About Baron Marbot's memoirs

Clarissa Dalloway noted that she "scarcely read a book now, except memoirs", one of which was Baron Marbot's memoirs.

Baron Marbot (1782-1854) was a French soldier and his memoirs were about the Napoleonic wars.  One of the interesting things to note was that Baron Marbot experienced shellshock after one of the battles, but he subsequently recovered and returned to active duty, eventually reaching the rank of lieutenant-general.

The part of his memoirs that kept Clarissa up at night reading was bout Napoleon's retreat from Moscow.  This was in the famous battle of 1812.  He invaded Russia in June with a big army of about 600 000.  The army's plan was to bring only some supplies and rely on the land to provide the rest.  However, the retreating Russians destroyed everything, leaving Napoleon's army with scarce food supplies.  The soldiers started to spend a lot of time looking for food, and they became weak and tired, and many fell sick.  In October, the decision was made to retreat from Moscow (even before a single battle had been fought), but the retreat coincided with an early and harsh winter, and the soldiers were also attacked by the Cossacks, and only 10 000 men survived.  This marked the start of Napoleon's downfall and the rise of Russia's status.

It's intriguing to read and I wonder if Clarissa might have been drawing parallels with her experience of World War I and the rise (or possibly demise?) of the British Empire. 

Your thoughts?