This is an introduction to Calvary Maiden, a source Tolstoy used to portray the experiences of soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars. Tolstoy utilized a variety of such works to craft, more than 50 years after the events depicted in War & Peace, the spirit of that first decade and a half of the 19th century.

This source material was an unconventional choice as Calvary Maiden contains the journals of a young woman, Nadezhda Andreyevna Durova, who presented as a man to pursue military ambitions. Her material was first published in 1836, well-after her 9 years of service that commenced in 1806. It was rare but not unprecedented for a woman to so serve. However, journaling her experience made Durova the first known woman in the Czar's army.

There are considerable embellishments and falsehoods in Durova's work. Most notably, Durova represents that she ran away from her beloved father's home at about 15 to pursue her military career. However, Durova was likely around 22, and her adventures started after a brief marriage and having a son. The inaccuracies could be attributable to accommodating government censors, pleasing editors, or for a variety of personal reasons. It does appear that when Durova left home, she initially linked up with a Cossack regiment and later joined a series of calvary regiments, obtaining a position as a junior line officer.

Durova has a contemporarily relevant ethnic background. She advertises being born of one of the most beautiful women in Ukraine, which had been something of a free state while under Cossack rule, but was dissolved in 1773-74 and dominated by Czars/Czarinas. Durova’s maternal grandfather was a Ukrainian civil servant. At 16, her mother (also named Nadezhda) became enamored with a Muscovite Hussar who traveled to family’s small town near Poltova, an Ukrainian city with historical import. Her Ukrainian grandfather forbade any such match, as would have been customary. Nevertheless, the two eloped and the young couple was able to pursue their own path as military life initially kept them on the move. Being around this lifestyle very much fascinated her.

Durova was firstborn and describes herself as a monstrously ugly infant and the bane of her mother’s existence. However, her father (Andrej Durov) is characterized as industrious, loving and kind. It appears Andrej was descended from a low level of Polish nobility. This would have allowed his male descendants to gain an officer position, which Durova, in her disguise, was able to merit.

Durova sheds light on her escape from roles traditionally associated with females of the time, such as: wife, mother, tutor, mistress and hostess. She participated in some of the grand military events of the day and capably describes life in both war and peacetime. She is one of few authors to focus on the latter, the downtime which often makes up the bulk of a soldier's experience.