Correspondence of an artillery officer, 1813-1814 …

Oppenheim, close to Mainz, 5 November 1813.

My dear uncle,

I hasten to inform you that I am alive and in good health, having endured many fatigues and dangers of all sorts. I entreat you to forward me your tidings at once. I am very worried about my entire family, since I have not received any letter for two months. My greatest desire is to hear that you are well, as well as all my good relations.

I have lost almost all my belongings, (along with) some very important papers; however, one needs wisdom in all the circumstances of life, and it is in misfortune that strength of character must be displayed.

We all desire peace, may it unite us and put an end to all the horrors that beset the human race! I send you and my dear parents thousands of embraces.

***

Cleves, 26 November 1813.

M … ,

How many events have taken place since my last letter! How many compliments I have already given to Providence for its constant protection! How many dangers have I faced, and how much courage it has taken to never lose hope.

I have a reliable remedy to overcome all events. You are aware of my views on the ‘great moral’ and religious truths; with such a defence, one is unstoppable.

I have not only fulfilled my duty until the last moment of the retreat, but I am still in active service. I have not had a moment’s rest after such a severe illness and such an arduous campaign. I command the artillery of an infantry division, and only the Rhine separates us from the enemy. It seems to me that it is at this moment that true soldiers must prove themselves; now one must serve out of duty, out of honour, and forget about any compensation.

I spent nearly a week in Cologne, and I cannot express to you how I was received and celebrated in the house where fate had placed me. I was staying with a very wealthy merchant, who considered me as his brother after the day I had been with him. My conversation, my manner towards him, everything pleased him; and he redoubled his attention, as did your whole family, while I was in Cologne. If ever my condition imposed a painful obligation on me, it was to leave so soon a house where I felt so at home. I was obliged to stay there, I was brought to the theatre, and the best wines were found for me to help me recover from the campaign.

All this was only a flash for me, as I set off again with my guns, and I resigned myself to events, as I have already done many times in the two years since I had the pleasure of embracing you and my dear parents.

Until I have the pleasure of seeing you all again, I embrace you thousands and thousands of times in my thoughts!

Yours, etc.

***

Châlons, 2 February 1814.

M … ,

For a long time I have not received any word from you, and I have not been able to send you any of my own, as a result of the marches we have made during the month of January.

At last we are 30 leagues from the capital, and I shall be able to obtain an answer to my letter within a few days. I have reached a village two leagues from Châlons, the village being completely crowded with troops. I brought my artillery back amidst a very rigorous season and via very poor roads. Often I did not arrive at my lodgings until ten o’clock in the evening. My train horses are still quite fine and we will be able to advance as soon as the signal is given.

We await the moment of a battle with impatience, never has a battle been so significant, and never have we been animated by a more magnificent zeal for the defence of our dear fatherland. The feelings I am expressing to you are shared by all the French troops. We will manage to animate the courage of the young soldiers, and we will be ready to conquer or die if necessary.

We have left a great number of infantry in the fortifications, and I presume that we will receive considerable reinforcements before marching on the enemy.

We are just receiving the order to leave for Vitry le Français, I cannot write to you any longer: I embrace you thousands and thousands of times over.

***

Provins, 10 March 1814.

M … ,

For a long time my heart has been eager to express to you all that it feels for you and my dear parents. It took considerable circumstances to make me neglect one of my foremost duties; but the obligations of service are often so formidable that everything must be postponed, in order to occupy ourselves only with the salvation of the fatherland.

Since my letter I wrote to you from Meaux, I have not had a moment’s rest. I have slept for eight days in the bivouac in the most rigorous cold. The division to which I belonged with my artillery stayed constantly in front of the enemy. I did not even have the pleasure of meeting Madame … who came to see her husband.

After having made our junction with the army of the Emperor, we marched on Troyes; from there we proceeded to Bar-sur-Seine. I received a new designation in this city. The Chief Inspector of the Artillery assigned me to VII Corps commanded by the Duke of Reggio (Marshal Oudinot). I joined my new corps at the battle of Bar-sur-Aube. We were attacked by very considerable forces, we withdrew in good order, and all the troops were concentrated on the Seine, under the command of the Duke of Taranto (Marshal Macdonald), whose talents are known to you. Until the Emperor will return to this position, we will be able to move forward again.

Our situation is always rather unfortunate; the enemy is very numerous, and every day that they pass through our territory causes new vexations for the unfortunate inhabitants. The French have only experienced war from a distance, they have now witnessed the distressing impression of this scourge. If they had been familiar with the coalition armies as we do, it is certain that all the people would have been mobilised en masse. All the inhabitants tell us that they have been deceived by the discourses of the enemy. Let us hope that what has transpired will open the eyes of the other provinces, and that soon, with the help of God and the Emperor’s genius, we will be delivered from these armies, which came here only to plunder and ravage our beloved country. The corps of Marshal Augereau must be on the march, and soon we will be able to act together.

The Emperor has just defeated the enemy again at Soissons; while waiting for him to return to us, we are acting as Fabius and buying time.

The address to the French women which you have kindly sent to me has delighted me infinitely: the extent to which your courage reinforces mine. I forget all the pains, all the hardships, when I think that my way of thinking and acting is in agreement with yours. Ah, how happy would I be if I had the joy of seeing you and my dear parents again!

I have read your letters to several of my comrades and friends, I have bolstered their courage in the troubled moments we have had to go through.

Like you, I am full of confidence for the future, I always count on the righteous and benevolent God. Just as He has put a curb on our conquests, He will not allow our wonderful country to be shared by barbarians who are unworthy of inhabiting it and of appreciating His benefits to France.

The fair season is approaching and it will be very favourable to our operations.

I embrace you thousands and thousands times over as well as my dear parents, and I respond to your maxim with the following: friendship and gratitude, reason and strength.

A letter of a family member further on in the book states that the officer was killed at the battle of Arcis-sur-Aube, aged 29, holding the rank of major and was a member of the Legion d’Honneur. In Martinien’s ‘Tableaux, par corps et par batailles, des officiers tués et blessés pendant les guerres de l’Empire’, a certain Reguis matches this description …

Source : Lenoir-Laroche, Claire, La Grèce et la France, ou Réflexions sur le tableau de Léonidas de M. David, adressées aux défenseurs de la patrie, par une Française ; suivies de la correspondance d’un officier d’artillerie, pendant la campagne de 1814, … , Les marchands de Nouveautés, Paris, 1815, pp. 49-65.