Introduction by Major General Hector Jean Couvreur
The importance of letters from witnesses to an era is well established. Written on the spot, they shed light on events in a different way to the reports and memoirs that are all too often written to exonerate or overly glorify their authors. We have been fortunate to come across twenty-five letters written at the time of the events by a combatant in the wars of the Republic and Empire in Italy, Prussia, Poland and Austria.
They were written by the great-grandson of Baron Guillaume-Pascal de Crassier, who was born in Liège in 1662 and died there in 1750-1751, and whose coat of arms was ‘silver with an azure wavelined shield flanked by two golden oaks’, and whose hotel on rue des Célestins, near the collegiate church of Saint-John the Evangelist, is now home to a school, while its second floor is reserved for the Royal Society ‘Le Vieux Liège’. His father was Baron Lambert-Louis-Joseph de Crassier, born in Liège on 28 November 1750, and his mother Marie-Jeanne-Thérèse de Bollis, born in the same town on 27 July 1749 and the daughter of Jean-François, Knight of the Holy Roman Empire, and Marie-Elisabeth Jamar de Montfort. This marriage, contracted in the capital of the Prince-Bishop on 6 May 1771, had produced nine children, including five sons.
The eldest of this numerous offspring, Baron Louis-Guillaume-Joseph, born on 7 February 1772, councillor of the Ourthe Department (the Liège Province in modern-day Belgium), member of the Liège Equestrian Order and deputy of this order to the Provincial States, who passed away in Liège on 23 May 1851, married, on 30 April 1811, Baroness Marie-Barbe de Stockem, daughter of Léonard-Lambert-Nicolas, Lord of Vieux Waleffe and Marie-Joséphine van den Steen. A historian like his great-grandfather, the scholar Guillaume-Pascal, first Baron of Crassier (1662-1750), he was the author of the work entitled ‘Recherches et dissertations sur l’histoire du Pays de Liège’. The other four sons joined the French army, and three of them perished. The only survivor was Louis-Marie-Englebert, a lieutenant in the 4th Hussar Regiment under the Republic, who had resigned as an officer in 1797; born in 1776, he passed away in Brussels on 21 July 1833 after taking over the management of the military hospital in Ypres. (1)
On 12 Thermidor Year XI (31 July 1803), Madame Lambert-Louis de Crassier, residing at Mont-St-Martin, 640, in Liège, wrote to General Bonaparte, the First Consul, recommending three of her sons for military service in the Republic:
Allow me to address these lines directly to your august person. As the mother of nine children, five boys and four girls, I would like to ask you to grant my sons the promotion that their loyal and irreproachable conduct has earned them. It will be all the more gratifying for them as they will be in a better position to fulfil their duties towards me; the past assures me that they will not fail to do so. The campaigns in which four of them have participated in since Year 2 (1793-1794), in the war for freedom, are worthy of your benevolence. If I had to add anything, I would testify to their filial piety.
While his brothers are serving in the army, the eldest of my sons supports the family. Since Year 6, he has been head of the estates and liquidation office, first at the central administration, then at the Ourthe Prefecture. In this capacity he still enjoys the confidence of Citizen Desmousseaux, the Prefect…
Madame de Crassier went on to explain that she belonged to a patrician family from the ancient principality, that her father had been mayor of Liège and her father-in-law president of the Court of Appeal for Imperial Privileges. She added that ‘the history of the country of Liège is honoured by the great-grandfather of my sons… he was a distinguished historian and naturalist’. The names of the sons in whose favour her request was addressed to the First Consul were as follows: Guillaume-Joseph-Léopold, aged 28, maréchal des logis chef in the 5th Regiment of Horse Artillery; Auguste-Servais, aged 24, brigadier in the 4th Hussars, a regiment in which his older brother Englebert was a lieutenant before he resigned; and Thomas-Constantin, aged 25, brigadier in the 3rd Regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval, at the time based in Parma. The poor lady was sorry that Englebert had resigned as an officer… She had no idea that he would be the only one to return to Liège alive!
