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A German Conscript with Napoleon
Though there are numerous surviving accounts of the Napoleonic Wars written by officers, this is the only known account by a common soldier of Napoleon's Grand Army.
Jakob Walter was an 18-year-old German stonemason who was conscripted into the Prussian and Polish campaigns; his journal covers the campaigns from 1806 to 1813, the awful conditions the soldiers endured, and the retreat back to France.
It is a unique and fascinating document - a compelling chronicle of a young soldier's loss of innocence as well as a moving portrait of the profound effects of war on the men who fight it.
Jakob Walter was an 18-year-old German stonemason who was conscripted into the Prussian and Polish campaigns; his journal covers the campaigns from 1806 to 1813, the awful conditions the soldiers endured, and the retreat back to France.
It is a unique and fascinating document - a compelling chronicle of a young soldier's loss of innocence as well as a moving portrait of the profound effects of war on the men who fight it.
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1813
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
August 27, 2013
This ain't no teen girl diary filled with airy-yet-painfully-heart-felt musings on puppy love written in loopy handwriting with a pen that could double as a peacock. But I'll bet Jakob Walter, author of The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier wishes he could've lived that life instead of his own.
Walter was in Napoleon's army when it made the famous 1812 winter march on Russia: 500,000 men attacked, less than 40,000 successfully retreated. Walter himself barely survived to tell the tale of extreme cold, starvation, depravation, cannibalism, and the absolute breakdown of humanity.
His writing is prosaic. It is serviceable with an occasional satisfying flourish. This is a memoir, not a novel. In a soldierly way, it sets down facts first. If now and then Walter recalls the joys of civility and indulges in the gifts of opinion and decorative detail, then we should accept them gratefully, for his firsthand account gives us a very early anti-war argument from the mouth of the common man.
Walter was in Napoleon's army when it made the famous 1812 winter march on Russia: 500,000 men attacked, less than 40,000 successfully retreated. Walter himself barely survived to tell the tale of extreme cold, starvation, depravation, cannibalism, and the absolute breakdown of humanity.
His writing is prosaic. It is serviceable with an occasional satisfying flourish. This is a memoir, not a novel. In a soldierly way, it sets down facts first. If now and then Walter recalls the joys of civility and indulges in the gifts of opinion and decorative detail, then we should accept them gratefully, for his firsthand account gives us a very early anti-war argument from the mouth of the common man.
August 3, 2016
I enjoyed this book, don't think that a three star rating means it was bad; however it is not something I would have usually read, and I think it's value is more academic than literary. It is not a war book, there are no dramatic accounts of battles, and the historical epilogue even notes that the writer did not take part in many of the more famous battles of the Russian campaign.
It is the straightforward story of how Napoleon's "Grande Armée" fell to pieces as they withdrew from Moscow.
While not necessarily my kind of book, I did enjoy it, and plan to look for more of its type, though not right away.
It is the straightforward story of how Napoleon's "Grande Armée" fell to pieces as they withdrew from Moscow.
While not necessarily my kind of book, I did enjoy it, and plan to look for more of its type, though not right away.
October 26, 2023
Excellent diary that shows us again, even if it wasn`t needed, that war is hell. And also when you go to war you`ll need to have a great logistic chain, to be at least assured that you`ll have some degree of success!
And, I must admit, that I feel quite grateful for all the advanced technologies we have today and for all the great things we take for granted!
Free schooling for all, for example! :-)
And, I must admit, that I feel quite grateful for all the advanced technologies we have today and for all the great things we take for granted!
Free schooling for all, for example! :-)
January 5, 2008
Only known memoir of the Napoleonic Wars written by a non-officer. Unbelievable account of the trials and hardships endured by this young German Stonemason conscripted in Napoleon's Grand Army between 1806 and 1813. It is truly amazing that he lived to tell the story when so many like him died a terrible death. Worth reading.
June 8, 2019
Jakob Walters tells his experience as a soldier in Napoleon’s wars. The best guess is that this memoir was written some number of years after the experienced events. It is clear that he tells of a somewhat sanitized war. He is a soldier in a coalition fighting for the French Emperor. But he is a German and part of a German Army. This is clearly not his war, and his compatriots are a second thought at General Headquarters.
Attributed to Napoleon, but Quote Investigator gives it a later attribution to Historian Thomas Carlyle: “an Army, like a serpent, goes upon its belly”. If Napoleon was aware of or making decisions by this precept, it was not apparent to Walker. He and his comrades in the German part of the French Army rarely seemed to benefit from the French commissariat. Apparently, the German Army was also remiss in planning to feed its troops. Much of the memoir is about finding and feeding. He will, as a private actor and under orders seize food and life stock from locals at almost every night’s bivouac.
Sometimes he is comic in relating what it took to acquire rations and sometimes apologetic but he and his comrades had to eat.
