two days after the twin battles of Quatre Bras and Ligny
.
Using
French soldiers’ accounts
, Field
makes
a compelling case for the narrowness of the margin between victory and defeat at Waterloo.
He also
presents evidence disproving
the contention often
found in
British accounts that the French “came on in the same old way, and were beaten in the same old way.” The French are shown to have introduced new tactics
,
including the famous Divisional Column used by d’Erlon’s I Corps
,
specifically designed to
defeat the British dispositions
. These tactics might have broken Wellington’s army
were it
not for the intervention of the Prussian Army late on the afternoon of June 18th on the French right at Placenoit.
Field also dissects the important decisions of Napoleon, Marshal Ney, and other high-level French officers that shaped the campaign, in this way clearing up many questions regarding the mistakes that led the French Army to defeat at Waterloo
, perhaps most notably
Ney
’s
the disastrous massed cavalry charges
or the wholly unnecessary waste of troops at Hougomont.
In conjunction with the Quatre Bras volume (and a hoped for Ligny one as well), Field helps us understand
Wellington called Waterloo “the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life” and gain a
greater
appreciation for the
abilities of
Napoleon’s Arm
ée du Nord
in 1815
--Alexander Stavropoulos
Our Reviewer
: Dr. Alexander Stavropoulos received his Ph.D. in History from the CUNY Graduate Center in 2013. Currently an Adjunct Professor at Kingsborough Community College, CUNY, his previous reviews for StrategyPage include .
Prelude to Waterloo: Quatre Bras: The French Perspective
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