The Battle, Rambaud - B+

                          This novel is the first in a trilogy. It won the Prix Goncourt and the Grand Prix du Roman de l'Academie Francaise. It depicts Napoleon's first loss in Europe in 1809 at the Battle of Essling.

                          Vienna lies on the southwestern side of the Danube, while Essling is across the river to the east. Napoleon entered Vienna unopposed on May 13th. The soldiers of the Archduke Charles were on the east side of the river. Napoleon ordered the construction of two bridges to cross the Danube. The first, to a mid-river island, was completed in four days, and the shorter, second one, in a day. French troops immediately occupied the towns of Essling and Aspern, entrenched and awaited the Austrian attack. On the first day of battle, the Austrians sent boats filled with stones down the Danube and  were able to break up the pontoon bridge, thus taking away France's ability to reinforce the eastern bank of the river. With only 30,000 men on the battlefield, their backs to the river, and outnumbered 3:1, the French position was precarious. Austrian artillery opened up, and that was followed by five cavalry charges. The Austrians had their way the first day. Throughout the night, the French surgeons walked among the injured, marking lines with chalk on arms and legs to guide their assistants in performing amputations. For those too far gone, a chalk mark on their foreheads meant they should be allowed to die in peace. Late that night, the bridge was patched together and reinforcement crossed over. At 3 AM, the Austrians opened fire with their artillery, and an hour later attacked the French lines.

                         When the fog lifted, the French attacked and overran the first lines they met. Upriver, the Austrians floated a burning three story mill into the river and it again broke the bridge into two pieces. Once again unable to reinforce his soldiers, Napoleon ordered them to regroup in the defensive positions they had held the night before.  As the day wore on, both sides began to run out of ammunition as the casualties mounted all around. The day petered out and darkness fell. Each army sent out parties to find weapons and armor among the 40,000 dead. At midnight, Napoleon ordered a retreat. After the survivors reached the island, the bridge would be completely destroyed and the army would re-enter Vienna. Marshall Massena was the last Frenchman to leave the left bank behind. As two-thirds of the dead were Austrian, the Archduke did not pursue. Napoleon and his army recovered in Vienna. A little over a month later, he had his revenge on the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram.

                         This novel was written a quarter-of-a-century ago. However, it is based upon the copious notes that Balzac collected in the two decades immediately after the battle. He told a great many people of his intentions to write about Essling but he never did.  The author has done as excellent a job as any I have read depicting the utter randomness of the slaughter, the horror of the 19th century battlefield, and the absolutely crazed atmosphere of the hospital tents where the surgeons allotted twenty seconds for each amputation.