Wellingtons troops didn't adore him but he cared a lot for them. He often said the best compliment he ever received was that from a corporal while he was visiting a hospital. The compliment was "If you had been at that battle not as many of us would be here sir." Napoleon however gave no shits about his men. After the battle of Austerlitz when he received the numbers of dead he said "The women of Paris can remake that in one night." Wellingtons men simply followed him because they knew he'd do his best to look out for them. Also about that scum of the earth thing it was said just after the battle of Vitoria when his troops where looting all of the money for which he was going to spend towards the invasion of France. After he made the comment he also said "But what fine fellows we've made of them." #Getrekted
Napoleon also cared for the well being of his troops, this can be seen in his correspondence after Eylau. Even before he was Emperor, Napoleon was the master of the "spirit of the army" and utilized to get the best out of his troops in Italy. He petitioned for his under fed and poor equipped men like no other revolutionary general and made the Army of Italy a legitimate fighting force.
The Grand Armee was Napoleon's home for much of his life and to say he didn't care about his men is just wrong, frankly
Also, there's an idea in the minds of some people (No surprise most of them are British) that Napoleon was a murderous tyrant on par with Adolf Hitler, this is also not true. His judicial reforms and enlightened reforms across France and the many other nations he passed through forever changed the political and social structure of Europe. The very fact his troops moved around Europe spread revolutionary ideals that would explode later in European history. While it can be argued Hitler is multi-dimensional, he is by no means on the same level as Napoleon in that regard.
These are numerous excerpts from various correspondence that Napoleon wrote:
'If you wage war, do it energetically and with severity. This is the only way to make it shorter, and consequently less inhuman.'
'You must not needlessly fatigue the troops.'
'A general's principal talent consists in knowing the mentality of the soldier and in gaining his confidence.'
'The ideal army would be the one in which every officer would know what he ought to do in every contingency; the best possible army is the one that comes closest to this. I give myself only half the credit for the battles I have won, and a general gets enough credit when he is named at all, for the fact is that a battle is won by the army.'
'Instead of the lash, I would lead them by the stimulus of honor. I would instill a degree of emulation into their minds. I would promote every deserving soldier...'
'When ignorance has gotten ten men killed where it should have cost two, is it not responsible for the blood of the other eight?'
