Napoleon and His Marshals

London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1934. Second printing [stated]. Hardcover. Good. Illustrated endpaper. Bookplate inside front cover. The contents include The Army of Italy; The Old Republicans; Egypt; Massena and Suvorov; The Great Coup; Marengo; Making the Grande Armee; Austerlitz; Jena and Auerstadt; Elau and Friedland; The First Triumphs in Spain; Aspern-Essling and Wagram; The Lines of Torres Vedras; Still the Peninsula; Moscow; Leipzig; The Abdication; The Eagle Flies to Notre Dame; The End of the Story; Bibliographical Note; and Index. Archibald Gordon Macdonell (3 November 1895 - 16 January 1941) was a Scottish writer, journalist and broadcaster. During World War I, he served for two years as a lieutenant of the Royal Field Artillery before being invalided out of the army, possibly because of shell shock. The war had a profound effect on him, as it did with so many of his generation. Afterwards he spent two years in eastern Europe, firstly on the reconstruction of Poland, and then on famine relief in Russia. In 1922 he joined the League of Nations where he spent five years. Macdonell made his living as a journalist in London. His books earned accolades during his lifetime. Macdonell was also a connoisseur of military history, and wrote a historical study called Napoleon and his Marshals. He died suddenly in Oxford in 1941 at the age of 45. In his obituary, The Times considered him "one of the leaders of the younger school of [writers]." Napoleon Bonaparte bestrode Europe like a colossus. But what of his Marshals, who ably (or not) assisted him in his rise and fall? This classic work of military history examines the period of 1796 to 1815, from Napoleon's victories in Italy up to the point of his defeat at Waterloo. Napoleon created twenty-six Marshals. The narrative of this book is wound around these men, their inter-personal relationships, their triumphs, their constant bickering and their eventual failure. With Marshal jostling with Marshal for power and influence, A.G. Macdonell's stylish account is as much a study of human drama as it is a work of military history. Marshal of the Empire was a civil dignity in the First French Empire between 1804 and 1815. The distinction was used sporadically and was vacant during parts of its history. A Marshal was a grand officer of the Empire, entitled to a high-standing position at the court and to the presidency of an electoral college. In total, 26 men were awarded a Marshal's baton. The most recent promotions to marshal came in 1815, two years after a break on routine promotions to the rank, when Napoleon promoted Emmanuel de Grouchy, one of his Generals, to the dignity. Unlike many positions, the Marshal of the Empire distinction was not a rank, rather a reward, given out by Napoleon. Almost all officers to hold the rank of Marshal were professional soldiers in the French Army. Some, including Józef Poniatowski, served in foreign armies. Of all 26, 5 were killed in action, or by accident. One Marshal was present at the Battle of Vitoria, fought in 1813, where the Duke of Wellington earned the British equivalent of the distinction. Most had defected to the royalists before the Battle of Waterloo and Napoleon's subsequent defeat, with only four others (most notably Marshals Emmanuel de Grouchy and Michel Ney) serving under Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.
Auguste de Marmont, born in 1774, was the youngest officer to earn the distinction of Marshal. Francois Kellerman was the oldest, born in 1735. The majority of Marshals were given the title in 1804 (18 out of 26), while Grouchy received the distinction at the latest time, in 1815, shortly before the Battle of Waterloo.