BOOK REVIEW. VOICES FROM THE NAPOLEONIC WARS.

This is a book from my library read again while waiting to unwrap a batch of new books at Christmas. The book consists of 14 eyewitness accounts of military life in the early 1800's collected by the editor from contemporary writings.

The individual authors consist of both British and French officers, NCO's and privates. Their experiences cover a wide variety of battles and campaigns although as might be expected these accounts are not of battles in their entirety but reflect the very limited perspective of the individual himself. In that sense they give a wonderful insight into Napoleonic warfare and the harshness of military life in those days.

The most interesting aspect of almost all the accounts is that despite the appalling hardships they faced the authors found their time as soldiers to be the highlight of their lives and looked back with great fondness on their service and comrades in arms. I suspect something similar still persists among veterans today. As the years pass, hardships and terror are forgotten to some extent while the good times become even better. How interesting is the human mind !!!!!

For information the writers are as follows:

With Napoleon in Italy 1800.  Jean-Roch Coignet. 96th Demi-Brigade

A Foot Soldier in Egypt 1801. Sergeant David Robertson. 92nd Foot.

The Road to Corunna 1808-9 Rifleman Benjamin Harris. 95th Rifles.

A Dragoon in the Peninsula. 1809. Captain Thomas C. Fenton. 4th Dragoons,

Wagram. 1809. Marshal Jaques Macdonald. V Corps, Army of Italy.

Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular. 1810. Lt. William Tomkinson. 16th Light Dragoons.

The Storming of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz. 1812. Lt William Grattan. 88th Foot.

Triumph and Tragedy: Salamanca and Burgos 1812. Capt. William Bragge. 3rd Dragoons.

Fighting the Redcoats. 1812-15. Corporal Samual Stubbs. Kentucky Militia.

The Retreat from Moscow. 1812-3. General Louis-Francois Lejeune. 1 Corps, Grande Armee.

Vitoria. 1813. Ensign George Hennell. 43rd Foot.

The Only Regiment of English. 1813. Sergeant Thomas Morris. 73rd Regiment.

The Battle of the Nations; Leipzig 1813. General Jean-Baptiste Marbot. 23rd Chaussers a Cheval

An Artilleryman at Waterloo. 1815. Capt. Alexander Cavalie Mercer. RHA.