War Diaries (POSTS 1 AND 3) Continued! Royal Highlander Greatcoat Kilt Fixed!

[Swissky]

4th of June, 1809.

I visited the physician Alfred Bern and was given a bottle of laudanum for the pains caused by the shrapnel. He told me that the Prince Regent of United Kingdom used this, is that supposed to be some sort of recommendation? He is a plump royal not fit for the field nor the throne.

5th of June.
The pain has gone away but I feel nauseous. I wanted to go for a walk in the mountains but the doctors wouldn't let me leave, I will settle for the hospital's balcony and my pipe.

6th of June.
I took a walk throughout the garden of the hospital, the birds were singing and the sun was shining. Everything seemed peaceful until a patient started screaming, I merely thought it was one of the mental patients in the separate building screaming as they sometime do but this didn't come from the building. This came from behind me, I look behind me and see a man in ragged clothing run towards me with a knife, I use my left hand to grab hold of his right hand in which he holds the knife and my right hand to knock him out. He's very large and merely shrugs it off as it were nothing, he kicks me and I fall back. He once again comes running towards me, screaming his lungs off, I grab my walking stick and use it to punch him on the jaw. He falls down and is knocked unconscious, I quickly disarm him of the knife and call for guards. I see a bulge in his right pocket, a bundle of money! But why would such a impoverished man carry around such vasts amount of money and why attack me? Someone clearly wants me dead!

7th of June.
I've not had one hour of sleep today for I fear someone shall murder me in my sleep, I have instead planned my escape from this hospital since it's not safe for me anymore. I have two guards outside my door who I cannot trust, I know how I shall sneak past them without causing a rumble. Tonight shall be my big escape.

8th of June, Nighttime.
The corridors are silent and all the personnel has gone to sleep except for the guards. I shall use my laudanum to lace the beer I've been provided with to knock out the guards. I poured two steins of beer and opened the door, the guards said : "Sorry sir, but you are not allowed to leave your room at night" I replied with "Oh but I merely wish to reward you with some beer. You two have been working so hard and long in order to guarantee my safety" "That's very nice of you, thank you kind sir" I shut the door and started packing my bag in the wait for the laudanum to kick in. The first guard asked the other to keep an eye open whilst he had a nap, "Alright, as long as you let me have a nap after you wake up" said the other guard. The first one quickly fell asleep and shortly after the other one said in a slow and tired voice "Hey, you, wake up. I want a na-*yawn* -aahp." and fell asleep. I slowly opened the door and had a peak, I closed it just as fast once I heard footsteps. "You imbeciles! Sleeping on duty?! I will have you flogged!" an elderly man said in his most angry voice. I remember that voice, that's Otto Heckmann, leader of the Salzburg City Landwehr. You don't forget that voice and beard for a long time, he took the both guards with him to his office and continued yelling at them. I quickly sneaked out the room and turned right, I once again heard footsteps and had a look, it was the janitor and he was entering my room! He was shocked to find that I was missing but in order to prevent him alarming the entire security staff I had to knock him out using my walking stick. I quickly found my way out of the hospital using the back door but I now understood why Heckmann was here, his Landwehr was guarding the hospital. Either he was very keen on keeping me safe or he was very anxious to have me removed with as little fuzz as possible, if he wanted me dead so badly then he shouldn't have saved me when I fell into the river as a child. I saw one young lad of the Landwehr who was in need of a toilet break, he is blocking my only escape route, I sneaked up behind some bushes and tried imitating Heckmann in the best way possible. "Atten-tion!" He tried his best to stand up straight but I saw that nature was calling. "Desperate times calls for desperate measures, you are free to relieve yourself. As you were." "Thank you sir, most kind of you" He went away and I could now escape. Success! I made my way for the mountains, I'm not sure how long until I fall asleep but I must go on.

