#Frignet Despréaux Vol.3

[isa-ko]

Mortier and Lefebvre!

I think the letters between Lefebvre and Mortier are fun to read because they’re both always so sweet to each other☺️ Here, Lefebvre has been absent for some time from the army due to a wound at Ostrach. Mortier had written a letter to Lefebvre about how it was going in his Brigadier General gig, and Lefebvre responds:

"Your news has given me infinite pleasure, my dear Mortier, please continue it for me; you feel how much they must interest me, especially in the position I find myself in. My arm, which at first was doing very well, is today in the most alarming state due to the ineptitude of a health officer who, however, in Paris, enjoyed a certain reputation..... I unfortunately gave him leave a little late and accepted Director Barras' doctor..... “

“Keep me informed of your operations; stay at the forefront if possible; Besides, I will always try to have you with me when I return to the army which, unfortunately, I do not foresee soon.”

(pp. 77-78)

Also, the author does mention Mortier’s sadness whenever a general he had been under leaves the army. Here, he writes to a General Ernouf (and also mentions Lefebvre):

"I learned with great regret of your departure from the army. Must we therefore give up the hope of seeing you there again with General Jourdan, your brave friend? You can, at least, count on the fact that our attachment and our esteem will follow you everywhere and that, in particular, the regrets that I feel about our separation are as sincere as the friendship that I have forever dedicated to you and to the others..... “

“If you see General Lefebvre, please tell him how much we want to see him again; I'm worried to know how he's doing; I have written to him several times and I have not received any news.”

(p. 81)

That was written in May 6 a few months after Lefebvre had written the previous above letter on April 23.

Also, later, Mortier wanted to return to the Rhine to be under Lefebvre’s orders. He requests to move to the Army of the Rhine, but Lefebvre then writes a very lovely letter to him:

"You know, my dear Mortier, that ambition has never tormented me; I made my principles known to you and I would have thought I was failing them by accepting command of the Army of the Rhine.”

"I know how to appreciate the wish you form to serve with me; I love you and esteem you too much not to participate in everything that depends on me and I hope to succeed in bringing about our reunion as soon as the bad consequences of my injury allow me to return to service. In the meantime, give me your news more often; tell me, above all, something about your operations and the state of the army. “

So Lefebvre hadn’t yet taken command of the Army of the Rhine. Mortier responds with another affectionate letter☺️

"I received your good news on Thermidor 13; they would have been even more pleasant if you had been able to tell me of your complete recovery; However, the hope you gave me of your soon return to the army has revived the hope I have always had of returning under your orders; you are kind enough to promise me this and I make the most ardent wishes so that this much desired meeting can take place when the Army of the Rhine takes action. It is generally believed that you will return with Minister Bernadotte. The soldier is already feeling the effects of his work at the Ministry of War; It was time that his needs were finally taken care of.”

(p. 100)

And finally, here is a letter between the two later, when Lefebvre has better health and now commands the 17th military division in Paris. He sent Mortier this letter:

"I accept with great pleasure, my dear General, the offer that you gave me from Souvarow's car. So please, please, send it to me..... I think it won't be long before you cross the Rhine; this time we must succeed and take up our winter quarters in Swabia, Franconia and Bavaria; So keep me informed of your operations, they will become very interesting; but above all, always be convinced that nothing can diminish the sincere esteem and friendship that General Lefebvre will always have for you. “

“P.S. I always think, my dear Mortier, of bringing you closer to me. I had requested for you the command of the place of Paris, then that of Mainz; I was promised both, but your services have probably since been judged to be more useful to the army. However, I have not forgotten you and, certainly, you will still serve with me and as soon as possible.”

(p. 155-156)

And it does come true later! Mortier will eventually come to France and take command of the 17th military division from Lefebvre.

Frignet-Despréaux (colonel). Le Maréchal Mortier: Duc de Trévise. Par son petit-neveu Frignet Despréaux, Vol. III, Berger-Levrault, 1914. pp. 77-156.

