The Illustrious Dead

A  L  S  O   BY   S  T  E  P  H  A  N   T  A  L  T  Y

Empire of Blue Water
Captain Morgan’s Great Pirate Army
,
the Epic Battle for the Americas
,
and the Catastrophe That Ended
the Outlaws’ Bloody Reign

Mulatto America
At the Crossroads of Black and White Culture:
A Social History

For Asher and Delphine

Note to the Reader

In these pages you’ll find a handful of place-names and military terms specific to the Napoleonic era. If you’re unclear about any of these, please consult the short glossaries found at the back of this book.

Contents

      
Dramatis Personae:
      Command Structures and Coalitions

      
Introduction: Old Bones

  
1
  
Incarnate

  
2
  
A Portable Metropolis

  
3
  
Drumbeat

  
4
  
Crossing

  
5
  
Pursuit

  
6
  
Smolensk

  
7
  
The Sound of Flames

  
8
  
Smoke

  
9
  
At Borodino

10
  
Clash

11
  
The Hospital

12
  
The Last City

13
  
Decision

14
  
Two Roads

15
  
Graveyard Trees

      
Epilogue: Rendezvous in Germany

      
Author’s Note: The Doorway of the Hospital at Tunis

      
Glossary

      
Notes

      
Sources

      
Acknowledgments

The Grande Armée
Command Structure

N
APOLEON

B
ERTHIER
Chief of staff

The Russian Army
Command Structure

T
SAR
A
LEXANDER
I
(Political head of Russia)

G
ENERAL
M
IKHAIL
B
ARCLAY DE
T
OLLY
(Minister of War, acting head of army until August 20)

F
IELD
M
ARSHAL
P
RINCE
M
IKHAIL
I
LARIONOVICH
K
UTUZOV
(Commander in chief, appointed August 20)

Coalitions Against France During the Napoleonic Era

First Coalition (1792–97)
A
USTRIA
, P
RUSSIA
, G
REAT
B
RITAIN
, S
PAIN, AND THE
P
IEDMONT

Napoleon emerges from obscurity to conquer Italy. France gains Belgium, the Rhineland, a partitioned Venice, and most of Italy.

Second Coalition (1798-1801)
R
USSIA
, G
REAT
B
RITAIN
,
AUSTRIA, THE
O
TTOMAN
E
MPIRE
, P
ORTUGAL
, N
APLES, AND THE
V
ATICAN

Napoleon returns from Egypt to defeat the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo, France gains control of the Netherlands, and Austria accepts French domain over Italy and territories as far north as the Rhine.

Third Coalition (1805)
A
USTRIA
, G
REAT
B
RITAIN
, R
USSIA, AND
S
WEDEN

England smashes the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar and rules unchallenged over the waters. Napoleon triumphs at Austerlitz against Austria and Russia. The German states are organized into the Confederation of the Rhine as a redoubt around France.

Fourth Coalition (1806–7)
P
RUSSIA
, G
REAT
B
RITAIN
, S
WEDEN
, S
AXONY, AND
R
USSIA

Napoleon crushes Prussia at the Battles of Jena and Auerstedt. The French fight the Russians to a draw at Eylau. France occupies Prussia, including Berlin. The Treaty of Tilsit gives France half of Prussia’s land as well as the Kingdom of Westphalia. The Grand Duchy of Warsaw, which includes most of modern-day Poland, is created.

Fifth Coalition (1809)
G
REAT
B
RITAIN AND
A
USTRIA

Napoleon triumphs at the Battle of Wagram. Austria loses Carniola, Carinthia, and the Adriatic ports to France; Galicia to Poland; and Tyrol to Bavaria.

Sixth Coalition (1813-14)
G
REAT
B
RITAIN AND
R
USSIA, JOINED BY
P
RUSSIA
, S
WEDEN
, A
USTRIA, AND THE
G
ERMAN
S
TATES

France is driven out of Germany and the nation is occupied. Napoleon is exiled to Elba.

Seventh Coalition (1815)
G
REAT
B
RITAIN
, R
USSIA
, P
RUSSIA
, S
WEDEN
, A
USTRIA, AND THE
G
ERMAN
S
TATES

Napoleon returns from exile but is defeated at Waterloo and is exiled to St. Helena, where he dies in 1821.