The Narrative of Captain Coignet Soldier of the Empire 1776 1850

Our half-brigade finished picking up the wounded Austrians and French whom we had not found the night before. We carried them off to the ambulances, and it was very late before we left the battle-field. We were all night 011 the march through cross roads. At midnight, M. Lepreux, our colonel, called a halt, and passed down the ranks saying, " Maintain the most perfect silence, ? absolute silence." Then he ordered the first battalion to move. We passed through narrow roads where we could not even see each other. The officers, who were on horseback, had dismounted, and the most profound silence reigned through the ranks. We passed out, and found ourselves in ploughed fields. We were still forbidden to make any noise, or to light any fire. We were obliged to lie down among the great clods of dirt, with our heads on our knapsacks, and wait for the day. The next morning we were ordered to rise, with empty stomachs! We went on only to find villages completely pillaged. We crossed ditches and marshes, a large stream, and came to villages filled with shrubbery. No provisions anywhere. All the houses were deserted. Our officers were overcome with fatigue and hunger. We left these marshy places, and turned to the left, into a village surrounded by orchards and gardens. Here we found some flour, a little bread, and a few animals. It was time, for we were dying of hunger. On the 12th our two half-brigades came up on our right wing, and our division was reunited...