Source

[isa-ko]

Mortier and Oats

Throughout 1797-1798, Mortier would be a Brigade Leader under General d’Hautpoul, who was Division General of the 23rd Cavalry. At this point, the 23rd Cavalry is headquartered at Guelders. They must prepare horses to cross the Rhine, but they struggle to get help from civil authorities in Guelders. Here, Mortier writes to the president of the administration of Guelders the day before departing:

"I am waiting in vain since this morning, citizen, may it please you to deliver to the horses of the company which is here, the oats which are due to it. They can do without it all the less since, setting out tomorrow for the crossing of the Rhine, it is essential that they have their full rations. I therefore make you responsible, citizen, for the lack of this service and declare to you that if within one hour, the oats which are due to it are not delivered, you will force me to use the rigorous means that l am authorized to take to obtain it. It is a fact that horses cannot do without eating. Hello and brotherhood. Ed MORTIER.”

Idk, this just seems like a rare angry Mortier moment. And it’s apparently about oats.

Frignet-Despréaux (colonel). Le Maréchal Mortier: Duc de Trévise. Par son petit-neveu Frignet Despréaux, Vol. III, Berger-Levrault, 1914. p. 21.

Source

[isa-ko]

Mortier and Anne-Ève Himmés

On Jan. 25, 1799, Mortier and Miss Anne-Ève Himmés married in Coblentz. They would have a happy marriage with six children. Despréaux doesn’t say much else about them, but he does mention a letter that a friend of Mortier wrote to him, after Mortier left only 3 days later, about their marriage later on:

"It would be desirable that the military circumstances bring you closer to this stay or others that, even more favorable, reunite you forever with the object of your tender affections; you deserve in all respects this predilection of fate, which often delights in mistreating those who have the most right to claim its favors:

moreover, my dear Mortier, this is the wish that I form with the best of my heart and which I will not see realized without taking a sincere part in your satisfaction and your happiness. Miss E... [Anne-Ève] only supports the torments of absence because she sees that she will soon be compensated by the complete fulfillment of your mutual desires. May I here pay tribute to her merit and her excellent qualities by admitting, without causing you any offence, that the more I know her, the more I must congratulate you on your choice. You are very insightful, since four years ago you had a presentiment of what it would be: this is an advantage that you do not owe to love, because it always blinds in such circumstances:

you must therefore not fear that the charm will cease nor that the seductive illusion will give way to a truth, whose distorted features, made sensitive by time, would have something painful and distressing for you; your feeling, pure like the object that inspires it, is regulated by reason and justified by esteem and virtue; it will give you constant and lasting happiness and l ask you to remember me sometimes when you undergo this kind test.”

Frignet-Despréaux (colonel). Le Maréchal Mortier: Duc de Trévise. Par son petit-neveu Frignet Despréaux, Vol. III, Berger-Levrault, 1914. p. 45.

Source

[isa-ko]

Soult and Mortier Correspondence (Part 2)

This is part two to this post.

So now the year is 1800. At this point, Mortier had been originally called to go to the Army of Italy, where Soult and Masséna were, but that ended up not happening. Instead, the First Consul decided to put him in command of the 17th division in Paris. This is where Soult and Mortier start writing to each other updates on random things…like pen pals! Yay!

This first one is the beginning of Mortier’s fangirling on Bonaparte.

To Soult, who had served with him, under Lefebvre, in the vanguard division of the army of Sambre-et-Meuse and who, second in command under Masséna at Genoa, had his leg shattered and had remained in the power of the enemy, he wrote, in Alexandria, on August 3: "We are finally approaching the end of this deplorable war! A strong, just and regenerative Government will allow us to enjoy a peace which will spread over our ills the consoling balm that we would have long sought under the domination of the Directory and the yoke of the two Councils. It is to Bonaparte, my dear General, that we will owe the enjoyment of true freedom and the maintenance of our Republic, because, believe it, without 18 Brumaire, France was heading towards total dissolution. God knows what we would have become by now! the revolutionary and surveillance committees were going, once again, to work vigorously on the mass of blood; the very idea of it makes me shudder..."

Next, here is a letter of Mortier updating Soult on the burial for Kleber and Desaix. I also read that apparently Mortier and Kleber were pretty close too.

