We normally view the war experience from the perspective of generals, great strategists, and politicians who invent euphemisms to allay our fears. (See Paul Fussell's [book:Wartime]for more examples). There are few books showing what war was like from the perspective of the grunt (most were killed for one thing). An exception is The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier by Jakob Walter. This manuscript was discovered at the University of Kansas several years ago. Walter was a stone mason who was conscripted by Napoleon. He served in three campaigns that he describes in a reportorial fashion in this short book. The most harrowing of the three was the retreat from Moscow.Napoleon had developed an intricate and reliable logistical system for delivering ammunition and weapons to the soldiers at the front. Soldiers were expected to buy their own food from local merchants or sutlers who followed the army. This usually worked reasonably well (especially when supplemented with occasional marauding raids). During the Russian campaign it failed miserably because of the slash and burn campaign of the retreating Russians who left nothing in their wake. Whatever food was found was given to the French Imperial Guard troops. Unfortunately our hero was a German conscript. His tales of searching for food and clothing during the bitter winter are heartrending. Of 600,000 troops Napoleon took with him to Russia only 25,000 returned.
