PAYMENT OPTIONS

Forthcoming titles

(Book titles are subject to change)

A Royal Engineer in the Low Countries

A Cavalry Surgeon at Waterloo

With the Third Guards during the Peninsular War

The First and Last Campaigns of the Great War

Supernatural and Weird Fiction of Vincent O'Sullivan

Supernatural and Weird Fiction of Algernon Blackwood

Narratives of the Anglo-Zulu War

and many others

Bugeaud: a Pack with a Baton

enlarge Click on image to enlarge
enlarge Mouse over the image to zoom in
Bugeaud: a Pack with a Baton
Qty:     - OR -   Add to Wish List

Author(s): Thomas Robert Bugeaud
Date Published: 07/2007
Page Count: 144
Softcover ISBN-13: 978-1-84677-248-1
Hardcover ISBN-13: 978-1-84677-247-4

Fighting for Napoleon in Austria, Poland, Spain and the Alps

Thomas Robert Bugeaud was the impoverished son of an aristocratic family which had narrowly escaped the guillotine of the Revolution. Necessity, rather than conviction, forced him reluctantly into the ranks of the Imperial Guard Grenadiers, where his position as a Velite put him on the fast track to higher rank. Bugeaud provides an interesting view of Napoleon’s preparations for the invasion of Britain and recounts his experiences afloat in naval actions in the Channel. After Austerlitz and promotion he joins the Line Infantry as an officer. Poland and Pultusk brought battle and wounds. A transfer to Spain with the 116th Infantry flung Bugeaud headlong into the uprising of 1808 in Madrid and the bloody capture of Saragossa, followed by a war to the death with guerrillas until the retreat to France. The First Restoration brought colonelcy in the Bourbon army, but the 100 Days called Bugeaud back to the tricolour for fighting in the Alpine Campaign. From private to colonel in Napoleon’s army—the early career of a man who would win his baton in the sands of North Africa.

After Strasburg we made long marches, crossing the principality of Baden, and the electorate of Wurtemburg, then entered into Swabia. The enemy fled before us; the first affairs took place near Augsburg, where we made five or six thousand prisoners. Several small affairs, that took place before the capture of Ulm, were always to our advantage, but it was at Ulm that we secured a complete success by the quick and skilful manoeuvres of the French army. The enemy found themselves divided and were obliged to surrender; I have had the pleasure of seeing twenty-eight thousand men march past, who had laid down their arms. It was a fine sight.
The army was arranged semi-circularly in échelon on a low hill that surrounds Ulm; the Emperor was on a rock, near which we were formed up, he was surrounded by the principal generals of the army, and watched the enemy's army pass, as it were at his feet, coming out of one of the gates of the city, and going in at another after laying down their arms. He watched it all with a quiet and modest glance, warming himself by a fire we had lighted for him, where by the way he burnt the grey riding-coat that he seems to regard rather superstitiously. After seeing the enemy parade in this beautiful way, we reversed and turned back to Augsburg, where we made but a short stay, for the Emperor will take no rest until he has entirely conquered his enemy.
We crossed Bavaria, entirely cleared of Austrians by our advanced guard, and rested two days at Munich, the capital. It is a fair city, but offers none of the conveniences or pleasures that are to be found in our French towns. The enemy were entrenched on the banks of the Inn, the river that divides Austria and Bavaria. They were driven off without difficulty, and we have marched here as easy as travelling, except for some little skirmishes.
On the route we saw occasionally places where there had been a little fighting. Only some five or six Russians were to be seen on the field of battle; no French at all, no doubt they had been buried.
Just as I am writing to you, two thousand prisoners have reached this town, Austrians and Russians in equal numbers, taken yesterday and the day before. The fighting was sharp, and the advantage all on our side. Report says that our camp is twenty-five leagues from here, and that we are only forty-eight post leagues from Vienna. I fully believe that, if they do not come to terms, we shall soon see that famous capital, for the enemy seem in no condition to resist us; they defend themselves so badly that we are nearly sure to beat them.
No doubt you suppose that, with such a quantity of success, I have been often in action, and my life twenty times in danger. Well, not in the least, my dear; I have hardly run any risk, our corps has not been engaged yet, and this is unfortunate. There is nothing to hope for, as perhaps we shall not be in action at all this whole campaign; and then no promotion! In war it is not the fighting that is to be feared; on the contrary, it is often wished for as a deliverance from the sufferings, weariness, and privations that are more cruel than death. I can assure you that one day, when we were in front of the enemy, that is to say, in the second line, hut very near, it rained, snowed, and hailed by turns, and I twenty times wished they would let us charge. We were obliged to remain in the ranks, carrying our packs, unable to light a fire, with nothing to eat, having had no bread for four or five days, wet to the bones; and that went on all day and part of the night, till we took possession of a very strong village that the enemy had held.
I was weak enough that day to wish for death, and longed for one of the shot that I saw rush through our ranks. If we had received the order to charge at such a time, we should certainly have put everything to death. I do not tell you of the horrors of war, the villages sacked, the wrongs and barbarities that it brings in its train. I keep such tales for the happy time when we shall meet again. Now I will only tell you that the profession of a hero is so much like that of a brigand that I hate it with my whole soul. A man must have a heart of stone, destitute of all humanity, to love war.
You may also like