"1814 in France" Topic

Can anyone suggest some good books on the 1814 Campaign in France? After reading Chandler I was looking for a bit more information.

My long time gaming foe and I thought it would be "fun" to do a series of games based on the 1814 battles – especially those involving the Prussians.

An excellent "eye-candy" book is Hourtoulle's 1814---lots of pics and uniform plates. The campaign and battle analysis is middling at best---originally pub in French, and I think something was misplaced in translation!

Also an older book on the campaign, prob pub in 80s---can't think of the name---it's a large format book, but has some nice battle maps.

And there is Petre's book on the 184 campaign. Suffers from the old fashioned writing style (written in the late 1800's IIRC), but essential reading.

Mike

Mike

Thanks for the tips. The nameless book with good battle maps sounds like just the sort of book I'm after!

James

"The Fall of Napoleon" by Leggiere (2007) deals with the 1813 and 1814 campaigns with particular attention paid to the places where napoleon wasn't. I have only started it but it seems pretty good.

James, The "old fashioned writing style" of Petre I find clear and concise. Napoleon At Bay – The Campaign in France 1814 is a "must" source. And if I may, Theodore A. Dodge's Napoleon, Vol 4, was written at roughly the same time and is also very enjoyable read. In fact I recommend all of Dodge's works on the Great Captains. The Napoleon vols are available in soft cover, new, for around $30. USD

The Emperor is supposed to be starting a series by Nafziger any day now. He usually has lots of detailed info that the gamer can use.

Honestly, the best info on this campaign (a favorite) I got from MAWWEB -- for a month's subscription ($20?) I downloaded countless articles -- scenarios, OBs, uniforms, maps, eyewitness accounts, you name it.

magweb.com

The best came from First Empire Magazine, but also tons of other stuff -- Napoleon's Battles scenarios, campaign games (some based on Kevin Zucker's game, NAPOLEON AT BAY -- you can pick that up, or the better SIX DAYS OF GLORY (super, 18th century style map) at Noble Knight Games easily for a song.)

I'm not sure how much it is now, but's much cheaper and much, much better value than the books. (Petre's interesting and pithy, but uninterested in gritty details…OBs, tactical maps, etc. Deals only generally with these.)

Napoleon and the Campaign of 1814 France – Houssaye
Napoleon at Bay 1814 – F. Loraine Petre
History of the Campaign in France in the Year 1814 – A. Mikhailofsky-Danielefsky
Imperial Sunset, The Fall of Napoleon, 1813-14 – R.F. Delderfield

These are the books I own with Chandler's book also.

Shane

oohh, and

1814, The Campaign for France – Hourtoulle

You can also try Memoirs of the Invasion of France in 1814 by Baron Fain.

Sincerely,
Kevin

A book of interest may be as follows:

"Napoleon: The Last Campaigns 1813-1815" by James Lawford published in New York by Crown Publishers Inc. in 1979 (I believe the original was Roxby Press in 1977).

It gives a few schematic maps of the battles, a generalized notion of corps sizes and some campaign/battle info. It is a nice book to start with if you can find it.

Erik

UCBS, I posed the question to G. Nafziger about whether or not he would be doing a volume on the 1814 campaign. Apparently, it's in the hands of the publisher waiting to go to press. It would be a nice addition to the volumes listed above. Also, I have a boardgame for the 1814 campaign buried in a box. I'll have to dig it out. I don't recall how detailed it was, but it may have some useful info.

Just to add to the list:

"Napoleon- La campagne de France" by Jean Tranie and J.C. Carmigniani (Pygmalion, 1989)- Another good "eye-candy" book if you can find it (it is in French and is lavishly illustrated. It may be hard to find, but you may come across it in a library or a good used bookshop.

IIRC, there was also a good, in-depth series of articles in the old Empires, Eagles and Lions magazine about the campaign against the Army of Silesia- maybe someone out there has more details.

Zamoyski's 'The Rites Of Peace' concentrates on the diplomatic side but it is a great read.
There is a lot of information that could be used to give your battles a background & a connexion with one another. Hence, does Schwarzenburg's Austrians et al press home a victory? Why might Blucher hesitate to attack? etc.
If you've ever wondered why Napoleon simply didn't give up in 1814, this shows how he had a real chance to bounce back after the Russian debacle & even as the Allies invaded France, a French triumph was not impossible.
Zamoyski is also very readable.
donald

Houssaye's 1814 work (in English) and another by Maycock are available as free downloads on the Internet Archive site.

Shane,

Imperial Sunset, The Fall of Napoleon, 1813-14 – R.F. Delderfield

That's a great book mate. Can't recall how good the history is but it's really a terrific read. I'd love to get a copy as I've only ever read public library ones but you never seem to see it around (it is pretty old).

You just reminded me how much I enjoyed reading it!

Trajanus,

It was republished in paperback some years ago. I'd try abebooks.com if you'd like a copy. Anything by Delderfield is a good read.

Sincerely,
K

Delderfield's "Seven Men of Gascony" was one of the first novels I ever read, and helped to foster an interest in all things Napoleonic that has never abated.

I tip my shako to his memory.

Yes Stavka what a lovely read "Seven Men of Gascony" is and I still have it after over 35 years. Must get his 1814 one now. Is he dead? If so RIP and a toast to his memory.
Very informative thread here.
Hourtoulle is neat, got that and Chandler.

campaigner,

Yes, Delderfield is long gone. Couldn't remeber when so I looked him up and his dates were February 12, 1912 – June 24, 1972.

Seven Men of Gascony is 58 years old apprently. Where as Imperial Sunset is a mere slip of a lad at 36!