The Life of the Real 'Brigadier Gerard' IMPERIAL AIDE-DE-CAMP Volume 2 The further adventures of Napoleon's cavalry officer This second volume of Marbot's career finds him attached to the staffs of Napoleon's Marshals. This puts him in an ideal (if often precarious) position to witness and play his part in some of the most momentous events and battles of the Napoleonic Age. Marbot moves from war in the Peninsula to the apocalyptic events at Aspern-Essling and Wagram where his own combat experiences are vibrantly retold. Here we also find Marbot undertaking special missions for Bonaparte which are so far from the experience of normal soldering that it is easy to see why Conan-Doyle found them an irresistable inspiration for his famous Brigadier Gerard.