Ver.04.29.93*END*
The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot
Translated by Oliver C. Colt
THE MEMOIRS OF GENERAL THE BARON DE MARBOT.
Translated by Oliver C. Colt
Volume 1.
Table of contents
Chap. 1. Origins of my family. My father joins the bodyguard. The
de Certain family. Life at Lariviere. Episode in infancy.
Chap. 2. Outbreak of revolution. My father's attitude. He rejoins
the army. I go to Mlle. Mongalvi. My life as a boarder.
Chap. 3. My father is posted to Toulouse. He takes me with him.
The convoy of aristocrats. Life at Toulouse. I am taken to
Soreze.
Chap. 4. Life at Soreze. Early hardships. Visit of representative
of the people.
Chap. 5. I join my family in Paris. My father is given command of
the 17th division in Paris. He refuses to join with Sieyes and
hands the command to Lefebvre.
Chap. 6. My father is posted to Italy. How my career is begun. I
become a Hussar.
Chap. 7. My father leaves. Meeting with Bonaparte at Lyon. An
adventure on the Rhone. The cost of a Republican banquet. I am
presented to my commanding officer.
Chap. 8. Arrival at Nice. My mentor Pertelay. I become a true
Hussar. I join the "clique". My first duel. We rustle some
cattle. The "Clique".
Chap. 9. How I get immediate promotion. The capture of 17 enemy
Hussars.
Chap. 10. Campaign in Piedmont. General Macard. Capture of enemy
cannons. I am promoted to Sous-lieutenant. I become aide de camp
to my father.
Chap. 11. Retreat of the right wing of the army to Genoa. My
father wounded. The siege. My friend Trepano. Death of my father.
Famine and fighting.
Chap. 12. Episodes in the siege. Fate of Austrian captives.
Chap. 13. Napoleon crosses the St. Bernard. Massena yields.
Marengo. I return to my family. My extreme prostration.
Chap. 14. I am temporary aide de camp to Bernadotte. We go to
Tours.
Chap. 15. At Brest and Rennes. I am posted to the 23rd Chasseurs,
in Portugal. Journey from Nantes to Salamanca. We form the right
wing of the Spanish army. Return to France.
Chap. 16. On the road from Bayonne to Toulouse. The inspection.
Chap. 17. The events at Rennes. My brother Adolphe is involved
and is sent to prison. Death of my brother Theodore.
Chap. 18. The school at Versailles. My mother's brothers.
Chap. 19. Preparations for invasion of Britain. I become aide de
camp to Augereau.
Chap. 20. Augereau.
Chap. 21. From Bayonne to Brest. 1804. Pichegru. Death of Duc
d'Enghien. Bonaparte becomes emperor.
Chap. 22. 1805. Institution of Legion of Honour. Camp at
Boulogne. I am made lieutenant. Death of my brother Felix.
Russia and Austria declare war.
Chap. 23. The army heads for the Rhine. Mission to Massena.
Jellachich surrenders. The Hungarian Colonel.
Chap. 24. The march to Vienna. The battle at Dirnstein. Lannes
and Murat bluff their way across the Danube.
Chap. 25. Hollabrunn. I bring the flags captured at Breganz to
the Emperor. The danger of a white lie.
Chap. 26. The Prussian Ambassador. Austerlitz. I save a Russian
sergeant.
Chap. 27. Meeting of the Emperors. Return to my unit. Darmstadt
and Frankfurt.
Chap. 28. Mission to Prussia. Situation in Prussia.
Chap. 29. State of Prussian army. Wurtzberg. Saalefeld and death
of Prince Louis. Augereau and his former companions.
Chap. 30. Jena. The Cure. Auerstadt. The behaviour of Bernadotte.
The entry into Berlin.
Chap. 31. Demoralisation of Prussians. Origin of the house of
Rothschild. With Duroc to the King of Prussia. Graudentz. The
army at the Vistula.
Chap. 32. Crossing of the Ukra. Various encounters. Cantonments
on the banks of the Vistula.
Chap. 33. 1807. Made Captain. Eylau. Destruction of Augereau's
corps.
Chap. 34. My part in the battle of Eylau. My mare Lisette. I
escape death by a miracle. Return to Warsaw and Paris.
Chap. 35. Missions for the Emperor. I join Marshal Lannes.
Hostilities resumed June 11th.
Chap. 36. Battle of Friedland. I escape from dangers. Treaty of
Tilsitt.
Chap. 37. Mission to Dresden. An unwitting smuggler. An incident
at Mainz. Paris and La Houssaye.
Introduction. General, later the Baron, Marbot, came from a
family which might be described as landed gentry. His father
served in the bodyguard of Louis XV and later in the Republican
army. Marbot himself was a soldier from the age of 17 and fought
in the wars of the Republic and the campaigns of Napoleon. His
memoirs were written for his family and his intimate circle,
without thought of publication, and it was not until after his
death in 1854 that his family were persuaded to offer the
manuscript to publishers.
This is not a meticulously researched historical document, but
the reminiscences of an old soldier, writing of events which took
place many years earlier and I suspect that like most of us when
we try to recall things that happened forty years ago his memory
was a trifle indistinct.
