Hello
I am currently researching for a novel based in Prussia over the period of 1806 - 1818
I am hoping some of these forums might be able to assist with answers to the following questions 1. Would it have been likely for a middle class young man to volunteer for the army in 1806
2. In 1806 were the Prussian army general soldiers still brutalised or had a more modern training system come into play at that time
3. Once France had defeated the Prussians, what level of occupation was there of Prussia ,the bits that remained Prussia, by the French
4. What was the level of plunder that was carried out by the French, thinking here not so much on the reparations that were dictated by the Treaty but rather what the common townsfolk would expect to suffer.
Hi Scott,
This isn't directly relevant to your subject but it might be worth taking a look at Alexander Mikaberidze's Russian Eyewitness Accounts of the Campaign of 1807. It is a collection of reports, letters, diaries etc. written by Russian officers during the Eylau and Friedland campaigns that have been translated into English by Mikaberidze. Whilst it is obviously principally concerned with the Russian rather than the Prussian army it does give a great insight into the life of a soldier at the time, including ways that impecunious young men, lacking connections at court, went about trying to gain a commission. It also brings home the stark realities of warfare and the effect it had on local populations. Essentially, if the soldiers were hungry then the people starved. If an army encamps for any time then the villages all around cease to exist because the soldiers first pillage all the food and then dismantle all the buildings to use as fire wood. One officer even writes of an occasion where he set two villages on fire to illuminate the darkness in case the French should attempt a night attack.
Best wishes
Stephen