Napoleon: A Biography

Each corps became in ef fect a miniature army, each with its own cavalry
and artillery arm, and each capable of operating independently for forty­
eight hours or more; at the limit, it had to be capable of taking on an
enemy force three times its size.
When contact was made with hostile forces, Napoleon ordered the
corps nearest the enemy to pin him down, often encouraging an all-out
assault from the opposition by the very paucity of its own numbers.
Meanwhile the rest of the army would be engaged in forced marches to
fall on the enemy flanks and rear at a predetermined moment. Perfect
timing and coordination were necessary to achieve outright victory by
this method, and tremendous courage and stamina on the part of the
'pinning' corps, which was sure to take heavy losses. Even if the enemy
managed to punch through the 'pin', it could find itself cut off from its
base or in hostile territory.
Usually, however, the pinning corps would not have to stand and fight
for twenty-four hours, since Napoleon arranged for his various corps to
arrive at the battle at different times. The enemy would find to his
consternation that he was fighting more and more Frenchmen, and would
then commit his reserves to achieve victory before further French
reinforcements arrived on the scene. Meanwhile, hidden by a cavalry
screen, the main enveloping force would move towards the weak spot on
the flanks or re ar. Napoleon always tried to envelop the enemy flank
nearest his natural line of retreat, but was aware that this required
meticulous timing. 'The favourable opportunity must be seized, for
fortune is female -if you baulk her today, you must not expect to meet
with her again tomorrow.' This was why the command of the final
enveloping force was always given to his most trusted general, for
everything depended on arriving at exactly the right place and time.
What this meant in practical terms was that Napoleon had to work out
through the smoke of battle exactly when the enemy commander
committed his final reserves. The commander of the enveloping force had
to keep his troops like greyhounds on the leash, lest a premature attack
betray their presence. The signal to the envelopers to make their presence
felt would either be a pre-arranged barrage from certain guns or, if
geography permitted it, a message from an aide. The coup de grace was
meant to be a combined offensive from front and rear. When the
enveloping force appeared, the enemy commander would either have to
weaken his front to meet the new challenge at the very moment Napoleon
was launching a frontal attack, or he could opt for retreat - supremely
perilous in the teeth of attacking forces. Napoleon liked to launch his final