Customer Reviews

Marengo 1800: Napoleon's day of fate (Campaign)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
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I recently used this book on a visit to Marengo battlefield (June 2005).

Well illustrated, excellent maps and photos. "The Battlefield Today" section was unusual feature, as was the "Wargaming" section.

Unfortunately, the battlefield is in a suburban/urban area of Italy. A few landmarks are visible, but few are easily accessible. In June of 2005, the museum was closed for "repairs". Americans used to well preserved battle sights such as Antietam or Gettysburg will be disappointed.

This book is not for those without previous knowledge of military history/organization. The maps are complicated, not all abbreviations/acronyms are defined. Trying to follow the narration with the maps can be very difficult.
At the actual sight, matching pictures from the text to the local area was a challenge. It would have been helpful if the author had marked picture sights to a map of the Marengo area.

I agree with previous reviews that this account gives the Austrians more credit and coverage than many other previous works. The general sense is a closely fought battle, with the Austrians overextending themselves in pursuing the French after initial success.

Dave Hollin's modest book is the first new account of Marengo in the English language since Furse, published at the turn of the 19th century.

What is not apparent, from Osprey's misguided decision not to include comprehensive sourcing, is that the material in this title is based largely on original research in the Austrian War Archives and the French Army Historical Service archives, together with the published regimental histories of approximately thirty units from the Austrian and French sides, and significant contributions from collaborators in Italy.

Although constrained by the limits of the Campaign series booklets this is, therefore, also the first balanced account of the Marengo campaign in English.

The reader of this review is entitled to ask how I know this and at this point I should explain that Dave Hollins is a friend and this Osprey Campaign is a spin-off from a larger work on Napoleon's second Italian campaign which he is co-authoring and is currently still being worked on. I am, therefore, fully aware of the provenance of this book, which includes a large body of material which has never been exploited before in English (and perhaps any other language), and is impeccable in the context of both sides. Having said that, bearing in mind that it was described by Furse and has been in the public domain for approximately 100 years, the doubts expressed elsewhere about the part played by the Consular Guard in this battle are extraordinary.

This new account will not, of course, sit well with those brought up on a diet of Napoleonic mythology and a couple of well known French memoirs, one of which is, at least in part, particularly questionable, and on which the few pages in in Elting's 'Atlas', Chandler's 'Campaigns' and a couple of paragraphs in Lachouque's Anatomy of Glory, are essentially based.

This is not to ignore James Arnold's recent book on Hohenlinden and Marengo, but this contains no new research and, as far as Marengo is concerned, adds nothing to what has already been produced and generally follows the 'traditional' line.

Correctly identifying Berthier as the titular commander of the French army at Marengo, the booklet has the obligatory, though comprehensive, orders of battle that one expects in this series, including ones for the siege of Genoa and the battle of Montebello.

It is an excellent primer for anybody interested in the campaign and should be particularly attractive to the wargamer, at which this series is principally directed.

On the whole I find it very informative. I like the brief bio's of the General's, through these booklets I am gaining a better understanding of Austrian leadership. The opening moves of the campaign are at just the correct depth for an introduction to the battle. And the battle itself is presented in an orderly fashion. A good amount of time has been spent digging through the Archives of the Austrian army and the official reports from the regiments of the French Army that fought there. There appears very little reference, if any, to the propaganda that Napoleon had published during his reign. It is nice to see something published that does not rely on second and third hand sources for its information. A good amount of time has been spent on the Order of Battle's and are a great point of reference when I can not remember who belonged to whom. The illustrations are what I expect in a volume of this type, informative, entertaining, and move with the prose.

One of the complaints that I have heard about this volume is the lack of footnotes. I do not expect them in these volumes, but I wish a better bibliography could be included. I understand the market forces that constrain the space in which material can be presented. Overall, I have found this to be a splendid little book that has furthered my knowledge of this period in an informative and entertaining way. I am glad that I purchased it. I am awaiting your more robust treatment that is due out in the near future.

This book has a fairly good account of how this battle progressed. However, it also has some problems. One is that it is weak, unlike most Osprey book in this series, on providing some perspective on how and why this battle occured along with each side's goals (on both strategic and operational levels). Also, despite having good discussion of major officers/leaders, the discussion on the armies themselves (i.e., morale, training, equipment, etc.) is weak. Book also lacks color plates on each sides troops. Too much discussion also on wargaming this battle (aboout 5 pages out of a 100 page book).

Covering not only the Battle of Marengo but the whole Second Italian Campaign, devoting pages to the siege of Massena in Genoa, the passage of the Alps, the battle of Montebello and many other aspects, profusely mapped, with detailed orders of battle and short biographical sketches of all the generals involved, and thoroughly written with a text which is both lucid and stirring and does not leave any stone unturned, this book is a "must " to anybody that is interested in the Napoleonic Wars. It is a vivid and passionate account that shows how defeat can be turned into a victory in a matter of half an hour. The Austrians fought with their usual bravery and stubborness, but, finally, Dessaix and Kellerman's dash save the day for Napoleon (for him that was really a "very near run thing"). Another splendid book from Osprey.

The Marengo campaign was decisive in shaping Napoleon's destiny. So decisive that he felt obliged afterwards to destroy documents about what had happened and commission a more glorious version of events. His aim was to show that he had been the master of the situation throughout. How true was this re-write ? The answer was to compare the French official version with the records of his Austrian enemies. This was the author Dave Hollins's aim. An acknowledged expert on Austrian sources, his discoveries are valuable and show how 'near run a thing' the campaign really was. The text is accompanied by superb maps and illustration. The only reason it does not deserve five stars is because sometimes Hollins has gone too far in the other direction, accepting some Austrian claims that are difficult to corroborate from other sources.

A very good book, for once abandoning French sources to explore the Austrian side of the story. It could still be better; the limited format makes it impossible to include a bibliography or glossary, and the maps are not as useful as they could be. The text could expand on some of the points made, if there had been room to do so. In spite of these minor problems, I unreservedly recommend it.

Yours,
James D. Gray

Prior to this book I knew next to nothing about this all important battle from Nappy's early days. This battle illustrates the importance of assigning good men to the command of your Army so that they can arrive in the nick of time to save you from defeat.

This author, together with Terry Crowdy, has done a considerable amount of original archive research in both the Kriegsarchiv in Vienna and the S.H.A.T. in Vincennes. Not surprisingly, the new information they have brought to light has shattered the odd cherished myth or two. As such, there are those who have subjected David Hollins to a considerable amount of abuse for the revelations made in this book. Their unfounded and ill-considered comments do not change the facts as established in this work. The falacy of their arguments has been shown on debate on a number of website forae. In all, a well-researched work that is ideal for the purposes it is designed.

A marvellous book that finally uses the Austrian Archives for what must be one of the first balanced accounts in the English Language. This author exposes the biases from the Buonaparte cult of the recent past. The Francophone onesidedness of authors such as Elting and Bowden are laid bare in an account that gives credit where it is due to both sides in a battle that was used as a central myth of the Napoleonic Legend; however hurtful this must be to the fantasists of "La Gloire". The Illustrations by Christa Hook are full of character and the detailed orders of battle should please the most hardened of wargamers. Of course the tight format of the Osprey Campaign series does not allow as full an account as one would wish but I understand that a further fuller volume is going to be available from this author.