The Correspondence
It is thanks to Constantin’s letters, preserved by his family, that we will be able to follow him and his brothers as they travel around Europe. His description in the corps registry, kept at the War Archives in Vincennes, describes a tall young man of one metre seventy-five, aquiline nose, blue eyes, medium mouth, light brown hair and eyebrows. Before joining the cavalry, he volunteered in the 3rd Bataillon du Nord in Year II, with whom he fought in front of Maastricht and on the Rhine. The first remark to be made is that, despite their voluntary commitments, their education and their origin, the de Crassier brothers did not benefit from rapid advancement and that the request addressed to the First Consul was only too justified. ‘You are not an officer because you are of noble birth’, Napoleon later said, ‘but because you have graduated from the Polytechnique or Saint-Cyr…’. So be it!
Later, there would be another way of earning the epaulette more quickly: enlisting in the vélites of a regiment of the Guard and then, in 1813, in a regiment of the Guards of Honour, which meant purchasing one’s own horse and equipment. However, these regiments did not exist when the de Crassier brothers joined the army. We were then in the early years of the ‘One and Indivisible’ Republic, and the family name particles had been removed from official documents.
Constantin de Crassier was serving with the 3rd Regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval in the Army of Italy since the spring of 1799, while his brother Auguste belonged to the 4th Regiment of Hussars in the Army of Hanover and his brother Guillaume was a member of the 5th Regiment of Horse Artillery in the Army of the West. Two years later, Captain Durival (2), commander of the company in which Constantin served, informed Madame de Crassier from Brescia on 28 August 1801 that her son had been seconded to Genoa and that he was writing to the officer under whose command he was to grant the half-year’s leave requested by the matriarch of the family. This was accorded, as evidenced by a letter from Lieutenant Thiriet (3) addressed to Liège and wishing Constantin a pleasant half-year’s leave.
In April 1803, the regiment was stationed in Parma. From Constantin, who had meanwhile returned to Italy, we have three letters dated Milan in 1804. All of them testify to a certain discouragement and a desire to leave the army as soon as possible. The handwriting is tight, refined and regular, as is the spelling. At the same time, Auguste wrote on 1 July 1804 from Hanover, where the 4th Regiment of Hussars was posted, to his elder brother Louis in Liège:
I am writing you these words to acknowledge receipt of the money you were kind enough to enclose with the last letter our mother sent me; I am very grateful to you for the contribution you are making to alleviate my plight which, to tell the truth, is not one of the most fortunate. We are suffering a great deal at the moment and are not being paid. As I had the honour of pointing out to you in my last letter, we have been given reason to hope that an advance will be paid shortly.
Our regiment has just been given new clothing and today we will be reviewed by the Marshal of France Bernardott [sic] from where we believe we will depart after this inspection. However, I believe that we will only change billets; in any case, we will not travel more than twenty leagues from the capital city. I am delighted because when I have been in a place for three months I start to get bored, so I have been here for eight months and you should not be surprised that I will be delighted to receive this order. I have nothing more to say to you at present.
I conclude by embracing you and am for life your brother. Many regards from me to the whole family.