This point has to be stressed not only because it is a common theme in Walters diary, but because he is part of the Army that invaded Russia. The conventional version of this story is that The French Army road success all the way into Russia where the logistics of feeding broke down after they had taken Moscow and Winter began. It is clear in the Diary that the troops, or at least the non-French portion had been close to starvation since invading Poland. This is also an important fact because Poland and much of Russia was poor in its native ability to provide minimal provender. What little there may have been was likely to have been taken or destroyed by the retreating Russian and allied army. In short, the invading army was hungry before it arrived in Russia.
As side note is that this same area is the worlds largest wheat growing land. There should have been food and fodder everywhere. My interpretation is that neither Poland nor Russia had either sufficient commercial or national organization to insure this rich farm belt was able to support a food rich peasantry.
The conventional history and the Diary agree that once Napoleon made the decision to abandon its Russian occupation the retreat became a terrible history of privation, enemy and local raiding. As hunger and fear increased, unreliable inhumanity by fellow soldiers against their fellow soldiers added to the starvation and dying. The description of warfare going in had been almost incidental. The reality of the retreat was one of bare minimal animal survival and the re-asserted fact that survival could be accidental or dependent on acts of humanity.
The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot soldier is an important read for any scholar of 18th or 19th century ground warfare. This is the view from the trenches. It is an important read for anyone wanting to know more than the short typical version of the Napoleonic wars.
Jacob Walters story takes 150 pages, including illustrations and another 20ish pages of notes. His is the language of a mature person, neither academic nor technical. A real person telling what he experienced in a language any person can understand.
The illustrations include contemporary drawings. Some who had been there at the same times seemingly witnessing the same events.
Attributed to Napoleon, but Quote Investigator gives it a later attribution to Historian Thomas Carlyle: “an Army, like a serpent, goes upon its belly”. If Napoleon was aware of or making decisions by this precept, it was not apparent to Walker. He and his comrades in the German part of the French Army rarely seemed to benefit from the French commissariat. Apparently, the German Army was also remiss in planning to feed its troops. Much of the memoir is about finding and feeding. He will, as a private actor and under orders seize food and life stock from locals at almost every night’s bivouac.
Sometimes he is comic in relating what it took to acquire rations and sometimes apologetic but he and his comrades had to eat.
This point has to be stressed not only because it is a common theme in Walters diary, but because he is part of the Army that invaded Russia. The conventional version of this story is that The French Army road success all the way into Russia where the logistics of feeding broke down after they had taken Moscow and Winter began. It is clear in the Diary that the troops, or at least the non-French portion had been close to starvation since invading Poland. This is also an important fact because Poland and much of Russia was poor in its native ability to provide minimal provender. What little there may have been was likely to have been taken or destroyed by the retreating Russian and allied army. In short, the invading army was hungry before it arrived in Russia.
As side note is that this same area is the worlds largest wheat growing land. There should have been food and fodder everywhere. My interpretation is that neither Poland nor Russia had either sufficient commercial or national organization to insure this rich farm belt was able to support a food rich peasantry.
The conventional history and the Diary agree that once Napoleon made the decision to abandon its Russian occupation the retreat became a terrible history of privation, enemy and local raiding. As hunger and fear increased, unreliable inhumanity by fellow soldiers against their fellow soldiers added to the starvation and dying. The description of warfare going in had been almost incidental. The reality of the retreat was one of bare minimal animal survival and the re-asserted fact that survival could be accidental or dependent on acts of humanity.
The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot soldier is an important read for any scholar of 18th or 19th century ground warfare. This is the view from the trenches. It is an important read for anyone wanting to know more than the short typical version of the Napoleonic wars.
Jacob Walters story takes 150 pages, including illustrations and another 20ish pages of notes. His is the language of a mature person, neither academic nor technical. A real person telling what he experienced in a language any person can understand.
The illustrations include contemporary drawings. Some who had been there at the same times seemingly witnessing the same events.
February 8, 2024
Several books were written about the Napoleon's failed campaign to Invade Russia in 1812.Several biographies were written about Napoleon and Kutuzov the main commanders on both sides. Even. Leo Tolstoy used this campaign as the backdrop for his Magnum Opus “War and Peace” and Lermontov penned his very famous poem “Borodino”. But there is no other known field chronicles from this campaign except the Dairy of Jakob Walter a German ally foot soldier in Napoleon's Army and five letters written by other unknown French soldiers.
Jakob’s journal shines light on the brutal predicament of non-French ally foot soldier in Napoleon’s Army. Under fed and ill equipped or clothed for the brutal Russian winter, they left to their own devices to forage, steal or pillage food from poor farmers on the route of the march. What is surprising to know from his diary is, the fact that the advance march towards Moscow claimed so many lives of the troops similar to their infamous retreat march from Moscow due to severe malnourishment and poorly clothing.
Both ways, the officers had better chance of survival during the march than the foot soldiers and hence they left a trail of frozen cadavers of soldiers who succumbed due to lack of sustenance and nourishment. Killing stray dogs and service horses for food was helpful only temporarily as their supply lines were severed strategically and all food sources were burnt including the entire city of Moscow according to Kutuzov’s plan.
A quick sneak peak inside the life of a foot soldier in Napoleon's Grande Armee…
Other books to read to get a comprehensive understanding are.
