La Grande Armée (Episode 2) - The Infantry & Officer Corps [20:11-22:57]

campaign. Napoleon called for the largest class to date, 120,000, with a little less than 8,000 of Condor to the reserve. In 1812 Napoleon again made an unprecedented move, relaxing service requirements and calling two concurrent class of 245,000 conscripts. The first batch of 165,000 was to reinforce Le Grand Arme, the second of 80,000 to reinforce the National Guard. This was a solid chunk of the force of over 600,000 that marched into Russia in the summer of 1812. Nearly around half of French regiments, the rest of the combination of reinforcements from French client states and allies. Despite the immensity of these preparations and the distinction of forming the largest army ever before assembled in Europe before the latter half of the 19th century, Napoleon's ambitions were dashed in Russia. Only a shattered remnant of the once proud of Grand Arme escaped to the east in debacle. The consequent military emergency of 1813 prompted the army to scrounge reinforcements from the depot battalions, training grounds, and the navy. Even the National Guard and John de Marie weren't spared. Almost reflexively another huge class was borrowed against 1814. The total effect of this mighty effort was the reformation of Le Grand Arme to a nominal strength of 300,000. The army was far from its caliber of 1805, but it was still a very capable force which Napoleon led to a series of increasingly unlikely victories. Despite these efforts, the battle of Leipzig proved to be the tipping point and precipitated a general collapse of the French front in central Germany. In the Palmele retreat west to the Rhine, German units abandoned Le Grand Arme if they hadn't affected or deserted already. Italian, Swiss, and Dutch regiments disintegrated. In desperation, Napoleon called for the class of 1814, expecting 300,000 conscripts. He received a mere 50,000. The French recruitment system was running on fumes, the policy of barring troops today against the future, but laterally draining the tank dry. The collapse of the empire upon Napoleon's abdication in April 1814 proved only temporary respite for the beleaguered families of France. The Emperor gave an encore in his infamous Hundred Days campaign. After a chunk of the French army defected to him, he called upon all those veteran officers and soldiers who would serve. A reforged Grand Arme numbered 122,000 troops, and, though heavily upnumbered, claims him outstanding initial successors against the coalition. It meant little in the end. Victory went to the coalition at Waterloo, wherein Le Grand Arme was smashed between an Anglo-Dutch Enville and a Prussian hammer.