After Napoleon's victories over Austria and Prussia he rearranged the map of Germany. In 1807
he created the Kingdom of Westphalia as a model state within the Confederation of the Rhine.
The Kingdom with its French-based internal organization was supposed to serve as a model for
the desired structures of the other member states of the Confederation of the Rhine. Napoleon's
brother Jérôme Bonaparte was installed as Westphalia's king. The Kingdom was essentially
assembled from the conquered lands of the Electoral Principality of Hesse the Principality of
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and the Prussian territories east of the Elbe River. In 1810 the
territories of the former Electoral Principality of Hanover were added.Because Napoleon
considered the Confederation of the Rhine to be primarily a military alliance the Westphalian
Army was of special importance. Its army was also organized completely on the French model.The
authors describe the army's structure and its employment including its operations in Spain
Germany and Russia. Yet the focus of the book is on providing a comprehensive depiction of the
colorful uniforms of the individual units as well as their military actions. Along with that
it addresses in detail the branches that are usually overlooked like administration medical
service national guard gendarmerie etc. The book draws on all the available sources in order
to put together this very comprehensive overview. It is without doubt the definitive work on
the Westphalian army.It is extensively illustrated with Peter Bunde's uniform graphics
contemporary images maps and photos of museum pieces (uniforms equipment etc.).It also
contains order of battle generals' biographies and other information drawn from myriad
sources.
