In the Legions of Napoleon

Excerpts

Reviewed by J. David Markham

Excerpts from Heinrich von Brandt's memoirs

The second siege of Saragossa in Spain, 1809

"The more we advanced, the more dogged resistance became. We knew that in order not to be killed, or to diminish that risk, we would have to take each and every one of these houses converted into redoubts and where death lurked in the cellars, behind doors and shutters -- in fact, everywhere. The Spanish stopped at nothing to slow our advance down. Even when they were at last forced to abandon a building, they would scatter resin soaked faggots everywhere and set them alight. The ensuing fires would not destroy the stone buildings but served to give the besieged time to prepare their defenses in neighboring houses."

War with Russia in 1812

"Yet news of the new war was not terribly well received by our brave and patient soldiers. Those that hailed from the area around Pultusk and Ostrolenka spread word of how they had seen abandoned wounded dying in the mud in the terrible winter campaign of 1807. Chlopicki, who had once served under Suvorov against the Turks and had fought the Russians in the 1794 insurrection and again in Italy, considered this new twist in events most serious. He remarked, ëNapoleon had now grasped the candle in both hands and will probably get his fingers burnt!'"

Poland 1812

"After four years away I found my country to be in a poor state of health. The Continental System had brought the price of cereals so low as to scarcely cover the cost of growing it. Nevertheless, the hope that Poland might be entirely restored kept alive the hopes of the people. Nobody wanted a return to Prussian domination, despite believing they had been happier in the good old days."

Book Review: In the Legions of Napoleon

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