Napoleon

‘Military discipline admits of no modifications.’-Napoleon to Jerome, 3 April 1807.

The army must understand that discipline, wisdom, and the respect for property support its victories, that pillage and theft belong only to the cowardly, who are unworthy of remaining in the ranks…that they plot the loss of honor and that they have no goal other than to stain the laurels acquired by so much bravery and perserverence.’-Order of the Day, 11 June 1796.

‘Without discipline there is no victory.’-Napoleon to the Directory, 6 April 1796.

‘The success of an army and its well-being depend essentially upon order and discipline, which will make us loved by the people who come to greet us and with whom we share enemies.’-Order of the Day, 20 March 1799.

‘Pillaging destroys everything, even the army that practices it. The inhabitants leave, which has the dual drawback of turning them into irreconcilable enemies who take revenge upon the isolated soldier, and of swelling the enemy ranks in proportion to the damage that we do. This deprives us of all intelligence, so necessary for waging war, and of every means of subsistence. Peasants who come to peddle provisions are put off by the troops who stop them, pillage their wares, and beat them.’-Order of the Army, 12 December 1808.

‘When I arrived [in Italy in 1796] the army was injured by the bad influence of the troublemakers: it lacked bread, discipline, and subordination. I made some examples, devoted all of our means to reviving the administrative services of the army, and victory did the rest…Without bread the soldier tends to an excess of violence that makes one blush for being a man.’-Napoleon to the Directory, 24 April 1796.

‘We will never forget to make a disciplinary example of these soldiers who deviate from the rule of severe discipline.’-Napoleon to AM Battaglia, 10 December 1796.

Army Order, 22 June 1812:

‘Each marshal or corps commander will name a provost commission composed of five officers, which will try every soldier who, following the army, is absent from his regiment without a legitimate reason and every marauder and individual caught pillaging or molesting the local inhabitants. The commission will condemn the guilty to death and will have them executed in twenty-four hours.’

From The Road to Rivoli by Martin Boycott-Brown:

'…the instruction that Bonaparte had been given at the beginning of the campaign had stipulated that he was to exact large contributions from conquered enemy territory, so his actions were in line with this. Moreover. the fact that he was able to send large quantities of money and treasure to Paris, and even to help the finances of the struggling armies on the Rhine, undoubtedly increased his political leverage, and he must have been aware that every franc he could raise would help him get agreement for his plans…'

'Bonaparte was not avaricious, though, and merely regarded the money as a means to an end. He was far more interested in the next phase of the campaign…'-335,

'...[Napoleon] held a meeting of his generals in Ceva, which resulted in orders being issued that anyone, whether officer or soldier, who either encouraged or participated in looting, would immediately be shot in front of the troops.'-269.

'Joubert also wrote to his father, passing rapidly over another lucky escape to make known his own feelings about the problems of discipline...'the wealth of the country brings back our army's love of pillage, and I curse and rage to the General-in-Chief to have some of the guilty shot. Because I foresee great troubles if this continues.' Bonaparte was of much the same opinion, and issued a lengthy order of the day on the subject, with strict instructions for the divisional generals to submit reports on the conduct of the generals under them, and so on down the scale. From the way the order is set out, one may conclude that as far as Bonaparte was concerned, discipline was something that worked from the top downwards...this order was clearly a 'shot across the bows' that must have discouraged the less hardened criminals, and large-scale disorders of the kind that had compromised the successes of Dego and San Michele did not recur.'-273-274.

'However, [the proclamation] did go on to say at some length that pillaging would have to stop, and there would be grave punishments for those who transgressed the order. As if to show that this was not an empty threat, there were a few executions. A certain Sapper Latouche was shot during the day for looting, and two soldiers called Urgel and Lefort followed the day after.'-277.