1. Napoleon: A Alife by Andrew Roberts
2. 1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow by Adam Zamoyski
3. The Fox of the North: The Life of Kutuzov , General of War and Peace
4. The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Against Kutuzov (Champign Chornicles) by Mikaberidze, Alexander
Jakob’s journal shines light on the brutal predicament of non-French ally foot soldier in Napoleon’s Army. Under fed and ill equipped or clothed for the brutal Russian winter, they left to their own devices to forage, steal or pillage food from poor farmers on the route of the march. What is surprising to know from his diary is, the fact that the advance march towards Moscow claimed so many lives of the troops similar to their infamous retreat march from Moscow due to severe malnourishment and poorly clothing.
Both ways, the officers had better chance of survival during the march than the foot soldiers and hence they left a trail of frozen cadavers of soldiers who succumbed due to lack of sustenance and nourishment. Killing stray dogs and service horses for food was helpful only temporarily as their supply lines were severed strategically and all food sources were burnt including the entire city of Moscow according to Kutuzov’s plan.
A quick sneak peak inside the life of a foot soldier in Napoleon's Grande Armee…
Other books to read to get a comprehensive understanding are.
1. Napoleon: A Alife by Andrew Roberts
2. 1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow by Adam Zamoyski
3. The Fox of the North: The Life of Kutuzov , General of War and Peace
4. The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Against Kutuzov (Champign Chornicles) by Mikaberidze, Alexander
August 12, 2020
My family listed to Walter's book as part of Tapestry of Grace Year 3 course. This is an autobiography style book written in one of Napoleonic Foot Soldier. Parts are brutal as to be expected but you get a living idea of what is was like during this war.
August 4, 2025
“The thought of the coming day alternated with fitful sleep, and in fantasy the many dead men and horses came as a world of spirits before the last judgement. Since I did not suffer the misfortune of being wounded, I thought: ‘God, Thou hast allowed me to live till now. I thank Thee and offer up my sufferings to Thee and pray Thee at the same time to take me further into Thy protection.’”
This work is the only known firsthand account of Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia written by an enlisted man, rather than an officer. Jakob Walter, the author, is in an interesting position: since he was neither French, nor a high-ranking member of the military, he does not feel any need to justify the campaign; he has no personal attachment to Napoleon’s legend, and so his account is utterly absent of any attempts to describe broader historical trends. Instead, we are treated to a remarkably frank description of the day-to-day horrors of life in a Napoleonic army facing total destruction. Interestingly enough, Walter seems to feel very little resentment towards either his Russian enemies or his compatriots in the emperor’s army, despite the fact that both groups regularly put his life in serious and immediate danger. Especially towards the end of his narrative, he will describe an interaction with a comrade—some positive, some negative, most somewhere in between—and, with a single exception, they all end the same way: Walter dispassionately informs us that this man died before their retreat was through. This, I believe, is the key to understanding his lack of resentments. It’s hard to hold grudges against men doing what they must to survive while your situation is exactly as desperate as their own; Walter plainly states at several occasions that he may well have done the same thing in their shoes.
Despite his limited formal education, Walter is capable of writing with a deeply poetic voice at times. Take, for example, his first impressions of Moscow: “Clouds of fire, red smoke, great gilded crosses of the church towers glittered, shimmered, and billowed up toward us from the city. This holy city was like the description of the city of Jerusalem, over which our Savior wept; it even resembled the horror and the wasting according to the Gospel.” His descriptions of the devastation wrought upon both Russia and Napoleon’s army are blunt, and often shocking in their brutality, but this book is an invaluable resource for getting a glimpse into the lived experience of the hundreds of thousands of men who marched into Russia—and the tens of thousands who made it back out.
Equally informative was the small historical note at the end of the book, describing the process by which this manuscript was found, and analyzing its authenticity—then, once that has been verified, its accuracy.
This work is the only known firsthand account of Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia written by an enlisted man, rather than an officer. Jakob Walter, the author, is in an interesting position: since he was neither French, nor a high-ranking member of the military, he does not feel any need to justify the campaign; he has no personal attachment to Napoleon’s legend, and so his account is utterly absent of any attempts to describe broader historical trends. Instead, we are treated to a remarkably frank description of the day-to-day horrors of life in a Napoleonic army facing total destruction. Interestingly enough, Walter seems to feel very little resentment towards either his Russian enemies or his compatriots in the emperor’s army, despite the fact that both groups regularly put his life in serious and immediate danger. Especially towards the end of his narrative, he will describe an interaction with a comrade—some positive, some negative, most somewhere in between—and, with a single exception, they all end the same way: Walter dispassionately informs us that this man died before their retreat was through. This, I believe, is the key to understanding his lack of resentments. It’s hard to hold grudges against men doing what they must to survive while your situation is exactly as desperate as their own; Walter plainly states at several occasions that he may well have done the same thing in their shoes.
