Posted on 05/31/2009 1:03:31 PM PDT by decimon
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Even as the Russians retreated before him in disarray, Napoleon found his army disappearing, his frantic doctors powerless to explain what had struck down a hundred thousand soldiers. The emperors vaunted military brilliance suddenly seemed useless, and when the Russians put their own occupied capital to the torch, the campaign became a desperate race through the frozen landscape as troops continued to die by the thousands. Through it all, with tragic heroism, Napoleons disease-ravaged, freezing, starving men somehow rallied, again and again, to cries of Vive lEmpereur!
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(Excerpt) Read more at amazon.com ...
When I was a brand new USAF physician, this point was hammered home time after time. Keep the troops healthy and the battle is more than half won.
He was not good at delegating authority, tried to do everything himself, or would assign large roles to people he trusted but who were not necessarily fit for duty. :’)
Napoleonic Complex got it’s name for a reason!
;oþ
Wellington had it, bigtime.
This is considered by many to be the single most informative visual aid ever produced.
Disease killed several of Napoleon’s armies. IIRC, his Egyptian campaign was at least partially lost due to plague.
Thanks. Wonder what Napolean would have achieved without the curse of disease.
In reading about some of Napoleon’s great victories during his prime (Jena, Austerlitz, etc.), I’ve been struck that some of them were rather closely fought, and the victory often depended on Boney’s subordinate marshals. It’s amazing that Napoleon and Hitler made the same mistakes: They took on Russia without first eliminating the threat from Britain, with its naval supremacy. Hitler even added the U.S. to his enemies, the U.S. having taken over much of Britain’s role as a world-wide naval power beyond the reach of continental European military power.
...or this one...
Typhus reported in Santa Ana, CA.
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-flea-season-typhus-alert,0,3747526.story
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