Napoleon: On War

493 Pages·2015·1.85 MB·English

by  Bruno Colson

NAPOLEON: ON WAR

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Contents
Introduction 1
BOOK I: THE NATURE OF WAR
1. What is War? 17
2. War and Law 28
3. Military Genius 40
4. On Danger in War 57
5. On Physical Effort in War 63
6. Intelligence in War 67
7. Friction in War 72
Conclusion to Book I 77
BOOK II: THE THEORY OF WAR
1. Classifications in the Art of War 81
2. On the Theory of War 86
3. Art of War or Science of War 98
4. Method and Routine 101
5. Critical Analysis 106
6. On Examples 109
Conclusion to Book II 116
BOOK III: ON STRATEGY IN GENERAL
1. Strategy 121
2. Moral Factors 124
3. The Principal Moral Elements 130
4. Military Virtues of the Army 132
vi contents
5. Boldness 141
6. Perseverance 143
7. Superiority of Numbers 145
8. Surprise 150
9. Cunning 153
10. Concentration of Forces in Space 156
11. Unification of Forces in Time 162
12. The Strategic Reserve 165
13. Economy of Force 167
14. The Character of Modern Warfare 169
Conclusion to Book III 170
BOOK IV: THE ENGAGEMENT
1. The Nature of Battle Today 175
2. The Engagement in General 178
3. The Battle: Its Decision 186
4. Mutual Agreement to Fight 190
5. The Principal Battle: Its Decison 192
6. The Principal Battle: The Use of the Battle 195
7. Strategic Means of Exploiting Victory 199
8. Retreat after a Lost Battle 202
Conclusion to Book IV 204
BOOK V: MILITARY FORCES
1. General Survey 209
2. Relationship between the Branches of the Military 210
3. The Army’s Order of Battle 224
4. General Disposition of the Army 229
5. Advance Guards and Outposts 231
6. Operational Use of Advanced Corps 233
7. Camps 236
8. Marches 239
contents vii
9. Supply 244
10. Lines of Communication and Lines of Operation 247
11. Region and Terrain 253
Conclusion to Book V 255
BOOK VI: DEFENCE
1. Attack and Defence 259
2. The Relationship between Attack and Defence in Tactics 261
3. The Relationship between Attack and Defence in Strategy 263
4. The Convergent Character of Attack and the Divergent
Character of Defence 264
5. The Character of Strategic Defence 267
6. The Defensive Battle 269
7. Fortresses 270
8. Defensive Positions 277
9. Fortified Positions and Entrenched Camps 281
10. Defensive Mountain Warfare 285
11. Defence of Rivers and Streams 287
12. Defence of Swamps—Inundations 290
13. The Cordon 291
14. The Key to the Country 293
15. Retreat to the Interior of the Country 294
16. The People in Arms 296
17. Defence of a Theatre of War 299
Conclusion to Book VI 305
BOOK VII: ATTACK
1. Attack in Relation to Defence 309
2. The Nature of Strategic Attack 310
3. The Offensive Battle 312
4. River Crossings 317
5. Attack on Defensive Positions 321
6. Attack on a Mountainous Area 324
viii contents
7. Manoeuvre 327
8. Attack on Fortresses 332
9. Invasion 334
Conclusion to Book VII 349
BOOK VIII: WAR PLANS
1. The Plan of Campaign 353
2. The Military Objective and the Enemy’s Centre of Gravity 357
3. War and Politics 363
4. The Supreme Commander and the Government 368
5. The War Plan when the Objective is the Destruction
of the Enemy 372
Conclusion to Book VIII 377
Conclusion 379
Notes 385
Sources and Bibliography 463
Index 471
Introduction
You do not need to be French to regard Napoleon as the greatest
warrior of all time. He fought as many battles as Alexander the
Great,Caesar,andFrederickIIofPrussiacombined,onterrains,inclimates,
andagainstenemiesthatwereverydifferentfromoneanother.Hismastery
ofmasswarfareandhisabilitytoraise,organize,andequipnumerousarmies
dramatically changed the art of war and marked the beginning of the
modern era. Although his career ended in defeat and exile, this did not
affect the esteem in which even his enemies held his military skills.1
Whereas the reputation of most great military leaders is based on a spec-
tacularsuccessorafewvictories,Napoleonwonalmostallthefiftypitched
battleshefought.2Inaway,officerstheworldoverrecognizethemselvesin
himbecauseheimpartedtothemilitaryprofessionanintellectualbasisand
professionalism still affirmed today. At the same time, both academic and
popularmilitary historyascurrentlyconceivedintheWestwasreally born
with the study of the Napoleonic Wars and the endeavour to draw lessons
for military instruction from them.3 Yet unlike other great commanders
beforehim,suchasMontecucoliandMauricedeSaxe,4Napoleondidnot
write a sustained work on the subject. On several occasions, however, he
entertained such a project. Reflections on war pepper his correspondence,
M(cid:1)emoires,proclamations,andhiswritingsonSaintHelena,wheretheyhave
to be pinned down amid so much else.
This work has already been partially done and given rise to numerous
collectionsof‘maxims’inseverallanguages.OneofthefirstwasbytheCount
of La Roche-Aymon, who had emigrated at the start of the Revolution to
serve in Cond(cid:1)e’s army and then in the Prussian army, before re-joining the
French army under the Restoration with the rank of brigadier-general.5
Other editions followed—in particular, those of Generals Burnod and
HussonundertheSecond Empire.6 Thatregimemadeititsdutytosystem-
atically publish the great man’s words. In addition to the well-known