Second Lieutenant Madelin and the 1813 campaign …

Intro by Christophe Bourachot

Through the letters of Second Lieutenant Madelin, we have the very example of intimate and family correspondence which was exchanged between a soldier and his family. The young officer, who was sent to the other side of Europe, did not miss a single day without writing to his relatives, never neglecting to greet his parents, friends and others who had stayed behind in his native Meurthe. We find in his letters the recurring questions of daily supplies, money issues, clothing that must be constantly maintained and mended, or on potential, expected or forgotten advancement. So many themes are contained in the description of the officer in the field, outlined with simplicity and realism by Augustin Madelin.

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Romain-Augustin Madelin, son of J.-B. Madelin, a merchant in Toul, and his wife Rose Prat, from the parish of Saint-Jean du Cloître, was born in the above-mentioned town on 21 May 1794. He attended elementary mathematics classes at the college in Pont-à-Mousson from 1 November 1811 to 11 April 1812. After graduating from the military school at the beginning of 1813, he was incorporated as a second lieutenant in the 149th Line Regiment. On 30 March, he was received at the Gross-Awersleben camp by Surgeon Eve, who wrote to his mother: ‘His shyness suits him well, for I know that he was questioned about his manoeuvres, and that his colonel was pleased with them.’ On 23 August 1813, he was mortally wounded by a bullet in the forehead during the attack on a redoubt at the battle of Goldberg. A cantinière carried him to an upper room, placed him on a mattress, gave him a small bottle of alcohol and bandaged him … Here, piously preserved by Mr. Madelin, a former magistrate, are the letters of the young second lieutenant, killed in the German campaign in 1813. Is it not moving to publish them without changing a syllable, now that they are a hundred years old?

Charles-Léon BERNARDIN.

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In the camp in front of Torgau, 12 May 1813.

After 15 days of forced marching, I finally find a moment to write to you, my dear parents.

I will start by providing you with news of my health, which continues to be very good in spite of the fatigue that we endure and the hunger that we suffer three quarters of the time, apart from the fact that food is lacking due to the negligence of the clerks. The officers, not being paid, often cannot find what is necessary; the soldiers swindle and get away with it. Fortunately I have some ‘good children’ in my company who share with me what they have.

Since your letter of 9 April, I have not received any from you. Mr. Eve had received one from Mama for me, he had mailed it and I have not yet received it. The good Mr. Eve who has just been appointed, as you know, surgeon-in-chief of the entire army of the Elbe, that is to say of ten army corps, has kindly taken the trouble to run after me to see me and find out how I am doing. The newspapers undoubtedly informed you of the great victory of 2 May. Their loss is estimated at thirty thousand men; there was someone who had crossed the battlefield, (he counted) 10 Russians or Prussians for every Frenchman. Our division had the misfortune not to fire a shot. In the second line, spectator(s) of the battle, our soldiers were disappointed not to be able to meet the enemy.

From that day until today we have done nothing but pursue them. Our corps, after having swept through Saxony, has just passed the Elbe; our division crossed it at Torgau and encamped at a place on the other side of the city. I realize that it is necessary to finish my letter at once because we might depart immediately. Write to me often, my dear parents, and be sure of the eternal attachment of your devoted and respectful son.

Signed: A. MADELIN, second lieutenant.

My respects to all my relatives and friends. I send my best regards to my dear brothers. Greetings to Marie, to sister Marthe and to Catherine.

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In the camp of … , on 25 May 1813.

I do not know if you receive my letters, my dear parents, as for myself I have not received any letter from you for the past six weeks.

I believe that each time that I write to you I will announce victories to you; the Russians and the Prussians occupied the most magnificent positions on the 21st, they were all captured from them to the cries of ‘Long live the Emperor’ and without losing many men. In the evening their entire army was routed.

Since the 21st, we have been pursuing them. I am still in excellent health and I bear the fatigues of war very well; here I am, I hope, accustomed to sleeping in the bivouac, sometimes with straw, often without it. For six weeks, I have not slept in a bed or even in a room, and now I appreciate the straw and the (open) air as much as I do a beautiful flat and a fine bed.

I will finish my letter today and if I find the opportunity to send it, I will do so; if I can’t, I will let you know what will happen next.

I send you my best wishes, my dear parents and my dear brothers. Your devoted and respectful son.

Signed : MADELIN.

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(From) 1 June 1813.

For six days, since my letter was written, I have not yet been able to find the opportunity to send it to you.

I open it to tell you that these past few days I have met General Barrois, who gave me a warm welcome. Today he sent for me and asked me if I expected to be promoted in my corps. I told him that there had been talk of appointing me to the rank of adjutant-major, however that currently there was no more mention of it. Then he told me that he had made the request to transfer me to the Guard of his division and if that pleased me; I answered in the affirmative and after consulting me, it was decided that if I were to be made adjutant-major before the admission to the Guard, I would refuse it when it arrived, and that if I were still a second lieutenant, I would accept it if he agreed to it.

He then offered me some money, as our wages are not being paid and the Government owes me 600 francs; therefor I took 100 francs, expecting to give it back to him when they pay us. The general told me that he wanted you to present these 100 francs to the lady superior of Saint-Nicolas. Please ‘buy her one’ for about that price.

I would like to have the pleasure of embracing you and my brothers again, and assure you of the eternal attachment of your devoted and respectful son.

Signed : MADELIN.

We are two leagues from Breslau.

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3 June 1813.

Here we are at last in Breslau, that is to say encamped in the front. Our First Division occupies it.

