x On the surface, it looked as if Napoleon was now just as strong
as ever, but there were several key underlying weaknesses in his
new army.
o First, the new conscripts truly represented the bottom of the
manpower barrel—if Napoleon lost these men, there would be
no replacing them.
o Second, he had lost nearly 200,000 horses and most of his
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infantry recruits. Thus, when Napoleon’s new army went to
war, it would be badly under strength in cavalry.x One of the most important roles of cavalry in Napoleonic warfare
was to run down and wipe out a defeated enemy to ensure that it did
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for lack of adequate cavalry.
x Another consequence of Napoleon’s defeat in Russia was the loss of
several powerful continental nations that, up to this time, had been
his reluctant allies; these nations now felt safe to desert Napoleon
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these was Prussia.
x The Prussians signed an agreement with England, Russia, Spain,
Portugal, and Sweden to work together in a joint effort to bring
down Napoleon. This alliance was known as the Sixth Coalition—
its very name a testimony to how many times Napoleon had
survived international attempts to unseat him.
x The great question remaining was which side Austria would join.
The opposing alliances were so closely matched that whichever
one could add Austria’s large army to its strength would have the
advantage. Throughout the late spring and summer of 1813, the
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