The uniforms, organisation and equipment of Napoleon's French army in Egypt.

This superb and comprehensive book details the foreign units which formed such an important part of Napoleon's forces. It examines each non-French unit in turn, giving an overview of the unit's origins, its organizational and combat history, its uniforms and standards, and details of the unit's eventual fate. Colourful accounts, taken from contemporary reports and memoirs, emphasize the qualities of the unit and throw light on what life was like for many of the foreign soldiers recruited into the Grande Armée. In total more than 100 different foreign units that served in the French Army are investigated in detail in this ambitious publication. Some foreign units fought and flourished throughout the Consulate and Empire, whilst others lasted for just a few months. Covers Polish, German, Swiss, Italian, Spanish, and other units in the French Army and presents a combat history and details uniforms for each regiment. Napoleon's Mercenaries is the best single-volume study of this aspect of Napoleon s army and a vital reference for every Napoleonic enthusiast. Little can be found on the foreign units that were an integral part of the French army ... For a long time a gap has existed, but now Napoleon s Mercenaries fills this gap. Robert Burnham, Napoleonic Series

In 1993 The Macmillan Publishing Company set the Napoleonic enthusiast community alight when it produced the major two volume work, Napoleonic Uniforms by John R. Elting, featuring the superb works of the famous illustrator Herbert Knötel. Now, in an unprecedented transatlantic co-operation, Greenhill Books in London and Casemate Publishing in the USA are together bringing these books back into print after some 14 years. This new edition, as before, is sold as a two volume set. In addition, the new edition is presented in a cloth bound slipcase. Pagination and an index have been added, significantly enhancing its reference value. Napoleonic Uniforms is the only reference work of its kind to depict accurately the entire Grande Armée in detail. It portrays the French armies as seen by their contemporaries, and combines authoritative text with lavish illustrations, enabling the reader to experience the spectacle first hand. Napoleonic Uniforms also depicts the various types of soldiers within the various regiments of the Grande Armée - officers, sergeants, color-bearers, bandsmen, drummers and trumpeters, privates and surgeons. In addition the volumes contain material on lesser-known formations such as the Army of Egypt (1798 - 1801), the pre-Revolutionary French Army, and Napoleon's police and internal security organizations. Nine hundred and eighteen original watercolors by Herbert Knötel, an internationally acclaimed authority on military uniforms, with a special talent for depicting men and horses in action, bring the nineteenth-century French soldier to life. Together with the late Colonel John R. Elting's definitive captions, they preserve a significant aspect of this famous era for historians, researchers, teachers, students, model makers, "uniformologists", and the general reader interested in this historical period.

The author of Waterloo: The Truth at Last “sheds new light on the campaign of 1815 and surely will satisfy all with an interest in the Napoleonic Era” (The Napoleonic Historical Society Newsletter). When Napoleon returned to Paris after exile on the Island of Elba, he appealed to the European heads of state to be allowed to rule France in peace. His appeal was rejected and the Emperor of the French knew he would have to fight to keep his throne. In just eight weeks, Napoleon assembled 128,000 soldiers in the French Army of the North and on 15 June moved into Belgium (then a part of the kingdom of the Netherlands). Before the large Russian and Austrian armies could invade France, Napoleon hoped to defeat two coalition armies, an Anglo-Dutch-Belgian-German force under the Duke of Wellington, and a Prussian army led by Prince von Blücher. He nearly succeeded. Paul Dawson’s examination of the troops who fought at Ligny, Quatre-Bras and Waterloo, is based on thousands of pages of French archival documents and translations. With hundreds of photographs of original artifacts, supplemented with scores of lavish color illustrations, and dozens of paintings by the renowned military artist Keith Rocco, Napoleon’s Waterloo Army is the most comprehensive, and extensive, study ever made of the French field army of 1815, and its uniforms, arms and equipment. “Contains many rare and previously unpublished images in the form of full color drawings and photographs of surviving relics. As with the earlier volumes, this book will appeal to and be enjoyed by a wide readership with special interest for historians, military history enthusiasts, Napoleonic War enthusiasts and re-enactors.” —Firetrench

In the early 1770s, the 33rd Foot acquired a reputation as the best-trained regiment in the British Army. This reputation would be tested beyond breaking point over the course of the American Revolutionary War. From Saratoga to South Carolina, the 33rd was one of the most heavily-engaged units – on either side – throughout the war. The 33rd’s rise to prominence stemmed from its colonel, Charles, Earl Cornwallis, who took over in 1766. In a period where senior officers wielded huge influence over their own regiments, Cornwallis proved to be the best kind of commander. Diligent and meticulous, he focussed on improving the 33rd in every regard, from drills and field exercises to the quality of the unit’s weapons and clothing. The 33rd subsequently became known as the ‘pattern’ for the army, the unit on which other successful regiments were based. Prior to the outbreak of fighting in the American colonies in 1775, the 33rd’s abilities, particularly in new light infantry drills, were frequently praised. At one point they even assisted in training the elite regiments of the Foot Guards. The 33rd missed the first year of the Revolutionary War, but sailed in early 1776 as part of the ill-fated expedition to capture Charleston, in South Carolina. After joining the main British force in North America outside New York in August 1776, the 33rd was brigaded with the best units in the army, including the composite grenadier and light infantry battalions. Over the next five years the regiment engaged in every major battle of the Revolutionary War, from Long Island and Brandywine to Germantown and Monmouth – it even had one unlucky company of recruits present at Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights, and the subsequent surrender at Saratoga. In 1780 ‘The Pattern’ was part of Britain’s southern expedition, which put Cornwallis in command of the Crown’s efforts to subdue the Carolinas. Here the 33rd provided perhaps their greatest service – and fought their most desperate battles – at Camden and Guildford Courthouse. They marched to eventual defeat at Yorktown, but not all of the regiment’s companies were captured, and some continued to serve actively elsewhere right up until the end of the war. This work is partly a regimental history, giving the most detailed account yet of the 33rd‘s actions during the Revolutionary War. It is also, however, a broader study of the British Army during the revolutionary era. It assesses what a single regiment can tell us about wider issues affecting Britain’s military. Everything from training, weapons and uniforms, organization, transportation, camp life, discipline, food, finances and the role of women and camp followers is addressed alongside the marching, fighting and dying done by the men of the regiment between 1775 and 1783. Primary sources, particularly engaging accounts such as those of Captain William Dansey or John Robert Shaw, a regular enlisted man, provide an engrossing narrative to this part social, part military history of the British Army at war in the late eighteenth century.

From the partisans and legions of the mid-eighteenth century to the Napoleonic regiments, this title is a comprehensive study of French light infantry between 1788-1815. It covers the formal chasseur battalions and regiments and the light companies of scouts and voltigeurs in Napoleon's armies. It details the separate roles of the chasseurs and car