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Quotation from Napoleon's Maxims of War by Napoleon Bonaparte

“When an army carries with it a battering train, or large convoys of sick and wounded, it cannot march by too short a line upon its depôts”

Napoleon Bonaparte (spoken by Napoleon (as compiled by Burnod))

Napoleon's Maxims of War, Maxim XXI, trans. G. C. D'Aguilar from Burnod (1831; 1862 reprint)

Portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte

One of the few maxims to mention the sick and wounded, treated as a burden that dictates the army's line of march.

Citation: "When an army carries with it a battering train, or large convoys of sick and wounded, it cannot march by too short a line upon its depôts" — Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon's Maxims of War, Maxim XXI, trans. G. C. D'Aguilar from Burnod (1831; 1862 reprint). (id napoleons-maxims-of-war-q3)

Portrait: The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, Jacques-Louis David, Public domain.

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