A. Hilliard Atteridge Livres

Joachim Murat (1767-1815), whose career took him to the heights as a cavalry commander and one of Napoleon’s marshals, was intended for the church but a priestly life was not for him. Before taking the first step in Holy Orders as a sub-deacon he quit the seminary and, at the age of twenty, joined the army. In 1795 he met Napoleon and became his first aide-de-camp in Italy where he distinguished himself in the 1796-’97 campaign during which he led his first cavalry charge. In January 1800 he married Napoleon’s sister, Caroline. He commanded the French cavalry at Marengo, was appointed commander of the Grand Army in the German campaign of 1805 and subsequently commanded the cavalry at Jena, Eylau and Friedland and in 1808 was made general-in-chief of the French armies in Spain and on 1 August succeeded Joseph Bonaparte as king of Naples. The subsequent decline of his fortunes are well described in this book which provides a very entertaining, straightforward account of a commander who was adored by the troops he led. Like Ney he ended his life in front of a firing squad - on 13 October 1815. His was a meteoric career.

The 17th Division’s first service was in Ypres Salient, under the command of Lieut.-General Sir E. H. H. Allenby, K. C. B.The Division moved to the Somme in June 1916, by which time, hopes of an early victory had long passed.On the Somme, the Division took part in some great attacks and suffered severely.The fighting took the Division through a harsh winter, where many died from the fighting and illness.Despite the loss of so many of its men, the 17th Division served gallantly in the many arenas of The Great War.The Division, that started with young, potentially untrained men, left a trail of great achievements in its The Somme battle in 2016, the capture of Neuvilly in October, 1918, the capture of Futoy and its advance through Mormal forest, also in 1918, amongst other highly successful achievements.A. Hilliard Atteridge (1844-1941) was the author of a number of books on conflict. His work The Wars of the Nineties , Famous Modern Battles and The Army.