In the revolutionary year IX, when he was 20 years old, Louis Vesuty joined the 10th Dragoon Regiment. There he became an officer, took part in most of Napoleon's campaigns and was involved in several major battles: Austerlitz, Eylau, Friedland, Fuentes de Onoro, Dresden, Leipzig, Reims, Ligny, Waterloo... In his letters, written during fifteen years of campaigning, he describes his misery, the dangers, his fatigue, passions and hopes, and of course the battles, whether happy or unhappy. These letters from a dragoon in the year IX, who rose to become an officer of the lancers, radiate truthfulness, simplicity and humanity: those of a soldier who is not privy to the plans of the general staff, but who does his duty, surrounded by a host of unknown heroes.