By far the greater part of his narrative has the ring of truth,
but in my opinion there are places where his imagination has
embroidered the facts. This is particularly so when it comes to
some of his personal adventures. He also,in my view, describes as
real, events in which he did not take part and which may be no
more than popular rumour.
It has to be remembered that there were no inquisitive war
correspondents attached to the "Grande Armee" and news was what
was written in Napoleon's bulletins.
As an example of the kind of thing which raises a question in my
mind, in his opening chapter he says that he was a very sturdy
infant and that the only illness he ever suffered from was
small-pox. This does not seem probable; an outbreak of small-pox
in the family would be a disastrous occurrence, it is a disease
with a high mortality and could not be dismissed as a childish
complaint. He also goes on to describe how his head got stuck in
the cat-hole, but in the original he claims that his face turned
blue and that he was being strangled when his father removed the
door from its hinges to extricate him. Anyone who has attempted
to remove a door from its hinges knows that you cannot do so
without opening the door and using at least a screwdriver. It is
also an operation which is difficult to perform single-handed and
with a small child stuck in it even more so. He says that he was
about three or four at the time, and the long-term memory does
not start developing in a child until around the age of four. I
think it more than likely that that good Baron has a false
recollection derived from being told of these goings on by his
mother and truly believes that he remembers them. A misdiagnosis
of small-pox would not be surprising given the inadequate state
of medical knowledge and practice of the time.
I do not doubt that he ran great danger and was seriously injured
at Eylau, but there are elements in his recital which although
they enhance the drama and would pass muster with the lay reader,
are open to criticism by anyone with a medical training. He says
that while he was attempting to release the "Eagle" from its
standard, a bullet passed through his hat without touching his
head. As a result of this he claims that he found himself
paralysed and unable to use his legs to urge his horse forward,
although he remained mentally perfectly clear. He says that the
passage of the bullet close to his head caused bleeding from his
nose and ears and even from his eyes, signs which a clinician
would regard as probably indicating a serious fracture of the
base of the skull.
I am not a neurologist, but I can think of no neurological injury
which would produce the type of paralysis which he describes
except a high lesion of the spinal cord. What is more, within a
few moments he is in the saddle of a galloping horse and I cannot
imagine that anyone suffering from a form of paralysis could
remain there for very long.
The thoughtful reader may also wonder how the soldier who robbed
him as he lay unconscious could suppose that he was dead, an
unconscious person is quite plainly breathing.
Could it be that having been rendered unconscious as a result of
the fall from his horse, he has some degree of retrograde amnesia
and has invented details to fill the gaps in his memory, or could
it be that writing, as he was, for his family and friends, he was
indulging in a little pardonable exaggeration.
In spite of these reservations the story he tells is full of life
and interest, and gives a vivid impression of war as it was
fought then, including all its horrors and disasters.
In this translation I have not deviated from the gist of events,
but I have taken the liberty of making a variety of omissions and
emendations, with the aim of adding credibility to some of the
events, such as those noted above. I have also prefaced some of
his anecdotes, which he retails as fact, with the words "It is
believed that..." or something to that effect.
The campaigns can be followed by the use of a good atlas, but
unfortunately the many upheavals which Europe has undergone since
those days has resulted in many of the names of places being
changed. The curious reader may well find maps dealing with the
Napoleonic wars in any well stocked public library.
All translation requires some degree of paraphrase. What sounds
well in one language may sound ridiculous if translated literally
into another. I have endeavoured to produce a version of these
memoirs acceptable to the English-speaking reader, whether I have
succeeded or not only the reader can say.
Oliver C. Colt
THE MEMOIRS OF GENERAL THE BARON DE MARBOT.
Translated by Oliver C. Colt
Chap. 1.
I was born on the 18th August 1782 at my father's Chateau of
Lariviere, in the beautiful valley of Beaulieu, on the borders of
Limousin and Quercy--now the department of Correze--where my
father owned a considerable property.
The family of Marbot was of noble origin, although for a long
time they had not preceded their name by any title. To use a then
current expression, they lived nobly, that is to say on the
income from their estates, without engaging in any form of
employment. They were allied to and joined in the society of
several of the important families of the district.
I mention this because, at a time when the nobility were so
haughty and powerful, it shows that the family had a social
position of considerable standing.
My father was born in 1753. He had a rather fiery temperament,
but he was so good-hearted that, after a first outburst, he
always sought to make one forget any hasty words which he might
have uttered. He was a fine figure of a man, very tall and well
built, with handsome, manly features.
My grandfather had become a widower when my father was still at
school. His house was run by one of his elderly cousins, the
oldest of the demoiselles Oudinet of Beaulieu. She gave
unstinting care to my grandfather, who, having become almost
blind as a result of a flash of lightning, which had struck near
him, no longer went out of his manor. Thus my father, when he
reached manhood, faced by an infirm old man and an aunt devoted
to his least wishes, could have played fast and loose with the
family fortune. He did not, however, abuse his position, but as
he had a great fancy for a military career, he accepted a
proposal which was made to him by colonel the Marquis d'Estresse,
a neighbour and close friend of the family, which was to have him
enrolled in the bodyguard of the king, Louis XV.
