“Ordinary men died, men of iron were taken prisoner: I only brought back with me men of bronze.”
Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French
Statement of 1812, quoted in Napoleon's Cavalry and its Leaders (1978) by David Johnson<br><br>Les hommes ordinaires ont succombé, disait-il; les hommes de fer ont été faits prisonniers; je ne ramène avec moi que les hommes de bronze.<br><br>Mémoires du colonel Combe sur les campagnes de Russie 1812, de Saxe 1813, de France 1814 et 1815. Paris 1853. p. 184 books.google https://books.google.de/books?id=KhlYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA184