1. Suchet - Capable & Principled Bernadotte - Capable & Principled, but Ungrateful Victor - Capable, but horrible human being. Murat - Useful at first, but an utter moron.

Suchet❤

Suchet. The only Marshal to actually pacify a Spanish Province (Aragon), at least until Napoleon overstretched him and drained him of troops. Dealt massive blows in capturing Valencia (18,000 prisoners) and Tarragona (another 10,000). On St Helena Napoleon said Suchet was his most skilful General, along with Clauzel and Gerard. Also reported to have said that with two Marshals like Suchet in Spain he could have retained it. Selected by Napoleon to defend the Eastern Border during the Hundred Days. Didn't cooperate well with other commanders in Spain but then again none of them did! Generally considered honourable, (and a devoted husband).

Bernadotte - Murat - Suchet - Victor - however all 4 very fascinating characters.

Bernadotte.

When murat showed himself on the field, the earth shaked! 😮

Murat ❤

Again, I have no dog in this fight being a Royalist at the game board. Murat

Murat for the WIN!

Great information, unfortunately your background music overpowers your narration to excess at times.

Thanks for the video! My ranking would be as follows: 1/ Ney - he has the main quality to be a maréchal: he is a leader. Not the best tactician, but he is the one who can achieve the impossible like with the Russian retreat thanks to his own charisma. 2/ Berthier - useful tool for Napoleon. But was he unique during this period: could Lazare Carnot do the job also (he successfully handled the logistics of French army when revolutionary France was alone against the other european powers)? 3/ Soult - despite Austerlitz and because he was not successful in Spanish war.

1. Lannes...my perverse reasoning is that 1804 saw the beginning of the Marshalate so everyone starts with a clean slate.

Agree that MacDonald was "middling". His highest profile battlefield contribution - which led to his Baton - was the lumbering advance in square at Wagram into the teeth of massed artillery, losing 6500 of his 8,000 men. Napoleon rewarded his bravery - but later described him as slow and best fitted to command small forces under direct supervision. For the other two, the difficulty is "Which Massena?" The man of Rivoli who also defeated Charles, Korsakov and Suvorov at Zurich? Or the old goat who sent his army to attack up a mountain at Bussaco, and let his army starve to inferiority outside the Lines of Torres Vedras? Lannes is a romantic figure with enviable drive and thoroughly splattered the Spanish at Tudela and Saragossa, and held on well at Friedland until the French Corps were concentrated. But is it really the role of commanders to lead assaults up ladders? Conclusion: Massena's Swiss victories around Zurich in 1799 were massive affairs of 60,000-70,000 a side - overlooked because we fixate on Bonaparte in Egypt. Its a close call, but Massena gets it.

Ney! Ney! Ney! A soldiers soldier, a hundred battles for France, never one against her. And not a looter. Who got the Grande Armee out of Russia?

Sam called this right. Lannes was the best of these three with Massena a close second.

I’ve never seen a quasi academic swoon on KZfaq before.

Thank you for the video always entertaining and thoughtful. After watching the video, my ranking would be as follows: 1/ Massena (despite the Peninsula war), 2/ Lannes (passed aways too early and did not lead armies like Massena and accomplished comparable victories and campaigns), and 3/ Macdonald.

Outspoken Celt and legendary swimmer: MacDonald. Lannes was dead (convenient that) and Massena basically retired, while MacDonald fought the Allies at their height. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇫🇷

Let's go! Nice work, team. :)

Having no dog in this fight, a bit of a Francophobe, Lannes is the best of these

1. Lannes, 2. Massena, 3. MCDONALD

Excellent 1st episode, thank you. I've lived most of my life in Waterloo and have roamed the length and breadth of the 18 June battlefield. Excellent that you are attending to the events further south first and delighted to see/hear of the Dutch/Belgian involvement. It is all too often overlooked or, worse, denigrated. I look forward to your handling of the

Any news on episode 2?

I remember first watching Waterloo a good while ago. And then I remember watching Napoleon. I become sad.

Nice work

Nice work on this, Zack. Tony Pollard is a great guest.

When will we see Episode 2?

Interestingly moden views of Napoleon slapping and being beastly to Josaphine. It was the early 19th century. This was a done thing by some people in those times. Women were not regarded highly except for their family making capabilites and housekeeping. They could mot be men and fight like them. And perhaps you are attaching modern mores to a film which portrays probable behaviour. And slapping of people on films was also seen in many films s in the 40s to 70s and later. Slapping someone who has lost the plot, can, actually break them out of their panic.

