"Gustav II Adolf as the commander" Topic

A‭s it is co‭nsi‭der‭ed, Nap‭oleo‭n attri‭but‭ed Gus‭tav t‭o o‭ne of se‭ven gr‭eat com‭ma‭nd‭ers. Howe‭ver on the isl‭and Sa‭int Hel‭ena Na‭poleo‭n said that Gu‭s‭tav re‭ceiv‭ed this gl‭or‭y to‭o e‭asy‭ pric‭e. Als‭o he s‭ai‭d th‭at Ti‭lly an‭d W‭alle‭nstein w‭er‭e be‭tte‭r co‭mma‭‭nd‭ers th‭an the Sw‭edi‭sh kin‭g.
I‭s it tr‭ue tha‭t Na‭po‭leon‭ consi‭dere‭d the ki‭ng as th‭e gr‭eat co‭mma‭nd‭er?
I‭s it re‭al, or is it m‭yth?
Is the‭re any oth‭er cir‭cu‭ms‭tan‭ce‭s?
Ma‭ny th‭an‭ks.

Maybe he had time in exile to reconsider his opinion?

It's from Gaspard Gourgaud's books based on his letters and talks with Napoleon while on St. Helena

The first Napoleon quote reads like this in English, is though there are slight variations to it depending on the translator.

"Just look at the man men call the great Gustavus!
In eighteen months he won one battle, lost another, and
was killed in the third! His fame was assuredlygained
at a cheap rate."

("cheap rate" is often quoted as "bargain rate", not sure what the original french word used was)

While the Tilly & Wallenstein comment is probably this one

" Now look at Gustavus, whom history exalts
as an extraordinary man, and history very likely will say

nothing about us Civilians cannot write about a

battle. (…) Tilly and Wallenstein were better generals than
Gustavus Adolphus. There is no very able military
movement recorded of the Swedish King. He quitted
Bavaria because of the strategic movements of Tilly,
which forced him to evacuate the country, and he let
Magdeburg be captured before his very eyes. There's a
splendid reputation for you!

In this quote he is clearly emotional because he believes that he will not be remembered by history while Gustavus has a famous name which clearly has an impact on his conclusion.

Gustavus actually fought 5 battles during the period of 18 months mentioned by Napoleon, he won 3, lost 1 and was killed in the fifth and last battle. (Gustavus total campaign time in Germany was a bit more than 28 months during which he commanded in 9 battles, major actions and large assaults.)

The 2nd quote is fascinating since neither of the two examples of poor performance that Napoleon charges Gustavus with is correct. Tilly never forced Gustavus to leave Bavaria, Gustavus defeated Tilly at the battle of Rain am Lech in 1632 during which Tilly was mortally wounded and then proceeded to overrun Bavaria except for a few fortresses.

Nor was Magdeburg captured before the very eyes of Gustavus, he and the Swedish army was in Potsdam some 126 kilometers away. Not to mention that Gustavus at the time only had 6300 cavalry and 9050 infantry while Tilly commanded 7050 cavalry and 25100 infantry at Magdeburg and Dessau.

And in the end Napoleon still included Gustavus in his list of "Great Captains" worthy of study while not saying a word about Tilly or Wallenstein in that text. But this famous list and Napoleons evaluations of the commanders in it is both arbitrary and rather subjective. For example he leaves out the Duke of Marlborough while including Eugene of Savoy and never once mentions the misstakes and defeats of Turenne even though those were far worse than any made by Gustavus. (Turenne managed to get his army surprised, routed and destroyed in 1645 for example, a defeat far worse than any suffered by Gustavus)

As we all know, every exceptional general should be allowed to roll bad dice once in a while.

T‭h‭a‭n‭k y‭o‭u v‭e‭r‭y m‭u‭c‭h, D‭a‭n‭i‭e‭l.
I k‭n‭o‭w t‭h‭a‭t t‭h‭i‭s o‭r‭i‭g‭i‭n‭a‭l f‭r‭e‭n‭c‭h w‭o‭r‭d‭s w‭e‭r‭e "b‭o‭n m‭a‭r‭c‭h‭é."
M‭a‭y‭b‭e N‭a‭p‭o‭l‭e‭o‭n m‭e‭a‭n‭t t‭h‭e m‭o‭s‭t p‭o‭p‭u‭l‭a‭r g‭e‭n‭e‭r‭a‭l‭s b‭e‭f‭o‭r‭e h‭i‭m.

This is how Napoleon describes his selection,

"The principles of war are those which
have regulated the great captains whose deeds
have been handed down to us by history:
Alexander', Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus Adol-
phus, Turenne, Prince Eugene, Frederic the
Great, &c.

Alexander conducted eight campaigns, dur-
ing Which he conquered Asia and part of In-
dia ; Hannibal, seventeen, one in Spain,- fifteen
in Italy, and one in Africa; Caesar, thirteen,
eight against the (Gauls, and five against Pompey's
legions ; Gustavus Adolphus, three, one
in Livonia against the Russians, and two in Ger-
many against the House of Austria ; Turenne
commanded in eighteen, nine in France, and
fiici^ in Germany; Prince Eugene of Savoy
in thirteen, two against the Turks, five in Italy
against France, and six on the Rhine, or in
Flanders; Frederic conducted eleven, in Silesia,
in Bohemia, and on the banks of the Elbe.
The history of these eighty-eight campaigns,
carefully written, would be a complete treatise
on the art of war ; the principles which ought
to be followed in offensive and defensive war,
would flow from it spontaneously.