As for Kleber's death, it was not known in France until two and a half months later; it was Mortier who confirmed it in Soult on September 9: "Your intentions have been fulfilled, my dear General, and I have subscribed, in your name, for the monument to be erected in the memory of General Desaix. Today we have new tears to shed and it is Kleber who makes them flow! The all too unfortunate certainty of its tragic end has reached the Government; you will have learned the details from the papers. The Consuls have just decided that a monument would be erected in his memory and that of Desaix, on the Place des Victoires; these two great men died on the same day (25 prairial), at the same time and in the same quarter of an hour.”

Because Mortier was in Paris, he was able to talk more directly to Napoleon in favor for his friends. I’ll do another post where he just sends a bunch of letters to past comrades asking them to give him errands😭💖 HE’S SO SWEET. Of course, he asks Soult if he needed anything as well.

He was informed, on August 8, to General Soult, who was recovering from his wound in Alexandria, that he saw the minister for his patent, which was sent to him but did not reach him; he requested that a duplicate be made. "I have often spoken about you to the First Consul; I assure you that he esteems you infinitely and values your military talents in the highest regard. It was he who, on his return from Italy, assured me that we had the hope of seeing you soon recovered... I am going to request your exchange (if it has not already been done) for Lieutenant General Spork.”

While waiting for this exchange, Brune entrusted Soult with the higher command of all of Piedmont, as the latter, from Turin, wrote to Mortier, on September 25. Soult's correspondence, with Mortier, who deals with different things he asks of him (among others, the exchange of his brother Jean-François Soult, taken by the English, the previous month of Germinal, on board the privateer L'Heureux, from Bordeaux, where he served as first lieutenant), is frequent; on December 9, Mortier wrote: "The First Consul, my dear General, has just assured me that you were exchanged for Mr. de Zaag; he will use your talents in the army of Italy. I think I can assure you that he thinks highly of you; ….”

This next one involves one of the assassination attempts on Napoleon and mutual hate for Britain.

Despite the fear that such expeditious justice should have inspired, the year 1800 was not to end without a new plot against the First Consul who escaped by miracle, on December 24 (3 Nivôse), from the explosion of the infernal machine on rue Saint-Nicaise.

December 25, Mortier wrote to Soult: "We owe to the good fortune of the First Consul the happiness with which he has just escaped an unprecedented attack and the details of which make one shudder with horror! Scoundrels had placed in his path a small cart (or a cabriolet, because all that remains as a vestige are two half-burnt hubs) loaded with one or two barrels of powder and placed on Rue Nicaise; when he passed there yesterday, around 7:30 in the evening, on his way to the Opera, fire was set to this powder which, with its explosion, blew up the entire neighborhood. The First Consul's car was going very fast, all the windows were broken; the car even rose from the ground and, undoubtedly by a miracle, the First Consul nor any of those who were with him were injured! Ah! You would have had to be on the scene to understand this scene of horror, the degree of sadness and indignation that everyone feels and, in the middle of all this, to hear yourself say he is not saved. There is no harm, what thanks we have to give to the Supreme Being who preserved it for us! No, it is not possible that such a project was designed by the French; it came out of British hell, it won't be taken out of my mind. The First Consul, cold and calm in the midst of all this, only showed sorrow for the unfortunate people who were victims of the explosion; Unfortunately, there were around thirty of them, both killed and wounded. The indignation is general and we have never felt better how many tears the whole of France would have to shed if it were to lose Bonaparte.”

The response that Soult, commander in Piedmont, addressed to Mortier from his headquarters in Turin, on January 4, 1801, testifies to the same feelings of extreme indignation against the crime and enthusiasm for the First Consul: "Hell alone is not capable, my dear Mortier, of giving birth to a project as atrocious as that which was carried out on the 3rd of Nivôse in Paris; there is more villainy here than all the evil geniuses since the creation of the world have imagined. Will we ever believe that at the end of the eighteenth century, in the middle of the capital of a triumphant and civilized Republic, a few unfortunate people, seduced by foreign gold, wanted to dig the volcano which, in its eruption, was to bury a considerable population and a victorious hero in different parts of the world, the one who saved his homeland, the one who wants to make it enjoy the benefits of peace, the one finally who, in other times, would have been brought to the rank of the demigods.... You who sometimes approach the First Consul, lead him to take more precautions; he owes his preservation not only to France but to all of humanity. Be close to him my organ and assure him of all the joy that your friend feels at seeing our first captain and our first magistrate saved by a miracle from the eminent danger he ran.”

