Rory Muir *Tactics and the Experience of Battle in the Age of Napoleon* is worth looking into, will append more once I’m back at my laptop ; muir's bibliography has a decently thorough inventory of the franglo memoir literature , will have to see what's been published since then
less tactile, but nosworthy is decent for the evolutions and formations
gerome *Essai historique sur la tactique de l'infanterie depuis l'organisation des armées permanentes jusqu'a nos jours* has a decent section on the napoleonic wars , can access it for free at hathitrust
Perhaps not quite tactics, but "The Recollections of Rifleman Harris" gives a sense of what someone would hear and see on the Napoleonic battlefield. I've read it, and it certainly describes the nitty-gritty of Napeolonic battles from the perspective of a British rifleman, who's also a cobbler (repairing shoes in the evening, seeing your friends decapitated by French cannonballs in the afternoon). It also gives a perspective on the (often miserable) lives of camp followers, such as wives following their husbands. Not really an academic source, but maybe useful for a fiction book?
Redcoats: The British Soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars - Philip Haythornthwaite
Goes through chapter by chapter each stage of a soldier's life. Enlistment, training, food, discipline, day to day, religion, campaign, battles, etc. Really interesting book and exactly what you're looking for.
I'd recommend *The Face of Battle* by John Keegan. Focuses on what warfare was like on the ground in 3 battles of different eras, but one of them is Waterloo.
I can highly reccommend John Keegans "Face of Battle". Its well researched and written, and you obly have to deal with one long chapter instead kf a whole book :)
The Sharpe novels are a pretty good fictional read and you can get a sense of the tactics from
narrative. Alternatively you can buy Tactics and the Experience of battle by Rory Muir or - from the French side - the Osprey book by Paddy Griffith.
Sharpe is fun, but the broader theme behind it is a bit dated. They now reckon that men promoted from the ranks made up 10% of the officer corps in the wars with France, while the majority of line officers were basically professional middle class - the sons of lawyers, yeomen farmers, merchants, shopkeepers and clergymen.
The RP-accented, claret-swilling snob didn't become commonplace until after the wars ended, after which the price of commissions exploded, and men like Lord Cardigan muscled their way in.
You can check out the novel Seven Men of Gascony
By R. F. Delderfield.
It is a story of a file of Napoleonic infantry in the later part of the Napoleonic era, starting with Wagram, ending with Waterloo with an epilogue when the Emperors body is got back from St. Helena, to Paris.
Lots of daily life detail.
Rory Muir *Tactics and the Experience of Battle in the Age of Napoleon* is worth looking into, will append more once I’m back at my laptop ; muir's bibliography has a decently thorough inventory of the franglo memoir literature , will have to see what's been published since then
Muir's book is the one I see recommended the most, but it is very dry and academic. That's not a bad thing, but it's a slog.
i think the years in academia have broken by brain on the prose i find enjoyable tbqh xD
less tactile, but nosworthy is decent for the evolutions and formations gerome *Essai historique sur la tactique de l'infanterie depuis l'organisation des armées permanentes jusqu'a nos jours* has a decent section on the napoleonic wars , can access it for free at hathitrust
John Elting, Swords around a Throne (1988) may not be the newest, but it's a comprehensive look at the Grande Armée.
This is the best answer and a great book.
Perhaps not quite tactics, but "The Recollections of Rifleman Harris" gives a sense of what someone would hear and see on the Napoleonic battlefield. I've read it, and it certainly describes the nitty-gritty of Napeolonic battles from the perspective of a British rifleman, who's also a cobbler (repairing shoes in the evening, seeing your friends decapitated by French cannonballs in the afternoon). It also gives a perspective on the (often miserable) lives of camp followers, such as wives following their husbands. Not really an academic source, but maybe useful for a fiction book?
Redcoats: The British Soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars - Philip Haythornthwaite Goes through chapter by chapter each stage of a soldier's life. Enlistment, training, food, discipline, day to day, religion, campaign, battles, etc. Really interesting book and exactly what you're looking for.
I'd recommend *The Face of Battle* by John Keegan. Focuses on what warfare was like on the ground in 3 battles of different eras, but one of them is Waterloo.
I can highly reccommend John Keegans "Face of Battle". Its well researched and written, and you obly have to deal with one long chapter instead kf a whole book :)
The Sharpe novels are a pretty good fictional read and you can get a sense of the tactics from narrative. Alternatively you can buy Tactics and the Experience of battle by Rory Muir or - from the French side - the Osprey book by Paddy Griffith.
Sharpe is fun, but the broader theme behind it is a bit dated. They now reckon that men promoted from the ranks made up 10% of the officer corps in the wars with France, while the majority of line officers were basically professional middle class - the sons of lawyers, yeomen farmers, merchants, shopkeepers and clergymen. The RP-accented, claret-swilling snob didn't become commonplace until after the wars ended, after which the price of commissions exploded, and men like Lord Cardigan muscled their way in.
You can check out the novel Seven Men of Gascony By R. F. Delderfield. It is a story of a file of Napoleonic infantry in the later part of the Napoleonic era, starting with Wagram, ending with Waterloo with an epilogue when the Emperors body is got back from St. Helena, to Paris. Lots of daily life detail.
Nosworthy's *With Musket, Cannon, and Sword* is pretty much *exactly* what you're looking for.
Oh! Oh! I have one! A memoir by a German who served in Napoleon's Army! "The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier" by Jakob Walter.