This outstanding biography is the story of courage. It charts the career of a superbly brave cavalryman against the rise and fall of his imperial master. Pierre Daumesnil was a loyal follower of Napoleon during his rise and his fall. Enlisting as a private soldier in 1793, he was caught up in the tumult of the Napoleonic Wars, surviving campaign after campaign and emerging as a much-decorated general and Baron of the Empire. It was a meteoric rise but one earned through hard fighting, bravery and indefatigable courage. Daumesnil accompanied Napoleon as an officer of his chasseurs and his service record reflects his years of experience on the field of battle. Daumesnil joined the French Army as a private in 1793 and was serving in Napoleon's Guides in 1797. He served in Egypt in 1798, charged at Marengo in 1800, fought at Austerlitz and Eylau, campaigned in Spain and saw action in Wagram. Terribly wounded at that battle, losing a leg, Daumesnil became governor of the fortress of Vincennes. It was here that he played his most celebrated role in the wars of Napoleon by refusing to surrender the fortress to the Allies in 1814 and again in 1815.
Daumesnil's life was an adventure and one which typifies the dash, colour and verve of this astonishing period. This biography, by a leading author, will appeal to Napoleonic enthusiasts and those interested in the life and times of Napoleon's elite cavalrymen.

• Cover
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Dedication
• Copyright Page
• Contents
  • Prefaces
  • List of illustrations
  • Introduction
  • Chapter One – A tumultuous youth
  • Chapter Two – A grim introduction to the life of a soldier
  • Chapter Three – A first glimpse of fame
  • Chapter Four – New perils and new honors in Egypt
  • Chapter Five – A Chasseur à cheval de la Garde
  • Chapter Six – Years of evolution
  • Chapter Seven – From Ulm to Austerlitz to Warsaw
  • Chapter Eight – Jéna – Auerstädt
  • Chapter Nine – The bloody snows of Eylau
  • Chapter Ten – Once again, Spain
  • Chapter Eleven – The turning point
  • Chapter Twelve – New honors, new distractions
  • Chapter Thirteen – The best of times
  • Chapter Fourteen – ‘I need a man on whom I can count’
  • Chapter Fifteen – The gathering storm
  • Chapter Sixteen – The deluge
  • Chapter Seventeen – The tightrope
  • Chapter Eighteen – The One Hundred Days
  • Chapter Nineteen – The blockade
  • Chapter Twenty – Years of silence
  • Chapter Twenty-one – Game, set, and match
  • Chapter Twenty-two – The final battle
  • Epilogue
  • Annex A – The service record of Pierre Daumesnil
  • Annex B – Bonaparte’s proclamation to the Army of Italy
  • Annex C – The Convention of Paris
  • Annex D – Blücher vs. Wellington re Napoleon’s fate
  • Annex E – The “Address” of 23 March 1815
  • Notes on illustrations
  • Bibliography
  • Index of names of persons