They Fought with Extraordinary Bravery

In October 1813, the soldiers of one of Napoleon’s staunchest Allies, Saxony, defected en masse in the midst of battle at Leipzig. Almost immediately III German Army Corps was formed with these same soldiers as its nucleus and augmented with returning former prisoners of war, volunteers and militia. Commanded by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar the Corps was sent to the Southern Netherlands to take part in the final defeat of Napoleon amidst of a constant changing command of control structure, in which the Swedish Crown Prince Bernadotte played a major and dubious role. Although for the greater part inexperienced and badly armed, fighting against the much superior French I Corps which even contained Imperial Guard units, III Corps struggled to prove that it could be trusted, paying a major role to protect the Netherlands against the French as these regions tried to regain their own identity after decades of French rule. 20 b/w illustrations, 8pp colour, 5 maps

Author Biography

Geert van Uythoven has published about different military subjects in the period of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. He has also written numerous articles in a whole range of magazines. Always trying to give a balanced account of what really happened, using contemporary sources in Dutch, English, German and French, often providing fresh insight. His research is broadly appreciated by others and is frequently used or quoted in other works about this period.