Major Louis Joseph Vionnet's memoirs of Napoleon's disastrous 1812 campaign in Russia are readable detailed & full of personal anecdote & vivid glimpses into the life of the nineteenth-century soldier. His account concentrates in particular on the retreat from Moscow but he was present at all the major actions & followed the entire course of the campaign from the opening moves in July 1812 to being chased through Prussia by bands of Cossacks in early 1813. He was present at the destruction of Smolensk toured the battlefield of Borodino & witnessed the great fire in Moscow. Vionnet was a major in the Fusiliers-Grenadiers a regiment of veterans in the Imperial Guard & his account provides a wonderful insight into the elan morale & cohesion of this elite fighting force. Jonathan North has translated Vionnet's memoirs for the first time for this English edition. In addition to providing detailed explanatory notes he"es from the accounts left by five other soldiers from the same regiment & these extracts allow the reader to follow the ups & downs of the unit as a whole. Louis Joseph Vionnet Vicomte de Maringone was born in Longueville in 1769 the son of a peasant & a lacemaker. He joined the artillery in 1793 & was promoted to captain in the line in 1794. He fought in Italy in 1796 in the line infantry in 1798 & the Guard grenadiers in 1806 & campaigned in Prussia Poland & Spain. In 1809 he joined the Fusiliers of the Guard fought again in Spain in 1811 & then with the rank of major he took part in the 1812 Russian campaign which he survived. He retired in the 1830s & died in 1834.