Tag: Hunger

• A captain’s memoirs on the 1809 Campaign …

  

  Our narrator, Jérôme-Etienne Besse, was born on 5 May 1774 at Aubiac, in the Lot-et-Garonne Department. He recounts his experiences of the war against Austria. Besse served in the 84th Line Infantry Regiment. He eventually also saw action in Russia, was sent to Siberia as a prisoner, and returned in time to fight at the…

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  May 16, 2024

  1809 Campaign, Anecdotes, Artillery, Battle, Cavalry, Engineers, General staff, Generals, Infantry, Logistics – War Commissionary – Intendancy, Marshals, Medicine – Surgery, Memoirs, Officer

  Accomodation, Adjutant, Agen, Armistice, Army of Italy, Aubiac, Austerlitz, Austria, Battle of Wagram, Battle of Waterloo, Bergamo, Billet, Bread, Bridge, Bulletin, Captain, Captivity, Clothing, Colonel, Count, Daily life, Dalmatia, Danube, Dragoons, Eagle, Emperor, Equipment, Eugène de Beauharnais, Fatigue, Fire, Flag, Foodstuffs, Fortifications, Friuli, Garonne, General Bourcier, Germany, Gore, Grants, Gratz, Gyulai, Gyulay, Hunger, Injuries, Insurgency, Italy, Legion of Honour, Lieutenant, Lot, Marshal Marmont, Montebello, Napoleon, Peace, Pillage, Pontoon, Pressburg, Promotion, Retreat, Russia, Salice, Schönbrunn, Second Lieutenant, Sergeant, Sergeant-major, Supplies, Tyrol, Udine, Voltigeurs

• Fourrier François Hinard’s letters on the Austerlitz Campaign …

  

  Here are several lengthy letters of Fourrier François Hinard who served in General (future marshal) Suchet’s Division during the Austerlitz campaign. He provides many interesting details on daily life in the Grande Armée, hardships, money issues, family matters and battlefield experiences. Landshut (1) in Bavaria, 29 October 1805. Dear Rosalie, I can still enjoy the…

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  May 10, 2024

  1805 Campaign, Allied (Coalition) forces, Anecdotes, Artillery, Battle, Cavalry, Diplomacy, Engineers, General staff, Generals, Imperial Guard, Infantry, Letters – Correspondence, Logistics – War Commissionary – Intendancy, Marshals, Officer, Reports, Soldier

  Accomodation, Archduke Charles, Austerlitz, Austria, Battle of Austerlitz, Bavaria, Biberach, Billet, Bivouac, Blockade, Bourgeois, Brünn (Brno), Brest, Bulletin, Celebration, Chasseur à Cheval, Conscript, Conscription, Corporal, Coutances, Daily life, Danube, Donauwörth, Dysentery, Emperor, Emperor Francis of Austria, Family, Fatigue, Flag, Foodstuffs, Fourrier, France, Günzburg, General Beker, General Klein, General Mack, Grants, Hardship, Hospital, Howitzer, Hungary, Hunger, Illness, Injuries, Inn, Italy, Landshut, Line infantry, Linz, Locals, Marengo, Marshal Lannes, Marshal Masséna, Marshal Murat, Marshal Ney, Marshal Soult, Marshal Suchet, Money, Moral, Moravia, Napoleon, Normandy, Outpost, Paris, Peace, Postal service, Pressburg, Prisoner of war, Reconnaissance, Recovery, Religion, Retirement, Rhine, River, Russia, Russian Imperial Guard, Schönbrunn, Siege, Skirmishers, Spire, Strasbourg, Supplies, Talleyrand, Tsar Alexander, Tyrol, Ulm, Vienna

• Louis Jacques Romand and the turmoil of 1813 … (II)

  

  On the 30th, General Vandamme, commanding I Corps, entered the defiles of the Bohemian mountains, where he was soundly beaten by the [Allied] combined army. He lost most of his men and he himself was captured by the enemy. Our baggage having, ill-advisedly, followed that of this corps and finding itself on the road was…

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  May 9, 2024

  1813 Campaign, Allied (Coalition) forces, Anecdotes, Artillery, Battle, Cavalry, Diplomacy, French-Allied forces, General staff, Generals, Infantry, Logistics – War Commissionary – Intendancy, Medicine – Surgery, Memoirs, Officer, Soldier

  Abdication, Administration, Ambulance, Ambush, Ammunition, Austria, Battle of Dresden, Battle of Kulm, Belfort, Billet, Bivouac, Bohemia, Bread, Cadre, Capitulation, Company, Count, Daily life, Depot, Dresden, Emperor, Equipment, Family, Fatigue, First Restauration, Foodstuffs, Fortifications, Garrison, General Bonnet, General Vandamme, Grenadiers, Hospital, Host, Hungary, Hunger, Illness, Imprisonment, King Louis XVIII, Langres, Leipzig, Line infantry, Marshal St Cyr, Metz, Minister of War, Napoleon, Paris, Pirna, Prisoner of war, Russia, Skirmishers, Starvation, Strasbourg, Supplies, Toplitz, Treason, Vermin, Vienna