Being under the auspices of the Marquis d'Estresse, he was
received in a number of houses; notably that of
lieutenant-general the Comte de Schomberg, the inspector-general
of cavalry, who, recognising my father's worth, had him posted to
his regiment of dragoons as captain, and took him as his
aide-de-camp.
On the death of my grandfather my father was still unmarried, and
his fortune, as well as his place in the Royal Bodyguard, put him
in a position to choose a wife, without the likelihood of being
refused.
There lived at that time, in the Chateau de Laval de Cere, about
a league from Lariviere, a family of noble rank but without much
money, named de Certain. The head of this house was stricken by
gout and so his affairs were managed by Madame de Certain, an
admirable woman, who came from the noble family of de Verdal, who
claim to have Saint Roch amongst the kinsfolk of their ancestors
on the distaff side, a Verdal, so they say, having married a
sister of the Saint at Montpellier. I do not know how much truth
there is in this claim, but before the Revolution of 1789, there
was, at the gateway of the old chateau of Gruniac, owned by the
de Verdals, a stone bench, which was greatly venerated by the
inhabitants of the nearby mountains, because, according to
tradition, St. Roch, when he came to visit his sister, used to
sit on this bench, from where one can view the countryside, which
one cannot do from the chateau, which is a sort of fortress of
the gloomiest kind.
The de Certains had three sons and a daughter, and as was the
custom at that time they added to their family name that of some
estate. Thus the eldest son was given the name Canrobert: this
eldest son was, at the time of which I write, Chevalier de St.
Louis and a captain in the infantry regiment of Penthievre; the
second son who was called de L'Isle was a lieutenant in the same
regiment; the third son, who had the surname La Coste served,
like my father, in the Royal Bodyguard; the daughter was called
Mlle. Du Puy,and she was my mother.
My father became a close friend of M. Certain de La Coste, and it
would have been difficult to do otherwise, for quite apart from
the three months which they spent in quarters at Versailles
during their period of duty, the journeys which they made
together, twice a year, were bound to make a bond between them.
At that time public coaches were very few in number, dirty,
uncomfortable, and travelled by very short stages; also it was
considered not at all fashionable to ride in them. So, gentry who
were old or in poor health travelled by carriage, while the young
and officers in the armed forces went on horseback. There was an
established custom among the Bodyguard, which today would seem
most peculiar. As these gentlemen did only three months on duty,
and as in consequence the corps was split into four almost equal
sections, those of them who lived in Brittany, the Auvergne,
Limousin and other parts of the country where there were good
small horses had bought a number of these at a price not
exceeding 100 francs, which included the saddle and bridle. On a
fixed day all the Bodyguards from the same province, who were
called to go and take up their duties, would meet, on horseback,
at an agreed spot and the cheerful caravanserai would take the
road for Versailles.
They made twelve to fifteen leagues each day, sure of finding
every evening, at an agreed and reasonable price, a good lodging
and a good supper at the inns previously arranged as stopping
places. They went happily on their way, talking, singing, putting
up with bad weather or heat as they did with accidents and
laughing at the stories which all, in turn, had to tell as they
rode along.
The group grew in size by the arrival of Bodyguards from the
provinces through which they passed until, at last, the various
parties arrived from all parts of France to enter Versailles on
the day on which their leave expired, and, in consequence, at the
moment of departure of those guards whom they had come to
relieve. Then each of these latter bought one of the ponies
brought by the new arrivals, for which they paid 100 francs, and
forming fresh groups they took to the road for their paternal
chateaux, where they turned the horses out to grass for nine
months, until they were taken back to Versailles and handed over
to other comrades-in-arms.
My father, then, was a close friend of M. Certain de La Coste,
who shared the same quarters and belonged, like him, to the
company de Noailles. On their return to the country they saw much
of each other, and he made the acquaintance of Mlle. Du Puy.
Mlle. Du Puy was pretty and high spirited, and although she would
have little in the way of dowry, and although several rich
matches were offered to my father, he preferred Mlle. Du Puy, and
he married her in 1776.
We were four brothers: the eldest Adolphe, myself the second,
Theodore the third and Felix the last. There was a gap of about
two years between our ages.
I was very sturdy and suffered only some minor illnesses, but
when I was about three, I had an accident which I can still
remember.
Because I had a rather turned-up nose and a round face, my father
called me "pussy-cat". It needed no more than this to give a
small child the desire to imitate a cat; so it was my greatest
pleasure to go about on all fours, mewing. I was also in the
habit of going up to the second floor of the chateau to join my
father in a library, where he spent the hottest hours of the day.
When he heard the "miaow" of his little cat, he came and opened
the door and gave me a picture-book to look at while he continued
his reading. These little sessions gave me infinite pleasure. One
day, however, my visit was not so well received as usual. My
father, perhaps absorbed in his book, did not open the door for
his little cat. In vain, I redoubled my "miaows" in the most
appealing tone which I could produce. The door remained closed.
