Born in Gascony in 1769, Jean Lannes joined the French army following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. By 1796 ... At training camp, the 23-year-old Lannes found a mentor in the ...

It was comprised of the best veteran soldiers from every theater of war – Egyptian Mamluks, Italians, Poles, Germans, Swiss, and others, as well as French ... were the Old Guard, veterans ...

But Wellington had ordered his soldiers to take cover behind the crest of the ridge on which they stood, beyond the reach of the French ... history of the Napoleonic wars the Guard was seen ...