The article is dedicated to the memoir heritage of the Serbian war of 1876. The author considers the forming of the views of Russian society on the Balkan conflict and analyses memoirs of V.D. Palenov, A.N. Khvostov, V.P. Mescherskey, N.N. Durnovo. The memoirs represent the actions of Russian volunteers in the Serbian army, the volunteers’ heroism, and shows the concept of the war from ordinary soldiers’ point of view.