Pierre-François Percy

[1] During the wars of the French Revolution and Empire, he invented a new kind of ambulance usable on the battlefield known as a "wurst", as well as the cork-balls and the surgical quiver.

He served on the main battlefields of the Empire and became chief surgeon of the Grande Armée, but had to leave the army after 1809 because of ocular problems.

Some manuscripts were lost in the 79 years between the surgeon's death and the publication of the Journal, although Percy's writings on the 1806 and 1807 campaigns in Germany and Poland are almost complete.

Percy's Journal describes the often-terrible conditions of army life and military surgery, and the chaos that ensued in the aftermath of major battles.

His account describes meetings with Jourdan, Napoleon and, at Tilsit in 1807, the monarchs Alexander I of Russia and Frederick William III of Prussia.