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| Charge du Quatrième Hussards à la Bataille de Friedland, 14 juin 1807¹ Édouard Detaille (PD) |
So, a bit of a pause in the fiction writing in order to let you know where I'm going with this latest effort. One of those "behind the scenes" posts I will do when I'm too lazy/tired/burnt out to actually work on the actual, ya know, fiction story I'm working on. Or supposed to be working on ...
The last time I started a Napoleonic series I burned out pretty quickly and the reason for that is I was starting at the beginning of the Napoleonic wars with no real concept of how I was going to form the story into something coherent. The entire thing was just too big.
I really want to do a novel of the Napoleonic Wars, but I let that simmer for a while. Then it hit me (after reading Andrew W. Field's superb series on Waterloo and the excellent book on the defense of La Haye Sainte by Brendan Simms), why not a novel of the Waterloo campaign? Start when Napoléon lands at Golfe Juan and take it to the bitter end.
The early part would introduce the characters, and set the stage historically. That's the "where we've been" part, though we're not quite finished with that, the prelude if you will.
Where we're at is early June of 1815 (the last installment ended on the 31st of May), Wellington's and Blücher's armies are in place, sitting in Belgium with a plan to invade France in July. They are not yet aware that Napoléon is headed their way.
Well, Napoléon and about 120,000 of his men are moving north.
We've met some of them, we've also met a few of their opponents in the Anglo-Allied and Prussian armies.
The army being led by the Emperor of France is called l'Armée du Nord, the Army of the North. There were other armies in France, much smaller and with duties that were defensive in nature because most of Europe was in arms and advancing towards the French frontiers. But they would take a while to arrive, do you know how long it takes to walk from Moscow to Paris?
Twenty-three days according to Google maps, and that's if you don't stop! The distance is roughly 1,700 miles, traveling that far in 23 days means walking at a steady pace of 3 mph. Coming from Vienna is a little quicker, 720 miles (give or take) would take about ten days (non-stop) at 3 mph.
Of course, first you have to get those armies together, give them their orders, then start marching. So Napoléon does have some time, not a lot mind you, but some time to deal with those two armies in Belgium before the Russians and Austrians show up. (Not to mention the Swedes, Bavarians, and other smaller states who have a beef with the French emperor and are also marching towards France.)
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| Strategic situation in the Spring of 1815 Map courtesy of The Department of History, United States Military Academy Click to embiggen |
I first need to go back and reread one of the sections of one of Field's books where he covers the errors made before the French encountered their first enemy soldier. Units not getting orders, units getting orders out of sequence and hey, for good measure let's throw in a French division commander who deserts to the enemy before the campaign has heard its first shots fired. (He took quite a few of his staff with him by the way.) I think I remember what happened but I need the details clear in my own head.
Fighting began on the 15th of June with the French working to get over the Sambre River, which the Prussians were guarding, sort of. Things got hot, but at the end of the day the French were over the Sambre and had taken Charleroi. Blücher was prepared to fight just north of the town of Fleurus and awaited the French there with three-fourths of his army.
The Anglo-Allied army was still up in the air as to Napoléon's intentions, Wellington seemed to think that the French would try and turn his right flank to sever his line of communications with the English Channel so he was set up to prevent that.
Once French intentions were clearer, he ordered his army to concentrate at a place where he could cover Brussels and the Channel but not really stay in contact with the Prussians. A Dutch general countermanded one of Wellington's orders to a Dutch unit and had them hold the little crossroads of Quatre-Bras, a decision which probably decided the entire campaign in favor of those fighting against the French.
The 16th of June saw heavy fighting to the west of the town of Ligny. The French won the day forcing the Prussians back. Further west, at that little crossroads noted above, the Anglo-Allies managed to hold out against the rather lethargic efforts of French Marshal Ney. So one day, two battles, I intend to cover both.
The 17th was a day where Wellington's army and Blücher's army had to retreat. The Prussians because they lost the Battle of Ligny (which went down in history as Napoléon's last victory), the Anglo-Allies, though they had won the Battle of Quatre-Bras (or at least enforced a stalemate) because the Prussians had left Wellington's left flank in the air. And yes, we will be there during that retreat.
Napoléon had succeeded at his first goal, split his enemies, defeat one, then turn on the other.
The 18th saw two battles, the more famous one at Waterloo and the little known Battle of Wavre. Yes, we'll see both of them play out, but with a heavy concentration on the main affair on the ridge at Mont St Jean.
So that's what I'm planning. This effort seems more "do-able," which means I might actually finish it, having a clearly defined, relatively short, time.
We shall see.
I'm ready to write, I have the urge to write. Work is going to be very busy the next couple of weeks but I shall strive to move my story forward. (And also get Almost A Lifetime finished and published, finished we're close, published, we shall see.)
That's where I'm at, that's where I'm going.
But man, April has kicked my ass.