• Louis Jacques Romand and the turmoil of 1813 … (I)

  

  The protagonist of these recollections is Louis Jacques Romand. He was born in Vauconcourt, part of the arrondissement of Gray, Haute-Saône Department, on 12 October 1790. He saw action in the campaign in Austria of 1809 as a fusilier chasseur of the Guard (1st Regiment). Romand then was assigned to a expeditionary battalion and travelled…

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  May 4, 2024

  1813 Campaign, Allied (Coalition) forces, Anecdotes, Artillery, Battle, Generals, Imperial Guard, Infantry, Logistics – War Commissionary – Intendancy, Marshals, Memoirs, Officer, Soldier

  Accomodation, Administration, Aide-de-camp, Ammunition, Austria, Bamberg, Barracks, Battalion, Battle of Dresden, Bavaria, Billet, Bivouac, Bohemia, Brest, Brittany, Champs-Elysées, Cold, Courage, Daily life, Dresden, Dutch, Emperor, Emperor Francis of Austria, Equipment, Expedition, Family, Fencing, Fire, Flag, Franconia, Frankfurt, Freyberg, Fusiliers, Geishubel, General Bonnet, Germany, Governor, Haute-Saône, Hunger, Illness, Imperial Guard, Injuries, Inspection, Invalides, Line infantry, Mainz, Marshal Augereau, Marshal Kellerman, Marshal Sérurier, Marshal St Cyr, Mauritius, Metz, Minister of War, Napoleon, Navy, NCO, Paris, Peace, Pirna, Prisoner of war, Prussia, Quartermaster, Rain, Rhine, Russia, Russian Imperial Guard, Saint-Cloud, Saint-Denis, Saxony, Sergeant, Sergeant-major, Seychelles, Shako, Sojourn, Supplies, Training, Truce, Vauconcourt, Versailles, Vertus, Village, Würzburg

• 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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  April 8, 2024

  1813 Campaign, Allied (Coalition) forces, Anecdotes, Artillery, Battle, Cavalry, General staff, Generals, Imperial Guard, Infantry, Logistics – War Commissionary – Intendancy, Marshals, Medicine – Surgery, Memoirs, Officer, Soldier

  Accomodation, Aide-de-camp, Ambulance, Austria, Baden, Baggage, Battle of Bautzen, Battle of Lützen, Bautzen, Bischofswerda, Bivouac, Blücher, Brandy, Bread, Captain, Conscript, Cossacks, Crime, Daily life, Dresden, Elbe, Elster, Emperor, Espionage, Fatigue, Foodstuffs, Görlitz, General Bertrand, General Bonnet, General Brenier, General Charpentier, General Compans, General Gérard, General Kirgener, General Marchand, General Morand, General Ricard, General Roguet, General Souham, General Wittgenstein, Grand Marshal Duroc, Grenadiers, Hessians, Hunger, Hussars, Imperial Guard, Kaya, Lancers, Lützen, Leipzig, Locals, Marshal Berthier, Marshal Macdonald, Marshal Marmont, Marshal Ney, Marshal Oudinot, Medical Officer, Money, Napoleon, Old Guard, Peasants, Pegau, Pillage, Poland, Prussia, Quartermaster, Reconnaissance, Retreat, River, Russia, Saxony, Sergeant-major, Silesia, Spree, Supplies, Te Deum, Theft, Transport, Tsar Alexander, Weisig, Weissenfels, Woods, Young Guard

• Correspondence from Charleroi conscripts under Napoleon (I) …

  

  Introduction by Pierre-Jean Niebes, archivist at the Belgian State Archives of Mons Many of the prominent figures of the Napoleonic period have written their memoirs, both civilian and military, and these have been published in numerous editions since the 19th century. The testimonies of ordinary soldiers shed a different light, perhaps more concise but just…

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  February 14, 2024

  1805 Campaign, 1806 Campaign, Anecdotes, Battle, Infantry, Letters – Correspondence, Logistics – War Commissionary – Intendancy, Marshals, Medicine – Surgery, Soldier

  Accomodation, Administration, Austria, Battle of Austerlitz, Bavaria, Billet, Bivouac, Bohemia, Camp of Boulogne, Capitulation, Captivity, Certificate, Charleroi, Chasseur, Clothing, Cold, Conscript, Conscription, Daily life, Depot, Draft, Draft evasion, Dragoons, Emperor Francis of Austria, Equipment, Family, France, General Laplanche, Gosselies, Grenadiers, Gunboat, Hanover, Hunger, Injuries, Jemappes, Lancers, Line infantry, Linz, Maastricht, Marching, Marengo, Marshal Bernadotte, Money, Mons, Montignies-sur-Sambre, Mounts, Munich, Music, Musician, Napoleon, Newspapers, Nuremberg, Paris, Peace, Picardy, prefecture, Prisoner of war, Prussia, Religion, Retreat, Russia, Sergeant, Somme, Supplies, Tailor, Uhlans, Ulm, Vienna, Wissembourg

• A dragoon under Marshal Murat – Letters of the 1806-1807 Campaigns (III)

  

