Author: Jakob Walter
Published in the UK by the Windrush Press, GBP 11.99.
Edited and with an introduction by Marc Raiff.

This is one of the most illuminating and fascinating Napoleonic memoirs I have ever read. It is an account by a Wurttemberg conscript who served in the campaigns of 1806/7, 1809 and 1812. Most of the text is devoted to his harrowing experiences in the Grande Armee in Russia. It was originally published as a translation into English in 1938 shortly after the original manuscript, a family heirloom, was rediscovered in North America. The original German text was first published only in 1967.

There are numerous informative snippets of information in this text which will fascinate the historian, wargamer and reenactor. Take, for instance, this little scene from the siege of Colberg (winter 1806/7): "One morning the Prussians surprised the Polish camp from the sea with their ships, as had happened before on Easter. The cannon fire on the Poles was so heavy that they could not withdraw fast enough. Their cannonballs also travelled more than half again as far toward our camp as our balls did across the water, since the surrounding swamps were frozen and the balls could roll along the ice so fast that one ball often took off the feet and legs of ten or twelve men, frequently both feet of the same man."

It is some years since I have read Bourgognc's account of the 1812 campaign, but from memory this Imperial Guardsman had it much easier than his Wuerttemberg comrade-in-arms. This was dinner on 25th June 1812:

"Here and there a hog ran around and then was beaten with clubs, chopped with sabers, and stabbed with bayonets; and, often still living, it would be cut and torn to pieces. Several times I succeeded in cutting off something; but I had to chew it and cat it uncooked, since my hunger could not wait for a chance to boil the meat."

A few days later, this was how Walter quenched his thirst:

"The water was very warm, however, and was reddish brown with millions of little red worms so this it had to be bound in linen and sucked through with the mouth."

Those two instances were from the beginning of the campaign. Life got really tough on the retreat. I hope I have whet your appetite a little. For your next course, you will simply have to read this account.

Re-enactors who claim total authenticity never seem to eat the right food. If they were to put together a cook book from the recipes described in this and Bourgogne's text and eat it, then they could really claim to be doing living history!

Also of great interest is a collection of letters from German participants in the campaign sent home to their families which arc published for the first time along with Walter's text.

The historical appraisal of this chronicle by Professor Frank E. Melvin which accompanied the first edition of Walter's text is equally highly informative and, in my opinion, should have been used as an introduction in place of the one written by Marc Raeff to this edition as the latter is not as helpful as it could be and is marred by some very elementary errors - the Batavian Republic is not "in today's Belgium" but in today's Netherlands, the "Holy German Empire of the Germanic Nation" was actually known as the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation". Wuerttemberg and Westphalia were not the "major states of the Confederation (of the Rhine)", Bavaria was the biggest, and so on. Editorial time would have been better spent annotating the text and explaining various matters that needed explaining by somebody with an intimate knowledge of the period - a Groschen was not one hundredth of a Thaler! One Thaler consisted of 24 Groschen. One Groschen consisted of 12 Pfennige.

What is lacking from this account are good maps of Walter's movements particularly with today's place names or even just the use of today's place names in the text so that one can work out his routes on a modern map. Borders and names have changed so often in this part of Europe that editorial time should have been spent on this aspect. Instead, we get a map at the beginning showing the political borders and names of 1938 when the first edition was published.

My final criticism is also of something that should have been dealt with at the editorial stage. The manuscript was originally translated by Professor Otto Springer. His mother tongue was not English. One can sometimes see from the vocabulary and sentence structure, that German his mother tongue was! There are thankfully only a few places where what is meant is not entirely clear. Take this sentence:

"Meanwhile there stood in the court a beautiful carriage hitched with two horses; ... The word `court' is the wrong translation of the German word `Hof. . 'Hof' can mean `court' (as well as other things) but what it means in this context is actually `yard'. No, the poor horses were not up before a judge for any misdemeanour!

My criticisms are few. They do not mar what is a fascinating account. This hardbound book costs under £12. At that price, all Napoleonic enthusiasts should buy a copy. If enough are sold, maybe the publishers will translate some other German accounts into English.