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Napoleon's Infantry Handbook

If not a field marshal’s baton, what did Napoleon’s soldiers really carry in their backpacks? Napoleon’s Infantry Handbook is an essential reference guide, filled with fascinating detail on the training, tactics, equipment, service and administration of Napoleon’s infantry regiments. Based on contemporary training manuals, regulations and orders, Napoleon’s Infantry Handbook details the everyday routines and practices which governed the imperial army up to the Battle of Waterloo and made it one of history’s most formidable military machines. Through years of research, Terry Crowdy has amassed a huge wealth of information on every aspect of the infantryman’s existence, from weapons drill and maintenance, uniform regulations, pay, diet, cooking regulations, hygiene and latrine digging, medical care, burial of the dead, how to apply for leave and so on. This remarkable book fills in the gaps left by campaign histories and even eyewitness memoirs, which often omit such details. This book doesn’t merely recount what Napoleon’s armies did, it explains how they did it. The result is a unique guide to the everyday life of Napoleon’s infantry soldiers.

Hardcover: 288 pages

Publisher: Pen and Sword (March 19, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1783462957

ISBN-13: 978-1783462957

Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.5 x 9.5 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #1,192,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #227 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Antiques & Collectibles > Military #314 in Books > History > Military > Napoleonic Wars #1713 in Books > History > Military > Weapons & Warfare > Conventional

This is a most interesting and handy book to have in your personal library. It is clearly written and divided into categories that are easily found within the book. There are thirty-two chapters divided into eight sections or 'parts.' A myriad of topics are covered from organization and tactics, garrison and field service, uniforms, colors, recruiting, and military discipline. The narrative is crisp, easy to follow and understand, and this volume is both an accomplishment and a useful addition to the literature on the period, and specifically on the infantry arm of the Grande Armee.I do have a few problems with it, however, though of generally minor points. Some of the English translations of French military terms are awkward, such as using 'under-officer' instead of the more accurate NCO when translating the French term 'sous-officier.' In military English, the term used is non-commissioned officer, NCO, and should have been used here. The use of 'peloton' instead of 'company' for an infantry company in the tactical sense is somewhat awkward, as well as pedantic. Peloton is used in the French Reglement of 1791 and elsewhere, but making a point of stating that the infantry company 'was an administrative sub-unit of a [French infantry] battalion is hair-splitting and adds to the confusion in attempting to understand French infantry tactics. A much better explanation can be found in John Elting's Sowrds Around A Throne, which is a thoroughorganizational study of the Grande Armee and includes all of the arms and services.The use of the English 'translation' 'Petty Staff' for some of the junior members of a infantry regimental staff seems to demean those members, because of the common use of the term 'petty.

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