  The troops were beginning to grow, if not discouraged, at least weary of being beset day and night by Cossacks. Therefore the cavalry, charged with chasing down this troublesome and devious enemy, hardly rested. Until 15 March, Murat covered the line of the outposts: Luiduwo, near Gigenburg, 17 March 1807. Looking at the date of…

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  February 6, 2024

  1806 Campaign, 1807 Campaign, Battle, Cavalry, Letters – Correspondence, Officer

  Accomodation, Battle of Eylau, Battle of Friedland, Billet, Bivouac, Chasseur, Cold, Colonel, Cossacks, Daily life, Depot, Dragoons, Family, General Bourcier, General Louis de Bouillé, General Sébastiani, Grants, Hunger, Hussars, King Louis XVIII, Legion of Honour, Locals, Marshal Grouchy, Marshal Lannes, Marshal Murat, Peninsular War, Promotion, Prussia, Russia, Second Lieutenant, Squadron Commander, Tilsit, Tsar Alexander, Warsaw

• A narration of the siege of Saragossa, by André d’Audebard de Férussac …

  

  From the camp in front of Saragossa, 1 January 1809. You will recall that in my first letter I told you that there was fighting raging when I arrived. In fact, from the moment I crossed the Ebro, I constantly heard cannon fire; no matter how hard I tried, I arrived too late. It was…

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  December 22, 2023

  Anecdotes, Artillery, Battle, Cavalry, Engineers, General staff, Generals, Infantry, Letters – Correspondence, Logistics – War Commissionary – Intendancy, Marshals, Medicine – Surgery, Memoirs, Officer, Peninsular War

  Aragon, Atrocities, Bivouac, Bridge, Brigands, Calatayud, Catalonia, Communications, Daily life, Ebro, Entrenchments, Foodstuffs, Fortifications, General Dedon, General Gazan, General Lacoste, General Watier, Hunger, Hussars, Illness, Insurgency, Joseph Bonaparte, Lérida, Marshal Moncey, Marshal St Cyr, Marshal Suchet, Navarre, Pamplona, Redoubts, River, Siege, Siege of Saragossa, Skirmishers, Supplies, Tudela, Vistula Legion

• Correspondence of grognard Jean-Henry Rattier (IV) …

  

  Bayonne, 15 March 1812. We arrived here the day before yesterday, and we are leaving tomorrow for Paris, where we will arrive on 16 April. I would have obtained permission to go to Ardèche, but I had to be in the capital by 15 April, which prevented me from obtaining it. I could only have…

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  December 19, 2023

  1812 Campaign, Anecdotes, General staff, Generals, Imperial Guard, Infantry, Letters – Correspondence, Logistics – War Commissionary – Intendancy, Medicine – Surgery, Officer, Peninsular War, Soldier

  1812, Accomodation, Avignon, Baggage, Bavaria, Bayonne, Berlin, Billet, Bivouac, Brandy, Cadre, Cahors, Captain, Captivity, Clothing, Conscription, Corporal, Cossacks, Cuirassier, Daily life, Debts, Doctor, Duna, Emperor, Equipment, Family, Foodstuffs, France, General Curial, General Rampon, Germany, Government, Grants, Heat, Homesick, Hunger, Injuries, Inspection, Kaiserslautern, Krasnoi, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Colonel, Locals, Mainz, Military School, Misery, Money, Mounts, Napoleon, Paris, Pay, Peace, Peninsular War, Plunder, Poland, Posen, Possessions, Prisoner of war, Provisioning, Prussia, Ruin, Russia, Sarrelouis, Scorched earth, Siberia, Smolensk, Stragglers, Supplies, Surgeon, Swiss, Thirst, Toulouse, Training, Transport, Vilna

• Dedicated to the Imperial Cause – Letters of the Dandalle Family (I) …

  

  Introductions by the authors The reader is in for a unique experience from the outset, as the authenticity of the study’s content is striking. The sense of duty, the boundless admiration for their Emperor, Napoleon I, made these officers from the ranks perform nearly astonishing feats. They travelled the length and breadth of Europe, as…

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  December 16, 2023

  1805 Campaign, 1806 Campaign, 1807 Campaign, Anecdotes, Artillery, Battle, Cavalry, General staff, Imperial Guard, Infantry, Letters – Correspondence, Logistics – War Commissionary – Intendancy, Officer, Soldier

  Accomodation, Armistice, Auerstedt, Austerlitz, Battle of Eylau, Battle of Jena, Belgium, Berlin, Billet, Bivouac, Brest, British, Captain, Chasseur, Chouans, Company, Conscript, Conscription, Cossacks, Custrin, Daily life, Depot, Elbe, Emperor, Family, Franconia, Germany, Grants, Hunger, Huningue, Imperial Guard, Injuries, Italy, Küstrin, Lieutenant, Light Infantry, Lille, Marshal Murat, Napoleon, NCO, Normandy, Pay, Peace, Poland, Posen, Potsdam, Prussia, Roads, Saale, Sarnowo, Saxony, Sergeant-major, Skirmishers, Sockoczim, Supplies, Tsar Alexander, Vendée, Vistula, Voltigeurs, Warsaw, Weimar, Winter