9th of June, Early Morning.
I'm so fatigued, I must sleep. Luckily for me I have my bedroll in my bag, I shall make the best of it. I chopped down some thin branches of pine to use as a shelter. I fell asleep quickly and woke up around 9 in the morning. I packed my bag and headed for Venice, there is a pass that goes straight through the Alps, I shall stop by Bozen to resupply.

11th of June.
I reached Bozen, I bought a horse and some food. I will make my way to Venice with great haste, for there I can find Radetzky.

12th of June.
I reached Venice but nearly collapsed by the city's gates. I made my way to the cityhall and was stopped by the butler who told me that Radetzky won't be home for another few hours. I fell asleep in the lounge's chair, I was awoken by Radetzky himself. I told him what had happened and he told me he knew who it was. Carlo Balabio had been imprisoned by me and knew that Heckmann had been involved in several scandals which had demoted him to leader of the Landwehr, so he knew that he could use him for his revenge. Radetzky heard this at a ball where Carlo and Heckmann had been talking. I must hurry to Poznan and Torun to safeguard my wife!

 

[Audric Sword]

L’Aigle War Diary Nils Dietrich​

A L’Aigle story by Audric Sword Of Scotland! and FlintofBavaria​

Chapter 1:
Backstory:
Nils Dietrich is a twenty four year old officer in the British army, his father (who is of Prussian descent) moved to the United Kingdom when Nils was only thirteen years old. Why did they move?  They moved due to political upheaval involving plots and intrigue within the Prussian courts, framing him for crimes he did not commit. They set sail from Danzig on a merchant ship and landed in Plymouth a week later. There, his father bought a Commission and joined the British army as a captain. With his father in the military and having no mother Nils became a reclusive person, rarely speaking to anyone… even his father on the rare opportunities that he could talk. He became a man of no mercy or pity, the only thing that mattered was getting the job done as efficiently as possible, loss of life was no great concern.(Except in the case of a few friends)

June 20th 1809:
During leave I decided to visit a pub in London with some fellow officers, after about half an hour of drinking I went to got get a lager but I seemed to have accidentally bumped into an intoxicated man and ended up spilling his drink. The man was enraged at the minor accident and challenged me to a duel the next day. I went to bed finding it hard to sleep, tossing and turning, but as time passed by I slowly nodded off. Time passed quickly, and at dawn I rose wearily. The time had come. Pistols at dawn!

June 21st 1809:
I had a quick drink of tea before I left the pub, for I knew what I had to do. I went to a pre-arranged location as determined by the drunken fool whos drink I spilled. A man by the name of Fielding had offered his services the night before, offering to be my second. I had readily agreed, and he asked me for my choice of weapon. As you guessed I took the option of a firearm. . “Ready” I raised my pistol “Aim!” I focused, breathed in, breathed out. and then... “Fire!” I released the trigger and the shot whisked away, for a second I was afraid to look but then I heard a scream, I had shot the man in the stomach… he crumpled over backwards, and was still. I stood there as Fielding checked whether he was truly dead and I too I felt his pulse… nothing. Relieved, I left the scene and walked to the military academy in London to meet up with my twenty fusiliers.