Ciao!
¹ Charge of the 4th Hussars at the Battle of Friedland, 14 June 1807.
Thanks for the roadmap, Sarge and don't forget, at least this month is two-thirds over.
ReplyDeleteYes, April has been a bear!
DeleteAs this is a period I know literally nothing about, this is all new (and super interesting) to me!
ReplyDeleteHave just hoofed a mere 38 miles over three days, I continue to respect the concept of marching all the way across Europe (and me, with only my 25 lbs pack, not a full battle kit).
And no one shooting at you when you get to the end of the hike! (Hopefully ...)
DeleteLike ThB; I've read little history of the land battles of this period; you've got me hooked, Sarge!
DeleteIf you write this as accurately and humanely as Once A Lifetime it will be great!
Boat Guy
That's the goal.
DeleteThanks, BG.
Walk from Moscow to Paris, that's like walking from Boston to Miami...
ReplyDeleteBoston to Miami- 521 hrs of walking... figure 8 hrs a day takes the trip to 65 days. Take every 7th day off adds another 9 days, (make that 10 days to the trip), so we're up to 75 days.
On our walk from Boston to Miami we could find places to sleep & places to eat on the way, all we need is the money.
That walk by an army back in 1815 would have been hard of the people living along the way... tough times!
The peasants never liked having armies pass through. When that happen, they got poorer. Even when looting was forbidden, soldiers still managed to make off with the odd chicken/pig/trinket.
DeleteThink firewood for the army...
DeleteI read a US civil war book "Hard Tack and Coffee or The Unwritten Story of Army Life" by John D. Billings. It's about army life during the civil war, not the battles but the day to day life & one of the things I remember is his talk about gathering wood to burn for fires every night. He said wooden fences were the easy pickings & went fast. Tough times for the people along the route....
At Waterloo the men garrisoning the farm of La Haye Sainte tore down the doors leading into the complex facing the French side for firewood. They had cause to regret that during the multiple French attacks on the farm!
DeleteAn entire village was torn down at the Berezina River during Napoléon's retreat from Russia to build bridges over the river.
The civilians always suffer when the armies are nearby. Even today.
"The civilians always suffer", think about that when I think of the Hundred Years War in Europe.
DeleteThirty Years War springs to mind as well.
DeleteUntil modern logistics, armies were basically locusts moving across the land. Which is why the old Polish finds a Djinn joke is so funny to historians. You know, the one that goes:
DeletePolish Farmer - finds a brass lamp, cleans it, rubs it, Djinn appears.
Djinn - "Oh, Master, you have released me from imprisonment, I will grant you three wishes."
PF - "I want the Mongol Horde to ride to the border of Poland and go home. Three times."
Dj - "But, Master, you could have uncounted riches, power beyond belief, women, fame, fortune, health, beauty..."
PF - "Ah, but you see, that will make the Mongols ride across the whole of Russia 6 times."
Dj - "Oh, you're one sick vindictive man..." (okay, last line is mine.)
Heh.
Delete(Your last line is a good addition ...)
It was said that in the Civil War, Gen. Sherman's men could kill, clean, and dress a hog without breaking stride.
DeleteMight be some truth to that.
DeleteMost of the dog-robbing done by Sherman's troops was done by the irregulars. The main troops were bad, but it was the irregulars that ranged far and wide and did a lot of the thrashing.
DeleteIrregulars? You mean the bummers, the guys who deserted their units and acted like thugs. Those irregulars?
DeleteSherman meant to make the South howl and destroy their will and means to fight. We can argue the merits and the legalities, but you want to end a war, you get a Sherman and "let slip the dogs of war."
And for marching. Sherman's men marched and fought from Vicksburg to the sea at Savanna, then they turned north into the Carolinas marching in spring floodwaters boot to neck deep and making the same progress on as dry land. Their last march was down Pennsylvania Avenue. Sixty abreast filling the street curb to curb. Passing by for hours.
DeleteTough men.
DeletePace yourself, My Friend. Set goals for the Day and stop when achieved. Do NOT rewrite immediately, (other than typos etc.) Give the words a chance to settle and defamiliarize themselves in your brain so you can proof what you actually wrote rather than what your brain thinks you wrote. Progress is best achieved slowly.
ReplyDelete'Nough trueisms. I like your writing and am looking forward to the finished product. For many of the same reasons mentioned above, I am (somewhat patiently) waiting for the finished product.
Now, go forth and write great literature!
Going forth!
DeleteI have a certain methodology for writing, it works for the most part. (Now if I could just be a little more careful while typing, i.e. less dyslexic, fewer misspellings "damn it, I meant 'their' and I typed 'there.", then I'd be all set.)
All of that, setting the background, checking facts, wanting a condensed campaign for the storyline, all of it, it's nice and good.
ReplyDeleteBut...
