In 1803 an apprentice glove maker, Johann Christoph Pickert, was conscripted into the Prussian army. He would spend some twenty years in the military. In that time his regiment participated in some of the most significant battles of the Napoleonic Wars, including the engagements at Jena and Auerstedt. Following the Prussian defeat, Pickert was captured and transported to France as a prisoner of war. There he performed forced labour on a variety of construction projects, as well as working for local people. He was finally released at the end of 1808 and returned home to Haldensleben near Magdeburg. He agreed to act as a substitute in the Westphalian army for the son of a rich farmer in return for payment in cash and kind, but eventually rejoined the Prussian army and fought in the ‘Wars of Liberation’ between 1813 and 1815. After the wars he joined the 7th invalid company, where he wrote his memoirs.