MICHAEL J. HUGHES. Forging Napoleon's Grande Armee: Motivation, Military Culture, and Masculinity in the French Army, 1800-1808.

Abstract

The devotion of Napoleon Bonaparte's soldiers to the emperor is legendary. It enabled them to perform near-miracles on the battlefield, even in the most desperate of situations and against the odds. What was the source of this dedication? Often this phenomenon is attributed to Napoleon's magnetic personality or his institution of merit systems such as the Legion of Honor, but the process of creating the Grande Armée was more sophisticated than any one or two factors might suggest. Building on the works of John A. Lynn, Rafe Blaufarb, and others, Michael J. Hughes explores revolutionary and imperial French military culture, ably demonstrating Napoleon's genius for synthesizing royal and revolutionary military culture while employing a host of strategies to motivate his officers and soldiers. Hughes begins by exploring French military culture and, more specifically, the concepts of honor and glory. During the ancien régime, the concept of honor dominated the royal army but was a quality that only officers and nobles could exhibit. French officers were expected to be brave and audacious and display their honor in combat, and the crown rewarded displays of valor and honor with distinctions such as the Order of Saint Louis, the granting of noble titles, and promotion. Honor, however, was not a quality common soldiers could possess. The only sense of accomplishment and source of recognition for the latter was with their regiments through esprit de corps. In the last decades of the monarchy, however, the concept of honor began to change. While deeds of derring-do by officers were still rewarded, so too was service to the state: “a new code of honor … combined traditional warrior values with a service ethic” (p. 55). The pursuit of honor, coupled with the quest for glory and a sense of esprit de corps, motivated the royal armies.