Reprint of a work from 1885 containing a letter written by a cuirassier captain in February 1813, in which he recounts his experiences during the Russian campaign. The editor has discovered his identity and provides a brief biography based on unpublished documents. When you fight with a sabre, when you are in motion, the fire that drives you takes away any kind of reflection. Neither misfortune nor deprivation, neither suffering nor injury, neither life nor death can influence my military character. Lieutenant in the 9th Cuirassier Regiment Claude Oriot has been serving as the colonel's adjutant there since September 1811. His brevet is presented to him personally by General Beurnonville, along with a rather flattering letter announcing his imminent promotion to captain. This takes place on 21 March 1812. Captain Oriot has just left the small town of Hildesheim to march to Russia at the head of a cuirassier company and begins his account of his campaign in a letter to his sister...