June 22nd 1809:
I had received orders to be on the lookout for a group of four smugglers, as it was believed that they had valuable intel on the location of a bandit's den. A few hours passed as I was making my way to Norwich to collect some taxes when I ran into the exact band of duffers I was ordered to find. He tried to sell me illegal items, the fool that he was, and I ordered him to surrender immediately, or die. However he ran off to gather his goons,and we realised we were being attacked. I had my twenty men stand in a single rank. When they got close enough I started to give the orders, “Men present! Aim! Fire!”
Twenty shots rang out, four men screamed in pain, it was simple. Simple yet annoying, this had the word paperwork written all over or as Nils thought, time wasting work. Just as he was about to leave the battlefield he heard a faint groan. “Silence! I heard something… I SAID SILENCE!” Following the sound of the groans I found it was one of the smugglers, he was only a boy, he looked to be only around 16. He was only wounded in the shoulder, so I immediately picked him up off of the ground and began to question him. he begged for his life, and told me he knew where the den was. I promised him his safe escape if he gave me the exact location. After a little…. persuading I coaxed the information out of him, and told him to stand up, I put a blindfold on him and told him to stay still. I silently ordered my men to aim above him. Once my men had fired I pushed the boy onto the ground with enough force to actually make him think I had shot him. We took the blindfold off of him and laughed. He was on the ground, crying. With that, I ordered my men to head to London. As we were leaving a private by the name of Stephen gave him a rag to dry his tears. I will have to speak to him later.
After a few hours of marching I decided to make camp in a small field. We set up a small fire and we assembled a few other bits and bobs. I went to bed and fell asleep pretty quickly. However I did not get much rest, as only ten minutes later I was woken by one of the men. “Sir, one of the sentries has spotted a band of brigands at the south side of the camp sir!”
“Well why don’t you shout and let them know we know they are there?” I said sarcastically.I had my sergeant quietly alert the men and told them go grab their muskets, and once again we were in combat. I had the men follow me in the darkness and form a ragged line. As soon as they were in range for at least somewhat accurate shots I gave the order to fire the first volley. I’m not sure how many were killed due to how dark it was, but it was devastating. They began shouting a warcry and started charging us even quicker, but I noticed that only a few of them actually had muskets, the rest only had their fists. It was like lambs to the slaughter. One snuck around behind me and tried to kill me by bashing my brains in, but I was having none of that! I dodged the bludgeon in time and I spun around, and thrusted, sending him to meet his maker. By this point the second volley had been fired and they got close enough to the point bayonets and swords were a viable option. As a brigand was about to kill my sergeant I shot him right in his chest, blood splattered all over my sergeant's uniform, I suppose that’s why the uniforms are red, they don’t show blood and the men must look fashionable and clean at all times… even in combat. The man I had shot grabbed his chest and stood still staring at my pistol, or rather the smoke that firing my pistol had discharged, I kicked him and put my sword through his neck, no mercy, brigands like that fellow don’t have the right to live.
All that was left was two chaps with a musket, dealing with them was easy, I shot one and my men shot the other. After combat we as per protocol (the biggest time waster on the planet) checked the pulse of all the ruffians to confirm they were dead. Much to me surprise one was actually alive having been hit on the head with the butt of a musket. “Well” I said, “as soon as he became a brigand he lost the right of life… tie him to that tree!”  The men dragged him to the tree as i commanded. After tying him to the tree I took ten muskets and loaded them, nine with musket balls and one with a training round that doesn’t actually fire anything. It helps keep the men's conscience at bay, because for all they know they had the blank. I had the men line up in front of the man, I handed each one a musket, I didn’t choose who got the blank, I just put the firearms in a bag and had the mean pick one of the muskets. I held my sword up. “Present! Aim! FIRE!” Suddenly the body stopped struggling, it became limp. We untied him and made it look like he had died in combat because there was no way that what we did was legal. It was a regimental secret that all twenty men agreed to take to the grave. After writing up the after action report to give to my superiors in Horse Guards, I decided that five were due promotions. But I didn’t want to just tell them that just yet, so I said “Alright men, we must head back to London to submit our report. “Look lively now!” I called “Aaaand, MARCH!”

June 29th 1809:
We have been in London for about a week I believe now, since we have had no job to do the lads have been enjoying as much free time as they can, as have I, except now I’m trying to avoid spilling people's drinks. As I was strolling to the officers quarters I ran into the Lt. Colonel who by chance had a request for me. “Nils, speak to me in the meeting room tomorrow.” So I went to bed and awaited sunrise to receive my orders.

