they traveled from across the world to be part of the largest napoleonic reenactment ever seen on russian soil the bicentenary of the battle of the world you know. and to be an effective napoleonic soldier you have to live like a napoleonic soldier the whole experience is supposed to be as authentic as possible and that means all reactors really try to live the lives of their eighteen twelve counterparts eating the same food living in the same tents and wading through the same mud. accommodation is as basic as it comes no sleeping bags all comforts here most people are making do with

a bed of straw on a horse blanket. but conditions are no excuse for untidiness and the soldiers have to be ready for inspection at any time especially when the commander of the russian army is in the vicinity. pavel is playing general could and he and his fellow officers have plenty to think about much of them roopa soon will begin shaping the italians and squadrons who will determine the number of the participants and elect the commanders then there's going to be a meeting of the commanders where they will break down the cost make people familiar with the scenario to determine the tasks of every commander or so that everyone knows their roles on the battlefield. at least nobody's actually going to kill each other this time and that means a friendly atmosphere throughout the camps where the russians and the french live side by side and there's plenty have traditional food on offer. there's still a great deal of preparation going on in the camp and that means hungry soldiers so

i have made an executive decision to join the french troops for a little napoleonic breakfast. two mornings. it's no frills fare but there's plenty of it and quantity was always much more important than quality of three or four with the green one could say that there was no cuisine at all of that time soldiers ate what they could get hold of or sometimes even steal soup it was quite common in bread were very popular for breakfast if they could get hold of onions and sour cream to soldiers were extremely low maintenance and they managed to conquer the whole of europe eating to sue bread and drinking coffee. and if it's good enough for the ground. troy some of the best french food they see in twelve. tuna salad. topped off with a ruler on your. i could see

how the breasts of the old soldiers might have been an effective weapon by itself. but there were also plenty of traditional arms it was time to bring out the big guns but that. played a vital role and brought in with the french guns in particular taking a heavy toll on the russian infantry but of course imitating inexperience callen crew with just a couple of days of training is another thing entirely. ok well. but that's where experts like patrick come in. we're going to be a veteran of several re-enactments he's traveled all the way from from to lick the role recruits into shape. i choose you well sure we could be a moment we're going to use you. only under torture only and excellent well

i'm hoping that you will give us a few moments of your time to show us the mobile's of the french military if that's what up yes accept to talk in english. with the biggest challenges that you can face well it's what you need to know it's very important to respect the drill as we used to do is kind of fast because although here of course we don't shoot a real cannon ball it's just politics but it's as dangerous so it's very important for safety to respect all the different steps because otherwise you might. be considerably less than the six hundred cannon that were on display at the rodeo all patrick's determined that his crews will be a credit to their predecessors this is the interest of reenactment of some quick thinking we are just young kids playing some all it's true we have never grown up but the other interesting side of it is we try to make it as accurate as possible so we understand much better all the used to do it in the past because you could

really look at it and say yeah maybe but when you do it for real you understand the reasons why and how you feeling about. napoleon's arrival if you have it so i'm very excited. with patrick visiting from france and the master general himself jetting in from the us this is an event with a truly international flavor and back among the russians i met a cavalry man with a very familiar accent. so that room is all true the lithuanians have attached to britain to their residence. so for phil we need to hear a bit about your story and. you come to take boston baroda come from cambridge cambridge in the u.k. . why did you decide to take post in this. we're very fortunate in the u.k. i mean you know reenactment group the fifteenth and one of the guys is russian and

he also reenacts with. me and they got us the invites of already you know and how could you refuse absolutely but it's not been an easy journey the regiment may have supplied bill with a new mount but everything else has made the trip from england with him so what you have to bring with you everything every day i think this. twenty three kilos we bring all the horse equipment some of which is useful for sleeping as well so there's a damper on the women. we have a lot of. it's so much that we had to wear it to get in under the baggage allowance . yes a great advantage because the customs security airport it's no problem people are really happy to see us so did you get any of the questions like what is your purpose coming into russia well i'm going to i'm going to be fighting for you against the for exactly that's all we said and that's perfect. that's no problem no

