“Ordinary men died, men of iron were taken prisoner: I only brought back with me men of bronze.”

—  Napoleon I of France

Statement of 1812, quoted in Napoleon's Cavalry and its Leaders (1978) by David Johnson

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.

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

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Napoleon I of France photo
Napoleon I of France 259
French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French 1769–1821

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