Colonel Barguelot, who had proved himself a coward at the Moskva but a hero at the Berezina, was not relieved of his command and regained the confidence of his regiment.

Colonel Delarse also survived. Ironically, he attended a Mass held in memory of several deceased officers, some of whom had refused to put him in charge of a regiment because they thought his days were numbered. He was at last made a brigadier-general.

Saber was awarded the Légion d’Honneur for his action at the Berezina. The survivors of the 35th called him ‘honorary colonel of the 35th of the Line’. This rank was no more than a mark of affection but it enabled Saber to proclaim to all and sundry that, as he had always said he would, he had ended the campaign as a colonel.

Lefine, Piquebois and Fanselin also escaped death on Russian soil.

No one had time to rest because in April 1813 the Saxony campaign began.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

The detective plot of this novel (characters and situations) is purely imaginary.

The 9th Infantry Regiment of the Line was in fact commanded by Colonel de Vautré; the 35th Infantry Regiment of the Line by Colonel Penant; and the 3rd Italian Infantry Regiment of the Line by Colonel Lévie. General Huard had only one aide-de-camp, Captain Cogniard.

Any similarity between the fictional characters of this novel and people who really existed is entirely accidental.

APPENDIX 1

Composition of the French Army at the beginning of the

Russian Campaign

Emperor Napoleon I

Prince Murat is Lieutenant-General

Emperor’s Household

General Staff of the Grande Armée

General Administration of the Grande Armée

Imperial Guard (30,000 men)

I Corps (Marshal Davout) (70,000)

II Corps (Marshal Oudinot) (40,000)

III Corps (Marshal Ney) (35,000)

IV Corps (Prince Eugène) (45,000)

V Corps (General Poniatowski) (35,000)

VI Corps (General Gouvion-Saint-Cyr) (23,000)

VII Corps (General Reynier) (18,000)

VIII Corps (King Jérôme Bonaparte) (16,000)

X Corps (Marshal Macdonald) (30,000)

Prussian Corps (von Grawert) (17,000)

Austrian Corps (Prince Swartzenberg) (30,000)

I Reserve Cavalry Corps (General Nansouty) (12,000)

II Reserve Cavalry Corps (General Montbrun) (11,000)

III Reserve Cavalry Corps (General Grouchy) (7,000)

IV Reserve Cavalry Corps (General de La Tour Maubourg) (6,000)

Grand Artillery and Engineering Park

IX Corps (Marshal Victor) (25,000) and XI Corps (Marshal Augereau) (45,000) were held in reserve in Germany and would not become involved until the end of the campaign.

In total about 400,000 soldiers and 1,200 cannon directly took part in the campaign.

(The numbers given are intended for guidance only and vary considerably according to sources but the overall figure of 400,000 men is accepted almost unanimously by historians.)

APPENDIX 2

Detailed Composition of IV Corps

(or Prince Eugène’s Army) (45,000 men)

Prince Eugène de Beauharnais

General Staff

13th Division (General Delzons)

1st Brigade (General Huard)

8th Light Regiment

84th Regiment of the Line

1st Croat Regiment

2nd Brigade (General Roussel)

92nd Regiment of the Line

106th Regiment of the Line

Artillery

Engineers

14th Division (General Broussier)

1st Brigade (General de Sivray)

9th Regiment of the Line

18th Light Regiment

2nd Brigade (General Alméras)

Joseph Napoleon Spanish Regiment

35th Regiment of the Line

3rd Brigade (General Pastol)

53rd Regiment of the Line

Artillery

Engineers

15th Division (or Italian Division) (General Pino)

1st Brigade (General Fontana)

1st Light Regiment

2nd Regiment of the Line

2nd Brigade (General de Vaudoncourt)

Dalmatian Regiment

3rd Light Regiment

3rd Brigade (General Dembrowski)

3rd Regiment of the Line

Artillery

Engineers

Light Cavalry Division (General d’Ornano)

12th Brigade (General Ferrière)

9th Regiment of Mounted Chasseurs

19th Regiment of Mounted Chasseurs

13th Brigade (General Villata)

2nd Regiment of Italian Mounted Chasseurs

3rd Regiment of Italian Mounted Chasseurs

Italian Royal Guard

Guards of Honour

Royal Velites

Regiment of Grenadiers

Regiment of Conscripts

Dragoons of the Guard

Queen’s Dragoons

Foot Artillery

Artillery Reserve

Engineers

At the beginning of the campaign IV Corps was isolated and would meet up with the bulk of the army only after a few weeks.

APPENDIX 3

Composition of the Russian Armies at the beginning of the Russian Campaign

First Army (Army of the West)

General Prince Barclay de Tolly

(150,000)

Second Army (Army of the South)

General Prince Bagration

(65,000)

Reserve Army (Army of Galicia)

General Tormasov

(40,000)

Army of the Danube

Admiral Chichagov

(55,000)

Army of Finland

General Steingell

(15,000)

Garrison of the City of Riga

(10,000)

In total about 400,000 if the soldiers in the garrisons and depots, and Cossack irregulars are included.

Further books in the Quentin Margont series

WOLF HUNT

Armand Cabasson

In 1809, the forces of Napoleon’s Grande Armée are in Austria. For young Lieutenant Lukas Relmyer, it is hard to return to the place where he and fellow orphan, Franz were kidnapped four years earlier. Franz was brutally murdered and Lukas has vowed to avenge his death.

When the body of another orphan is found on the battlefield, Captain Quentin Margont and Lukas join forces to track down the wolf who is prowling once more in the forests of Aspern…

Gallic Books

978–1–906040–83–3

MEMORY OF FLAMES

Armand Cabasson

March 1814. Napoleon’s army is outnumbered and struggling to defend France against invasion by the European allies ranged against it. Paris itself is threatened.