Military

The Battle of Waterloo as Recounted by one of Napoleon’s Personal Aides (June 1815)

Jardin Ainé (the elder) was responsible for Napoleon’s horse and had a firsthand view of the momentous events that definitively ended Napoleon’s career.

The Russian Campaign as Seen by a Female Russian Soldier

Fighting under the name Alexander Durov, Nadezhda Durova was the daughter of a Russian officer who dressed as a man to join the Russian army in 1806. Although it became known that she was a woman, she was allowed to serve until 1816 when she retired as a captain of the cavalry.

The Russian Campaign as Seen by an Ordinary Soldier

Adrien-Jean-Baptiste-François Bourgogne (1785–1867) was the son of a cloth merchant from northern France. He fought in Poland in 1806; in Austria, Spain, and Portugal in 1809–11; and in Russia in 1812–13. His memoirs were first published in 1857.

The Effect of the Russian Winter Described by a General

Ségur gave a terrifying description of the effect of the Russian winter that started in November 1812.

This source is a part of the The Napoleonic Experience teaching module.

The Burning of Moscow as Seen by One of Napoleon’s Generals

Philippe de Ségur served as Quartermaster–General during the invasion of Russia and had accompanied Napoleon on many of his military campaigns.

Another Firsthand View of the Fighting in Portugal

This account by British Private William Wheeler of the 51st Regiment gives a vivid account of the hand–to–hand fighting in Portugal. Wheeler’s letters home were saved by the family and form the basis of their publication in 1949.

An Ordinary British Soldier Recounts the Portuguese Campaign (1810)

This account, probably by Thomas Howell, a soldier of the Highland Light Infantry regiment, offers a firsthand account of the skirmishes between British/Portuguese forces and the French armies. Little is known about Howell except that he was born in 1790 of Methodist parents.

The Continental System (1806)

Since 1793, the French government had carried out policies intended to ruin British commerce; it hoped in this way to eliminate or at least dampen the British will to join in and its ability to finance military coalitions against the French.

An Ordinary Soldier’s Account (1806)

The “French” armies included units from many allied states. Excerpted below is the memoir of an ordinary foot soldier in Napoleon’s army. Jakob Walter came from Württemburg, one of the medium-size German states allied with Napoleon.

Napoleon as an Ambitious Young General in 1796–97

In his memoirs, André François Miot de Melito, a special minister from the French government to Piedmont, tells of his first impressions of the young Napoleon Bonaparte, who was only twenty-seven but already an important general because of his victories in the Italian campaign.