Napoleon On The Virtue of Boldness

An excerpt from, “Napoleon On War” Edited By Bruno Colson, Translated By Gregory Elliott, Oxford University Press, 2015, Pg. 141 – 42:

Clausewitz devoted a chapter to boldness, for in war it is ‘a principle in itself, separate and active’. It is a virtue required at all levels. Napoleon was conscious of what bold soldiers could do:

The conduct at the Battle of Zela of the 6th legion, which crushed everything before it, though composed only of 1,200 veterans, shows how influential a handful of brave men can be. Such influence was more marked among the ancients, just as it is more marked in the cavalry than the infantry among the moderns.

After the battle of Lodi, the entry into Milan, and the Austrian retreat in spring 1796, General Bonaparte extolled the merits of his soldiers:

Nothing equals their boldness, except for the gaiety with which they perform the most forced of marches; they sing in turn of their homeland and love.

The great victory at Ulm in 1805 was obtained through exhausting marches and a few engagements. It was not necessary to fight a major battle. Napoleon proclaimed:

Soldiers, this success is due to your unbounded trust in your emperor, to your patience in putting up with fatigue and privations of every kind, to your uncommon boldness.

In combat, officers must set an example:

When the troops are demoralized, it is for the leaders and officers to restore their morale or perish. [ . . .] Let no one counter me with an if, a but, or a for. I am an old soldier: you must defeat the enemy or die. I would have liked it if, at the first signal of the attack, the prince [royal of Bavaria] had taken himself to the outposts and restored morale in his division.

Boldness normally becomes rarer in generals, because reason must predominate. Otherwise, the general no longer has the view of events corresponding to his rank:

Always first in the line of fire, Ney forgot the troops who were not before his eyes. The valour that must be displayed by a supreme commander is different from what a divisional general must have, just as the latter should not be the valour of a captain of grenadiers.

But boldness is an additional asset when everything has been well calculated:

Intelligent and bold generals ensure the success of operations.

Clausewitz joined Napoleon in denouncing pusillanimous generals. This was true of French generals in the Seven Years War:

On account of speechifying, trying to be witty, holding councils, French armies of the time experienced what has always occurred when this course is followed: they ended up adopting the worst course of action, which in war is nearly always the most pusillanimous, or, if you like, the most cautious. For a general true wisdom consists in vigorous determination.

Napoleon bemoaned the fact that his admirals did not possess the boldness of his generals:

Our admirals need audacity so as not to take frigates for men of war and merchant shipping for fleets. It is necessary to be decisive in deliberations and, once the squadron has left, to head straight for the objective and not relax in ports or return.

When France has two or three admirals who want to die, they [the British] will become petty indeed.