There is also a body of literature (memoir and poems in particular) throughout the remainder of the 19th century as to how some Poles viewed their Napoleonic experience with great romanticism. I recall seeing one painting of a former lancer, now in old age, with his czapka and Legion d'honneur nearby, looking wistfully at a portrait of Napoleon on the wall. They might be considered as being cannon fodder but many believed that what they were doing was best for Poland and if Napoleon had simply gotten his way, they would be much better off.