To what's been provided there's not so much wrong with the script. Keep the cavalry close enough so that the artillery won't start up again. Once in square it's indeed all about doing what keeps oneself alive from the enemy's power. Spielberg will want to make it his own movie, and that there is the indication that there's not going to be one made

Hello just found your channel really enjoyed your discussion with tony. I was told not to go and see this film as I am really interested in this period of history , yes all I can say is I needed a sick bowl and a memory reversal, I am totally disgusted that this heap of camel ..... Was aloud to even go to cinema. I think if Napoleon was around now then Ridley would be fighting the old guard.

I just recently watch it and it was amazing, powerful, well acted, well written.... MY only nit pick is that Micheal Douglas' Ben Franklin was not bald enough. Franklin had an infamous receding hair line. This trailer does a great job at showing ALOT and giving away little. Looking forward to a follow up video discussing the series after you guys have watched it.

Nothing new here. Move along, move along.

Is this a "Bake off" episode on location? Glad it wasn't released here in Australia.

I'm a lifelong Napoleonic fan, have been a cuirasier reenactor (14th dutch) for many years, but I will not watch this movie. It will ..... stop my will to live. 😢

I find it hard to believe that for more than 200 years, the Dutch-Belgian troops were regarded as "The Cowards of Waterloo". This video sheds a different light, and hopefully will erase that horrible accusation. Thank you!

Wait what! The British didn't beat Napoleon alone, who knew!!!! 😂

For a more balanced view of Bessieres - both as a marshal and as a man - I recommend “Napoleon’s Marshals” (1987), edited by David Chandler. Bessieres is covered by Dr. Charles Esdaile, Chapter Four: “The Misnamed Bayard”. Here is an excerpt, pages 69 to 70: “Bessieres’s many good qualities led to him being known as ‘the Bayard of the Grand Army,’ an image that has been exploited to the full by his later hagiographers. Yet, in reality, he was very far from being a saint [….] His wife also suffered cruelly at his hands. Unbeknown to her, Bessieres had a mistress named Virginie, a young opera singer in Paris. When the grief-stricken Madame la Marechale Bessieres received his effects after his death, her distress was greatly augmented by the discovery of his adultery [….] [When] presented with even the slightest room for personal initiative, he [Bessieres] began to waver and hesitate: Lannes’s allegations concerning his “fiddling about” at Marengo and Aspern were certainly not without a grain of truth [….] But for the chariness he [Bessieres] exhibited at Borodino and Maloyaroslavets, the horrors of the retreat from Moscow might have been avoided. Thus, in spite of his undeniable talents and good qualities, Bessieres was no paragon of military virtue. As fallible as most of his fellows, his reputation as a latter-day Bayard is therefore sadly undeserved.”

Great discussion. I hope you have subsequently conquered your demons, and I very much respect the courage displayed in publicly discussing such an issue. "Are you OK?" is an ongoing process.

I suggest that this video fails to establish its premise that most people who know of Waterloo don’t know a lot of this, if not most of it.

Very well done mate

In the Netherlands there is a similar structure called "The Pyramid of Austerlitz". It was built by the army of Marmont.

37:05: Was this a "stealthy" advance (what my Infantry friends would call a silent attack)? I suspect drums beating to keep the step could be heard some way off?

Frankly, anyone who's even remotely interested in Waterloo is WELL aware of the decisive role played by Blucher - and Bondarchuk's excellent movie demonstrated its importance.

this was fabulous well done

I kind of wish they had never built the Lions Mound,as I would of loved today to have seen that intact Allied Ridge. But with most Historical Battles,I'm sure the participants and people of the time weren't expecting us to be fascinated by them hundreds of years later so I guess it was no big deal to change the landscape to build the mound.

This is honestly pathetic. I don't know anyone that doesn't know about the Prussian element at Waterloo, or the Germanic component under Wellington's command. Build up and strawman and knock it down.

Ah so now I can revisit this battle with the benefit of the recent episode with Garry Will's analysis. Good Ground and Situation Briefs to set the scene as well.

Recent subscriber going through the "back issues". A great discussion and Garry seems to know his stuff!

No need for the "spoiler" warning, as I have no intention of watching it.

Quite annoying to repeat every few seconds that no one mentioned this and that while it has been covered and mentioned for 2 centuries. Nevertheless, thanks for the video and the work gone into it.