Despite his limited formal education, Walter is capable of writing with a deeply poetic voice at times. Take, for example, his first impressions of Moscow: “Clouds of fire, red smoke, great gilded crosses of the church towers glittered, shimmered, and billowed up toward us from the city. This holy city was like the description of the city of Jerusalem, over which our Savior wept; it even resembled the horror and the wasting according to the Gospel.” His descriptions of the devastation wrought upon both Russia and Napoleon’s army are blunt, and often shocking in their brutality, but this book is an invaluable resource for getting a glimpse into the lived experience of the hundreds of thousands of men who marched into Russia—and the tens of thousands who made it back out.
Equally informative was the small historical note at the end of the book, describing the process by which this manuscript was found, and analyzing its authenticity—then, once that has been verified, its accuracy.
February 23, 2019
If you’re interested in social history, then you’ll love this. This is the only account of a footsoldier in the Napolenoic wars. Usually only high ranking officers wrote accounts; this is the only common account that has been found. Pretty cool.
I really like that this account doesn’t glorify war. There’s very little battle action and a whole lot of walking. It also shows how immature the soldiers are in the early campaigns. It shows how much it sucked for the villagers who had to quarter soldiers. The soldiers spent most of their time foraging for the villagers’ food. It shows the soldiers weren’t taken care of in the campaign of 1812 and 1814: they were starving after the retreat from Moscow. They stole eachother’s horses, in effect killing each other. Very dog eat dog.
This book is super cool to read because letters that showed the true bitterness and hardships of the war were confiscated to retain public moral back home. So it was difficult for historians to know how it really was for the common soldiers. Six confiscated letters are also included in the book.
I really like that this account doesn’t glorify war. There’s very little battle action and a whole lot of walking. It also shows how immature the soldiers are in the early campaigns. It shows how much it sucked for the villagers who had to quarter soldiers. The soldiers spent most of their time foraging for the villagers’ food. It shows the soldiers weren’t taken care of in the campaign of 1812 and 1814: they were starving after the retreat from Moscow. They stole eachother’s horses, in effect killing each other. Very dog eat dog.
This book is super cool to read because letters that showed the true bitterness and hardships of the war were confiscated to retain public moral back home. So it was difficult for historians to know how it really was for the common soldiers. Six confiscated letters are also included in the book.
March 8, 2025
This book represents a rare retrospective from a semi-literate soldier from one of the German states which supplied soldiers to Napoleon during his campaigns against the Prussians and Russians. Walter's experiences with the Grande Armée took him beyond Prussia and Poland into Russia itself. He conveys the difficulties of soldiering, living off the land, and the hazards he faced in getting out of Russia in the wake of Napoleon's disastrous winter retreat of 1812-13.
July 13, 2025
The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier was an incredible read. Jakob Walter’s military career was intense, and the way he described the campaigns especially the 1812 march to Moscow and the brutal 1813 retreat was raw and engaging. His details about life in the camp, on the road, and during battles really pulled me in. You can feel how hard survival was for these men. What really stood out was how brutal the retreat from Russia was. Starvation, freezing cold, constant death all around him, and somehow, he made it out. What he had to do to stay alive is unreal. Walter’s strength, both mentally and physically, was on another level.
This isn’t just a historical diary, it’s a testament to human endurance. 🇩🇪
This isn’t just a historical diary, it’s a testament to human endurance. 🇩🇪
October 27, 2020
Before the 20th Century, it is very difficult to find many written first person accounts from humble Soldiers. Yes, these accounts do exist and some conflicts like the American Civil War have yielded a strikingly high number of these works. Unfortunately, not many nations possessed a generally literate and free born population who tend to be more inclined to author such works. In this, the United States was particularly blessed on both accounts. As a result, first person Soldier accounts from conflicts like the Napoleonic Wars are very few and far between. This excellent account takes readers with an 18 year old German (technically Kingdom of Westphalian since Germany was not a unified entity at this time) as he fought under the French First Empire of Napoleon and survived the entire disastrous Russian Campaign. A stone mason by trade, young Jacob Walter was both insightful and a good writer who holds little back. I highly recommend this for military personnel (especially Soldiers), anyone interested in military history, or anyone desiring to read a story of endurance that left literally piles of strong men buried in ditches on the side of roads throughout Eastern Europe (as the historical record tells us and modern archeological excavations have proven).
January 2, 2011
It is very unusual to find the memoirs of a foot soldier from the Napoleonic Wars. Thus, the diary entries of Jakob Walter, a draftee into the Westphalian Army under service to Napolean. Eventually, he marched with Napoleon's Grand Armee into Russia.
The narrative begins by conveying the life most soldiers experienced at this time in history, hurry-up-and-wait, uneventful. But as he moves into Russia, the horrors begin -- hunger, cold and the extroardinary inhumanity that followed. Walter witnesses the looting of the lame and weak by their fellow soldiers, the starvation, the disolution of Napoleon's forces. Hell on Earth was unleashed and Walter -- who was a devout Roman Catholic -- shares his experiences. He was an exceptional writer considering his station in life (relatively uneducated draftee).