*internally screaming* AAAAA … Soult calling Mortier his organ ANYWAYSY😭😭🥺

Ok, there’s a few more letters I want to add but this post is getting long again, so I’ll do a Part 3.

[isa-ko]

Soult and Mortier Correspondence (Part 3)

This is Part 3 to this post.

The year is now 1801. Soult is still in Italy and Mortier is still in Paris. Here, Soult talks to Mortier about France’s situation at the time and Italy.

The letter below that Lieutenant-General Soult, commander in Piedmont, addressed to Mortier on January 12, from his headquarters in Turin, summarizes the situation at the beginning of 1801: "The English, my dear Mortier, appear, for the moment, fallen from their hopes and, despite their gold, their intrigues and all their kinds of corruption, peace will be made without their help or their participation; we are no longer allowed to doubt that, soon, this great work will be finished; the reported victories of the armies, the armistice concluded by General Moreau, the pledges that the enemies give us, everything gives us assurance and we will owe this precious benefit to the First Consul. What a difference from the current situation of the Republic to that in which we were eighteen months ago! Everything that happened during this short space of time surpasses the dreams of the imagination; the genius of this great man alone brought about this metamorphosis.”

“I believe the army of Italy is on the Piave and probably it will push as far as the Tagliamento; since the battle of Mincio, the enemies have held nowhere; they must have made proposals, but they are not yet known to me. General Murat, with his observation corps, marches on Ancona; It is said that the Neapolitans landed in Livorno and forced our troops to confine themselves in the forts. If this is true, there could well be an expedition to Naples. The English are also on the landing..... If some expedition to Naples takes place, I frankly admit that I would be jealous to command it.... What will we do with this country? The uncertainty is difficult to bear for the inhabitants and the factions which, in all directions, torment it, are beginning to agitate it very strongly. Without the vigor of the various measures that I have taken and that I am obliged to take at every moment, the storm would have already broken..... I kiss you.”

Here Soult and Mortier talk about more problems with the English. I just like the names that Mortier and Soult both call them, “those islanders!”

The London negotiations had dragged on; the formal declaration that France would never concede Malta had made a great impression and the English government had finally declared that it was willing to renounce it on condition that the island would be returned to the Order of Saint John, at large control of which the new emperor of Russia, Alexander, had, upon his accession, declared to renounce. But England asked in exchange for the island of Trinity, a Spanish colony that the First Consul did not want to cede. At the end of July, there was great excitement on both sides of the strait. On July 31, Mortier wrote to Soult: "The preparations against England are being made with great activity; may this expedition succeed and may we, by lowering, among these proud islanders, their arrogant arrogance, punish them for all the evils they have heaped on our country!”

Soult, from Taranto, replied to him on September 6: "We make very ardent wishes that the expedition which seems to be being prepared against England will succeed. May they be punished for their arrogance, these intractable islanders; this is what all French people must desire; They behave, in these seas, like real pirates.”

Google translate probably acted up here but Mortier saying the English have “arrogant arrogance” is a little silly.

Here is the last letter I want to show. This is my favorite one because it’s too sweet. Soult gets a promotion without knowing and Mortier is just so happy for him.

On March 5, 1802, Soult, commanding French troops in the Kingdom of Naples, was named "one of the four generals commanding the Guard of Consuls.” The following two letters show how strong was the friendship which united him with Mortier, his former comrade-in-arms in the armies of Sambre-et-Meuse and the Danube. On March 9, Soult, still unaware of his appointment, wrote to Mortier from his headquarters in Taranto: "It is impossible for me, my dear General, to imitate you; I cannot help writing to you, such is the effect of friendship. I had thought at first that we would have evacuated the States of Naples earlier and that, taking advantage of this movement, I would have been able to obtain permission to go to Paris, but it appears that this arrangement is still postponed; believe, my dear Mortier, that when it is put into execution, my first care will be to come to the capital where I will have the satisfaction of kissing you and assuring you, in person, of the friendship I have for you..."

