Sergeant Fricasse of the 127th Demi-Brigade: a French Soldier of the Revolutionary Period on Campaign, 1792-1802

With the armies of the Sambre & Meuse, Rhine & Moselle and Italy, 1792-1802

There are a number of translated French accounts that tell of the wartime experiences of the soldiers of Napoleon’s Imperial armies. There was a time however, before Napoleon became emperor, when the soldiers of First Republic of France were fervently committed to the spirit of revolution and the promotion of the republican ideal to the peoples of Europe. This book is a first-hand account, written in diary form by one of those ordinary soldiers in his own simple language. Jacques Fricasse, a member of the 127th Demi-Brigade, details a life of marching and campaigning. The detail he gives of life on campaign, the deprivations suffered by the ordinary soldiers of the period and his battlefield accounts make this book-possibly here translated into English for the first time-noteworthy. Fricasse’s text benefits from the inclusion of many explanatory notes by his original French editor and includes useful excerpts from Marshal Soult’s memoirs, since he served in these campaigns, as a young man. This newly translated Leonaur edition retains the original edition’s line illustrations of French Army uniforms of the time, and adds to them a selection of relevant illustrations which did not accompany the original text.

Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.