Then I saw, at floor level, an opening called a cat-hole, which
is present in all the chateaux of the Midi, at the bottom of the
doors, to allow cats free access. This route seemed, naturally,
to be for me: I put my head through, but that was as far as I
could go. I then tried to withdraw my head, but my head was stuck
and I could go neither forward nor back, but I was so much
identified with my role as a cat that instead of speaking, to let
my father know my predicament, I "miaowed" at the top of my
voice, like a cat that is angry, and it appears that I did so in
such a natural tone that my father thought that I was playing,
but suddenly the "miaows" became weaker, and turned into crying
and you may imagine my father's concern when he realised what had
happened. It was only with great difficulty that I was freed and
carried, half unconscious, to my mother, who thinking I was
injured was much distressed.
A surgeon was sent for, who proceeded to bleed me, and the sight
of my own blood and the crowd of all the inhabitants of the
chateau, gathered about my mother and me, made such a vivid
impression on my young imagination that the event has remained
for ever fixed in my memory.
Chap. 2.
While my childhood was rolling by peacefully, the storm of
revolution which had been growling in the distance, drew ever
nearer, and it was not long before it broke. We were in 1789.
The assembly of the States General stirred up all manner of
passions, destroyed the tranquillity enjoyed by the province in
which we lived and introduced divisions into all families,
particularly into ours; for my father, who for a long time had
railed against the abuses to which France was subjected,
accepted, in principle, the improvements which were mooted,
without foreseeing the atrocities to which these changes were
going to lead; while his three brothers-in-law and all his
friends rejected any innovation. This gave rise to animated
discussions, of which I understood nothing, but which distressed
me because I saw my mother in tears as she tried to keep the
peace between her brothers and her husband. For my part, although
I did not understand what was going on, I naturally took sides
with my father.
The Constituent Assembly had revoked all feudal rents. My father
possessed some of these which his father had purchased. He was
the first to conform to the law. The peasantry who had been
waiting to make up their minds until my father gave them a lead,
refused to continue paying these rents once they knew what he had
done.
Shortly after this, France having been divided into departments,
my father was named administrator for the Correze and then a
member of the Legislative Assembly.
My mother's three brothers, and nearly all the nobility of the
county had hurriedly emigrated. War seemed to be imminent, so, to
persuade all citizens to take up arms, and also, perhaps, to find
out up to what point they could count on the populace, the
government arranged for the rumour to be spread throughout all
the communes of France, that the "Brigands" led by the emigres,
were coming to destroy all the new institutions. The tocsin was
rung by all the churches; everyone armed themselves with whatever
they could lay hands upon; a National Guard was organised; the
country turned into an armed camp while it waited for these
imaginary "Brigands" who, in every commune, were said to be in
the one next door. Nothing ever appeared, but the effect
remained: France found herself in arms and had shown that she was
prepared to defend herself.
We children were then alone in the country with our mother. This
alert, which was called "The day of fear" surprised me and would
probably have alarmed me, had I not seen my mother remain so
calm. I have always thought that my father had discreetly warned
her of what was about to happen.
All went well at first, without any excess on the part of the
peasants, who, in our part of the country, retained much respect
for the ancient families; but soon, stirred up by demagogues from
the towns, the country-dwellers invaded the houses of the nobles,
under the pretext of looking for hidden emigres, but in fact to
exact money and to seize the title deeds of feudal rents, which
they burned in a big bonfire. From the height of our terrace, we
saw these ruffians, torches in their hands, running towards the
Chateau d'Estresse, from which all the men had emigrated and
which was occupied only by women. These were my mother's best
friends, and so she was greatly upset by this spectacle. Her
anxiety was redoubled by the arrival of her own aged mother, who
had been driven out of her chateau, which was declared national
property because of the emigration of her three sons...!
Up until then, my father's property had been respected; largely
because his patriotism was known, and because, to give further
proof of it, he had taken service in the army of the Pyrenees as
captain in the Chasseurs des Montagnes, at the end of his term in
the legislative assembly. But the revolutionary torrent swept
over everyone; the house at St. Cere, which my father had bought
ten years before, was confiscated and declared national property
because the deed of sale had been signed privately and the seller
had emigrated before ratifying the deal before a notary. My
mother was given a few days to remove her linen, then the house
was put up for auction and was bought by the president of the
district who had himself arranged for its confiscation!
At last, the peasants, stirred up by some agitators from
Beaulieu, came in a body to my father's chateau and insisted,
though with some politeness, that they had to burn the deeds of
feudal rents which we still had, and make sure that emigres were
not concealed in the chateau.
My mother received them with fortitude, handed over the deeds and
pointed out to them that, knowing her brothers to be sensible
people, they should not suppose that they would emigrate only
then to come back to France and hide in her chateau.
They accepted the correctness of this line of reasoning, ate and
drank and having burned the deeds in the centre of the courtyard,
they left without doing any further damage, shouting "Long live
France and citizen Marbot!" And charging my mother to write to
him to say that they liked him very much and that his family was
quite safe among them.