But the evacuation of the kingdom of Naples had been ordered and Mortier sent his response to Milan on April 21, where he thought Soult would pass on his way to Paris: "This is what has made me postpone, for some time, satisfying the very pressing desire of my heart by showing you the very sensitive part that I took in the appointment of the new post that you are to occupy near the person of the First Consul. This mark of confidence, my dear Soult, proves to you how much this illustrious man knows how to appreciate the services and talents of a general who, like you, has a right to his esteem. You are expected by your new comrades; I can assure you that everyone will see you with pleasure; for me, it is very pleasant to be able to tell them about you everything that a frank and sincere friendship inspires in me..."

I just picture Mortier shaking with excitement to tell Soult he got a higher post after he finally left Naples XD

Ok, that is all the correspondence between them that I want to show for now. I’ll just go cry over in the corner about how sweet their friendship letters were to each other until next time, thanks.

[isa-ko]

Soult and Mortier Correspondence (Part 1)

I’ve been reading a biography on Mortier written by his great nephew Frignet Despréaux. It contains letters written to and from him, including lots with his pen pal Soult. I wanted to post some of my favorite ones between them for my own recording purposes and because yes

(Also, it’s all originally in French, so I’ve been using Google Translate which can have weird wording and mistakes 🙏)

The first major chunks of correspondence begins when Mortier joins the Army of the Danube in Switzerland in 1799 as a Brigade General under Division General Soult for the 3rd division. They were already good friends by this time.

On Prairial 30 (June 18), Mortier puts it in his Notes, "I slept in Birmensdorf, at Soult headquarters. On the 1st Messidor (June 19), I went to Stallikon to take command of the right brigade of the 3rd division, made up of the 1st and 23rd line and the 1st dragoon regiment.” We read in the changes of the Historical Bulletin of June 18, of this 3rd division commanded by Soult: "Brigadier General Mortier arrived at the division on Prairial 30 (June 18); he replaced brigade leader Quétard, who was serving as brigadier general and who moved to the 2nd division.” We also find the arrival at the division, on June 10, of Captain Franceschi, Soult's aide-de-camp; Pierre Soult, his brother's aide-de-camp, taken prisoner on June 4, was exchanged shortly after.

This next one involves more correspondence of Mortier following Soult’s command with a litte disagreement.

Mortier carried out the prescribed reconnaissance on the same day and reported to Soult: "I did not find the front of the line at Rifferschwyl; according to the order of General Chabran, a battalion of this half-brigade bivouacked in front of Sihlbrück near Hirzel, four companies to the left and in front of Sihlbrück, the other four companies behind this village and the Sihl; the half-brigade which occupied these positions having moved up the lake, it was replaced by the 1st of the line. General Chabran had Langnau and Horgen occupied; he pushes patrols as far as Thalwyl and Kilchberg. I believe that by having Adlischwyl occupied by a strong post, the aim of the general in chief would also be fulfilled, since the enemy would not be able to carry his reconnaissance beyond Kilchberg; Do you not believe, on the contrary, that by establishing troops in this last place, they would be a little adventurous? ....” Soult replied to Mortier in the evening: "I do not believe that the intentions of the general in chief will be fulfilled if we limit ourselves to occupying Adlischwyl; it is necessary to take the post to Kilchberg. I will have the pleasure of seeing you tomorrow morning and we will agree together on its establishment without it being compromised.”

Then, changes on which division Soult would command happened. He switches from 3rd to 4th division (and mortier follows), but then later has to change back as read here. This causes Mortier to take on an entire division by himself!

On August 26, Mortier was designated by Massena to take command of the 4th division. Rheinwald wrote to him, through Soult: "General Soult having orders to take provisional command of the 3rd division, the general in chief has intended you, Citizen General, to take provisional command of the 4th division until the return of General Soult from whom I invite you to immediately take instructions relating to your new command. The intention of the general in chief is that you correspond with General Soult on everything that concerns your command.”

And Mortier definitely followed that apparently too much because Soult later writes this.

The day before, from Lachen, Soult had written to Mortier: "By passing through me the reports which must go to the general in chief, we are losing precious time. The good of the service seems to me to require that you do them directly, then notifying me. I ask you to follow this course from now on, and until General Masséna has relieved me of the command of one of the two divisions which it is impossible for me to retain due to the extent they cover.”

And so Mortier responds with... reporting to Soult. He even writes this at the beginning of the letter.

