I've just finished reading "The War of Wars", by Robert Harvey, which recount the history of the Napoleonic Wars. It was a very interesting, although lengthy read, and strangely, contrary to the writers intention I'm sure, I felt some sympathy for Napoleon by the end of the book and was actually hoping he'd win Waterloo, which was never going to happen. It was however a near run thing.
The Napoleonic Wars produced many memorable characters though, and it would seem that the greatest are largely forgotten. Take for instance the Scotsman Thomas Cochrane who was a far more talented, courageous and successful naval commander than Nelson ever was, but was despised and even betrayed by his contemporaries because of his success. On the French side, could there be anyone more amazing on the field of battle than Marshall Ney?
The answer is no, he fought in almost every battle under Napoleon, and unlike Napoleon he was constantly in the thick of it. He fought several amazing rearguard actions when hopelessly outnumbered, especially on the retreat from Moscow, and was apparently the last man out of Russia. The French soldiers called him "the bravest of the brave". Unfortunately, this amazing man was executed by a firing-squad in Paris only several months after Waterloo. Napoleon had held him to blame for the loss of that battle, but as the book clearly indicates, as per usual, the main mistakes were Napoleon's own. He never took the blame for anything though, it was always someone else's mistake!
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