June 30th 1809:
I arrived briskly to the meeting room to find the Lt. Colonel awaiting me, looking tired, but alert. I was informed that there was some pirate raiders near Norwich which had to be dealt with post haste. The Lt. Colonel wanted arrests but bodies was all he was going to get and plenty of them. “I will gather the men now sir!” I left the meeting and I am searching for my men… let’s hope they aren’t drunk... oh, what am I thinking? Of course they are, if they weren’t they wouldn’t be British!
After an hour of searching I gathered all the men together.(I did have to kick one or two into action, meaning, ALL of them) and now we are preparing to march to Norwich, I will next write when we approach Norwich or when something interesting happens.

July 1st 1809:
After thirty six hours of marching we finally arrived in Norwich and all seemed calm, too calm actually. Normally in a place like Norwich people are chatting, walking kids are playing games and having fun… but where are they now? “Men, have muskets at the ready, this isn’t right!” As we slowly marched checking left and right as we went we saw something in the  distance or rather someone. It appeared to be those pirates we were warned about, ten of them too. “Brilliant, we needed the target practice” I exclaimed. We aimed towards the enemy and marched slowly, suddenly they noticed us and started to pick up their muskets “Fire!” Twenty shots, five bodies, more paperwork… isn’t that bloody brilliant. As we were reloading I felt a sharp pain on my right shoulder “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh, **** ******** ****, oh **** it ******** feels like somebody stabbed my arm with a hot poker, ******** C****!” Despite my shoulder having been shot I gave the order to charge the enemy, I sliced one’s neck right open and stabbed one in the stomach. He looked at me and slowly looked down staring at the sword. I kicked him and pulled the sword out of his guts, spilling his intestines. And with that the engagement was over, or… so I thought. We were in the midst of an after combat report when a musket ball slammed into the earth right beside me, I turned around and looked… none of my men had fired, in actuality they were as confused as me, however if they hadn’t done it… “Lads we’re under attack, get your muskets and line on me! When I said that I meant now! My gran is faster than you lot!” They formed quickly and i ordered a general advance from where the shot had come from. As we marched forward I heard a bang and then… a scream, I looked to my right and I noticed something, it was a gap in the line. “Who are we? The frogs? How in bloody hell’s name did that gap form?” It was only then I realised what had happened, somebody had been shot. I called each man's name one by one while moving forwards, it was Harry, he had screamed, he had been shot. “Don’t worry too much about Harry, he’s expendable, I however am not, so move yourselves!” We got close enough we unleashed a horde of lead balls but it was not enough, for some stupid reason only one shot connected with its target. As they were getting closer I decided to counter charge, we fixed bayonets and advanced. As I charged I fired my pistol hearing a satisfying crunch as the ball entered the man's skull, I then proceeded to stab a man right through his neck causing him to die instantly. As we were finishing the last of the men I sliced ones stomach open and got another through the heart and at that combat was over, except this time for more than a few minutes. Sadly I was informed that one escaped… he should have been hung by his thumbs and left to starve. I hate brigands completely, it was them that caused my father’s untimely death and as such they all must pay… in blood.

July 2nd 1809:
A rather dapper young man came to speak to me and asked if he and his mates could join our ranks. It was a bit of a difficult decision to be honest, because on one hand we needed new recruits but on the other they had zero training. After a bit of thinking I welcomed them into our ranks. Training starts immediately.

July 9th 1809:
After a week of musket, bayonet and most importantly marching  drills I consider them ready for real combat. Field experience will have to wait however as earlier today Fielding sent me a request to speak to him in London. I’m not sure what it’s about but i will set off immediately. Until the next time then. Also, the weather is god awful.

 

[JamesThompson]

Nice story, can't wait for the second part! However all of the months are June, the last few should be July.

 

[Audric Sword]

Nice story, can't wait for the second part! However all of the months are June, the last few should be July.

Thanks, didn't notice 

 

[Swissky]

Logbook of Lieutenant Thomas Heurlin of Jägerkompanie Nr. 10 of the Austrian Army.

14th of June, 1809.

