Text in French.
This army of the Kingdom of Italy started during Bonaparte's first
campaign with the creation of the Lombard and Cisalpine Legions. This
army especially featured a greater number of enrolled troops, instead of
volunteers. The Italian Royal Guard, from the beginning of the century,
was the hub around which the Army of the Kingdom of Italy was formed. It
took part in the great campaigns of the Empire. The transalpine uniforms
often recalled those worn by their French brothers-in-arms. The Army of
the Kingdom of Naples (from 1806 to 1815, commanded in succession by
Joseph Bonaparte then Joachim Murat) inherited a tradition forged by the
Bourbons. The Neapolitan Army, large but unreliable, was entrusted with
defending the south of Italy with the French, against the Bourbons and
the English; this did not prevent it from being mobilized alongside the
French army in Spain or in divisions within the Grande Armée during the
Russian Campaign.