Napoleon Bonaparte with Polish Prince Joseph Poniatowski at the Battle of Leipzig. Poniatowski was killed later that day.

Grande Armee

Polish Prince Joseph Poniatowski

By Jeremy Green

­Polish Prince Joseph Poniatowski, a great hero of Napoleonic legend, ultimately was a man without a country. Born on May 7, 1762, the prince at first enjoyed the luxurious life of a nobleman because of his ties to the ruling family of Poland. Read more

Through the most devastating of military marches, Michel Ney commanded Napoleon’s Rear Guard with exceptional Élan and Honor.

Grande Armee

Michel Ney’s Retreat

by Jeremy Green

Napoleon Bonaparte’s Russian campaign of 1812 ranks as one of the worst military disasters in history. Only 50,000 men returned from an orginal 600,000, or of the 100,000 who marched into Moscow, less than 10,000 were to see France again. Read more

An engraving depicts the death of Roman emperor Julian the Apostate at the hands of Persians.

Grande Armee

Emperor Julian “The Apostate”

By Kaveh Farrokh

“[W]hen Emperor Julian had received the wound [in Persia], he filled his hand with blood, flung it into the air and cried, Thou hast won, O Galilean,” wrote Theodoret of Cyrus. Read more