In the Legions of Napoleon

Book Review

Reviewed by LTC Gilberto Villahermosa

The Memoirs of a Polish Officer in Spain and Russia, 1808-1813
Author: Heinrich von Brandt, translated and edited by Jonathan North
Pages: 287
Illustrations: 25 black & white reproductions of period paintings and engravings of key personalities and events mentioned in the book.
Maps: 9, including two city plans of the sieges of Tortosa and Saragossa showing important buildings and trench lines, and four strategic and two battle maps with general positions at Borodino and the bridges crossing the Beresina in 1812.
Footnotes: 175
Appendices: Three, including (A) Ambushed by Spanish Guerrillas, May 1810, (B) Table of Strength of Vistula Legion Regiments, 1808-1813, (C) Officer Casualties of the Vistula Legion, 1808-1814, plus short biographies of the leading personalities noted at the front of the book. Bibliography: 37 primary and secondary sources in English, French and Polish.
Index: 312 entries
Publisher: Greenhill Books, London
Publication Date: 1999
Binding: Cloth (hardbound)
ISBN: 1-85367-380-3
Price: $34.95
Summary: The memoirs of Heinrich von Brandt of Napoleon's Polish Vistula Legion are published here in English for the first time. This book offers the perspective of a Polish junior officer who served in the infantry in both Spain (1808-1812) and Russia (1812), making it a valuable primary source of information as well as one of the finest memoirs to emerge from the Napoleonic Wars.

Heinrich von Brandt was nineteen years old when he joined the French army. He served in both Spain and Russia, participating in and witnessing some of the most brutal fighting of the period, including the second siege of Saragossa and the battle of Borodino. Brandt's memoirs powerfully portray life and death as a soldier under Napoleon.

Having previous service in the Prussian army in 1806, Brandt was appointed a second lieutenant in the 2nd Regiment of the Vistula Legion on April 1808, after a personal interview with French Marshal Louis Davout. Brandt served until 16 October 1813, when he was badly wounded at the battle of Leipzig while serving on the staff of Marshal Prince Pontiatowski. He was subsequently captured by the Russians while in the hospital and was released after a brief period as a prisoner of war.

Brandt returned to Prussian service at the end of the Napoleonic Wars and eventually attained the rank of Major General in 1848. He died in 1868, having served a long and relatively distinguished career in the armies of both France and Prussia.

Jonathan North, who translated and edited the memoirs, is currently an editor with Greenhill Books who specializes in the French army's Peninsular campaign and the campaign of 1812. He speaks English, French and Bulgarian and his employment of at least one Polish source for this work suggests he reads Polish as well. North does a superb job setting the stage for Brandt's memoirs by providing considerable background material on Brandt, the Polish Vistula Legion, and the leading French, Polish, and Spanish personalities of the war in Spain as well as three fairly robust appendices. He utilizes his footnotes in an explanatory fashion, managing to touch upon almost every aspect of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result, the text is always placed in context, making the book easy to understand.

In the Legions of Napoleon is one of the finest memoirs to emerge from the Napoleonic Wars as well as a valuable primary source of information. More importantly, it is an important addition to the growing English-language literature depicting the period through the eyes of the foreign officers serving in the French army. Jonathan North notes that despite the thousands of Poles who fought in the Napoleonic Wars, there is still comparatively little material that has been published in English on the Polish experience. This book will help to rectify that shortcoming.

In the Legions of Napoleon is highly recommended for students of the Napoleonic Wars interested in the French army's foreign contingents, the campaigns in Spain and Russia, and the unique insights of a young Polish infantry officer.

Excerpts from In the Legions of Napoleon

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