The Fall of Napoleon: Volume 1, The Allied Invasion of France, 1813-1814

706 Pages·2007·8 MB·English

by  Michael V. Leggiere

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MichaeL V. Leggiere

The Fall of Napoleon
CrushingdefeatsinRussia(1812)andGermany(1813)causedthecollapseof
Napoleon’s empire and brought his enemies to the Rhine River at the close
of 1813. With a depleted and exhausted army, Napoleon attempted to direct
thedefenseofhisfrontierfromtheAlpstotheNorthSeawhilehemobilized
France. From Paris, the new Prometheus watched helplessly as his marshals
conducted a headlong retreat from the Rhine to the Marne in less than one
month.ThebreakdownoftheFrenchcommandstructureandoverwhelming
AlliedsuperiorityplacedtheFrenchmarshalschargedwithdefendingtheRhine
inanimpossiblesituation.AlthoughNapoleonneededthemtousetheirscant
forcestomakeadesperatestandontheRhineandawayfromtheadministrative
apparatusthatfedhiswarmachine,themarshalsbelievedtheyhadtotradeland
fortime–theexactoppositeofwhatNapoleonneededtomaintainhiscrown.
Dr. Michael V. Leggiere is an associate professor of history at Louisiana
State University in Shreveport. He received his Ph.D. from Florida State
University in April 1997 after studying at the Institute of the French
Revolution and Napoleon under the direction of D. D. Howard. He is also
an adjunct professor of strategy and policy for the United States Naval War
College’s distance education program, where he teaches strategy and policy
during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. His book, Napoleon
andBerlin:TheFranco-PrussianWarinNorthGermany,1813(2002),wonthe
Socie´te´ Napole´onienneInternationale’s2002LiteraryAward.Dr.Leggierehas
publishednumerousessaysonvariousaspectsofNapoleonichistory,Prussian
militaryhistory,andtheGermanWarsofLiberation.Hisarticle,“FromBerlin
toLeipzig:Napoleon’sGambleinNorthGermany,1813,”whichappearedin
the January 2003 volume of the Journal of Military History, won the Society
for Military History’s 2004 Moncado Prize for Excellence in the Writing of
MilitaryHistory.In2005,hereceivedlaSocie´te´ Napole´onienneInternationale
LegionofMeritAwardforOutstandingContributionstoNapoleonicStudies.

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The Fall of Napoleon
Volume 1
The Allied Invasion of France, 1813–1814
MICHAEL V. LEGGIERE
LouisianaStateUniversityinShreveport
cambridgeuniversitypress
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(cid:1)C MichaelV.Leggiere2007
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Firstpublished2007
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Leggiere,MichaelV.,1969–
TheFallofNapoleon/MichaelV.Leggiere.
p. cm.–(Cambridgemilitaryhistories)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn 978-0-521-87542-4(hardback)
1.France–History–Invasionof1814. 2.NapoleonicWars,1800–1815–Campaigns–
France. 3.NapoleonI,EmperoroftheFrench,1769–1821–Militaryleadership.
I.Title. II.Series.
dc238.l44 2007
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ForMichele,lovingwifeanddevotedfriend