In spite of this assurance, my mother felt that her position as
the sister of emigres might expose her to a great deal of
unpleasantness from which even her position as the wife of a
defender of the country would not protect her. She decided to go
away for the time being. She told me later that she took this
step because she was convinced that the revolutionary storm would
last only for some months. There were many people who thought
this!
My grandmother had had seven brothers, all of whom, as was usual
in the Verdal family had been soldiers and knights of St. Louis.
One of them, a former battalion commander in the infantry
regiment of Penthievre, had married, on retirement, the rich
widow of counsellor of the parliament of Rennes. My mother
decided to go and stay with her and was counting on taking me
with her, when I was smitten by a number of large and very
painful boils. It was impossible to travel with a child of eight
in such a state, and my mother was in great perplexity. She was
extricated by a worthy lady, Mlle. Mongalvi, who was much devoted
to her and whose memory will always be dear to me. Mlle.
Mongalvi lived at Turenne and ran boarding establishment for
young ladies of which my mother had been one of the first
occupants. She offered to take me into her house for the few
months of my mother's absence. My father's agreement having been
obtained, I left and was installed there. "What!" you may say, "A
boy amongst young ladies?" Well yes, but do not forget that I was
a quiet, peaceable, obedient child, and I was only eight years
old.
The boarders who stayed with Mlle. Mongalvi, where my mother had
once been one of them, were young persons of some sixteen to
twenty years of age; the youngest being at least fourteen, and
were sensible enough to let me mingle with them.
On my arrival, all this little feminine flock gathered about me
and received me with such cries of pleasure and warm caresses
that, from the first instant, I thought myself lucky to have made
this trip. I figured that it would not last long and I believe
that, secretly, I even regretted that I would have only a short
time to spend with these nice young ladies, who did everything to
please me and argued as to who was to hold my hand.
However, my mother left and went to stay with my uncle. Events
moved forward rapidly. The terror bathed France in blood. Civil
war broke, out in the Vendee and in Brittany. Travel there became
absolutely impossible, so that my mother, who had thought to
spend two or three months at Rennes, found herself stuck there
for several years.
My father continued on active service in the Pyrenees and in
Spain, where his ability and courage had raised him to the rank
of divisional general; while I, having gone as a boarder for a
few months, stayed for some four years, which were for me years
of much happiness, clouded only, from time to time, by the memory
of my parents; but the good Mlles. Mongalvi and their boarders
would then redouble their kindness, to dispel those thoughts
which now and then saddened me. I was spoiled beyond belief by
the mistresses and the boarders; I had only to wish for something
to obtain it. There was nothing too good or too fine for me. My
health recovered completely. I was clean and fresh, so they vied
with one another to cuddle me. During recreation, which took
place in a vast enclosure, where there was a fine garden, with
paddocks, vines and arbours, the young ladies would crown me and
garland me with flowers, then placing me on a little litter
covered with roses, they would take it in turns to carry me while
they sang. At other times I would play prisoners base with them,
having the privilege of always catching but never being caught.
They would read stories to me and sing songs. They competed to do
something for me.
I recall, that on hearing of the horrible execution of Louis XVI,
Mlle. Mongalvi had all the boarders on their knees, to recite
prayers for the repose of the soul of the unfortunate king. The
indiscretion of any one of us could have brought down disaster on
her head, but all the pupils were of an age to understand, and I
felt that it was something I should not talk about; so no one
knew anything about it. I stayed in this pleasant retreat until
November 1793.
Chap. 3.
When I was eleven and a half years old, my father was given
command of a camp which was set up at Toulouse. He took advantage
of a few days leave to come and see me and to arrange his
affairs, which he had not been able to do for several years. He
came to Turenne, to the house of one of his friends, and hurried
to my lodging. He was in the uniform of a general officer, with a
big sabre, his hair cut short and unpowdered and sporting an
enormous moustache, which was in remarkable contrast to the
costume in which I was used to seeing him when we lived
peacefully at Lariviere.
I have said that my father, in spite of his stern masculine
looks, was a kind man, and particularly toward children, whom he
adored. I saw him again with the keenest transports of delight,
and he overwhelmed me with caresses. He stayed for several days
at Turenne; he warmly thanked the good mesdames Mongalvi for the
truly maternal care they had taken of me; but when he asked me a
few questions, it was easy for him to see that though I had a
good knowledge of prayers and litanies and lots of hymns, my
remaining education was limited to some notions of history,
geography, and spelling. He considered also, that, being now in
my twelfth year, it was not possible to leave me in a boarding
establishment for young ladies, and that it was time to give me
an education which was more masculine and more extensive. He had
resolved therefore, to take me with him to Toulouse, to where he
had also brought Adolphe, and to place us both in the military
college of Soreze, the sole great establishment of this kind
which the revolutionary turmoil had left standing.
I left, after bidding a tender farewell to my young friends. We
headed for Cressensac, where we were joined by Captain Gault, my
father's aide-de-camp. While the coach was being got ready,
Spire, my father's old servant, who knew that his master intended
to travel day and night, made up packages of food.