In accordance with these prescriptions, Mortier, at the moment when he received the above order from Masséna, wrote to him [Soult]: "General Soult, with whom I have the order to correspond, being very distant, I will have the honor to inform you directly, my General, when something new happens on the line of my posts….”

Next, here is a letter Soult sent to Mortier on New Years according to the French Republican calender.

On September 23, Soult wrote to him: "You can, my dear Comrade, give command of the right brigade of your division to General Drouet; however this arrangement can only be provisional and only to avoid the displacement of General Brunet to whom I think that you will give his rank to the right as soon as you can do so; soon the movements that the division will make will give you the power to do so. For a Happy New Year, I ask you for the continuation of your friendship.”

Later, Mortier gives back the 4th division to Soult and returns under him as Brigade General. Soult then writes to Mortier…

"I warn you that I am going to Zurich at this moment, according to the invitation made to me by the general in chief. On my return, I will go directly to join you in Mels.... I greet you friendly while waiting for the pleasure of seeing you, which will be after tomorrow morning at the latest.”

He [Mortier] had written on October 11 to Brunet: "I am expecting General Soult tomorrow; It will be very pleasant for me, by giving him back command of his division, to see us once again reunited.”

Uh. I just want to put this next one here because even though Mortier’s no longer commanding a whole division, his name was still listed in the general order along with Soult for the 3rd division :3

Masséna issued, on November 4, the general order of the army: "The general in chief hastened to announce to the army that the 2nd and 3rd divisions, commanded by generals Loison, Soult and Mortier, took 400 prisoners and took 2 pieces of cannon from the enemy on the day of the 9th of this month (October 31) on the border of Grisons.”

Ok, this is the last one. Basically, Soult later has to leave the Army of the Danube for that in Italy and he sends Mortier a sad byebye note :(

Soult informed Mortier, on December 17, that he had received a letter of advice announcing to him that he had to surrender to the army of Italy: "I admit to you that it is with the greatest regret that I leave this army; the familiarity I had with the theater in which we have been waging war for eight years had familiarized me with the most difficult localities; the banks of the Rhine had charms for me that I very much doubt I would find on the Apennines and on the banks of the Mediterranean: new country, new faces, new climate to study, what's new! I think all this will be new to me for a long time.”

“I am infinitely sensitive to the expressions of friendship that you give me; believe that, on my side, this feeling is at least as great. I move away from you with difficulty and will form wishes as ardent as they are sincere for our speedy reunion; but, while waiting for it to take place, my mind will often cross the space which will separate us to return in idea to you.”

We will see later that Masséna successively obtained the passage to the Army of Italy of a certain number of generals of the Army of the Danube, among whom Mortier was included on February 16, 1800. Moreau complains about this to the First Consul, January 2: "General Masséna takes almost all the generals from here and, as you think, he does not take the worst ones.”

Aaaa! There is more, but I have a headache so I’ll add them in part 2 later

[isa-ko]

Masterpost

Hi! My name’s Issa! Or Isa, whichever. This is just another fun blog for Napoleonic Wars (and FRev sometimes) interests and reblogs. I also love drawing and stupid humour, so I post Napoleonic (mostly French marshals) sillies sometimes.

Other things I like… ocs, animatics!, (horror) video games, MOTHER series, ✨💖ONE PIECE 💖✨, and info dumps bc I’m stupidly awkward/quiet but like to lurk listen to talks abt brainrots/blorbos >:DDD

I also have two oc stories! One of which i won’t post abt bc it’s not napoleonic but both of which i’d love to talk abt if asked (im oc-hyperfocused)

Cockroach: in a Philippines-inspired setting abt an ex-drug addict who attends a school reunion but gets roped into a murder party instead

1789-1815: in FRev/Nap wars era kind of abt a veryvery sad man who survives through a lot and records his experience as well as those of others in a book

————————————————————————————————

Some Tags

#my art - Wacky

#eye twitches - Rare screaming at the void

#my ocs - The reason for my feeble existence

#Mortier biography - Badly Google translated Mortar appreciation galore taken from the Google Books version

Frignet Despréaux Vol 1

Frignet Despréaux Vol 2 (haven’t found it yet)

Frignet Despréaux Vol 3