Napoleon

I just read, by the modern day author in commentary of Sun Tzu's The Art Of War, perhaps the oldest military text that is still used today, that in the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's Army was composed of 72,000 while Wellington's was 68,000.

Napoleon was perhaps one of the five top military genius' of all time. I had pictured him outgunned and outmanned at Waterloo, suddenly I find that he even had superior forces. You still have to win and genius' still make mistakes or have occasional insurrmountable bad luck. Against the Prussians he had called for a cavalry charge that did not take place due to the neglect of one of Napoleon's officers, and was critical to the outcome. Some think he would have won that battle if not for that. Maybe that was the bad luck.

But I remember reading also about him. His escapades into Russia nearly undid him on the spot. Even though he escaped with his life and a shattered army, it left France in such disarray that led to his first defeat before escaping and reforming. Plus, he had become emperor and in many ways left the military behind, or at least a lower priority than when he was simply General. Ruling an empire was a distraction militarily. And in so doing the rest of Europe caught up with him. He had been so brilliant and innovative that it caught Europe off guard. But as he ruled and devoted so much to the political arena, he had to neglect much militarily, even though he was still accessing his army and conquering.

As the other European powers studied his methods through the years and mastered them, he became rusty militarily speaking and less innovative. But still his command and charisma alone offered so much, and he was still a genius. He almost got them anyway, just figuring it out as he went along.

I've even heard some, to this day, consider Napolean the anti-Christ, as if he were Hitler. The fact is, Europe was very sendentary until he came along and steeped in antiquated social and governmental styles. The French Revolution threatened this and the genius of Napoleon carried it even further and brought it to their backyards. For the most part, he left places better off than they had been and that was the real threat to the European establishment.

I visited Napoleon's tomb everytime I went to Paris. Another Italian that worked his wonders for a foreign power. I saw a picture of him that almost hypnotized me, I absolutely got swept up in it, as I had with Rasputin's at one time. I don't know if it was their charisma or what, but it was only a picture, and this shocked me. I wondered somehow if I knew them in a previous life or something it was so strong.