We rushed on the artillery, which was taken. The cavalry, who awaited us, was repulsed by the same shock; they fled in disorder, and we, as well as the enemy, trampled over the bodies of our troops, whose squares had been penetrated…all was confusion; we fought man to man. Finally, the intrepidity of our troops triumphed over every obstacle." Although wounded twice, Rapp himself captured Prince Nikolai G. Repnin-Volkonsky, colonel of the Russian Chevalier-gardes.
It is hard to imagine that the very recent descendants of these Frenchman are afraid of some muslim youth torching his car. What 80 years of socialism will do to a country and a people...
You're right....however, the "French" leader during that time was a Corsican. Your point about the efforts of the French rank and file is a very valid one though.
That's part of it, but the descendants of Napoleon's armies - the best specimens of young French manhood - were obliterated in WWI, taking that martial spirit right out of the gene pool.
Most French soldiers are dedicated, but serve a weak country, with notoriously bad leadership. The elite units detest their countries politics, and only desire to fight, luckily for them, they see a lot more action than many Americans are aware of.