The post of Marshal of France during the age of Napoleon was a much sought after honour, carrying with it riches, titles and land grants enough to satisfy the dreams of every French soldier. It did, however, carry with it the possibility of hardship, wounds and possible death in the firing line of the many battlefields across Europe. Few men who attained the dignity can said to have seen as much fighting as Marshal Oudinot, or to have faced death with such sang-froid as he. Once asked by Napoleon if he feared death, he replied, "Sire, I haven't had the time." He was constantly at the forefront of the fighting and became the most wounded of the Marshalate, having no fewer than 30 wounds to show in the service of France.
His memoirs were collected and gathered together by his second wife soon after his death and are filled with the gripping and often brutally bloody action of the Napoleonic battlefield. They are in the main focussed on the latter part of his career - through the snows of Russia in 1812 to the end of Napoleon’s reign in 1812.
Also have a new facsimilie copy.