Napoleon Bonaparte a Logistical Genius ?

[Razgovory]

I think Grumbler is biased because he served as supply officer under Napoleon.

[Ed Anger]

I think Grumbler is biased because he served as supply officer under Napoleon.

He was Jerome Bonaparte's clothes manager.

[Neil]

Didn't Napoleon's logistical support improve a great deal by the time that he went to Russia?  He'd come a long way from having to steal everything not nailed down in Italy.

[Razgovory]

Didn't Napoleon's logistical support improve a great deal by the time that he went to Russia?  He'd come a long way from having to steal everything not nailed down in Italy.

When in Rome...

[grumbler]

As for medical services in the Army, in Georges Blond's La Grand Armee, the book really picks on Nappy's lack of concern of the wounded and the lack of ambulances and medical personnel.

He was very much a man of his time in that regard.  Like most of his contemporaries (Davout, again, being the exception) he considered men not under arms to be of distinctly secondary (if that!) importance.  Wounded and ill men needed more food than healthy ones, not less, and yet Napoleon (and most of his contemporaries) allowed for lower rations in the hospital of sickhouse in order to encourage men to get back to their units.

I think the Brits had the only medical service worthy of the name (other than individuals), and that was because the British medical service was largely independent of the military chain of command.

Napoleon did introduce the first ambulances into military service, but that was mostly because he admired Larrey and gave into Larrey's requests, rather than because he thought it was a good thing in and of itself.  The French military medical service (other than at the main depots, which were very well-provided) was astonishingly ad hoc and under-staffed, much like those of the Prussians and worse than the Austrians.

[Ed Anger]

(Davout, again, being the exception)

My hero.

[grumbler]

(Davout, again, being the exception)

My hero.

He's every nerd's hero.  In an age when it was considered unmanly to wear glasses unless an old man, he not only wore them, he invented a special set of "combat glasses" that would stay in place even while galloping a horse.

From the moment he was named General of Division in 1800, he was never present at a French defeat.

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, Davout was one cool dude and has quite the faithful following. He's like Slim for Napoleonic fanbois.

[Ed Anger]

He should have the most pluses in Nappy wargames.

[CountDeMoney]

He should have the most pluses in Nappy wargames.

If he's on the board, I have him lit up like an SS white-on-black counter.  KILL THAT ONE KILL THAT ONE FIRST

[Oexmelin]

Wasnt the concept of canning invented by a scientist working for Nappy - iirc they used champagn bottles to keep food from spoiling - real champagn obviously .

Appert was a French technician, yes. It would be a bit much to say he worked "for" Napoléon. He worked on his own, and started provisioning the Navy - until 1809, when he submitted his work and research to officials in Bonaparte's government, who in turn suggested that he either take a patent, or give his invention to the public in return for a prize celebrating his accomplishment. Which he did, by publishing his results, and methods.

[Ed Anger]

He should have the most pluses in Nappy wargames.

If he's on the board, I have him lit up like an SS white-on-black counter.  KILL THAT ONE KILL THAT ONE FIRST

Watch out, he's got Nappy near him. RUN AWAY.

[Viking]

If any army of the period understood logistics it was the British. They still had the officers and institutional memory of expeditionary forces to colonies, the french executed or exported their equivalent officers. They also had the money to pay for the logistics. In Spain Wellington knew the problems that the French had with supply and guerillas in that wasteland and knowing that forage is difficult or impossible (since the guerillas were already in place) and he knew that he had to placate his useless spanish allies he was willing to spend money on a logistics train. Which, obviouslly, was made easier every time some port opened up to him.

We have two clear cases (Moore in 1809 and Wellington in 1815) of British Armies falling back in good order on prepared and organized supply lines to good ports. No continental army tries anything remotely similar overland and survives. 

[crazy canuck]

From the moment he was named General of Division in 1800, he was never present at a French defeat.

The ambiguity of that sentence is wonderful.

[The Brain]

I have never seen evidence that suggests that Napoleon was a logistical genius. If he was then Charles XII was a logistics god.