guns ok just a big sword you know it's in the hole right. alongside the foreign visitors to board you know there are plenty of home grown participants getting into the swing of things and this is very much an equal opportunities reenactment. the russians tried to keep women away from their troops but the french weren't so restrictive and the poli ins army has always had a bevy of wives followers. rather more official count work is like nasty here. as a french. antin yeah nasty would have sold refreshments to the troops and looked after the wounded and the women in this camp also take on a number of different roles. there are many different kinds of roles there are cooking doing laundry any kind of help that might be needed like sewing

a button or cleaning something but i really don't think anyone would give his weapon to a woman however some ammunition items could be entrusted to us but cooking was the main thing hungry soldier is a lousy at making war. and pageantry a part of what makes this event so appealing and it's important to have the right look impressive facial hair can be found the around the camp as you've also got to be a snappy dresser. as you can imagine napoleonic uniforms aren't exactly ten a penny which means that today's reconstruct is have to be as handy with a needle as they are with a musket plus it's a solo sergei's could you have a uniform could you fix it for me please. ok has been tailoring period costumes for over a decade and we're going to the reason why i do this is that it's an interesting job more importantly i might say i prefer to study history by making things with my

own instead of reading books from history in this way i get a better insight into events that took place a long time ago and i also from a club claiming to reconstruct. for you to never lay life as well as you. so gay has made uniforms for almost his entire regiment and they're all intricately detailed from camp clothes to full battle regalia. the company to which any soldier belonged could be identified by the red the sword not this singled out the bag as a great idea. the soldiers were uniforms made of dog green cloth but they also wore pants with. i have a sack with a ten flaws. and two cross belts.

and. thanks for the good luck some splendid uniforms coming to a battlefield near us i just hope they manage to keep themselves clean. much as it would have been back in may seem twelve as the sun goes down the day's work draws to an end dozens of come fun is a lit and the smell of evening meals quickly fills the air. it won't be long before this happened to put the training interaction and it promises to be a very special occasion. wealthy british stock.

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since arriving at board you know i talked with a newsman frenchmen on plenty of russians but i knew one man was making a transatlantic trip to come and play the most famous role of. all jewel would you please spare as couple of moments of your time to take us around you'll stop cap it would be my pleasure. mark works for a historical museum and has played the role of napoleon in reenactments across europe and his acquaintance with the master general began as an early age i have a french cousin that. gave me a small toy soldier of napoleon fifty four millimeter and i still have it and many say that that's when it began at two years old a fascination with napoleon his times with. the uniforms the strategy and tactics of the different locations the the great things that napoleon

do and he takes his portrayals extremely seriously there's also responsibility that comes with the responsibility of paying honor to these soldiers who have fought who have died whether they be from friends from russia from all over europe for the grand army was composed of many european nations so as a result of that i have to really take my time to prepare myself to get it right to pay honor not only to napoleon but again as i've mentioned to these soldiers who have fought and died but with an audience of up to two hundred thousand people expected i wondered if he was feeling nervous before the big day i think rather than nerves it will be that of excitement adrenaline looking forward to participating in such a grand spectacle such a great event that's going to be something to see that's for sure and i look forward to the front row seat even if it's on

a horse. thank you. time getting short everyone was already hard at work across the camp and my friend bill was shaping up for an important inspection. we have to prove we can ride prove that we've historically accurate equipment and if we don't pass the right there is barely syria it is very least he won't be facing the officers alone. we have here sergeant williams so the williams from. me here and what do you think what role are you hoping to have historically we should be on the staff. but that wouldn't be any fun at all because the staff sit at the back and watch. colleagues from the law. and we're going to tell you and they should be writing fighting so we should get cross swords with some frenchmen.

while bill in the so we're putting the finishing touches to the uniforms i headed out to the main field to watch the procession. pass inspection you need to change it for. this point of pivotal moment because the cavalry. being presented not only to the general staff but also to the real safety inspectors who make sure that everything is in its place is being treated properly and the safety aspects are all ok. shoulder arms. and it looks like. such blades are very dangerous we try to take care of our uniforms we don't hit hard with.

