The Army of the Kingdom of Italy, 1805-1814: Uniforms, Organization, Campaigns ( From Reason to Revolution )
Publisher: Helion & Company
Description: 112 pages
Pub Date: April 01, 2023
ISBN: 9781911628491
Often overlooked is the fact that, in addition to being Emperor of the French, Napoleon was also King of Italy. As such he was the first man to hold such a title since antiquity, albeit that the Kingdom was ruled by Eugene de Beauharnais as Viceroy. There seems little doubt that had Napoleon remained in power for a few more years then the Kingdom's Army would have been the cornerstone of a unified Italian State a half-century before Garibaldi.
The Kingdom may only have comprised about a third of the Italian peninsula, but it was inevitably a major contributor of manpower to the Grande Armée. Despite this, and the continuing popularity of the study of Napoleonic armies and uniforms, there has not previously been a full-length study of the appearance of this Army nor any comparable synopsis of its service.
The uniforms of the Kingdom's Army were heavily influenced by those of Napoleonic France but there was, in addition, enough 'Italian flair' to make them distinctive and the Army's service record was the equal to that of any of France's allies and satellites, and considerably better than most.
publication date will be rather "late-Spring or early-Summer of 2022"
delayed several times the title is appearing again definitively on the Helion website
https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/the-army-of-the-kingdom-of-italy-1805-1814-uniforms-organization-campaigns.php?sid=27602dbd1a644ae4b9469c4a6423e5b5
As well as being Emperor of the French it is often forgotten, or simply overlooked, that Napoleon was also King of Italy – a state that essentially comprised all Italy North of the Kingdom of Naples. The Army of the Kingdom of Italy fought alongside that of France in all of the major campaigns of the Grande Armée as well as contributing troops to the French Army in Spain. This is the first full-length English language study of the uniforms, organization, personnel and campaigns of that army. The army of the Kingdom was, perhaps not surprisingly, amongst France’s most reliable allies but it is usually simply confused with what the French termed the Armée d’Italie - a different, if related, army. The author explains why these two are not synonymous and should not be confused. The book covers not just the regulation uniforms, although unusually the regulations were somewhat sparse, but also the numerous variations recorded in contemporary documents and plates. The uniforms of the Têtes de Colonne were never regulated properly and could change from issue to issue and year to year and the author has tried to cover all of these known changes.