From Valmy To Waterloo—Extracts From The Diary Of Capt. Charles François

A Soldier Of The Revolution And The Empire.

The cannonade of Valmy (1792) ranks as one of the most significant battles of all time for its strategic results: the defeat of the Prussian invasion heralded the beginning of the French Republic. At the field of Waterloo in 1815, no less a battle ended once and for all the ambitions of Napoleon to dominate Europe under French hegemony. Throughout this period of strife and struggle, which would change the map of Europe forever, Capitaine François fought under the banners and eagles of France, a callow youth at the time of Valmy, a grizzled veteran by the time of Waterloo. His story stretches from the plains of Northern France, through the frozen wastes of Russia, the sunburnt sands of Egypt and to the rotting prisoner hulks of Spain. François was by his own account a ruthless, fearless fighter but tempered with a passionate and phlegmatic nature; of the many memoirs of Napoleon’s troops, few are filled with such adventure and anecdote.
An excellent from the ranks of Napoleon’s army.
Author — Capitaine Charles François (1774 or 5-1853.)
Preface — Jules Arsène Arnaud Claretie (1840-1913.)
Translator — Robert B. Douglas
Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in 1906, London, by Everett and Co.
Original Page Count – 332 pages.