The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier

By: Jakob Walter

Narrated by: Patrick Tull

Napoleon’s surrender and retreat from Moscow in 1812 is a pinnacle of military horror. Of the 600,000 men who crossed into Russia in June of 1812, only 25,000 would survive. Jakob Walter, a conscript soldier, was one of those survivors. His observant diary captures the everyday circumstances that soldiers suffered during the campaign.

©1991 Doubleday (P)1992 Recorded Books, LLC

An Extraordinary account of Survival during War

In one account Jakob Walter describes crossing the Berezina River in Russian where the Grand Armee was almost trapped. He describes it in the exact dates November 26-29 of 1812. He writes as thousands of men and horses cross or were pushed in to never reappear.
His ability to survive this event and the cold and hunger is quite amazing. Being robbed by his own comrades of his horses, clothing, as well as, Cossack raids and eventually walking back to Germany.
God was on his side, which he claims himself. If you like real accounts of survival in impossible situations then you need to read this book

amazing

this book is a great story and look at a soldiers life in the Napoleonic wars and his campaigns in the east!!

Man’s Cruelty to Man

Tedious, extremely, but an important listen and lesson on the horror of war and human endurance.

A Truly Captivating Account

Jakob Walter tells his tale of surviving Napoleon's campaign into the Russian Empire with a stark brutal honesty, shewing the horrid brutality of war, antisemitism, ecumenical differences, and the struggles that tore Europe apart and set the stage for the following two centuries of statecraft cruel warmongering in the neocolonial world. Looking for a story that details what 19th century soldiers suffered for their rulers? Look no further.

narrator pause

Good story, incredible hardship but the narrator spoke slowly with long pauses. He could have finished the story about an hour early