Napoleon In Italy, 1796-1797

The story of Napoleon's brilliant first campaign in Italy is here expertly recounted by Elijah Adlow, former Lieutenant Colonel in the US 26th Infantry Division. Of the many campaigns in which Napoleon participated, that in which he first exercised independent command is rich in example. In the Italian Campaign of 1796, students discover in amazing sequence those basic combinations upon which rest the structure of the art of war. What is more, the contrasting talents of the opposing commanders demonstrate the part that spiritual as well as physical factors play in the process of war. Aside from the brilliant successes that gave him fame, Napoleon must always appeal to students of warfare because of the distinct quality of simplicity that marked all his operations. He had the talent for making himself strategically and tactically articulate. To the young soldier who seeks to discover the secret of an art whose mysteries have been revealed to but few, there is some compensation in being able to identify objectively those elements that determine the outcome of military events. If this presentation has aided in the process, its purpose will have been fulfilled.