All in all, a highly interesting insight into why the old saw of "never fighting a land battle against Russia in winter" is all too true.
The narrative begins by conveying the life most soldiers experienced at this time in history, hurry-up-and-wait, uneventful. But as he moves into Russia, the horrors begin -- hunger, cold and the extroardinary inhumanity that followed. Walter witnesses the looting of the lame and weak by their fellow soldiers, the starvation, the disolution of Napoleon's forces. Hell on Earth was unleashed and Walter -- who was a devout Roman Catholic -- shares his experiences. He was an exceptional writer considering his station in life (relatively uneducated draftee).
All in all, a highly interesting insight into why the old saw of "never fighting a land battle against Russia in winter" is all too true.
September 30, 2023
This was absolutely fascinating. Let me count the ways!
It gains a coveted and rare five-star rating by actually making me change my mind about a few different items.
Let's start with the obvious. We've all the seen the Tufte "graph/map", and we've all been told that what this is supposed to tell us is that Russia is cold and the cold will kill your army. But I'd say the stronger message of this book is Russia is big, and that size, coupled with emptying the land, is what will kill your army. The first section of the book covers the march into Russia in summer, and that's just as miserable, just differently miserable, as the retreat in winter. And looking at the Tufte graph confirms this. There isn't a dramatic change in death rate in winter, more a constant death rate at every stage of the campaign from beginning to end.
So why these constant on-going deaths? To judge from the book, the underlying answer is chaos and disorganization. But again not in the superficial way you might think. There may have been logistics problems at the high level but it's unclear that they are especially important; much more important seems to be lack of MP's, lack of unit discipline, lack of self-discipline. Even on the march inward, let alone on the return, one gets the feeling that this is not disciplined hierarchical units but a mob of random individuals with few and random loyalties. Meaning that whenever resources (food, liquor, animals, etc) ARE encountered, most of the resources land up trampled under foot (along with a great many soldiers) in the chaotic fighting to acquire them. Likewise constantly deaths due to chaotic mobs trying to ford rivers, cross bridges, even wildly inefficient handling of fires and how to keep the maximum number of people warm with the given amount of wood.
I've mentioned in other places how anachronistic I consider the usual "theory-based" analyses of history that fantasize that, eg, the Crown of Spain or Catholic Church had much control over what various gangsters chose to do in the Americas, and I find it interesting (and not what I expected) that even three hundred years later, in what was supposedly the most organized army at the time, essentially the same still held sway. Napoleon could make plans, could even impose some degree of discipline, when conditions were just right and the scope of the project small enough; but when conditions were not right and the distances were the Warsaw to Moscow (let alone across the Atlantic Ocean...) it was very easy for the gangsters and psychopaths, the most violent and vicious, to do as they wished...
Another interesting aspect is the (lack of) social analysis. To hear the history books tell it (or Woodsworth with his "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive") every random European from Lisbon to Vilnius had been given a new world view, a new theory of society and politics. Well, apparently the memo bypassed our author and pretty much everyone around him! He has very little interest in the people he encounters along the way. He's mainly interested in whether they are Russian (big trouble) French (allied but not friends) or German (maybe will help out, but still can't always be trusted). His primary comment (early in the book; I think we're in around Lithuania, maybe early Russia) on the common folk he meets is that they are less educated than Germans, don't work as hard or efficiently, and that this rot runs from the bottom of society all the way to the top (the schools/priests do a terrible job, the supposed rulers are venal and incompetent).
He does occasionally refer to people he meets as Jews, and I'd love to know more about what this signifies for him. It doesn't seem to be based on malice, more like Jew is almost a synonym for "trader/business person".
He has no opinions on the war, whether it was just or not, should be fought or not, is being fought badly or not. He goes where he is told, does what he is told, is glad that he gets to live through each battle or skirmish, and that's pretty much it. Likewise he doesn't seem to have any particular feelings for the Russians; no hatred, just an acceptance that his job is to kill them, their job is to kill him, and hopefully he does his job first. Likewise no special opinion regarding Napoleon, either as to his greatness, or in terms curses and anger.
Likewise no opinions on social relationships. He seems to like the major for whom he is a valet, and every time he re-encounters the major after they are split in some chaos or other, both seem happy. He has no complaints about the relationship between the two, or snide remarks about the major's not deserving whatever privileges he is awarded relative to his valet. In the cold of the retreat, he points out that no-one can tell officer from private, either in terms of clothing or behavior, so that, eg, both are equally scrambling wildly for access to food or fire; but that's all he says, no gloating that they have been given their come-uppance or anger that social betters are being treated so badly.
Essentially it reinforces my default position (and essentially provides another piece of evidence for Peter Turchin's Elite Overproduction thesis) that it's mostly the junior aristocracy/intellectuals/striving middle class that are obsessed with social relations and class structure; most people (ie peasants/workers/"the poor") actually don't give a damn.
It gains a coveted and rare five-star rating by actually making me change my mind about a few different items.
