Russian Soldier Describes True Horror of Napoleon's 1812 Invasion // Memoir of Ilya Radozhitskii

If you like this check out the full text, it's a wonderful translation and incredibly readable diary: www.amazon.com/RadozhitskiiS-Campaign-Memoirs-Alex…

"How many thousands of future victims of human enmity still enjoyed life that day only to turn to dust the following. Thus, a man is destined to remain the plaything of passions, to reach for the heavens with is mind and to disappear in earthly irrelevance"-one of my favorite lines.

You know it's bad when a soldier for the army of the country you've invaded has sympathy for your plight.

In case anyone is wondering, when he refers to "the Antonov Fire" he is referring to gangrene.

The amazing thing is that, in spite of all the many hardships and horrors, this man was able to record his thoughts, observations, and places with astonishing clarity of mind, all written with a quill and ink pot.

From getting hit by enemy cannon fire, to watching his capitol looted and burned, to sitting at a camp fire and sharing a biscuit with a wayward Frenchman in a freezing blizzard. The best and worst of humanity concurrently experienced by a man who somehow survived.

It makes me think of the mass grave discovered 20 years ago in Lithuania (in Vilnius, or Vilna as it was called in the Napoleonic era.) They numbered at least 2000, and at first it was assumed that they were victims of WW2, but the remaining metal buttons of their coats were soon identified as being from Napoleonic French military uniforms.

I try to imagine the scenes he's describing. What an absolute psychosis. Truly a nightmare. 209 years later and their suffering is just haunting. Rest In Peace to all the souls

"Ugh, it's Murat!" Priceless and hilarious!

Well, I didn't really intend to listen for the whole 40 minutes, but wow, that was amazing. What a talented writer Ilya Radozhitskii was. A true window into a terrible time.

The absolute terror of walking, 100men in each row, and row upon row... Just marching into active cannon fire and everything the enemy can muster. Then after suffering 500+ yards of abuse and lead you finally get within range...but that also means your in the enemies range as well. Just praying that no bullet has your name on it. And finally after all that, it's time to fix bayonets and charge into hand-to-hand death struggles. Absolutely insane those lads! Brave beyond measure, but clinically insane to willingly do that for years, and years (because before term limits, you served until the war ended) for shoddy pay, food, and zero retirement security

Some people tend to assume that the Russian soldiers (of any era) are somehow immune to the ravaging effects of freezing temperatures, without giving it much thought.

Diaries of people who experience the horrors of Napoleonic war is underrated. Often surpassed by testimonies of ww2, Vietnam war, Arab- Israeli wars, the troubles etc. Hope we can learn more about the testimonies by people who lived during that period.

Within the last year I plowed through Tolstoy's "War and Peace". It was not what I expected. It turned out to be a terrific novel. I couldn't put it down.

The author was not a soldier, but an officer. A soldier called him “your honor”, which means he was a lower rank officer.

This is incredible and haunting. The “frozen Frenchmen” seemed almost like zombies.

I've been on a Napoleon learning binge of late and this video came at just the right time!

the absolute batshit insanity and brutality described while everyone stays so calm and our main protagonist describing in such a modern way his feelings and fears, and how he felt weak thinking about battle is a perfect example of how dark Russian writing was at that time (and is today)

Quote at 10'25"; "Naturally this is the only time that one is allowed to enjoy the evil that one inflicts on fellow humans who, willingly or not, have become our enemies." "willingly or not" shows that not much has changed throughout the course of the centuries...

As someone who lives in Minnesota, a vaguely similar climate to Russia, warm coats are the difference between life and death. I had a wool and fur coat that would make me sweat in -20 degree weather, but if you were wearing a light summer uniform you would almost certainly die. Hitler made the same mistake as Napoleon by foolishly not giving their soldiers warm coats, which coupled with slow starvation killed millions