Why, oh why is that guy in the painting holding his single-edged saber backwards? Looking at his hand, palm is to the rear and fingers are wrapped around the hilt with the thumb also clearly visible. It's not some falcata or kukri or other drop-tipped blade, it's a friggin saber, a big clunky bent-falchion looking saber, but still a saber. Edge on the outer curve, maybe 4-6 inches of edge on the back of the tip, designed for slashing and chopping, not really for stabbing and cutting through like a straight blade.
Weird what twigs one's 'mistake' meter.
So back to the whole story thingy...
The whole Napoleonic War(s) is a long, long, long expanse of time to novelize in one book. Especially since the reader will need some fairly extensive backstory on Nappy if one starts at the beginning. But by Waterloo, everyone knows, or should know, who Naps is and his basic backstory can be filled in by small asides by the characters. In other words, I think you're doing a great job and have added lots to my undersanding of the... wait, undersanding? this isn't a table... understanding of the last Campaign. Like I didn't know or it didn't register that Napster was exiled with some of his men. I'd always thought that he was alone and the English basically served as his 'staff.' I mean, if I held a dictator in exile, that's what I'd do.
I love that painting but yes, most of the troops seem to not know how to hold their swords. I got a sore wrist just looking at them. A lot of the old school painters (and Detaille was one of the best) had examples of uniforms and equipment to go by but apparently didn't have advisors to show them how the stuff was used.
DeleteWhile the cavalry seems correctly formed - two ranks in each squadron, a bit of distance between squadrons to allow for maneuvers, and the men are aligned nicely (something you NEVER see done right in a Hollywood depiction of a cavalry charge) having them at the gallop at this point seems odd, unless the enemy lines are just behind the observer. Didn't go into a full gallop until just before impact, horses get tired ya know?
But the guy was a brilliant painter, not a soldier. (Uniforms are way too clean, etc. One can find fault in most classic paintings of this period. Maybe I'm just used to it.)
And your last bit, yup, the Waterloo story is fairly well known and it's very short, easy to use as the background for a novel.
Napoléon's first exile was interesting. His foes actually gave Elba to him, he was its sovereign. The French government was actually supposed to pay Napoléon but, of course, they cheated on the deal and the Emperor got squat from Paris. (How could one not despise the later Bourbons?)
His second exile was far less cushy. He was a de jure and de facto prisoner of the British Crown, he was allowed a certain number of aides but no mini-army like on Elba. So the British got it "right" the second time.
I also fully believe that the Emperor was poisoned. Whether by someone working on behalf of the Bourbons or the English, I don't know. But the evidence seems pretty "beyond a reasonable doubt" to me.
(Side note: you would not believe the number of times I had to delete and repost this comment, it's almost as if I can't type or spell today!)
Regarding 'The Charge,' you don't charge until you're taking some serious casualties from missile fire or you're really close to non-missile troops. People forget horses get tired, especially if they've been maneuvering all over and around the battlefield. Especially the heavier the troops are, the less 'running around' the troops do.
DeleteAnd, yes, my wrist hurts. That's a very heavy saber.
Upon retirement from the USAF my fellow sergeants presented me with a reproduction French heavy cavalry saber from the 2nd Empire.
DeleteLet's talk about heavy ...
No chopping with that bad boy, keep it pointed ahead and skewer the other guy.
Designed to let the saber do most of the work on the downswing.
DeleteMass and momentum, a powerful combo.
DeletePart of the Napoleon thing is that "he" did it. He had fellow solders all along the way but, ALL this history is about what one man did.... One man.
ReplyDeleteHis accomplishments were impressive. But death and destruction did follow in his wake.
DeleteI'm not saying what he did was good. I am say that it is history that we both have heard of, and it was caused by just one man. That one man changing the world.
DeleteLook at the people's faces in this superb art you share with us. The uniform is different but the person looks a lot like some of the people I served with, they were just people... And one man changed not only his world but shaped the one we live in.
If they did poison him I'd understand, he didn't die a martyr and they never had to deal with him again.
Some of the things he did were good, some bad. But yeah, one man essentially changed the course of history.
DeleteOne man.
Ya know, I never noticed that the title is messed up.
ReplyDeleteNor did I!
DeleteD'oh.
Crusty Old TV Tech here. Keep it up, it's a marathon not a sprint! Love the little details, wish they had done that in History class in school. Dull, boring, could-have-been-written-by-Dolores-Umbridge crapula it was, mostly.
ReplyDeleteOne personal non-sequitur...ever time I read Blücher, I see Cloris Leachman and hear horses whinny, am I going around the bend or what?
I had some good history teachers coming up, most of them actually. They highlighted the bad ones. History written by academics is almost always boring.
DeleteYou're not going nuts, I sometimes hear the same. OTOH, for years I would see the name "Grouchy," newly made marshal for this campaign and think nothing of it. Until a reader commented, "Why was he so grouchy?" Heh, that kinda stuck.