We are resting, because you know, no doubt, that a truce is to precede peace, and there is talk of it. I’ve just got dressed again, so to speak; my trousers were all ragged, I had no socks left, only one pair of boots, no more pants, no more pocket handkerchiefs, just two ties. I still have my six shirts, but I have three on loan, I only have three left, which are quite torn, as my soldier (servant) washes them for me …

Signed : MADELIN.

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In the camp in front of Hanau, 18 June 1813.

I received three letters from you almost at the same time, my dear parents: one dated 29 April which Mr. Eve passed on to me, the other dated 9 May and the last dated 27 May; I was nearly six weeks without receiving any.

You should not be surprised, therefore, if you have remained so long without receiving any from me. I am quite sure that, like me, you will receive two or three at a time, for now the Cossacks no longer prevent mail from being sent. We were in Breslau and they were still thirty or forty miles behind.

Here we are, in the barracks in front of Hanau, waiting for the continuation of the war or the peace. I have not forgotten, my dear papa, that your birthday was on the 24th of June, and this year I can only extend my best wishes to you without having the pleasure of addressing them to you in person. I hope to have this pleasure some year, but I am sure that, whether you are far away or near, you are not less convinced of the sincerity of the wishes I express for your happiness.

My health continues to be excellent, I have had diarrhoea at times, and dysentery for a while, but now it is all over, if not a little tired; but here is some rest coming our way, and we are not short of meat, wine and bread, which are quite poor, to be honest.

If my uncle Lemouse had been a hospital guard in our division, I hope that I, nor my friends, would never have been in need of it, and that now, instead of buying white bread to make our soup, he would give us nothing for it. It is great to be in the good graces of these gentlemen. I am quite sure that they have never fasted for two hours in a row.

A major has just arrived in the regiment from the 139th (Line) where he was battalion commander. Mr. Paul, who, as a result of his wound, must not be long in returning to Toul, knows him. I would very much like you to be able to obtain from him a letter of recommendation for our major, if however you consider it appropriate.  Now with my three shirts, I will be able to change them every three or four days and consequently leave the lice with which I have been covered up to now. Fortunately I have avoided the scabies, there are only 644 men in the regiment who have it; it is in our battalion that there are the least, and yet there were 128 (affected). They are now treated in a large farm half a league from the camp. There are companies where there are only ten or twelve men left; I still have 25 in my company.

Mr. Serclet, who recently told me that he had received a letter from Mr. Colomb, said that he had just written to you and brought me his letter to enclose with mine. He is a very respectable man. General Barrois, to whom I spoke about it as he served in the same regiment, seems to take a great interest in it.

Mr. Marchand is now rather distant from us as the chief orderly of the headquarters of our army corps; he is with General Lauriston and I do not know precisely where. As for the money, I would ask him for some which you would pass on to his parents in Toul, but I would only like to borrow it from you and will pass it on to you when I receive my 300 francs of campaign allowances. I am also owed four months’ pay, which is another 320 francs. I should have five months, but the paymaster does not see reason and says that according to the instruction of his inspector my pay only counts from the day after my arrival at the corps. Oh, how happy I would be if by chance you could find the opportunity to have my portmanteau returned from the small depot in Wenden! However, I believe that this is impossible: I fear that there are already large shreds coming from my clothes. My full uniform is there [as well as] my charivari and my frock coat. If that is taken care of I will only need a tunic, a waistcoat and trousers on my way back to France, but basically [all of] my clothes.

Farewell my dear parents, I will write to you more often now that I have the time. How can I forget such wonderful parents and the good principles they inspired in me? Be assured that I will never forget them, and believe in the sincere attachment of your devoted and respectful son. Tell everyone who is willing to think of me how much I appreciate it.

I send my brothers a tender embrace; greetings to Marie, Catherine and Sister Marthe.

Signed : A. MADELIN.

Mr. Madelin, trader in Toul (Meurthe).

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Boersdorff, 26 July 1813.

I expected, my dear parents, to announce to you our departure for Hamburg, it was claimed that our army corps was about to head for this place. We were to leave on the 20th; now the 20th has passed, and we are still here. It seems that this was a false rumour, because there are almost as many newspapers in the army as France has. I continue to be very well with my hosts. They are very attentive to me.

Madame Spielberg, the schoolmaster’s wife, has undertaken the mending of my clothes. She has been at work from morning till night. She is now fitting me with the socks I have bought and my two trousers are ready to go out again. I have just made another pair of grey trousers, my third. As they say we are to be given cloth (with our money), I shall have a blue frock made since we left … Mine has not been off my body and is greatly affected by bivouacking.  You have therefore not understood or I have expressed myself poorly, my dear papa, when I told you what General Barrois had proposed to me. It was not me at all who asked him to enter the Guard, on the contrary, it was he who told me whether I would be pleased to join it.

You can tell that this question was embarrassing, but I replied that if he thought it would be useful for my advancement, I would be very happy to serve under him. He then told me that he had asked for it. It was then that my embarrassment increased. I immediately told him of the kindness that the Colonel had for me: I even told him that at the time there had been a question of promoting me to adjutant-major, but that due to the presence of officers from another regiment, this had not succeeded. It was then that he told me that if I were to be appointed lieutenant, I would only have to refuse when the admission arrived. It hasn’t reached me yet, so I told him I would ask you.

A cadre of our regiment returns to France to Hâvre, where our depot is located. Also returning are the officers whom the campaign has prevented from continuing the service, some are leaving tomorrow; in two or three days the others will depart. Mr. Serclet is one of the latter. Nothing else has happened. It only seems that the armistice is extended.

Farewell, my dear parents. Send me word of your tidings and believe in the sincere attachment of your devoted and respectful son. I embrace my brothers. My respects to all our relatives and friends.

Signed : MADELIN.

Source : Revue des Études Napoléoniennes, 1913.