Song of the Legions
Read Song of the Legions Online
Authors: Michael Large
| Song of the Legions | |
| Michael Large | |
| Bayonet Books (2011) | |
| Rating: | **** |
An epic fight for survival in the age of Napoleon -
“Stanislaus-August Poniatowski, by the Grace of God and the Will of the People, Elected King of the Republic of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia, Prussia, Mazowia, Samogita, Kiev, Wolyn, Podolia, Podlasie, Livonia, Smolensk, Sever and Czernihov...” Et cetera!
This was Stanislaus-August. Amongst his subjects he was called ‘the Bullock,’ so named for his emblem, a red calf, on his coat of arms. Lamentably, he is known to history as the Last King of Poland. Poor, foolish Poniatowski! An empty, windy creature, redolent of macassar, with a soft stomach and a head full of French books and nonsense.
The Bullock was the cast-off lover of Catherine, Tsarina of Russia, Satan’s illegitimate daughter, herself. She had forced us to elect him as our king – at gunpoint – as a payment for services rendered, after terminating their carnal affair. That tells you how much our throne was worth in those grim days!”
A young cavalryman in the Polish army, Ignatius Blumer found himself in the Polish King’s guard of honour, on the fateful Third of May. On that day in 1791, King Stanislaus-August signed the Polish Constitution. This benevolent and enlightened document, the Polish equivalent of the Magna Carta or the Declaration of the Rights of Man, gave democratic rights to all Polish citizens. It promised equality, freedom, and religious tolerance, and is still celebrated as a national holiday in Poland today.
But Catherine the Great, the terrifying Empress of Russia – and the King’s ex-girlfriend – was furious. Together with her allies, Prussia and Austria, she sent a massive army to crush all opposition against her tyrannical rule. Poland was conquered. Exiled and hunted, and with a price on their heads, Blumer and his comrades joined the Legions of Napoleon, fighting in Italy for the French Revolutionaries against their common enemy. But will Napoleon restore Poland’s freedom, or will he betray the Legion?
‘Song of the Legions’ is the first book in a brand new series. It is the first novel in the English language to follow the story of Napoleon Bonaparte’s Polish Legion, one of the most tragic and heroic tales in military history. This was the forerunner of the legendary French regiment that still bears the name they were given by their enemies – ‘The Foreign Legion’. It is the great untold story of the Napoleonic Wars.
It is also the true story of Ignatius Blumer, a half-Irish, half-Polish gentleman soldier, mercenary and pirate. A man with a thirst for glory and adventure – and for drink, gambling, and womanising!
- SONG OF THE LEGIONS
- MAP
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- PROLOGUE
- CHAPTER ONE
- CHAPTER TWO
- CHAPTER THREE
- CHAPTER FOUR
- CHAPTER FIVE
- CHAPTER SIX
- CHAPTER SEVEN
- CHAPTER EIGHT
- CHAPTER NINE
- CHAPTER TEN
- CHAPTER ELEVEN
- CHAPTER TWELVE
- CHAPTER THIRTEEN
- CHAPTER FOURTEEN
- CHAPTER FIFTEEN
- CHAPTER SIXTEEN
- CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
- CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
- CHAPTER NINETEEN
- CHAPTER TWENTY
- CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
- CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
- CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
- CHAPTER-THIRTY
- CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
- CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
- CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
- CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
- CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
- CHAPTER FORTY
- CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
- CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
- CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
- HISTORICAL NOTES
MICHAEL
LARGE
SONG OF THE LEGIONS
BAYONET BOOKS LIMITED
Copyright © Michael Large 2011
Michael Large asserts the moral right to be identified
as the author of this work in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This historical novel is a work of fiction. Except in the case of historical fact, the names, characters, and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination or they are used entirely fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or places, is entirely coincidental.
A catalogue of this book is available from the British Library.
Condition of Sale.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,
by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on any subsequent purchaser.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Published by Bayonet Books Limited
Registered Office: Unit 36, 88-90 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8PN
Correspondence Address: Bayonet Books Limited
PO Box 364 Loughton, Essex IG10 9ET
Front cover image and map by Michael Large
For My Wife Joanne
Historical notes, a chronology, a glossary, and a short note on pronouncing Polish words, can be found at the back of this book.
I have used the shortest and simplest English versions possible for all Polish names and words.
A full guide to the Polish names and words used in this book, their alternative spellings, and to
Polish
pronunciation, can be found on the author’s website
www.songofthelegions.com
.
ITALY, THE
THIRD OF MAY, 1798
We were marching on Rome, for General Napoleon Bonaparte.
We were Poles, in the French army. We fought alongside our French allies – or masters. Our flag was the White Eagle. We fought against the Black Eagles – Prussia, Austria, and Russia, the Satanic Trinity.
We were the Polish Legion – a wandering nation of twenty thousand men, women, and children. Betrayed by our King, our country destroyed, we fought on. Our enemies called us the
Foreign Legion
. They would not even speak the name of our Motherland, for the shame of their crime.
If they would not speak our name, then we would
sing
it. So we sang as we marched through Italy. We sang the Song of the Legions –
“Poland is not dead, as long as we live,
Our lands, that the invaders have taken,
We with our sabres will retrieve!”
This fine song was written by Jozef, the lawyer. I knew Jozef. I first met him twenty years ago, when he was hiding in my mother’s barn. I was but six years old...