At this moment a new spectacle was presented to me: a mobile
column, composed of gendarmes, national guards and volunteers,
entered the town of Cressensac with a band playing at its head. I
had never seen anything like it, and it seemed to me quite
superb, but I was unable to understand why, in the midst of all
these soldiers, there was a dozen coaches filled with old men,
women and children, all of whom looked extremely sad. This sight
infuriated my father. He drew back from the window and, striding
about with his aide-de-camp, whom he could trust, I heard him
burst out, "These miserable members of the convention have ruined
the revolution which could have done so much good. There you see
yet more innocent people who are being thrown into gaol because
they are landowners or are related to emigres; it is disgusting!"
Why, you may ask, did my father continue to serve a government
which he despised? It was because he thought that to confront the
enemies of France was honourable, but did not mean that the
military condoned the atrocities which the convention committed
in the interior of the country.
What my father had said, had interested me in the people in the
coaches. I gathered that they had been, that morning, seized from
their chateaux and were being led away to the prisons of
Souilhac. They were old men, women and children, and I was
wondering to myself how these frail people could present any
danger to the country, when I heard several of the children
asking for food. One lady begged a national guard to let her get
out to go and buy something to eat. He refused her, rudely, and
when the lady produced an "assignat" and pleaded with him to go
and buy some bread, he replied, "Do you take me for one of your
former lackeys?" This brutality angered me. I had noticed that
Spire had placed in the pockets of the coach, a number of
bread-rolls in the centre of which was a sausage; I took two of
these rolls, and drawing near to the coach holding the child
prisoners, I threw them in, when the guards were not looking. The
mothers and the children made signs to me of such gratitude that
I resolved to give food to all the other prisoners, and piece by
piece, I gave them all the provisions which Spire had made for
the two days journey to Toulouse, which we were about to make. We
left, at last, without Spire having any suspicion of the
distribution which I had just made. The little prisoners blew me
kisses and their parents waved to me; but no sooner were we some
hundred paces from the post-house than my father, who had been in
haste to get away from a spectacle which distressed him, and had
not wished to eat at the inn, felt hungry, and asked for the
provisions. Spire pointed to the pockets in which he had placed
them. My father and M. Gault rummaged through all the interior of
the coach, but found nothing. My father grew angry with Spire,
who from the height of his seat, swore by all the saints that he
had stuffed the coach with food for two days. I was somewhat
embarrassed; however, I did not want poor Spire to be blamed any
longer, so I admitted what I had done. I expected to be scolded
for acting without authority, but my father put his arm round me
in the most affectionate manner, and many years after he still
spoke with pleasure of my conduct on this occasion.
From Cressensac to Toulouse the road was full of volunteers,
going to join the army of the Pyrenees, and making the air ring
with patriotic songs. I was charmed by this bustling spectacle
and would have been happy had it not been for my physical
suffering. I had never made a long journey by coach before, and I
was sea-sick throughout the trip, which decided my father to stop
every night to allow me some repose. I arrived at Toulouse
feeling very tired, but the sight of my brother, from whom I had
been parted for four or five years, gave me so much joy that I
very soon recovered.
My father, with the rank of divisional general, commanding the
camp situated at Miral, close to Toulouse, was entitled to a
billet, and the municipality had assigned to him the fine town
house of Resseguier, whose owner had emigrated. Madame de
Resseguier and her son had retreated to the most distant rooms,
and my father gave orders that the strictest regard was to be
given to their unhappy position.
My father's house was much frequented. Every day there were
visitors, and he had a great deal of expense, for although at
that time a divisional general received eighteen rations of all
kinds, and his aides-de-camp a similar amount, it was not enough.
He had to buy a host of things and as the state gave to a general
officer what it gave to a sous-lieutenant, that is eight francs a
month in cash, the rest being made up in assignats, the value of
which diminished daily, and as my father was very generous,
entertained many of the officers from the camp, had numerous
domestic servants (at that time called servitors), had eighteen
horses, a coach, a box at the theatre etc...He spent the savings
which he had accumulated at Lariviere, and it was from the time
of his re-entry into military service that the decline of his
fortune began.
Although the "Terror" was now at its height and class distinction
was greatly weakened in France, from whence all good manners
seemed to have removed themselves forever, my father knew so well
how to impose them on the many officers who came to his quarters,
that the most perfect politeness ruled in his salon and at his
table.
Among the officers employed at the camp, my father had taken a
great liking to two, who were invited more often than the others.
One was named Augereau and was the adjutant-general, that is to
say colonel of the general staff, the other was Lannes, a
lieutenant of Grenadiers, in a battalion of volunteers from the
department of Gers.
They became Marshals of the Empire and I have been aide-de-camp
to both of them.
At this period Augereau, after escaping from the prison of the
Inquisition at Lisbon, had come to fight in the Vendee, where he
was noticed for his courage and his quality of leadership. He was
an excellent tactician, a skill which he had learned in Prussia,
where he had served for a considerable time in the Foot-guards of
Frederick the Great; hence his nick-name of "The Big Prussian."
