Officers and Soldiers of the Imperial Guard: Volume 5

With this 5th volume our review of the Imperial Guard ends. The book starts with the follow-up of the chapter about Horse Artillery of the Guard, the units all too often unloved by the militarian historians: the Artillery Trains and the Wagon Trains. An army is nothing without logistical support and the Emperor's army would never have been able to conquer Europe without the train drivers whose courage and abnegation, often in very difficult conditions, enabled him to win. Then we look at the Administration of the Guard, whose war commissioners, parade inspectors and personnel, dressed, equiped and supplied the glorious army for fifteen years. We look at the Medical Service which, thanks to the admirable Larrey and his famous mobile ambulances, brought succour to the wounded more quickly and effectively on the battefieds. We finish with the Staff, the indispensable element for the conduct of operations, with the Adjudant-Commandants, their Assistants and their indefatigable aides de camp. Without forgetting the famous Ordnance Officers, overflowing with activity, who were the eyes and the ears and the voice of the Emperor.