The Kingdom of Italy. The infantry.
Considering the Italian army, it can be said about the vast path traversed by its officers and soldiers before the Russian campaign of 1812. The Italian soldiers fought on the territory of the Iberian Peninsula and participated in the siege of fortresses. In the war with Austria in 1809 the soldiers were not ever shelled and did not know anything about these battles. The morale of the troops was poor. The French officers and generals noted poor discipline and lack of readiness to perform combat missions. After a few years of participating in the battles and campaigns the troops transformed. In the Russian campaign the army of the Italian Kingdom came as the team learnt nuts and bolts of war in the war with Spain. The soldiers and officers seized the feeling of euphoria of war and adventure, because they fight under the banner of fanned years of glory and numerous victories, that they themselves are a part of the history and they fight under the command of Emperor Napoleon the Great. These sentiments of the corps of the Italian Grand Army were very well reflected in the description of the second lieutenant of the royal guard of Bids the Italian Caesar Laugier de Bellenkura. In his diary he described the movement of the Italian Corps from Germany through all the battles and the transition that were accomplished by the Italian troops.
The main idea that goes through the whole description is that every soldier and officer wanted to prove that the Italian regiments weren’t worse than French and they were also ready to do great and valiant deeds for the good of the Empire.
The Italian corps was peculiarly distinguished in the battles of Dokshytsy, Borodino and Maloyaroslavets. Passing the good school the troops of the Kingdom fit seamlessly to Grand Army and they even surpass some other regiments in valor and glory.
