Jack Walter's Life During The Napoleonic Warfare

During the 1806/1807 and 1809 campaigns, the experiences Jakob Walter faced was/were less severe, few conflicts, well quartered, well-fed, and mostly securing routes for safe passage. These experiences are different from his later campaign in 1812/1813, because during this campaign Jakob was exposed to more severe and harsh conditions; malnutrition, death and disease, hunger and starvation—to the point that horses were shot and eaten, dozens of conflicts, freezing cold weather, poorly kept clothes, men dying of thirst, devastation while fleeing Russia—loss of troops, resources, supplies; troops exposed to lice, cities/towns/villages ablaze throughout invading and retreating from Russia, and having to be medically examined due to malnutrition
Between the weather conditions, warfare technology, and health and hygiene of the time, fighting in the Napoleonic Wars was a nightmare. A war that psychologically and physically changed the soldiers and their families’ lives going forward.

The five quotes that best illustrate Napoleonic warfare are:
• “So, as soon as day broke—we marched against the city. ... Everyone fired and struck at the enemy in wild madness, and no one could tell whether he was in front, in the middle, or behind the center of the army” (Walter 50). o This quote best illustrates the warfare during this period of time, because it depicts for us what Walter describes as chaotic.
• “From Smolensk to Moshaisk the war displayed its horrible work of destruction: all the roads, fields, and woods lay as though sown with people, horses, wagons, burned villages and cities; everything looked like the complete ruin of all that lived” (Walter 52). o This quote best illustrates the warfare during this period of time, because it illustrates the efficiency of the Russian scorched earth policy—a policy that more than likely startled
Here one saw again in what numbers the dead lay. From the battle site on to this place the corpses were dragged from the highways, and entire hollows were filled with them” (Walter 62). o This quote best illustrates the warfare during this period of time, because it describes the horror of war, the death count/bloodbath.
• “The distress mounted higher and higher, and horses were shot and eaten. ... I set this blood on the fire, let it coagulate, and ate the lumps without salt” (Walter 67). o This quote best illustrates the warfare during this period of time, because it describes the devastation and hunger/starvation that the troops endured during the retreat from Moscow.
• “Finally, toward four o’clock in the evening, when it was almost dark, I came to the bridge. Here I saw only one bridge, the second having been shot away. Now it is with horror, but at that time it was with a dull, indifferent feeling, that I looked at the masses of horses and people which lay dead, piled high upon the bridge” (Walter 86). o This quote best illustrates the warfare during this period of time, because it describes the onslaught the French faced at the hands of the Russians as they were fleeing