Napoleon's Shield and Guardian: The Unconquerable General Daumesnil (review)

The upheavals of the Revolutionary era in France allowed some remarkable individuals to rise from lives of obscurity to positions of fame. Napoleon, of course, is the greatest example of this phenomenon, but the list of marshals and generals whose fame has endured for two centuries is well known. However, some men, though they touch greatness, never rise to that level themselves. General Pierre Daumesnil is one of those—famous in his day but almost unknown today. Napoleon's Shield and Guardian is the first biography in English of General Pierre Daumesnil, and it seeks to rescue his name from the obscurity into which it has slipped.

Daumesnil joined the cavalry in 1793, fighting in the Pyrenees. Transferred to Bonaparte's Army of Italy, Daumesnil, a cavalry private, began a remarkable career and his almost daily contact with the most powerful man in Europe would only come to an end fourteen years later with Daumesnil's wounding at Wagram in 1809. Daumesnil was one of the first members of the Guides, and accompanied Napoleon on campaign as a member of the Guides, Consular Guards, and then Imperial Guard. Wounded twenty times, Daumesnil threw himself between an enemy shell and Napoleon at least twice, and Napoleon considered him such a good luck talisman that his squadron often served as the Emperor's escort. Finally, as a major in the Chasseurs à cheval de la Garde Impérial, he lost his leg at Wagram in 1809 and could no longer stand the rigors of campaigning. However, his service to Napoleon did not end there; Daumesnil was appointed to command the fortress of Vincennes in 1812. His reputation with the French populace grew with his defiance of the Russians (1814), Prussians (1815), and finally a Parisian mob (1830) who tried to take this important arsenal. His fame during his lifetime was such that he earned the sobriquet "la jambe de bois" (wooden leg).

Edward Ryan, who has written previously on the Imperial Guard cavalry, has done an uneven job of bringing Daumesnil's life and career to an English-speaking audience. Based on Daumesnil's journal, along with borrowings from previous French-language bibliographies, Ryan's book fills a gap in the list of lesser-known Napoleonic personalities. Daumesnil comes across as a dashing, if self-aggrandizing, young man, always looking to be near Napoleon to prove his worth. During the Italian campaign, the list of Austrian and Piedmontese colors captured by this young cavalryman makes one wonder whether he spent all his time chasing color bearers. The available sources on Daumesnil's life are much greater after 1812 and his marriage, yet most of the book is devoted to the earlier period when Daumesnil is on campaign with the Emperor. For example, though wounded twenty times in battle, only a handful of his wounds are mentioned in the text. The lack of sources on Daumesnil's early career forces the author to comment that while there is no evidence that Daumesnil was present during a particular incident, knowing his character, the author has no doubt that he must have been near.

Due to the paucity of sources on Daumesnil's early career, the first half of the book is more a chronicle of the relationship between Napoleon and his Imperial Guard than a biography of Daumesnil. Ryan is clearly enamored with his subject, yet is able to place Daumesnil's contributions more fully into context only in the second half of the book when talking about his role in defending Vincennes. Ryan's book has more value as a general history of a truly exceptional officer than a unique contribution about the campaigns of the Imperial Guard. One chapter that does stand out concerns Daumesnil's role in leading the Mamluks of the Imperial Guard during the Dos de Mayo uprising in Madrid, and French responses to a city in revolt...