On the French side

On the French side

From the book: Rretreat from Moscow, Memoirs of Sergeant Bourgogne:

On the girls that followed the French, and on companionship of drummers and men from the same region.

Quote: p 11) "After this brush we made our bivouacs, and directly afterwards I had a visit from twelve young men from my part of the Country (Condé); ten of them were drummers, one a Drum-Major, and the twelfth was a Corporal of Voltigeurs.[...] The Drum-Major said: "Mon pays, we did not come for that (for him to give them something), but to beg you to come with us and share what we have, wine, gin, and other things very g ood for you. We took them yesterday vening from the Russian General. There was a little cart holding his kitchen and everything belonging to it. We have put it all into the canteen cart, with Florencia our cantiniére - she is a pretty Spaniard. She migbht be taken for my wife: I protect her - honourably, i can tell you!" As he said this he struck the hilt of his long rapier. "She is a good woman: ask the others - no one dares say anything else. She had a fancy for a Sergeant, who was to have married her; but he was murdered by a Spaniard from Bilbao, and until she has chosen someone else she must be taken care of."
[...] Well, we got to the camp of the natives of Condé. There were four guests - two dragoons, Mellé, who was from Condé, Flament from Grangier, a non-commissioned officer in the same regiment as myself.
[...] She really was a pretty Spaniard, and she was overjoyed to see us, as we had just come from her own country, and could speak her language pretty well - the dragoon Flament best of all - so we spent the night in drinking the Russian General's wine and talking of our country.
[...] The poor fellows little thought that in a few days eleven of them would not be alive."

The last sentence after the description of their merry evening, appears rather more sobering.
In continuation of the earlier story, the description of the men fallen and of the Spaniard girl:

Quote: p 16) ""We had been fighting since seven in the morning, when General Campans, who commanded us, was wounded. The officer who took his place was wounded also, and then the third. A fourth came. This one from the  Guard. Directly he took command, he ordered the drums to sound the charge. That was how our Regiment (the 61st) was destroyed by grape-shot - that was how our friends were killed, the redoubt taken, and the General wounded. It was General Anabert. During the action I got a ball in the arm, without knowing it at the tim.
"Soon afterwards my wound began to pain me, and I went to the ambulance to have the ball extracted. I had not gone many steps before I met the young Spaniard, our cantiniére; she was in tears. Some men had told her that nearly all the drummers of the regiment were killed or wounded. She said she wanted to see them, to help them if she could; so, in spite of the pain I suffered from my wound, I determined to accompany her. We walked in the midst of wounded men; some moved painfully and with difficulty, and others were carried on litters.
"When we got near the great redoubt and the field of carnage, she uttered heart-rendering cries. But when she caught sight of all the broken drums of the regiment strewing the ground, she became like a madwoman."Here, my friend, here!" She cried; "They are here!" And so they were, lying with broken limbs, their bodies mangled by shot. Mad with grief, she went from one to the other, speaking softly to them; but none of them heard. Some, however still gave signs of life, one of them being the Drum-Major, whom she called her father. She stopped by him, and, falling on her knees, she raised her head and poured a few drops of brandy between his lips. Just at that moment the Russians made an effort to retake the redoubt, and the firing and cannonade began again. Suddenly the Spaniard cried with pain; she had been struck by a ball in her left hand, which crushed her thumb and entered the shoulder of the dying man she held. She fell unconscious. Seeing her danger, I tried to raise her, and take her to the baggage and ambulance waggons.  But with only one arm I had not strength enough. Happily, a Cuirassier passed on foot close to us. He did not need asking; he only said,"Quick! we must hurry; this is not a pleasant plac."

The woman remained unconscious until they arrived at the ambulance of the Guard Artillery. There her thumb was amputated. The corporal Dumont had his musket ball also extracted and he believed it done very finely. However the writer of these memoirs has not seen him since that meeting.


If with enough time, the French might consider making beer of their own. Just get the right ingredients and tools.

Quote: p 12) "In this house I found a little vat for making beer, some barley, and a hand-mill for grinding, but no hops. I have the Jew twelve francs to get some, and for fear he migbht not return we kept Rachel, his wife, and his two daughters as hostages. However twenty-four hours after his departure Jacob the Jew returned with the hops. In our company was a brewer, a Fleming, who made us five barrels of excellent beer."

Women may decide to stay behind when profits my give them reason.

Quote: p 12) "[...] when we left the town, we still had two barrels of beer left; we put them under the care of Mother Dubois, our cantiniére. The happy idea then occured to her of staying behind and of selling the beer for her own profit to the men who were following us, while we, in the swaltering heat, were nearly dead of thirst."

A mention of Light infantry:

Quote: p 12) "Directly afterwards he was told that the Russians had left the town, and were advancing in our direction. He immediately ordered a battalion of Light Infantry to take the advanced position, saying to the officer in command, 'If the enemy advances you will drive them back.' I remember an old officer of this battalion, as he went forward, singing Roland's song:
"Combien sont-ils? Combien sont-ils?
C'est le cri du soldat sans glorie.!"
Five minutes afterwards they advanced with the bayonet on the Russian column, and forced it to re-enter the town."

The continuation of this song is this:

Combien sont-ils? Combien sont-ils?
Quel homme ennemi de sa gloire
Peut demander! Combien sont-ils?
Eh! demande oú sont les périls,
C'est lá qu'est aussi la victoire!"

(How many are they? How many are they?
What man averse to glory,
Can ask! How many are they?
Eh! Ask where the dangers are,
That is where victory is too.)

Third verse of the song, of Roland á Roncevaux, by Rouget de L'Isle.

The preparations before a great battle:

Quote: p 14) "[...] some cleaned muskets and other weapons, others made bandages for the wounded, some made their wills, and others, again, sang or slept in perfect indifference."

Assisting wounded men.

Quote: p 14)"Murat had ordered his tents to be pitched there. Just as we arrived we saw him superintend the amputation by his own surgeon of the legs of two gunners of the Imperial Russian Guard. When the operation was over he gave them each a glass of wine."

Jaochim Murat was a flamboyant dresser, and a daring, charismatic cavalry officer.

He was a bit of a French dandy.
Quote: p 15) "He was splendid to look at - so distinguished by his gallantry, his cool courage, and his handsome appearance - giving his orders to those under his command, and raining blows on his enemies. He was easily picked out by his cap, his white aigrette, and his floating cloak."

Of another encounter with the Voltiguers and Grenadiers:

Quote: p 15) "A company of Voltigeurs and Grenadiers, with more than a hundred men of the 33rd, making part of the advance-guard, ascended the hill without troubling themselves about the number of the enemy waiting for them. A part of the army, still in the town, watched them astonished, as several squadrons of Cuirassiers and Cossacks advanced and surrounded  the Voltigeurs and Grenadiers. But, as if thy had foreseen all that, they quietly reunited, formed into platoons, then in a square, and fired from all four sides on the Russians surrounding them."