some of our foreign friends to blunt their blades because of fears that they might injure someone. very much like a song it could have cut somebody. fortunately for bill and sergeant williams it's nothing that a good foiling won't sort out. and as they trotted away to literally take the edge off i caught up with some passing french infantry. how are you preparing for the big day. because there's a lot of people different from. the first time for this. for this month so we have to do this scoot to salute the troops be working to get in the truth making movements to get. any less than open to the republicans. up at the. so. thomas is

a member of the belgian napoleonic society and it's not long before he's giving the benefit of his experience to some of the younger soldiers. looks like you got a promotion and there are two sergeants or a trainer i'm lucky the sergeant gave me the comfort of confidence to train the new guys and so it's always difficult because they're quite nervous with weapons and things like that but for security reasons and of course for the battle we have to to make the venue for all the guys really important so how have you found the drilling has helped so it's helping because we really believe there is a lot of miles of course walking it's been resting for your guys it's coming quite back quite squashed for the new guys it's learning the skills. the artillery cavalry and infantry and finally on past inspection and with less

than twenty four hours to the reenactment it was time to respect some old traditions. every new regiment eventually faces the moment when it has to go into battle and they mark that with a formal ceremony honoring their flag. all the bear no ceremony. i can assure. you know is going to be the first fight for the moscow great ideas and everyone how ms a single nail into the new standards. he served in the regiment is christened. his own little tributes to the owner of the granite is here and drinking a toast to success in battle. three true. all the granite

here is good. and as the new company continued to celebrate i slipped off to see if i could find a bite to eat or have a chance to try a french breakfast and after a whole day's drilling the russian troops are busy cooking this service i'm going to see if they'll let me join them here and i give you a hand. with you thank you i managed to talk my way into a fish soup dinner. ok guys food's up. and once the ports are similar everyone grabs a spoon some bread and helps themselves to give this really is every man for

himself here. this is really hard to soup. on charge of the lovely the camp may only last a few days but it's clear that being here is having a real effect on these men. that leaves an impact on all of us here we are oblivious to the course of time rather the sun is our guide we know that we need to get up and dawn and go to bed at sunset we've got no internet connection we don't know what's going on outside this place besides life in the open and the need to share food from the same part of it helps bring people together. you know battle is coming tomorrow but today we enjoy a meal without worrying about whether we'll live or die by the same token the soldiers that live two hundred years ago had little thought about whether they would live or die if some of them were killed we were all in god's hands others would say. all being well all reenacted should have little need for divine

intervention but it wasn't long before everyone was ready to hit the hay tomorrow would be a big day for god sorry motherland. well the soldiers of the actual battle have brought in a may have had to enjoy some hot sun but we've got some pretty different weather conditions today but a few drops of rain and black clouds certainly aren't putting the tourists off. thousands of visitors were already making their way towards brought in those fields and a memorial service. this morning is dedicated to the french soldiers that died and brought into one of the last fifty years for all napoleon here is to pay tribute to them for the.

once the formalities have finished it was time for the two armies to take their places two hundred years ago napoleon and his all conquering grand army stood here against the troops of general could to self with russia at stake it was impossible not to be nervous. everyone i met in the camp of been desperate to put on a good show and i was just hoping that all the training combined with some impressive pyrotechnics could see them through so off the five days in camp hundreds of hours of planning and the cost of thousands it comes down to this two hours to do justice to one of the most pivotal battles in the polio make history and i'm pretty excited. with

a few words from general to use on the first school song that. the fields were received in smoke as the challenge for the speaker his. first major actions of the battle for the round prince by brussels flesh works and they would be captured and recaptured by both sides of the battle. once the bunch of cops in the village is brought in to pull the royals down and that was where the most vicious and close will possibly take place. the figures have long been disputed but it's estimated there were around seventy

thousand casualties of the original. goal of any dead bodies on the field soon to rejoin. the spy the terrible pounding from the french the russians were able to hold the ridge way behind them several hours and that will eventually gave them the chance to retreat with their army still intact.

even under the right the crowd was leaping ever seen up with the vast majority staying to see napoleon complete what would ultimately prove to be a very very victory. for the french may have won the field but that doesn't seem to anyone spirits here it's been a fantastic show and it's a real tribute to the skill and africa of the river not just the two hundred years on from. tens of thousands of people have come out to watch them bring history to life.

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