La Bataille de Berlin 1813

A Meditation On Sources Of Manpower In 1813

From Valmy to Vauchamps is 22 years—1792 to 1814.

For 22 years, the French used the spirit of the citizen soldiers led by General Francois Kellerman at the Battle of Valmy, crying out "Vive la Nation, " and French citizen- soldiers singing " La Marseillaise " as they turned back the Prussian general, the Duke of Brunswick shortly before Paris, to save the Revolution and later, feed the fodder to Napoleon and his Empire of the French, as he conquered most of Europe. The French had declared a levée en masse in 1793 and were able to use the hordes of well-fed—both ideologically and calorically—French to fill with soldiers their many armies in their many campaigns throughout Europe and even Egypt and Syria. In 1798, the French codified further their conscription laws with the Jourdan laws. With few changes, this kept Napoleon—both the republican and imperial personas—well-fed with fresh troops for all of his military adventures for 20 years.

French Troops Defending At Valmy (Vernet 1826)

By the time of the Battle of Vauchamps, the conscription fueling Napoleon’s ambitious endeavors from the Tagus to the Moscova had mostly run its course. While legally still in effect, the Jourdan laws had become less efficient. For example, in the last

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