"Napoleon's Waterloo Army" Topic

Paul L Dawson has just published another book on Waterloo.

link

Pricey

Digby – is that my old wargaming mate Digby from Tauranga?

Yes, of course. How many guys do you know with that name.
But there is Digby Smith (aka Otto von Pivka of Osprey)
Hi Brian, where are you these days.
I'm still here in Tauranga, and I just Facebooked Kim Artus, he is still here too.

I am fine mate. I will contact you via FB and we can have a catch up. I was just thinking about you the other day when I was having a wargame using your old Le General rules. My mates here still give me shite about "Att. Burst. Thg +1"

Paul's books of late have been sensationalism at best, at worst a muddle of facts and inaccuracies, which is a shame, as I'm wanting an authoritative guide to the French army in its final campaign of the Napoleonic wars, I hope this is improved on the recent titles of late.

I agree on one side fantastic material on the other incomprehensible mistakes

I agree I have many of Paul's books and yes fantastic detail,
but poorly presented and edited.
And the detail is presented in a way to support Paul's theories, not in a way that I would want it as a wargamer or amateur historian.

Paul's books of late have been sensationalism at best, at worst a muddle of facts and inaccuracies, which is a shame, as I'm wanting an authoritative guide to the French army in its final campaign of the Napoleonic wars, I hope this is improved on the recent titles of late.

I agree I have many of Paul's books and yes fantastic detail,
but poorly presented and edited.
And the detail is presented in a way to support Paul's theories, not in a way that I would want it as a wargamer or amateur historian.

Agree heartily with both assessments.

What are the inaccuracies?

Stephen, I've added it to the Christmas list, so if Santa is kind I'll let you know if I find any.

I have also been good all year, nice, not naughty and I do happen to know that Santa has a copy for me already…as I accidentally found it hidden at home! Did not open it

For God's (and your) sake don't let Santa know!

Good gracious! Another Waterloo book??
We need Wagram and Aspern-Essling books! Not the Osprey or Thunder on the Danube which did not cover them in enough detail.

Thunder on the Danube is not detailed enough? How so?

I finally got my copy and have found it fascinating. Massive detail from the archives of uniforms and equipment supplied to individual units and a major revision of his "Waterloo; The Truth at Last" where he admits many an error crept in.

There is so much here that destroys many a preconception;

Carabiniers a cheval did not wear the blue coat.
Second rank lancers had lances
11th Cuirassiers had cuirasses
Nobody had yellow lace on their shakos
Drummers in green with Imperial lace were a rarity.
Nothing in a museum can be trusted (some good examples)

I thought it the best of the four books by him on my shelves (and no daft subtitle to it!)

"….destroys many a preconception…"
I didn't even realise there were such preconceptions – my period knowledge is clearly far too shallow?

There is so much here that destroys many a preconception;
Carabiniers a cheval did not wear the blue coat.
Second rank lancers had lances
11th Cuirassiers had cuirasses
Nobody had yellow lace on their shakos
Drummers in green with Imperial lace were a rarity.
Nothing in a museum can be trusted (some good examples)

Didn't these topics apply only to 1815 and the Armee du Nord, which was the subject of the book?

Thanks both.

My preconception is far from expert….but I was assured 11th had no cuirasses (Perrys said so)…..Carabiniers did not wear that white coat (many a source)……

88th of Foot, you must remember some of us believe everything we are told (like Crazy Miranda of Jefferson Airplane, but that was a long time ago)

Brechtel198…yes of course. Apologies if I was not clear enough. Anything here is totally relating to the book's title. 1815 and Armee du Nord…except do not trust museum claimed provenance, for any period!

any news about the bearskin caps supposedly worn by all 4 grenadier and chasseur regiments of the Guard, or the tunic of the Grenadiers à Cheval?

…except do not trust museum claimed provenance, for any period

That would depend, I think, on the museum in question. The French army museum in the Invalides is excellent as is the West Point Museum. The much newer Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico is also world-class.

As for the other comments I've looked some of them up and they are not supported, usually, by anything more than opinion. That being said, I'll have to look them up again to be sure.

The book is very well illustrated and the material taken from the archives is noteworthy. The material in the narrative would have to be verified by other source material in my opinion.

The comment made about Davout is out of place to my mind.

In short, this volume should be used with care.