The Army of the Kingdom of Italy 1805-1814

Fills a gap in the literature of military history on the Napoleonic Wars, providing some background to what may have been the first serious attempt to unify Italy for over a thousand years.

As well as being Emperor of the French (and note, incidentally, that Napoleon’s title was not ‘Emperor of France’) 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 Kingdom of Italy was a distinct entity and had a different line of succession to its Title to ensure that it remained so. 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 a fully revised and greatly expanded edition of 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 confused with what the French termed the Armée d’Italie – a different, if related, entity. The author explains why these two are not synonymous and why they should not be confused. The elements of the Navy of the Kingdom that served alongside the Army are covered in a separate section.

Illustrated in full color throughout, with over a hundred additional color illustrations, this study covers not just the regulation uniforms, although unusually the regulations were somewhat sparse, but also the numerous variations recorded in contemporary documents and plates, and in surviving items. This new edition also covers, for the first time in English, the little-known, and highly esoteric, provisional uniforms of the Army’s early years.

The uniforms of what the French called the Tête de Colonne were never regulated properly and could change from issue to issue and year to year, often depending solely on the availability of cloth or the personal idiosyncrasies of the Colonel. The author has tried to cover all of the known changes and variations in these uniforms including some additional variations that have been brought to his attention since the first edition was published.