Bibliograph

The diary of a Napoleonic foot soldier, Jakob Walter ; edited and with an introduction by Marc Raeff

Type

Label

The diary of a Napoleonic foot soldier, Jakob Walter ; edited and with an introduction by Marc Raeff

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-170)

resource.biographical

autobiography

Illustrations

illustrationsmaps

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The diary of a Napoleonic foot soldier

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

22909332

Responsibility statement

Jakob Walter ; edited and with an introduction by Marc Raeff

Summary

When eighteen-year-old German stonemason Jakob Walter was conscripted into the Grand Army of Napoleon, he had no idea of the trials that lay ahead. The long, grueling marches in Prussia and Poland sacrificed countless men to Bonaparte?s grand designs. And the disastrous Russian campaign tested human endurance on an epic scale. Demoralized by defeat in a war few supported or understood, deprived of ammunition and leadership, driven past reason by starvation and bitter cold, men often turned on one another, killing fellow soldiers for bread or an able horse. Though there are numerous surviving accounts of the Napoleonic Wars written by officers, Walter?s is the only known memoir by a draftee, and as such is a unique and fascinating document?a compelling chronicle of a young soldier?s loss of innocence as well as an eloquent and moving portrait of the profound effects of war on the men who fight it

Table Of Contents

Introduction -- The diary of a Napoleonic foot soldier -- Campaign of 1806 and 1807 -- Campaign of 1809 -- Campaign of 1812 and 1813 -- Historical appraisal of Walter's chronicle -- Notes to the diary -- Writing home: Six letters -- Notes to the letters -- About the illustrations -- Chronology -- Place names -- Reading suggestions

Classification