I have become increasing interested in Waterloo and why the Old Guard admired him (Napolean) so.

NOTE: this has nothing to do with the movie (if that matters).


Thank you in advance!

In reply to Bellards Boys Because they were almost all picked by Napoleon himself to be in the Guard, based on their bravery and loyalty.

Waterloo:

Adkin's Waterloo Companion
Chalfont's Waterloo
Keegan's Face of Battle
Hofschoer's 1815: The Waterloo Campaign

Guard (the definitive work):

Lachouque and Brown, The Anatomy of Glory

The Napoleonic soldiers were no doubt the best dressed era of warfare, so if you like looking at pretty uniforms:

Ryan's Napoleon's Elite Cavalry: Cavalry of the Imperial Guard, 1804-1815: The Paintings of Lucien Rousselot

In reply to BQ78 That is great...will jump on a few of those suggestions.

I particularly like the title "Anatomy of Glory".


Thank you BQ 78!

"La garde meurt mais ne se rend pas !"

The Guard dies, it does not surrender

In reply to JABQ04 I always thought that if I wanted to hold a position I would want the Old Guard

If I wanted to take a position I would want the Young Guard

Of course the Middle Guard would be a nice hybrid to do either.

Until the oh sh8t moment when someone said...

"La Garde recule. Sauve qui peut!"

In reply to Rabid Cougar Or Cambronne supposedly replying "Merde" when asked to surrender.

For those that don't parlez the French, Merde = ****

The 1970 movie "Waterloo" with Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer was one of my favorite movies as a kid.

Hougoumont, La Hay Sainte, Papelotte, Plancenoit; any of these could be a movie by itself.

Sharpes Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell is a damn good read if you like historical fiction. I'm pretty sure the back ground stuff happening is all fairly accurate.