Jump to content

Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo


Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...

In another thread sburke writes:

 

"Corsican, smorsican, it was the FRENCH EMPIRE!

 

Though one of the best meals I ever had was a Corsican restaurant in Paris.

 

http://www.lavillaco...rive-gauche.php

 

Not sure if it is always on the menu, but I had the Wild Boar.  I'd have ordered a second entree if I had the room in my stomach."

 

To which I reply:

 

And what has the French Empire done for you lately?

 

Those who have no future are destined to live in the past.

Well if you'd stayed in the correct general discussion thread. What the heck are we doing over here in Normandy? That was English territory too long to be trusted. Remember Agincourt? Really believe that nonsense about longbows? No a traitor led the wondrous French cavalry into the mud. Some low born English bastard for sure. Back to the general forum, Viva La France!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Consider this thread my gift to my British Brothers. And to those who never made it off the beaches of La Normandie. 

 

Besides, with the UK leaving the EU, this will be as close to Continental Europe as The Brits will get. 

 

Hey, we'll always have Paris (Ontario), eh?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Napoleon was not defeated at Waterloo. He was not feeling well that day and it was Ney who was in command and lost the battle and that was only due to sheer numbers. The French Army retreated in good order and it was only political betrayal that forced Napoleon from power! The French soldier had no equal and was never truly defeated. If it wasn't for the superior coalition air power arrayed against them France never would have lost.

 

Hahaha, too accurate! It's funny how lost causing seems to be a basic and unchanging trait of human psychology.I bet there were propagandists crying over the great lost cause and missed opportunities of Chieftain Mighty Nosebone in 5000 BC. 

 

The Waterloo griping, fingerpointing and plain fantasising started right after the battle (or perhaps even while it was still in progress), with memorable inventions like Victor Hugo's "ravine" (acrually a small roadside ditch) that caused the French cavalry attacks to fail. Then of course there is always Ney and Grouchy. 

 

On the Allied side we have the great Anglo-German glory stealing and coverup, as chronicled by Peter Hofschröer in his books. La Belle Alliance was anything but.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Waterloo was june 18 so not there yet.

 

 

I love how the Napoleonic wars have morphed into a struggle of Democracy over tyranny over time, similar to the struggle against Hitler.

 

But England was no democracy at that time. Under the electoral system, only a small number of rich landowning men had the right to vote. Under the Common Law, children as young as 12 were sentenced to death for stealing a loaf of bread. Habeas Corpus was regularly suspended. Jews had many legal restictions.

 

One of the first acts of the Revolutionary/Napoleonic Regime was to reform French criminal and Civil Law. Jews were granted full civil rights by Napoleon in 1809. The reformed civil laws known as the Code Napoleon is still basically in effect in many jurisdictions including Québec where many of its principles are codified in our Civil Code.

 

Vive la France! Vive l'Empereur! B)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwsS4v2QL-A

Edited by Sgt Joch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is an excellent book about Waterloo, called Waterloo: New Perspectives The Great Battle Reappraised, by David Hamilton-Williams. It is a must read, because it corrects a whole series of meretricious statements made byWilliam Siborne as a result of running out of funding and having to go cap in hand to the famous British regiments to get more so he could complete the definitive history of the battle. In turn, all the deliberate inaccuracies he wrote cascaded through everything subsequently based on his book.

 

This book goes back to the original materials and fixes Siborne's unwarranted military performance and positional improvements to the battle records of those regiments and restores many other participants, Britain's allies, to their rightful place in military history.

 

Also, I recently learned of a history of Napoleon Bonaparte of surpassing depth and breadth. It's called Napoleon: A Life and is by Andrew Roberts. I don't have it yet (haven't so much as read Chandler, but I do speak fluent naval warfare for the period); it would appear to be a tour de force, since it draws upon 33,000 of Napoleon's surviving letters! Edward R. Hamilton Bookseller has it in the latest Bargain Books catalog. It's not cheap, even on significant discount, but it is 926 pages long!

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

Edited by John Kettler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

The Management extends its apologies to those who thought they were in the CM:BN Forum.

 

It appears as if the OP was away the day they studied European Geography and/or History. As a result, the battlefield at Waterloo now extends all the way to Mont St. Michel. (You can look it up).

 

As for misplacing our enthusiasm, we assure you that it will not happen again.

Edited by BLSTK
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

The Economist wrote a very good piece on Waterloo by way of reviewing no less than three books on the pivotal battle which ended Napoleon's bloody career once and for all. One of the writers will be familiar to some, but here is operating in a wholly different genre than his accustomed haunts.

 

http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21651775-appallingly-bloody-yet-decisive-battle-waterloo-june-1815-deserves

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

Edited by John Kettler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Napoleon was not defeated at Waterloo. He was not feeling well that day and it was Ney who was in command and lost the battle and that was only due to sheer numbers. The French Army retreated in good order and it was only political betrayal that forced Napoleon from power! The French soldier had no equal and was never truly defeated. If it wasn't for the superior coalition air power arrayed against them France never would have lost.

Dreadful partisanship there!

:ph34r:

Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  On 30.4.2015,, Sequoia said:

Napoleon was not defeated at Waterloo. He was not feeling well that day and it was Ney who was in command and lost the battle and that was only due to sheer numbers. The French Army retreated in good order and it was only political betrayal that forced Napoleon from power! The French soldier had no equal and was never truly defeated. If it wasn't for the superior coalition air power arrayed against them France never would have lost.

Ooops. strange alternate history, I guess.

Anyway, if a little consolation is needed, watch this one about "Le marche de Empereur": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0w9IUPBs9Y

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...