Napoleon’s Enfant Terrible: General Dominique Vandamme (review)

Dr. Gallaher’s main purpose is to present the story of a soldier from humble origins who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and Napoleonic era, but never quite achieved his ultimate goal, to obtain the marshal’s baton. Dominique Vandamme was a man of considerable ability, whose quarrelsome personality often brought him into conflict with his superiors and had a deleterious effect on his career. Faced with charges of the peculation of requisitioned funds on more than one occasion, Vandamme managed to navigate the dangerous waters of the Revolutionary period and come out with his head still attached, mainly through his ability to artfully defend himself against his accusers’ unsubstantiated claims, and his continued success on the battlefield.

While serving under Napoleon, the general was frequently at odds with those under whom he was asked to serve. Though praised by Marshal Bernadotte during the 1809 campaign--“General Vandamme’s conduct . . . was above all the praise I could make to Your Majesty . . . “ (p. 193)-- he ran afoul of Jérôme Bonaparte before the onset of the Russian Campaign of 1812 over the lack of available supplies, and Vandamme’s requisitioning policies. Unwisely, Vandamme threatened to resign and the King of Westphalia had no choice but to dismiss the troublesome officer. Appealing directly to Napoleon, his letters went unanswered until he was finally told to return to France and await further orders. Vandamme’s irascible behavior led to him having a rather uneven military career in terms of service, never having been assigned to one particular military formation with which he could be identified.

This work is supported heavily by research in archival documents: In the Vandamme Papers in the Municipal Library of Lille; the Service Historique de l’État-Major de l’Armée, the Château de Vincennes; the National Archives, Paris; and the Department of the Nord at Lille. Gallaher also uses a spate of printed primary sources, including the Mémoires et correspondance du roi Jérôme et la reine Cathérine (Paris, 1861-1866), and secondary works in French, English, and German.

The author’s book is accessible to both the scholar and the merely interested reader. Never losing sight of his subject, he deftly interweaves the larger picture into his narrative about one of Napoleon’s (up until this point) lesser-known generals. His skilful use of primary sources sheds new light on the topic, in particular the disaster at Kulm, 1813. This work is a great success and adds to the historiography of this era. Dr. Gallaher has achieved his announced intentions: to demonstrate that Dominique Vandamme was a talented leader of men (though no diplomat when it came to dealing with superiors), the kind of officer that has helped all the great captains achieve success. This is borne out by his continued employment in the armies of France. Though always feeling unappreciated by his superiors, from his early campaigns in the Low Countries, through the débâcle of Waterloo, Vandamme never wavered in his support for la patrie.