Never forget. 6 Coalitions to beat a single country. 6 coalitions to beat brave French soldiers. 6 Coalitions, made of 18 countries to beat ONE country !
As Pierre begged for a piece of bread, the aristocrats laughed, A man approached him, not giving him bread but extending his hand: "Jean?" Said Pierre in a happy but calm voice, Jean responded: "Get up Caporal", as Pierre got up, he looked behind Jean, seeing his old comrades, and fading images of officers and fallen comrades, seeing his eyes filling with tears of joy, another man with his old uniform approached Pierre and gave him a French eagle: "We need our old flag bearer back, don't forget Austerlitz, Salamanca and Waterloo my friend", the veterans happily marched and joked around the city, gathering their old comrades where they went, and some say, and the end of the march, at the sound of a company drum and fife, they sang this song together, Pierre always remembered to his dying days.. his last words being "I will see you all in heaven.. Vive l'Empereur".
When he heard that Napoleon's remains were coming back to France, Marshall Moncey, one of the last Empire marshalls still alive, and dying from old age and weakness, begged his doctor to stuff him woth enough drugs to honour his Emperor one last time.
When everything is over and you remember that once you conquered Moscow, saw the pyramids and the holy land, defeated mighty Prussia in 2 battles the same day and Belgium, the Nertherlands, northern Italy and west germany were french adminstrative divisions.
For those who are wondering, it was "Te Souviens Tu" (1817) that inspired "Ich Bin Soldat" (1870): the former is a nostalgic song about the Napoleonic wars, which is why it was used by the latter to make it a anti war song.
Ce chant vous fouette le sang! Imaginez juste avoir participez aux campagnes de la Révolution, d'Egypte, d'Italie, d'Autriche, de Prusse, d'Espagne, de Russie et de France! D'avoir servi pour sa patrie, L'Empereur et son peuple et au final se retrouver a mendier pour avoir a mangez... Quel tristesse... Honneur et Gloire a ces immortels qui ont forger notre Pays et notre Histoire! Vive La France! Vive l'Empereur!
