Customer Reviews

In the Legions of Napoleon: The Memoirs of a Polish Officer in Spain and Russia, 1808-1813

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Poles fought gallantly for France, and indirectly for their lost himeland, throughout the French Revoltionary and Napoleonic Wars. The most reliable of Napoleon's foreign troops, they marched the length and breadth of Europe and established a combat reputation second to none. Heinrich von Brandt was one of these, being commissioned into the Grande Armee as a sous-lieutenant shortly after Prussia's defeat in 1806. He quickly was assigned to the famous Legion of the Vistula, humped his pack, and went into Spain, seeing his first action in the famous second Siege of Saragossa. Brandt's fascinating narrative is lively, accurate, and blunt, telling in vivid detail the horrors of war and the lighter moments of garrison duty. He fought his war in Spain assigned to Suchet's Army of Aragon, seeing much action. When Napoleon starting gathering the huge army that invaded Russia in 1812, The Vistula Legion was one of the units pulled out of Spain to go into Russia. His description of the marches across Europe, the thorough preparation for the Grande Armee's invasion, and the trek to Moscow is fascinating-one can literally not put the book down. The best feature of the narrative, however, is Brandt's candid description of some of the notable personalities of the period, including Napoleon, Marshal Davout, and Marshal Suchet, all of whom he met and talked. He was praised by Suchet, interviewed for his commission by Davout, and saw Napoleon more than once, describing both he and Davout as having terrible tempers when provoked. His description of the terrible retreat from Moscow and the brilliant battle at the River berezina on the way out of Russian are fascinating. This is one of the best soldier memoirs I have ever read. It is as colorful as those by Charles Parquin and Baron Marbot, and very accurate. This book belongs on the book shelf of every Napoleonic historian and enthusiast.

The style of writing is very easy to read, yet still conveys the feeling of the experiences being described. Also some interesting insights into incidents that were reported in a different way by more senior officers, some of whom were not actually present at the time, but wrote based on second-hand information.