Auguste slowly made his way to Austerlitz, from where he would never return…
Napoleon was proclaimed emperor on 18 May 1804. On 25 August, Constantin wrote from Milan to his elder brother Louis-Guillaume, chief of office at the prefecture of Liège, who seemed to be the head of the family, perhaps because of his status and his father’s poor health:
… My captain is due to make his way to Paris for the Emperor’s coronation, where he is to take steps to join his Guard. He has every reason to hope that he will succeed, and asked me if it would please me to join him. I answered affirmatively without showing much enthusiasm. Please tell me what you think [about this]…
On 29 September, he returned to the question:
My captain left for Paris without talking to me about my change of corps, but he did ask me to write to him. I am sure that if he obtains what he has applied for, he will get an order from the Ministry to join them…
At the time of the coronation, Constantin was still in Milan. He had been with the 3rd Chasseurs for five years and was a brigadier-fourrier. His disenchantment is understandable. Yet if we look at the service record of the first leaders of the Belgian army in 1830, who had emerged from the ranks of Napoleon’s armies, this lengthy process of promotion was not unusual. It took four years in the rank of non-commissioned officer to be considered and several more to be promoted to non-commissioned officer by the colonel of the regiment. On 4 Vendemiaire Year XIV (26 September 1805) from Vallegio, a town on the Mincio ten km south of Lake Garda, Constantin again wrote to his brother Louis:
You are aware that for nearly two years I was on General Jourdan’s guard. He was replaced by General Masséna. He dismissed the elite companies which formed the guard of his predecessor to form a guard of guides on foot and on horseback selected from the elite companies of all the regiments. My captain was chosen to command the mounted guides, and he wanted to have me with him. I agreed without hesitation.
If my new corps were to disband, I still have three options left to me. The first one is to join the Imperial Guard, the second is to join the Gendarmerie, and the third is to join the first regiment of Chasseurs that comes along.
Now is the time to offer me support if you can. General Masséna is very well known and it would be possible for the man who has done everything for our family to undertake a few more steps. (4)
I hope you will be hearing about our conquests. Yesterday I spent some time at the regiment to attend to my accounts; it is located on the banks of the Dige [sic, Adige].
I saw the Austrians; they are deserting by one platoon at a time with the non-commissioned officer at the head. Their forces are superior to ours, although they will certainly be beaten.
Please tell Mama that I have received her last letter, as well as the ones from Louise and my sister Joséphine. I will answer them when we are in Vienna or Milan. At the moment I am completing the accounts of my old company and organising the new one. I am writing to you during the night.
Perhaps tomorrow we will be on horseback to go and greet these gentlemen, we are very much expecting it. The army will be on its feet at dawn, with well-stocked cartridge boxes.
My address: Fourrier to the Mounted Guides of Marshal of the Empire Masséna in the Army of Italy.
1806 was a good year for Constantin’s military career. He was appointed maréchal des logis on 19 January and maréchal des logis chef on 1 February. Returning to his former regiment in June, he was in Venice and it is a letter dated the 6th and sent to Este to which we have access to. He requested his brother to make inquiries to obtain a certificate of his time campaigning alongside the volunteers of Year II. He was not sure which regiment had incorporated his battalion; he believed it was the 105th Line Regiment.
Moreover, he hoped to be appointed adjutant non-commissioned officer soon. There were only two in each regiment. It depended on Colonel Charpentier (5), who thought well of him. And he added a postscript:
There is talk of a new war; 40,000 men are to pass through here on their way to Dalmatia. There is nothing new for us to do. However, soon there will be.
He was surprised not to receive any word from his brother Auguste, maréchal des logis chef in the 4th Hussars, to whom he had written three times without receiving a reply. He was still unaware that his brother had succumbed to wounds sustained at the battle of Austerlitz. A long letter from Louis, dated 14 May 1806, informs him of Auguste’s unfortunate end and the circumstances in which it occurred:
It must have been quite a while since you last heard from Auguste. I presume that you wrote to each other when your occupations allowed you to.
Auguste was present at the dreadful battle of Austerlitz on 2 December (last year). Four days after this engagement, he informed us in a letter signed by him, but not written by him, that he had fought well throughout the day. He had carried out five charges with his company when, returning from a sixth one, safe and sound with three of his comrades, he was struck by a bullet in the lower abdomen which seriously wounded him. Transported to Brün [sic] in Moravia, he told us that he was fairly well treated there and in his position he considered himself all the more fortunate as he pitied the fate of 7,000 wounded who had not yet been able to receive treatment.
It is likely that he confided his letter four days after signing it, since in his postscript he himself wrote the words: ‘I have been injured eight days ago’. My dear Constantin, how these last words reassured us about his condition, and how much hope they instilled in us that he would recover. We were quick to send letters of recommendation to Brün; we wrote to Auguste almost every day.
