Talk:Waterloo campaign: Waterloo to Paris (18–24 June)

Move discussion in progress

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Siborne's view out of date

Siborne's words "so fine, so splendid, an army as that of Napoleon, one composed almost exclusively of veterans, all men of one nation, entirely devoted to their chief, and most enthusiastic in his cause" represent the view of a British writer within living memory of the Battle of Waterloo. Modern scholars are questioning some of the points:

– The French army had been scraped together so it wasn't composed mostly of veterans

– Most soldiers were French but there were also soldiers from other countries

– The unity of the French people, and by extension the recent recruits, is uncertain

(I am basing this on my memory from recent reading, but it needs verification) My point is that having only the quote from Siborne is misleading. Humphrey Tribble (talk) 16:42, 9 January 2022 (UTC)

@User:Humphrey Tribble: The article is not fixed in stone, it is meant to be edited and improved. If you have sources that contradict Siborne (or support him) then by all means add them. However, the French ranks were swollen by a lot of French veterans, men who had not been available to Napoleon the year before. For example the garrisons all along the North Sea coast to Hamburg, the POWs in Coalition hands (eg the 10 of thousands who were in Russia), and the Peninsular War veterans who had been fighting in the South West of France right up until the armistice. -- PBS (talk) 17:58, 30 May 2022 (UTC)