Let's start with the obvious. We've all the seen the Tufte "graph/map", and we've all been told that what this is supposed to tell us is that Russia is cold and the cold will kill your army. But I'd say the stronger message of this book is Russia is big, and that size, coupled with emptying the land, is what will kill your army. The first section of the book covers the march into Russia in summer, and that's just as miserable, just differently miserable, as the retreat in winter. And looking at the Tufte graph confirms this. There isn't a dramatic change in death rate in winter, more a constant death rate at every stage of the campaign from beginning to end.
So why these constant on-going deaths? To judge from the book, the underlying answer is chaos and disorganization. But again not in the superficial way you might think. There may have been logistics problems at the high level but it's unclear that they are especially important; much more important seems to be lack of MP's, lack of unit discipline, lack of self-discipline. Even on the march inward, let alone on the return, one gets the feeling that this is not disciplined hierarchical units but a mob of random individuals with few and random loyalties. Meaning that whenever resources (food, liquor, animals, etc) ARE encountered, most of the resources land up trampled under foot (along with a great many soldiers) in the chaotic fighting to acquire them. Likewise constantly deaths due to chaotic mobs trying to ford rivers, cross bridges, even wildly inefficient handling of fires and how to keep the maximum number of people warm with the given amount of wood.
I've mentioned in other places how anachronistic I consider the usual "theory-based" analyses of history that fantasize that, eg, the Crown of Spain or Catholic Church had much control over what various gangsters chose to do in the Americas, and I find it interesting (and not what I expected) that even three hundred years later, in what was supposedly the most organized army at the time, essentially the same still held sway. Napoleon could make plans, could even impose some degree of discipline, when conditions were just right and the scope of the project small enough; but when conditions were not right and the distances were the Warsaw to Moscow (let alone across the Atlantic Ocean...) it was very easy for the gangsters and psychopaths, the most violent and vicious, to do as they wished...
Another interesting aspect is the (lack of) social analysis. To hear the history books tell it (or Woodsworth with his "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive") every random European from Lisbon to Vilnius had been given a new world view, a new theory of society and politics. Well, apparently the memo bypassed our author and pretty much everyone around him! He has very little interest in the people he encounters along the way. He's mainly interested in whether they are Russian (big trouble) French (allied but not friends) or German (maybe will help out, but still can't always be trusted). His primary comment (early in the book; I think we're in around Lithuania, maybe early Russia) on the common folk he meets is that they are less educated than Germans, don't work as hard or efficiently, and that this rot runs from the bottom of society all the way to the top (the schools/priests do a terrible job, the supposed rulers are venal and incompetent).
He does occasionally refer to people he meets as Jews, and I'd love to know more about what this signifies for him. It doesn't seem to be based on malice, more like Jew is almost a synonym for "trader/business person".
He has no opinions on the war, whether it was just or not, should be fought or not, is being fought badly or not. He goes where he is told, does what he is told, is glad that he gets to live through each battle or skirmish, and that's pretty much it. Likewise he doesn't seem to have any particular feelings for the Russians; no hatred, just an acceptance that his job is to kill them, their job is to kill him, and hopefully he does his job first. Likewise no special opinion regarding Napoleon, either as to his greatness, or in terms curses and anger.
Likewise no opinions on social relationships. He seems to like the major for whom he is a valet, and every time he re-encounters the major after they are split in some chaos or other, both seem happy. He has no complaints about the relationship between the two, or snide remarks about the major's not deserving whatever privileges he is awarded relative to his valet. In the cold of the retreat, he points out that no-one can tell officer from private, either in terms of clothing or behavior, so that, eg, both are equally scrambling wildly for access to food or fire; but that's all he says, no gloating that they have been given their come-uppance or anger that social betters are being treated so badly.
Essentially it reinforces my default position (and essentially provides another piece of evidence for Peter Turchin's Elite Overproduction thesis) that it's mostly the junior aristocracy/intellectuals/striving middle class that are obsessed with social relations and class structure; most people (ie peasants/workers/"the poor") actually don't give a damn.
October 10, 2012
Choose a time to rad this void of distractions. I could not stop reading this account. The human will to live is amazing.
December 20, 2013
Engrossing. It was fascinating to see familiar soldier behaviors like rifle pyramids, quartering, and soldier misery. However, this goes beyond standard soldier misery to the truly harrowing.
July 14, 2016
Clunky translation from the original German and an unneeded section on authentication. Otherwise an interesting perspective from the average soldier.
June 5, 2022
Very interesting to see these events from the perspective of a conscript soldier, and a german one at that. The tide and turn of Napoleon's invasion looms familiarly in the background, but instead of grand movements of troops and strategic goals we are treated with snippets of army life seen through unassuming eyes.
It begins innocently, walking off with your chums to search russian villages for food, breaking away floorboards to find hidden preserves, drinking freely from wine cellars, and draping yourself in fine furs and silks till you can barely move. On the return journey from Moscow everything quickly degenerates into hell. A rotten head of cabbage, a few handfuls of wheat, a cap filled with horse blood to drink; food becomes ever more scarce. At one point our narrator is almost killed by a group of frenchmen over a handful of corn. The soldiers coalesce into ethnic groups, germans protecting their own against the french and vice versa. Losing your horse is a death sentence, and risk of capture by cossack bands is ever present if you stray too far ahead or behind the main force. People freeze to death around the campfires and are then used as chairs by the living to protect themselves from the cold earth, those who undress to relieve themselves are fallen upon and robbed while vulnerable.
