Browse Items (65 total)
The Effect of the Russian Winter Described by a General November 1812
Ségur gave a terrifying description of the effect of the Russian winter that started in November 1812.
The Fatherland in Danger 1799
This painting of the period by Gillaume Guillon Lethière shows the emotion caused by the prospect of loved ones departing for the army. Women had to part with their families in order to support the nation in its time of need. Notice the female statue…
The French Return from An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti 1805
In this excerpt, Rainsford continues to exhalt the qualities of L’Ouverture while criticizing French behavior in the attempted reconquest of the island under Napoleon.
The Government Acknowledges Disaster in Russia (3 December 1812) December 3, 1812
The French government used its Bulletins of the Grand Army to report official versions of the course of military campaigns. In a rare admission of problems, Bulletin no. 29 reported the French losses in Russia.
The King Seeks Foreign Assistance (20 November 1790) November 20, 1790
Despite a show of support for the Revolution, by the fall of 1790, the royal family and its entourage increasingly felt that the changes of the past eighteenth months had cost them their dignity and power. Unable to stop or even control the changes…
The Marseillaise (War Song for the Army of the Rhine) 1792
Composed by Joseph Rouget de Lisle when he learned that France had declared war on Austria, the Marseillaise quickly became the anthem of the republican Revolution. it remains the French national anthem today. A republican anthem, the Marseillaise…
The Mode of exterminating the Black Army as practised by the French 1805
The fighting between the French and the Haitians was very bloody. When the French tried to put down Toussaint in 1802, it took them some five months with an expeditionary force of 23,000. Supplied by locals, the French seized the towns, gradually…
The Mode of training Blood Hounds in St. Domingo, and of exercising them by Chasseurs 1805
This image reveals grotesque mistreatment of blacks even during training exercises. Here a cavalryman (chasseur) plans to use a black as a live prey for hunting dogs.
The Revolt from An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti 1805
Rainsford’s detailed contemporary account of the revolt emphasizes the strenuous yet ultimately unsuccessful mobilization of colonial French resources.
The Russian Campaign as Seen by a Female Russian Soldier 1812
Fighting under the name Alexander Durov, Nadezhda Durova was the daughter of a Russian officer who dressed as a man to join the Russian army in 1806. Although it became known that she was a woman, she was allowed to serve until 1816 when she retired…