Querengässer, Alexander LeCoq

Ein sächsisches Soldatenleben

In the autumn of 1806, French troops under the command of Napoleon I and a number of young charismatic marshals defeated the combined Prussian-Saxon army at Jena. While Prussia was humiliated in the Peace of Tilsit, Saxony closed ranks with Napoleon. At the Emperor's insistence, the army was reorganised along French lines and young officers were promoted to generals. One of these was Karl Christian Erdmann Edler LeCoq. Still a simple battalion commander at Jena, he already commanded a brigade at Wagram in 1809 and a division a year later. LeCoq was an open-minded, progress-oriented officer and was regarded as the "drillmaster of the Saxon army". As such, he was particularly concerned with the formation of light infantry units. In 1812 he finally became commanding general of the Saxon army. However, in the same year he took part in Napoleon's fatal Russian campaign at the head of his troops.

This biography is the first comprehensive examination of the life of one of the most important Saxon generals of the Napoleonic era. Karl Christian Erdmann Edler LeCoq took part in all the campaigns of the Saxon troops of the time. His life was thus marked by the turbulent fate of Saxony. Based on sources from several archives, Alexander Querengässer has traced his career. The result is an excitingly narrated picture of a man who, thanks to his talent, his ambition, but also the circumstances of the time, rose to the top of the Saxon army, led it through several major military crises and a series of reorganisations.

Index:
Acknowledgements
Biographies - Past, Present, Future?
A soldier's life
- Son of a soldier
- Gaiter service
- A dedicated captain - The Rhine campaign 1795
- A prudent battalion commander - Jena 1806
- A popular town commander
- A brave brigade commander - Austria 1809
-. An open-minded reorganiser
- Generals in women's skirts - Russia 1812
- Just a division commander - Saxony 1813
- King and fatherland - France 1814 and 1815
- Commander-in-chief of the army
- Death far from home
Epilogue
Final notes
Sources and bibliography.