Walter spends much of his memoir reflecting upon this gradual descent into barbarity and how emotional detachment grips the people around him while thinking of religion and his family back home. Highly recommended for those who want to see the human side of the conflict.
It begins innocently, walking off with your chums to search russian villages for food, breaking away floorboards to find hidden preserves, drinking freely from wine cellars, and draping yourself in fine furs and silks till you can barely move. On the return journey from Moscow everything quickly degenerates into hell. A rotten head of cabbage, a few handfuls of wheat, a cap filled with horse blood to drink; food becomes ever more scarce. At one point our narrator is almost killed by a group of frenchmen over a handful of corn. The soldiers coalesce into ethnic groups, germans protecting their own against the french and vice versa. Losing your horse is a death sentence, and risk of capture by cossack bands is ever present if you stray too far ahead or behind the main force. People freeze to death around the campfires and are then used as chairs by the living to protect themselves from the cold earth, those who undress to relieve themselves are fallen upon and robbed while vulnerable.
Walter spends much of his memoir reflecting upon this gradual descent into barbarity and how emotional detachment grips the people around him while thinking of religion and his family back home. Highly recommended for those who want to see the human side of the conflict.
February 23, 2022
Not the best Napoleonic memoir, but still full of humanity & pathos, & definitely worth reading.
Walter Jakob, a stone-mason by trade, was a German conscript in Napoleon's army. These memoirs (supplemented by a couple of maps and six letters by Westphalian soldiers) are fascinating, as accounts by lowly rankers are very rare. Unlike many French narratives, where fervent love of Napoleon himself is often very evident, Jakob's primary concerns are largely culinary!
I have a particular interest in Napoleonic military history, and within that the 1812 campaign in Russia. This is useful material in both respects, helping bring to life the concerns of an ordinary soldier. Whilst this is neither as comprehensive nor as well written as some other accounts, it's nonetheless sufficiently interesting and engaging to make it a worthwhile read. It's also very easy going, and pretty short: I read the whole thing the day it arrived!
Whilst not quite as stirring as some similar accounts, this is part of a rich heritage of personal stories any dedicated Napoleonic buff will want to accumulate. Not essential, perhaps, like Bourgogne, but nonetheless enjoyable and well worth reading.
Walter Jakob, a stone-mason by trade, was a German conscript in Napoleon's army. These memoirs (supplemented by a couple of maps and six letters by Westphalian soldiers) are fascinating, as accounts by lowly rankers are very rare. Unlike many French narratives, where fervent love of Napoleon himself is often very evident, Jakob's primary concerns are largely culinary!
I have a particular interest in Napoleonic military history, and within that the 1812 campaign in Russia. This is useful material in both respects, helping bring to life the concerns of an ordinary soldier. Whilst this is neither as comprehensive nor as well written as some other accounts, it's nonetheless sufficiently interesting and engaging to make it a worthwhile read. It's also very easy going, and pretty short: I read the whole thing the day it arrived!
Whilst not quite as stirring as some similar accounts, this is part of a rich heritage of personal stories any dedicated Napoleonic buff will want to accumulate. Not essential, perhaps, like Bourgogne, but nonetheless enjoyable and well worth reading.
April 14, 2024
Really matter of fact account of a German soldier who took part in two Napoleonic campaigns, the most notable being the disastrous Russian campaign.
When I began reading his memoir, it almost felt almost amusing because he writes in such a detached, non-emotional way about what we'd consider despicable acts. Like the early moment in the 1806-1807 campaign where he and a few other soldiers approached a church and stole a "beautiful carriage" and several horses, before selling the horses and carriage at an inn.
It quickly becomes nothing but horrific. At one fortified city he describes how Napoleon's army (his side) were stabbing women and children and throwing them over the city walls. Then there's the whole 1812 campaign in Russia, in which suffering, starvation and death follow him everywhere he goes. He barely escapes with his life by the end.
All through the memoirs, he pulls out vivid descriptions of images, sensations, temperature, experiences and even things like taste and smell. He'll go into nice details like how the dust from the road created a fog and burnt his eyes, for instance.
When I began reading his memoir, it almost felt almost amusing because he writes in such a detached, non-emotional way about what we'd consider despicable acts. Like the early moment in the 1806-1807 campaign where he and a few other soldiers approached a church and stole a "beautiful carriage" and several horses, before selling the horses and carriage at an inn.
It quickly becomes nothing but horrific. At one fortified city he describes how Napoleon's army (his side) were stabbing women and children and throwing them over the city walls. Then there's the whole 1812 campaign in Russia, in which suffering, starvation and death follow him everywhere he goes. He barely escapes with his life by the end.