He had an irreproachable military turn-out, spick and span,
curled and powdered, with a long pig-tail, big, highly polished
riding boots and withal, a very martial bearing. This smart
appearance was the more remarkable because, at this time it was
not something on which the French army could pride itself, being
almost entirely made up of volunteers not used to wearing uniform
and very careless of their grooming. However nobody made fun of
Augereau about this, for he was known to be a brave and
accomplished duelist, who had given even the celebrated
Saint-George, the finest swordsman in France, a run for his
money.
I have said that Augereau was a good tactician; because of this,
my father had appointed him to direct the training of the
battalions of new levees, of which the division was largely
composed. These men came from Limousin, Auvergne, the Basque
country, Quercy, Gers and Languedoc. Augereau trained them well,
and in so doing he was unaware that he was laying the foundations
of his own future fame, for these troops, which my father then
commanded, formed later the famous Augereau division which did
such fine things in the Pyrenees and in Italy.
Augereau came almost daily to my father's house, and seeing that
he was appreciated, he devoted to him a friendship which never
wavered and of which I felt the benefit after the death of my
mother.
As for Lieutenant Lannes, he was a very lively young Gascon,
intelligent and cheerful, without education or training but
anxious to learn at a time when no one else was. He became a very
good instructor, and since he was very vain, he accepted with the
greatest delight the praises which my father lavished on him, and
which he deserved. By way of recompense, he spoiled, as much as
he could, his general's children.
One fine morning, my father received the order to strike his camp
at Miral and to lead his division to join the army corps of
General Dugommier, which was laying siege to Toulon, which the
English had captured in a surprise attack. My father then said to
me that it was not in a school for young ladies that I would
learn what I needed to know; that I needed more serious studies
and in consequence he was taking me, the next day, to the
military college of Soreze, where he had already arranged a place
for me and my brother. I was thunderstruck! Never to go back to
my friends with the Mesdames Mongalvi? That seemed impossible!
The road was covered with troops and guns, which my father passed
in review at Castelnaudary. This spectacle, which a few days
earlier would have delighted me, now failed to lessen the anxiety
which I felt about the teachers in whose presence I was about to
find myself.
We stayed overnight at Castelnaudary, where my father learned of
the evacuation of Toulon by the English (18th Dec 1793), and was
ordered to go with his division, to the eastern Pyrenees.
Whereupon he decided to deposit us, the very next day, at Soreze,
to stay there for a few hours only, and to set off immediately
for Perpignon.
On leaving Castelnaudary, my father ordered the coach to stop at
a famous tree under which the Constable Montmorency had been
taken prisoner by the troops of Louis XIII, following the defeat
of the supporters of Gaston d'Orleans, who had rebelled against
his brother. He chatted about this event with his aides-de-camp,
and my brother-- who was already well informed--took part in the
conversation. As for me, I had only the vaguest notions of the
general history of France and knew nothing of the details. It was
the first time I had heard of the battle of Castelnaudary, of
Gaston, of his revolt and of the capture and execution of the
Constable de Montmorency. I realised that my father did not ask
me any question on the subject because he was quite certain that
I would be unable to reply. This made me feel ashamed, and I
concluded that my father was right in taking me to the college to
be educated. My regrets then changed into a resolution to learn
all that I needed to know.
Nevertheless, my heart sank at the sight of the high sombre walls
of the cloister in which I was to be enclosed. I was eleven years
and four months old when I entered this establishment.
Chap. 4.
I shall now give you a brief history of the college of Soreze, as
I had it from Dom Abal, a former vice principal, whom I saw often
in Paris during the Empire.
When, under Louis XV, it was resolved to clear the Jesuits out of
France, their defenders claimed that they alone knew how to
educate children. The Benedictines, sworn enemies of the Jesuits,
wished to prove that this was not so; but as it did not suit
them, although they were studious and learned, to turn themselves
into schoolmasters, they selected four of their houses to be
turned into colleges, among which was Soreze. There they placed
those members of the order who had the most aptitude for
teaching, and who could, after working for several years, retire
to other monasteries of the order. The new colleges prospered,
Soreze in particular stood out, and the crowd of pupils, who
hurried there from all parts, made a larger number of teachers
necessary. The Benedictines attracted there many learned laymen,
who established themselves, with their families, in the little
town in which the monastery was situated. The children of these
lay teachers, who attended the college free as day pupils,
formed, later, a nursery of masters of all the arts and sciences.
Eventually the ability to give lessons at a very reasonable cost
led to the setting up of several boarding houses for young
ladies, and the little town became remarkable in that its
citizens, even the simple merchants, had an extended education
and practised all the fine arts. A crowd of foreigners,
principally English, Spanish and American, came to stay there, in
order to be near their sons and daughters during their education.
The Benedictine order was, in general, made up of very easy-going
men; they mixed with the world and entertained often, so they
were well liked; something that was very useful to those at
Soreze when the revolution broke out.
The Principal at that time was Dom Despaulx, a man of the highest
integrity, but who, being unwilling to subscribe to the "civic
oath" then exacted from the clergy, retired and spent several
years in retreat, from where he was later called by the Emperor
to fill one of the highest positions in the university.
