SIGNED LETTER FROM GENERAL COUNT CHARLES ISIDORE DECAEN TO MARSHAL SOULT, following his appointment to command the Army of the Garonne, Périgueux April 3, 1814. 18906-27
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SIGNED LETTER FROM GENERAL COUNT CHARLES ISIDORE DECAEN TO MARSHAL SOULT, following his appointment to command the Army of the Garonne, Périgueux 3 April 1814. 18906-27
Set of two letters.
1 - Signed letter from General Count Charles Isidore Decaen to Marshal Soult, following his appointment to command the Army of the Garonne:
Excerpts:
"Périgueux, April 3, 1814. To His Excellency Mr. Marshal Duke of Dalmatia Lieutenant of the Emperor"
"...His Majesty the Emperor having entrusted me with the command of the Army of the Garonne, I hastened to depart to go to Libourne [...] where I was to find a column of 6,000 men who were supposed to arrive around the 29th and 31st of March; but instead of learning of the arrival of this column in Périgueux, I was informed that the enemy had occupied Libourne [...] What misfortunes! Marshal, since the time when I had the honor of writing to you from Catalonia. The most disastrous events are successively overwhelming us. [...] one of those we feared the most has occurred: the Prefect of Dordogne has just received by courier the terrible news that the capital has been in the hands of the enemy since March 31, after a fierce battle sustained at the gates (of Paris) by the Dukes of Trévise (Mortier) and Raguse (Marmont) and by the Compans Division. The emperor was arriving at Fontainebleau, after achieving successes, when the Russians entered Paris. My soul is torn apart [...].
3 pages 1/2. H 31 cm x 20 cm.
Good condition, some foxing and water damage.
2 - With the above letter is attached a copy of a letter "Certified conforming" by Count Decaen announcing his appointment by the Emperor, as announced by the Minister of War Clarke, to the command of this Garonne army, along with instructions and details of the troops under his command.
5 pages. H 31 cm x 20 cm.
Good condition, fold marks.
NOTES:
* Adolphe Édouard Casimir Joseph Mortier, Duke of Trévise, born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis on February 13, 1768, and died in Paris on July 28, 1835.
** Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, Duke of Raguse, Marshal of the Empire and Peer of France, was a French military leader born on July 20, 1774, in Châtillon-sur-Seine, and died on March 2, 1852, in Venice.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Charles-Mathieu-Isidore Decaen, or de Caen, was a French general of the Revolution and the Empire, born on April 13, 1769, in Caen and died on September 9, 1832, in Deuil-la-Barre.
Captain General of the Indies (1802-1810). [...] He returned to France around the middle of 1811, with his troops and the crews of his four frigates. That same year, he took over as the chief commander of the army in Catalonia [...] He was the governor of the 11th military division (Bordeaux) in 1815, at the time when the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême learned in Bordeaux of Napoleon's landing. Decaen behaved in this critical situation towards the Duchess, who alone remained in Bordeaux, with perfect propriety. He strove, but without success, to maintain royal authority there after Napoleon's landing. After the princess left, he received General Clauzel in the city, which later led to him enduring a fifteen-month captivity, after which he was placed on leave. He regained his freedom after a year but was left without employment. [...]
Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, born on March 29, 1769, in Saint-Amans-la-Bastide, now Saint-Amans-Soult (Tarn), where he died on November 26, 1851, was a Marshal of the Empire and French statesman.
[...] As soon as he learned of Napoleon's abdication, he enthusiastically rallied to the Bourbons. The government of the First Restoration appointed him governor of the 13th military division on June 21, 1814, then Minister of War from December 3, 1814, to March 11, 1815, a position he held when Napoleon landed from the island of Elba. [...]
Set of two letters.
1 - Signed letter from General Count Charles Isidore Decaen to Marshal Soult, following his appointment to command the Army of the Garonne:
Excerpts:
"Périgueux, April 3, 1814. To His Excellency Mr. Marshal Duke of Dalmatia Lieutenant of the Emperor"
"...His Majesty the Emperor having entrusted me with the command of the Army of the Garonne, I hastened to depart to go to Libourne [...] where I was to find a column of 6,000 men who were supposed to arrive around the 29th and 31st of March; but instead of learning of the arrival of this column in Périgueux, I was informed that the enemy had occupied Libourne [...] What misfortunes! Marshal, since the time when I had the honor of writing to you from Catalonia. The most disastrous events are successively overwhelming us. [...] one of those we feared the most has occurred: the Prefect of Dordogne has just received by courier the terrible news that the capital has been in the hands of the enemy since March 31, after a fierce battle sustained at the gates (of Paris) by the Dukes of Trévise (Mortier) and Raguse (Marmont) and by the Compans Division. The emperor was arriving at Fontainebleau, after achieving successes, when the Russians entered Paris. My soul is torn apart [...].
3 pages 1/2. H 31 cm x 20 cm.
Good condition, some foxing and water damage.
2 - With the above letter is attached a copy of a letter "Certified conforming" by Count Decaen announcing his appointment by the Emperor, as announced by the Minister of War Clarke, to the command of this Garonne army, along with instructions and details of the troops under his command.
5 pages. H 31 cm x 20 cm.
Good condition, fold marks.
NOTES:
* Adolphe Édouard Casimir Joseph Mortier, Duke of Trévise, born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis on February 13, 1768, and died in Paris on July 28, 1835.
** Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, Duke of Raguse, Marshal of the Empire and Peer of France, was a French military leader born on July 20, 1774, in Châtillon-sur-Seine, and died on March 2, 1852, in Venice.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Charles-Mathieu-Isidore Decaen, or de Caen, was a French general of the Revolution and the Empire, born on April 13, 1769, in Caen and died on September 9, 1832, in Deuil-la-Barre.
Captain General of the Indies (1802-1810). [...] He returned to France around the middle of 1811, with his troops and the crews of his four frigates. That same year, he took over as the chief commander of the army in Catalonia [...] He was the governor of the 11th military division (Bordeaux) in 1815, at the time when the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême learned in Bordeaux of Napoleon's landing. Decaen behaved in this critical situation towards the Duchess, who alone remained in Bordeaux, with perfect propriety. He strove, but without success, to maintain royal authority there after Napoleon's landing. After the princess left, he received General Clauzel in the city, which later led to him enduring a fifteen-month captivity, after which he was placed on leave. He regained his freedom after a year but was left without employment. [...]
Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, born on March 29, 1769, in Saint-Amans-la-Bastide, now Saint-Amans-Soult (Tarn), where he died on November 26, 1851, was a Marshal of the Empire and French statesman.
[...] As soon as he learned of Napoleon's abdication, he enthusiastically rallied to the Bourbons. The government of the First Restoration appointed him governor of the 13th military division on June 21, 1814, then Minister of War from December 3, 1814, to March 11, 1815, a position he held when Napoleon landed from the island of Elba. [...]
Reference :
18906-27
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