All through the memoirs, he pulls out vivid descriptions of images, sensations, temperature, experiences and even things like taste and smell. He'll go into nice details like how the dust from the road created a fog and burnt his eyes, for instance.
February 3, 2023
The wars of Napoleon always seemed to me as though fought on a chess board. It was so easy to imagine the neat lines of soldiers, in their distinct uniforms, being drawn forward, by an able general, into formation after formation as muskets fired and cannons belched. This diary does a great job of shattering that illusion of neatness. We see a series of Napoleonic campaigns from the point of view of your average soldier and the overwhelming impression you receive is that being a soldier involved a lot of walking and a lot of taking food and alcohol from civilians. We see the details of an army forced to live off the land, and the awful toll that took on both soldier and civilian. We witness the loss of cohesion as the Grande Armée crawls back from Moscow and it is simultaneously fascinating and horrifying. The writing is terse and often doesn't go into the detail you'd hope for and yet I still found myself deeply invested in Jakob's survival as he shivered and starved through the Russian and Polish countryside. It's a shame there aren't more accounts like this.
June 4, 2024
Jakob Walter wrote an account of his service in Napoleon's army, first in the Prussian Campaign, then in southern Germany, and ultimately in the Russian Campaign. It was kept in the family until the 1930's, when it was translated into English and published. The authenticity of this rare first hand account makes it important and meaningful. The writing style is spare. Walter had nothing to gain from his military service; he was conscripted into the army from his home in French-occupied southern Germany and barely survived the difficult retreat from Moscow.
The text is embellished with illustrations from contemporary artists depicting campaign scenes.
The book also has a few letters written by German soldiers to their parents; they were apparently confiscated because they describe the hardships the men encountered while on the Russian Campaign. The sincerity of these letters is moving, and the fates of their authors is unknown.
The book has two maps depicting Walter's journey to and from Moscow, and has a few explanatory footnotes; more would have been useful.
The text is embellished with illustrations from contemporary artists depicting campaign scenes.
The book also has a few letters written by German soldiers to their parents; they were apparently confiscated because they describe the hardships the men encountered while on the Russian Campaign. The sincerity of these letters is moving, and the fates of their authors is unknown.
The book has two maps depicting Walter's journey to and from Moscow, and has a few explanatory footnotes; more would have been useful.
May 31, 2024
"What an amazing book," was my first thought after finishing this amazing book. I was absolutely floored by the detail that really immerses you in what this soldier went through. It's so hard for us to comprehend what it was like as a soldier during those times, so much harder still to fathom the complexities of life for the soldiers marching on Moscow and then retreating in the winter. The writer describes things in such poetic detail, describing how soldiers looked like mere "shadows of death". How he describes getting water in the swamps of Russia made chills go up my back. I love that this is an authentic work and that in the back of the book it goes into detail as to how the diary was authenticated and showed a map of where the soldier traveled during this campaign. All in all, this is a 5/5 star book, regardless of what anyone says. I absolutely loved it. This is a MUST-READ for anyone who loves history, especially the time period during the Napoleonic era.
February 28, 2023
This wasn’t something I normally would have read, but it was a part of my history class on Europe since the 17th century. I actually enjoyed it more than I expected to, and although the topic isn’t my go-to, I liked the writing style and felt that each anecdote helped show the Napoleonic Wars from the perspective of the average soldier whose story isn’t taught in most textbooks. As other reviews have said, this is the kind of book that you’d be more likely to read for an academic purpose, but, given that, I really enjoyed it.
January 18, 2022
'The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier' is a short read whereby a German soldier recounts the three campaigns that he fought under French conscription. What I found most apparent was that Walter was a regular German man; the grand romance and nationalism associated with the Napoleonic regime are alien to the Catholic stonemason who desired to make it out of the war alive in order to greet his loved ones once more. Detail is often inconsistent and likely comes at whims, with the structure of the work holding to a line of memories that Walter felt he wanted to write about with varying degrees of depth.
The value of a German conscript's own account during the Russian campaign of the Napoleonic war is self-explanatory.
The value of a German conscript's own account during the Russian campaign of the Napoleonic war is self-explanatory.
December 30, 2018
I read this book a long time ago while I was in college. If you want a book that is going to make you fear for the authors survival this is the book for you. It really makes you wonder what you would be capable of doing if you needed to survive.
February 4, 2020
This book is assigned reading for a history class that I am taking. I would not have known about it otherwise. It was cool to learn how the common soldier lived through Napoleon's wars and the retreat from Moscow.
June 15, 2022
Interesting first hand account of Jakob Walter, a German who was conscripted to serve in Napoleon's army.
Interesting matter of fact account, especially because there are no complaints or other opinions expressed either of agreement or disagreement with being in Napoleon's Army.
Interesting matter of fact account, especially because there are no complaints or other opinions expressed either of agreement or disagreement with being in Napoleon's Army.
October 9, 2018
My bellwether for misery has always been "Well, it was worse for Napoleon's men on the retreat from Moscow." This slim volume only reinforced that belief. Well worth reading!
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June 21, 2019read for grad school
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