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Bernard Wilkin

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Fighting for Napoleon: French Soldiers' Letters, 1799–1815 Kindle Edition

by Bernard Wilkin (Author), René Wilkin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.2 37 ratings

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True, first-hand accounts of combat and soldiering from the men who fought for Napoleon Bonparte and the First French Empire: “Fascinating stuff” (Stuart Asquith, author of Military Modelling).

The French side of the Napoleonic Wars is often presented from a strategic point of view, or in terms of military organization and battlefield tactics, or through officers’ memoirs. Fighting for Napoleon:French Soldiers’ Letters, 1799–1815, based on more than sixteen hundred letters written by French soldiers of the Napoleonic armies, shares the perspectives and experiences of the lowest, ordinary ranks of the army who fought on the frontlines.

Authors Bernard Wilkin and René Wilkin provide an informative read of common soldiers’ lives for military and cultural historians as well as a fascinating counterpoint to the memoirs of Cpt. Jean-Roch Coignet, Col. Marcellin de Marbot, or Sgt. Adrien Bourgogne.

“A superb guide to the experience and motivation of military service that is based on a wide trawl of relevant letters . . . A first-rate work that is of much wider significance.” —Professor Jeremy Black, author of The Battle of Waterloo

“Provides the reader with a good insight into the lives of ordinary French of the Napoleonic Wars . . . Direct accounts of campaigns and battle, recruitment and training, barrack life, the experience of captivity and being wounded are all here, based on letters written most by uneducated men to their immediate family . . . This really is fascinating stuff, and surely a ‘must’ for students of Napoleonic warfare.” —Stuart Asquith, author of Military Modelling: Guide to Solo Wargaming

Editorial Reviews

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A superb guide to the experience and motivation of military service that is based on a wide trawl of relevant letters. Built around the collection of the Archives de l'Etat à Liège which kept more than 1,500 letters, all written by soldiers from the Ourthe department and the vast majority written by conscripts. The organisation is clear and appropriate. Three of the chapters are chronological, dealing with particular conflicts and the records they left, one deals with conscription and desertion, one life in the army, and one wounds, illness and captivity. The authors show that the conscripts mostly perceived compulsory service as a burden, and a heavy one. They argue that Alan Forrest's citation of a letter from an enthusiastic conscript from Liège pushed an a typical attitude to the fore, as the vast majority of these soldiers did not fight for France or for any abstract reason. This correction of Forrest is most valuable as the subject suffers from too much selective quotation. The personal prestige of Napoleon is presented as a factor, but the high rate of desertion, especially after 1812, is employed as an appropriate comment on this charisma... A first-rate work that is of much wider significance.- Professor Jeremy Black, French History (Oxford University Press)
Based on more than 1,600 letters - most of which have never been published before - this work provides the reader with a good insight into the lives of ordinary French of the Napoleonic Wars. These conflicts are rarely seen from the perspective of the lowly 'other ranks' of an army, so the experience of ordinary soldiers is less well known. Direct accounts of campaigns and battle, recruitment and training, barrack life, the experience of captivity and being wounded are all here, based on letters written most by uneducated men to their immediate family. A few illustrations are included as is a chronology of the Napoleonic Wars, a bibliography and an index. This really is fascinating stuff, and surely a 'must' for students of Napoleonic warfare. - Stuart Asquith, Military Modelling, April 2016

About the Author

Dr Bernard Wilkin is a Belgian historian who works at the State Archives of Belgium, where he specializes in the history of the French army and the French people at war, from Napoleon to the end of the Third Republic. He was previously lecturer at the University of Exeter and has published on various subjects such as propaganda in France during the world wars and morale in the French army and on the home front during the Great War.

René Wilkin, the father of Bernard, studied and taught history in the city of Liège where he was born. He is now retired but continues to work on Napoleonic history from a French perspective.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01AVDGOW8
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pen & Sword Military (November 30, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 30, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 12159 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 278 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #716,870 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #82 in Napoleonic War History (Kindle Store)
- #222 in Biographies of the Army
- #263 in Napoleonic War History (Books)

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4.2 37 ratings

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Bernard Wilkin

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Dr. Bernard Wilkin (1982) was born in Liège (Belgium), to a family of historians. He grew up in Belgium before moving to the United Kingdom in 2010. There, he completed a PhD at the University of Sheffield before embarking on a career in academia. He is currently Lecturer at the University of Exeter. He is the author of Fighting for Napoleon (Pen & Sword, 2015) and several articles on military history from 1799 to 1815. He can be contacted on twitter: @bernardwilkin

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4.2 out of 5

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Robert Dawson

Good Napoleonic era research resource.

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2021

Verified Purchase

What I was looking for. First-hand soldier's accounts.

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2016

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Great look at what the common Napoleonic soldier experienced.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Here are many studies of the Great Army but this one is different.

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2016

Dr Wilkin has produced a much needed book on a difficult topic. There are many studies of the Great Army but this one is different. The authors traced hundreds of letters of French soldiers to re-examine the mindset of the military. This book paints a difficult picture of the French army, one where soldiers aren't paid for years or properly fed and don't hesitate to kill or rape. The author examines successfully several myths and questions traditional representations. Looking at personal letters allows the authors to offer a fresh perspective on one of the most fascinating story of European and World History.

6 people found this helpful

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Albert Joseph

Very useful

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2016

This is the first time I come across a collection of letters written by French soldiers serving for Napoleon. This is a fantastic read and a very useful tool for those who, like me, are interested in the
Napoleonic Wars.

4 people found this helpful

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Richard Clemerson

An Informative & Thought Provoking Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 24, 2017

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This is an extremely well researched and presented book by Bermard and Rene Wilkin that provides a fascinating insight into the lives of the ordinary soldiers of the Napoleonic French Army.