Reached Torun early in the morning before the enemy got there, my wife is safe and she told me that the patrols have spotted the enemy nearby, they'll be here in about 20 minutes. Order the troops in position! said I to the hornist, and with a brisk pace he exited the town hall and headed for the barracks, the call was heard and the troops were ready in a matter of minutes. We waited anxiously for the hostile hordes which now had invaded our lands. For a minute there was utter silence, all animals of the forested landscape stopped singing, then the silence was broken by the sound of beating drums. I could see the enemy making their way through the wide path between the green trees and bushes which scated the landscape so beautifully. He stopped in the plains in front of the city walls. "Of all that is honourable and right, you are not part of it and you do not deserve it either. Fire the cannons!" I ordered and the thundering roar of cannons filled the sky, the smoke clouds lay as a curtain of war between our rivalry. Carlo had been injured and was carried away from the battlefield screaming in pain. His troops retreated back, he sent a messenger asking that if I were to let him go, he would not pursue me anymore. I accepted.

15th of June.

My wife had yet more news for me, from her father Jean-Baptiste. He warned me that France would declare war and that Napoleon wanted my head but Jean had convinced Bonaparte to let me live if I joined his or any of his allied armies. If I rejected, Jean-Baptiste would have me divorce my wife. I must accept...

16th of June

I had garrisoned my entire army at Torun and Poznan the day before except for a handful of trusted men. I had set off early and reached Vienna around 5 PM. There are something I must do. I left my men at the local tavern with a large sum to enjoy themselves. I headed to a mint green building which lay in the artisan district of the capitol. I entered and walked through the hallway leading up to my old apartment's entrance. I took out a set of keys from my saddlebag which I had brought with me and unlocked the door. I gently pushef the door and upon it being wide open I once more saw my old home from my student days. I walked in and sat down at my desk, remembering my life as a engineering student. The memories and feelings flushed over me and I started to weep. "Oh how those days are forever lost, I did not have time to move out nor to say my farewells to friends and family." I stood up and started gathering forgotten items, two bottles of wine, one bottle of champagne, one cigar and two framed drawings. One of my graduation class and one of my family. I locked the door behind me and headed for Café Demel, I sat down at my old table. The café had but a few customers at the moment, a young waiter came up to me and asked for my order "Einspänner, a soup to warm me up and a wine glass" said I and the waiter nodded his head and walked to the kitchen. I took out the wine from my saddlebag and placed it on the table along with the cigar. I was served the soup and coffee which warmed me up good, I poured up the wine and lit the cigar while the raindrops fell outside. As the waiter passed by I asked for the time : "8 PM sharp, sir. The truce with France is over, the drums of war beat once again!" he said with an enthusiastic tone. The Orchestra of War." said I, "Pardon?" he replied. "The Orchestra of War. The soldiers are the musicians, the officers the maestro and the generals the directors." I stood up, put my oberrock over the waiter's back and handed him the second bottle of wine. "There is a large sum of money in the oberrock's inside pocket, use it wisely and avoid this foolish war." I said and patted him on the shoulder. I took my saddlebag and headed out into the rain towards a coachwagon. "Where to?" said the driver, "München" I replied and we set off in the night.

17th of June.
We have been driving for an entire day, I enjoyed some wine which I had bought in Landshut.

18th of June.

We were nearing München and drove over a bridge when all of a sudden we crashed, rendering the wagon upside-down. I tried getting up but fell down, I heard a flintlock going off and rummaged through my saddlebag. I found my old stiletto and waited by the wagon door. A man dressed in shabby clothing opened the door and I rapidly grabbed him by the collar, drew him down and stabbed him in the throat. I reached for his pistol and went down into the wagon. I heard his companion running towards me, I stood up with haste and shot him. I got him in the shoulder and he fell down, screaming in agony. I took my saddlebag out from the wagon and ran towards München, I arrived 15 minutes later, I visited the general store and bought some supplies. I ordered a carriage to Augsburg and set off. My final destination is Lübeck, perhaps I will find some peaceful work there. This is my last entry.