Tag: Battle of Lützen
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The Military Life of Bruno d’Ast … (III)
In the meantime, Bruno d’Ast’s family was delighted to receive the news that he had been promoted to the Legion of Honour: they knew that this was the award that their son sought above all else, and we will see in one of the following letters the emotion with which he received this distinction, the…
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Guard Grenadier Philippe Ballut at Lützen and Bautzen, 1813 …
In the evening, with the 2nd Grenadier Regiment occupying the ground on a plateau, the soldiers sighted the town of Lützen, with its round bell tower and a tall belfry tower dominating the large tile roofed buildings. The French cavalry had already entered the town to capture a few stragglers. It was known that Blücher…
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The Military Life of Bruno d’Ast … (II)
Moscow, 20 September 1812. My dear father, you must have received my letter from Smolensk by now. I hope that it finds you in as good health as I am at the moment, despite the fatigue and hardship we had to endure before arriving in this city. I spoke to you in my last letter…
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Cuirassier officer Jean de Gouttes and his 1813 correspondence …
These documents relate our cavalry officer’s thoughts and experiences during the 1813 Campaign. De Gouttes served in the 11th Cuirassier Regiment … Kemberg (near Wittenberg), 19 March 1813. I left Braunschweig (Brunswick), where the cavalry was being reorganised, on 25 February with a company which I was honoured to be given command of, to join…
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Letters of an artillery officer, 1813 …
The following is an interesting letter written the day after the battle of Lützen by Nicolas Louis Planat de la Faye, meant for Honoré de Lariboisière (son of General Lariboisière). He also wrote to his wife on the same day. Pegau, 4 May 1813. My dear Honoré, We have just won the most extraordinary battle…
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Colonel Raymond Guiraud’s war journal (VI) …
… My injury prevented me from taking part in the German campaign. The Emperor left Paris on 15 April 1813 to put himself at the head of the new army that his genius had reorganised. You had to behold him the preceding days in the courtyard of the Tuileries, at the daily parades, having the…
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An Imperial Guard commander and the 1813 Campaign (III) …
… We camped on the plain in close columns by division and by battalion mass. We were standing in mud and water up to half our legs, and I could never understand what was the reason for choosing such an uncomfortable and unhealthy position. On 22 August 1813 we remained in the same order. A…
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Soldiers and officer letters of the 1813 campaign …
The first couple of letters were written by André Ravard. Born in Reignac (canton of Baignes), in a small municipality of Charente, this conscript was born into a family of farmers who already comprised a number of soldiers. Two of his uncles fought in the armies of the Republic and the Empire. The youngest, also…
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An injury examination conducted by Larrey, 1813 …
In May 1813, two hundred thousand conscripts had fought at Lützen, at Bautzen, at Wurtzen, like the Grenadiers did at Marengo, and the King of Saxony was led back to his capital in triumph. But this war of heroes which had been waged by conscripts who had barely left their depots and their fathers’ villages,…
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Second Lieutenant Madelin and the 1813 campaign …
Intro by Christophe Bourachot Through the letters of Second Lieutenant Madelin, we have the very example of intimate and family correspondence which was exchanged between a soldier and his family. The young officer, who was sent to the other side of Europe, did not miss a single day without writing to his relatives, never neglecting…
Jonas De Neef's Napoleon Chronicles 