All the other Benedictines at Soreze took the oath: Dom Ferlus
became Principal and Dom Abal Vice-Principal, and the college, in
spite of the revolutionary upheavals, continued to operate,
following the excellent start which it had been given by Dom
Despaulx.
Later, however, a law having been passed requiring the
secularising of the monks and the sale of their property, the
days of the college seemed numbered; but many of the most
important men in the country had been educated there, and they
wanted it to be there for their children; the inhabitants of the
town, even the labourers and peasants, respected the good fathers
and realised that the destruction of the college would result in
the ruin of the area. So an arrangement was made whereby Dom
Ferlus would become the owner of the college and the immense
property which belonged to it. Nobody attended the auction, and
the Principal became, at a very modest price, the owner of the
huge monastery and the land which it owned. The administrators
of the department gave him plenty of time to pay. Everyone lent
him assignats which he repaid with some loads of wood; the vast
farms of the estate furnished food for the college and, lacking
money, Dom Ferlus paid the external teachers in provisions, which
suited them very well at a time when famine was rife in France.
On the death of Dom Ferlus, the college passed into the hands of
his brother Raymond Ferlus, a former Oration, now married, a
third-rate poet and man of little capacity. The college went into
decline when the restoration of 1814 allowed back the Jesuits,
who were determined to wreak revenge on the Benedictines by
destroying the edifice which the latter had erected on the ruins
of their order.
The university took sides with the Jesuits. M. Raymond Ferlus
handed over the college to his son-in-law, M. Bernard, a former
artillery officer who had been one of my contempories. He knew
nothing about running such an establishment, and, besides that, a
host of other good colleges sprang up as rivals, and Soreze,
losing its importance from day to day, became one of the most
mediocre institutions of learning.
I return now to the time when I was at Soreze. I have told you
how Dom Ferlus saved the college from ruin, and how, upheld by
the care of this enlightened man, it was the only great
establishment of its kind left standing by the revolution. The
monks adopted lay clothing and the appellation "Citizen" replaced
that of "Dom." Apart from that, nothing essential was changed in
the college and it continued to exist peacefully in a corner of
France, while the country was most cruelly being torn to pieces.
I say that nothing essential had changed because the studies
followed their usual course, and there was no breakdown of order,
but it was impossible that the feverish agitation which reigned
outside should not be felt in the college. I will say also that
Dom Ferlus, with diplomatic skill, presented the appearance of
approving of what he could not prevent. The walls therefore were
covered with Republican slogans. It was forbidden to use the word
"Monsieur". The pupils went to the dining hall or on walks,
singing the Marseillaise or other Republican hymns; and as they
heard continually of the achievements of our armies, in which
some of the older pupils were even enrolled as volunteers, and as
they were brought up in a military atmosphere, (since, even
before the revolution, Soreze was a military college, where one
learned drill, horse-riding, fortification, and so on), all this
youth had, for some time, adopted a warrior-like stance and
spirit which had led to a slackening of good manners. Added to
which the uniform contributed greatly to give them a very strange
aspect. The scholars wore big shoes, which were cleaned only
every ten days, stockings of grey thread, plain brown trousers
and jacket, no waistcoat, shirts undone, and covered with stains
of ink and red pencil, no tie, nothing on the head, the hair in a
pig-tail, often undone, and the hands....! Like those of a
coal-heaver.
Imagine me, clean, polished, dressed in clothes of fine cloth,
neat and tidy, thrown into the midst of seven hundred urchins,
got up as imps, and who, on hearing a shout of "Here are some new
ones!" left their games and came, in a mob to gather round us,
staring as if we were strange animals.
My father embraced us and left...! I was in a state of utter
despair! Here I was, alone, alone for the first time in my life,
my brother being in the upper school while I was in the lower. We
were in the middle of winter. It was very cold, but according to
school rules, the pupils were never allowed a fire!
Nevertheless, the pupils at Soreze were well fed, especially for
that time; for in spite of the famine which was sweeping France,
the good administration of Dom Ferlus provided an abundance of
food. The everyday fare was certainly all that could be desired
for school-children. However the supper seemed to me to be most
niggardly, and the sight of the dishes put before me disgusted
me: but had I been offered ortolans, I would not have been
tempted, my heart was so full. The meal finished as it had begun,
with a patriotic song. We knelt down at the couplet of the
Marseillaise which begins "Amour sacre de la patrie"...Then we
filed out, as we had come in, to the sound of a drum, and we went
to the dormitories.
The pupils of the upper school had each his own room, in which he
was shut in for the night; those of the lower school slept four
to a room, of which each angle contained a bed. I was put with
Guiraud, Romestan and Lagarde, who were my companions at table,
and almost as new as I was. I was quite happy with this. They had
seemed to me to be nice children, which, in fact, they were. But
I was taken aback when I saw the smallness of my bed, the
thinness of the mattress, and what displeased me most, the iron
bed-stead. I had never seen anything like it. However everything
was very clean, and in spite of my dismay I slept soundly, worn
out by the shocks to my system which I had suffered on this
fateful day.