In the most cruel state of uncertainty, the family received no reply and was only informed of Auguste’s death on 24 February 1806 through a letter written from Lintz by one of Auguste’s comrades to his father, followed by a letter written to Anspach on 4 March by Captain Barbe (6), Auguste’s captain, who had also been wounded at Austerlitz. Thus in less than nine months, my dear Constantin, we have lost two brothers, two brave men.
Then followed some words of consolation and encouragement. In his letter of acknowledgment to Captain Barbe, Louis wrote ;
… This is the second brother I have had the misfortune to lose in less than a year’s time. I have a third one who was fortunate enough to have survived the battle of Caldiero. (7)
Notes
(1) Annuaire de la Noblesse de Belgique, Brussels, year 1877, pp. 151-156.
(2) Durival (Jacques-Nicolas), born on 9 June 1764 in Lunéville (Meurthe), captain in the 3rd Chasseurs, promoted to squadron commander in the 1st Regiment of Carabiniers in 1803. Joined the gendarmerie in 1809. Retired on 1 September 1815. Pensioned in the rank of lieutenant-colonel on 23 February 1823. Passed away on 18 November 1839.
(3) Thiriet (Christophe), born on 8 October 1769 in Vic (Meuse), lieutenant in the 3rd Chasseurs, captain on 10 June 1808. Served in the campaigns from 1792 to 1809. Was injured and died of wounds sustained in a review at Elberdorf (5 km east of Vienna, south of the Danube) on 25 May 1809. Knight of the Legion of Honour on 1 October 1807. When Captain Thiriet wrote from Italy to his friend Constantin de Crassier who was on leave in Liège, little did he know that they would die together on the banks of the Danube in 1809.
(4) We do not know which patron was involved.
(5) Charpentier (Germain), born on the 9 April 1771 at Fort-Vauban (Bas-Rhin), colonel of the 3rd Chasseurs à Cheval who transferred from the Chasseurs à Cheval of the Imperial Guard on 21 August 1806. Fought in the campaigns from 1792 to 1809. Wounded five times, including once at Austerlitz and twice in Austria on 23 April and 21 May 1809. Retired due to his injuries on 24 May 1811. Officer of the Legion of Honour. Baron of the Empire.
(6) Barbe (Augustin), born on 15 November 1765 in Rochefort (Charente Inférieure), captain in the 4th Hussars. Squadron commander on 29 May 1810. Wounded at Austerlitz. Wounded at Liebstadt on 27 January 1807 and taken prisoner. Returned to France on 7 September 1809. Wounded at Sagunto (Spain) on 25 October 1811. Officer of the Legion of Honour. Transferred to the 9th Hussars bis on 14 February 1812. Major in the 12th Hussars on 14 July 1813. Taken prisoner on 23 August 1813. Returned to France on 24 April 1814. Non-active on 18 October 1814 and on half pay. Granted a retirement pay of 2,000 francs on 17 February 1819. Passed away on 11 March 1828.
(7) Marshal Masséna’s victory over the Austrians in Northern Italy on the road from Verona to Vicenza. Guillaume-Léopold de Crassier, maréchal des logis chef in the 5th Regiment of Horse Artillery, succumbed at Dunkirk on 30 Ventôse Year XIII to a wound he had sustained in battle.
Source : Hector Jean Couvreur, ‘Grognards de Belgique – Le destin tragique de trois cavaliers liégeois : Guillaume, Auguste et Constantin de Crassier’, in Revue belge d’histoire militaire, XXII – 6, June 1978, pp. 449-454.
Other accounts to read :
> Sergeant Jean-Gilles Toussaint, an infantryman in the French armies of Spain and Portugal …
> Dedicated to the Imperial Cause – Letters of the Dandalle Family (I) …
> Infantry officer Dominique Ravy in Prussia, 1806 …
Jonas De Neef's Napoleon Chronicles 