Yet Another General

André Jobert #3

by Rob McLaren

1796. Desperate for gold and grain, France focuses on the elimination of Austria as an enemy. Twenty-seven-year-old Napoleon Bonaparte joins a ragged army on a ravaged shore to create a diversion to support the main effort against Vienna.

Promised ‘honour, glory and riches’ by his fifth commander in two years, veteran André Jobert leads his light horsemen, hardened by relentless combat and bitter from endless privations, against the determined and disciplined ranks of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire onto the battlefields of Lodi, Castiglione, Arcole and Rivoli.

340 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2022

Reviews

[Joseph Riordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear readers,

I recently discovered Robert McLaren’s wonderful ‘Jobert’ series about Napoleonic Soldier-Horsemen (Chasseurs) a chapter of history that is little understood and broadly neglected in the Napoleonic war history.

Featuring the heroic Andre Jobert, a sergeant in the French cavalry during the Napoleonic wars, Jobert journeys through Europe with his band of misfit soldiers, from the hard-bitten professional soldier Koschak, and Jobert’s loyal groom Duque as they adventure, bleed, grieve and survive in the horror landscape of warfare where the horse still ruled and soldiers still fought face to face and sword to sword.

The aching sorrow of lovers lost and the brotherhood of men in battle support a backdrop of deep emotional pageantry. Historically accurate, right down to food and wines of the region , and the use of equestrian equipment and the war tactics of the time. For those who are interested in war history and exquisite horsemanship in the context of accurate historical documentation… this is the series you cannot miss.

I was so impressed with McLaren’s first book ‘Brothers of the Capucine’ that I researched the life of Napoleon and the broader context of the Napoleonic wars to provide historical context so that I could fully appreciate and understand the macro picture in which Jobert and his Chasseurs find themselves.

McLaren, himself a combat soldier, an accomplished horsemen and meticulous historian is filling a significant gap in the history of the Napoleonic wars which will not only stand up as an accurate historical record in the life of Napoleonic Horse Soldiers but an epic war adventure with broad appeal. I look forward great anticipation to the remainder of McLaren’s work and thank him for introducing me to a rare glimpse into the life of pre-mechanised warfare.


In book three of McLaren’s epic Napoleonic war series we are swept up in the beautiful pros of McLaren’s prologue. “Stay with me brother, I need you.” A poignant moment that sets the tone of this 1776 chapter of Jobert’s journey.
Hardship in battle, bitter grief in loss and the brutal challenge of men at war, to stay alive and to fulfill their duty against overwhelming odds carries the reader along.
It is here that Bonapart covers himself in glory against the Austrian Hungarian empire eliminating them as an opponent in the Napoleonic wars.
For the average horse soldier there is bitter loss, prolonged privation and endless, blood soaked combat between blade and horse and the sheer will to survive.
In this chapter we meet Jobert’s arch enemies Valentin and Wolff von Maefeld and we wondered to the very last who it is that Jobert pleads “stay with me brother”
McLaren does not hide the brutality of war in the Napoleonic era and does not leave us wondering about the emotional highs and lows of the protagonists.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet Another General sees Jobert again involved in some truly gritty actions and this time around some domestic difficulties too.

Cavalrymen might have chivalrous knightly associations, which drive the domestic sub-plot, but here the bloody savagery they see on the battlefield is revealed to the reader. Rob McLaren's Jobert novels do a good job of showing the other side of the square that Bernard Cornwell does with his infantry-based Sharpe novels.

Bonaparte is still off stage at this point but his name pops up more and more. A cameo seems quite likely in the next Jobert novel, Neither Up Nor Down.