Through Russians Snows

There are few campaigns that, either in point of the immense scale upon which it was undertaken, the completeness of its failure, or the enormous loss of life entailed, appeal to the imagination in so great a degree as that of Napoleon against Russia. Fortunately, we have in the narratives of Sir Robert Wilson, British commissioner with the Russian army, and of Count Segur, who was upon Napoleon's staff, minute descriptions of the events as seen by eye-witnesses, and besides these the campaign has been treated fully by various military writers. I have as usual avoided going into details of horrors and of acts of cruelty and ferocity on both sides, surpassing anything in modern warfare, and have given a mere outline of the operations, with a full account of the stern fight at Smolensk and the terrible struggle at Borodino.

G.A. Henty, English author and journalist wrote a prolific amount of children's stories during his lifetime, including A Knight of the White Cross (1896). As a war correspondent Henty gained the knowledge and acumen to quickly produce works to capture an audience, to bring them right to the frontlines. This style translated well to his fictional adventures when he wrote for his children Out on the Pampas (1871). His almost eighty works in total would soon be read across Britain and North America, and many translated for schools across Europe.