An Unavoidable Evil: Siege Warfare in the Age of Napoleon

Sieges were the exception, rather than the norm, of the Napoleonic Wars. This simple truth may seem unremarkable to the modern reader, yet it represented a significant shift from the norms of eighteenth—century warfare. The more agile style of campaigning made possible by the invention of the corps system by Guibert, and perfected by Napoleon, inevitably led to strategy shifting towards a focus on climactic, decisive battles. As a result, hundreds of books have been written on the decisive ...