It is a genre of book I enjoy reading - not entirely dissimilar to "Fritz and Tommy" by Robin Schäfer and Peter Doyle, works that allow the reader to "get under the skin" of the men.

There are copious footnotes on virtually every page - the brief biographic details of the soldiers who wrote the letters are fascinating. However, a minor criticism is that the "technical / reference" footnotes are perhaps overdone and could be be better alternatively placed at the end of each chapter.

I am happy to highly recommend this work, for me essential reading for anybody with an interest in the Napoleonic period.

3 people found this helpful

Amazon Kunde

A treasure of basic sources

Reviewed in Germany on March 13, 2016

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Bernard & René Wilkin's book „Fighting for Napoleon. French Soldiers' Letters 1799-1815” is an excellent compilation of eye-witness accounts written by ordinary French soldiers who experienced conscription, war and sufferings. The letters are published in English for the first time and so many people will be able to read them.
There are many memoirs written by participants belonging to the officer corps but they present a view from above. In “Fighting for Napoleon” you find letters that allow insights in the world of the common soldiers that filled the ranks.
The book is an exception for several reasons. First it offers new material on the Napoleonic wars from a different perspective and secondly the letters are accompanied by the authors'expertise and their profound historical knowledge. Each letter is set in its historical and social context and offers information on the soldiers'daily life, their hopes and their desperate longing to come home to their families and friends and sometimes their enthusiasm to fight for France and its Emperor.
The authors' have unearthed a treasure of basic sources that are interesting not only for the generally interested reader but also for the professional historian researching on the Napoleonic era.

Mr. John Walsh

Disappointing, repetitive and nothing really new.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2018

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I love reading memoirs and letters from those who fought and lived during the Napoleonic period and also other historical periods, so I was really looking forward to seeing what this title offered. Unfortunately, apart from one or two letters, I found the contents to be very disappointing and mainly repetitive. It is almost as if the authors just wanted to show letters about the same topics: opposition to being conscripted, lack of food and money and miserable accommodations. These topics of complaint are nothing new to anyone reading and researching the period or in fact any other historical period, nor are they exclusive to the French army. In terms of desertion, that is a common factor in all armies and nations, including the French army under Louis XVI which had a recorded 3000 desertions a year (The Oxford History of the French Revolution by William Doyle, 2002, page 31). And regarding Belgian opposition to conscription, that has already been recorded in the same title on page 349. So nothing new is offered in those areas. I think what spoils this book and reduces it being representative of the French Army is the fact they are all written by soldiers from the same area. And even the authors themselves admit to it not really being representative when they state on pages 3-4: 'In total millions of letters were written during the Napoleonic Wars. Most of them disappeared during the nineteenth century but a small proportion survived in the archives or in private hands.' On page 3 the authors also state 'Despite their interest, historians must not always take these letters at face value. Soldiers exaggerated or even lied for various reasons.' So basically, they should not be taken seriously and the letter writers might not be telling the truth? That does not exactly inspire a positive judgement on the contents. However, the same could be said of any memoir or diary, so again, nothing new. On page 5 the authors notify the reader that almost all the letters were 'written by conscripts between 1799 and 1813.' So they are limited in scope and I can't recall reading about soldiers from any nation during any period being overjoyed at being conscripted, so there is nothing new offered here. The authors seem to assume a lot, such as they assume that they know who wrote the letter about the soldier who was medically discharged even though they state it was anonymous and not signed. The soldiers they name in the footnote might be correct but it is certainly not definite. On page 33 they state in the footnotes that Duchesne probably died in hospital. Again, they may be correct but it is not definite and one wonders why they include aspects of assumption rather than definite facts? On page 40 they assume that a letter written by one soldier 'strongly suggests' that he flattered his superiors. Really? I just see a soldier, and one who was awarded the legion of Honour in 1814, remarking how he had been helped. It is also interesting how the authors term things, such as on page 151, when they state 'During the next twenty years, tens of thousands of Belgians were forced to serve for Napoleon'. Note the word 'forced'. But when they fought against Napoleon in 1815, they employ the term 'conscripted into the army of the Netherlands', so obviously being conscripted for the French was being 'forced' but apparently not 'forced' when conscripted to fight against Napoleon. This all adds to a sense of anti-French and Anti-Napoleon feel to the title, whether intended or not. On page 160 the authors state that 'The Imperial Guard was the only unit to have a mobile ambulance'. This is not quite correct. 'At regimental level, according to the decree of 14 Fructidor XIII (I September 1805) every regiment had an ambulance caisson with first aid supplies' (Napoleon's Infantry Handbook by T.E. Crowdy, page 278) And these had to be capable of carrying six wounded men. I don't for one minute suggest that the French medical side was perfect or that the decree was fulfilled but I believe the French army had the better medical side of the period. The authors, on page 171, also claim that the media 'offer a romanticised version' of life in the French army. Are they really suggesting that people who read historical novels or watch historical films or those who watch documentaries and do serious research believe that life in the French Napoleonic army was romantic? If so, that is a bit of an insult to the reader and all military enthusiasts. Those like myself, who have read, researched and even written about the period, are well aware that war is not at all romantic, for any soldier (or civilian) from any nation in any war. To conclude, I feel that the limitation of the letters and the mainly repetitive topics they offer, spoil what could have been a very interesting book.

3 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

What a project

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2015

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"Fighting For Napoleon" by father and son Wilkin was bought as a gift. It is still on my desk;-).

Connecting the letters of French Napoleonic soldiers with lots of historical facts, offering a battle journey through Europe combined with the authors sensitive and humoristic comments make this book great to read and enjoy.

Thank you.

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