Napoleon's Last Grande Armée: Eyewitness Portraits from the 1813 Campaign
Research and Text by Alfred Umhey

List Price: $265.00  Hardback: 347 Pages
Publish Date: 2005

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Review by Brian Williams  

Book Description:
During the summer armistice of the 1813 campaign, two German artists drew illustrations of the French troops stationed around Dresden and Freiberg in Saxony. The men depicted belonged to Emperor Napoleon's last Grande Armée, a colorful multinational force that included, among others, French, Dutch, Italian and Polish soldiers.

These rare, exceptional paintings provide invaluable eyewitness evidence of the uniforms of the period, quite set apart from the sometimes fanciful, second-hand works of modern artists. Unlike many uniform plates, the illustrations in these two artists' portfolios show what Napoleon's men actually wore on campaign

Review:
Napoleon's Last Grande Armée is an exquisitely-printed, bound, limited-edition, book containing eyewitness illustrations of Napoleon's Grande Armée.  This book is probably one the highest quality books printed that I have ever seen.   It is heavy, fairly large (9.5" X 13.5" -- not too large), made of museum-quality paper, fine-custom binding and has all the qualities of a collectors-edition book.  Each book comes as a numbered copy of 1000 limited edition printing and an adhesive card signed by the author.

The book contains a Table of Contents, an introduction to what the book is and who the author is, followed by the extraordinary story of "The Lost Freiberg Manuscript" (its disappearance and how it was found), and the "Structure of the Original Freiburg Manuscript".  This is followed by a history of "The Dresden Manuscript", the Situation of the Grand Armée during August 1815 (with a great map), "How the Plates are Presented", and then the actual plates themselves.

The watercolors of the uniforms that are shown are from the two artists Brun and Winkler and organized by The Freiburg Manuscript and the Dresden Manuscript.  Generally, each plate is presented on its own page (each watercolor is approx. 6" X 8.5") with a corresponding copy by the other artist.  In many cases, the plate is shown along with its corresponding annotated tracing which was used to prepare the final illustration.  In all cases, each plate's uniform is thoroughly explained and the history of the uniform and unit is given. Within each manuscript listing, the plates are organized into General Officers, Aide-de-Camp, Staff Personnel, Infantry, Cavalry, Foreign Troops, and Technical Troops. The book also contains an invaluable glossary (which I might suggest every reader to read first to familiar themselves with terminology).  In addition, at the end, there is a section on "The World of Picture Manuscripts", Sources & Bibliography, and index of the plates and Military Units.

This book is amazing in its detail of the uniforms, its colorful presentation and has huge historical value.  Any admirer of Napoleonic warfare or military-history enthusiast will find this book to be invaluable.   The book also really brings to life the Grand Armée that we have so much read about.  Nothing else can accomplish this as effectivelly as an eye-witness illustration of the army itself.  For that alone, this book is an invaluable resource.

I found it incredible that an army could consist of so many different uniform types and so wildly varied in color and style (aside from the foreign troops in the Grande Armée).  The richness and pageantry of the uniforms are portrayed in magnificent detail and one wonders how such uniforms were possible or practical nearly 200 years ago.

Although the book is costly, you get what you pay for in terms of physical quality and historical value.  Military History Press has given us an incredible book that shouldn't be missed.  It is without a doubt, one of those books that you almost want to handle with a white glove in order to give it the respect it deserves.  It doesn't get any better than this.

Also, don't miss Military History Press Fall 2005 release of "Napoleon's Finest: Marshal Louis Davout and his 3rd Corps, Combat Journal of Operations, 1805-1807".

Review by Brian Williams (militaryhistoryonline@hotmail.com)

Purchase from Military History Press.