#general desaix

[senechalum]

I believe someone asked for Desaix, right ?? (I didn't even realise it took great inspiration from the last Arno drawing I rebloged from refinedstorage, but I took this https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/356839970494576408/ as my reference and not their drawing but maybe bc I saw it it inspired me too aaaaaa !!!) edit 2 : (there's way too many coincidences, might delete this drawing bc I'm a bit ashamed and feel like I plagiarised someone) edit 3 : (changed some tiny tiny things, + a red part I missed being so tired..

[generaldesaix]

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Please take a seat and pardon the modest interior.

My name is Louis Charles Antoine Desaix de Veygoux. I’m much more than the “Hero of Marengo”. Single Pringle but always ready to mingle (wink). The army is my second family. I am noble, but also a Republican.

I have stories aplenty about my comrades, the campaigns and even Bonaparte himself. So please, do not hesitate to ask me questions about anything and everything.

Yes, I actually do have a mustache. It sort of grew on me. Get it?

My friends are @trauma-and-truffles , @your-staff-wizard , @your-dandy-king , @armagnac-army , @chicksncash and many others. Too many to list here, I fear.

(This blog is a joke RP by @usergreenpixel . I also play @carolinemurat .)

[illustratus]

The Battle of Marengo (details) by Louis-François Lejeune

[empirearchives]

I’m not 100% sure who this is, but I think it’s Desaix.

[davidnmarat]

Heh. I apreciate that both of you believe in my ability to destroy that corsican connard.

I still have to find him... Or at least, one of his versions.

Oh yes!!

While it pains me in the heart, as I feel utter admiration for both of them, It really peaked my curiousity on how such and exchange would go!

Guys I desperately need to know.

Put these two in a room, who would come out crying first…

[usergreenpixel]

MALMAISON MEDIA SALON SOIRÉE 14: AT ABOUKIR AND ACRE (1898)

1. The Introduction

Hello, Dear Neighbors, and welcome back to Malmaison Media Salon. So, as I’ve said before, today we’re going to talk about a book by G. A. Henty, one of my archenemies!

Why archenemy?

That’s just how I label authors whose shit I reviewed before. Henty’s “wonderful” book about Frev left a bad taste in my mouth for a long time, so I was understandably mistrustful of any other piece of his.

However, after finding out he has one more Frev book AND several Napoleonic ones and this one (About the Egyptian Campaign, between the two eras), I had to make another review in spite of my lower than six feet expectations. So I went on Project Gutenberg to download the ebook for free. That’s where you can get it by the way.

But hey, maybe this book is better than the one I reviewed before. It’s always a possibility, right? The short answer is no. The long answer is not at all.

For an even longer answer, let us finally proceed with the review, which I dedicate to @koda-friedrich , @blackwidowmarshal123 and @aminoscribbles .

2. The Summary

As you might guess from the title, the book is set during the Egyptian campaign and, in classic Henty fashion, has a young English boy as the protagonist.

Edgar Blagrove, the boy in question, is a son of an English merchant who is left behind in Egypt during the war, so the book follows his adventures as he’s trying to survive, reunite with his family and have adventures along the way (as you do).

Even though Henty’s books are targeted at young boys, the premise sounds like something that I would actually enjoy, but I didn’t.

Let’s dissect this book to find out just how bad it gets, shall we?

3. The Story

The beginning isn’t so great. At first the opening scene promises some action, yet the immersion is broken like glass a couple of pages in with heaps upon heaps of Edgar’s backstory. Nice job, Henty…

Luckily, it’s the only time an extensive flashback like this is used, but the pacing can get about as fast as snail because often pieces of information get repeated in dialogues when nothing bad would’ve happened if the author avoided said repetition.

Moreover, while in the first half or so of the story the hero’s ways of getting out of problems stay realistic and justifiable, the second half has Edgar cross so far into Mary Sue territory that he may as well be called Gary Stu.

(Spoilers ahead)

This kid gets hired by SIDNEY FUCKING SMITH as a midshipman and interpreter. I’m not kidding, that’s an actual plot point!

Let me repeat: A kid who DID NOT previously serve in the navy is made midshipman and interpreter by SIDNEY SMITH, who meets said kid by pure coincidence! And only the interpreter part is justified, since Edgar was educated in several languages from a young age and learned the mother tongues of servants and citizens of Cairo too.

That, in all honesty, was the point where I just lost what little investment I had because it just became too apparent that everything will be fine and Edgar will have a happy ending.

4. The Characters

Before crossing the Gary Stu threshold, Edgar actually had potential to be a good character.

He is a reckless kid who was so bored with his monotonous life in Cairo that he wanted to see the English kick the French in the ass.

He cares about his friends, is kind and ready to help his loved ones and sometimes makes risky decisions.

But then he just becomes somebody who is always right and he gets too perfect. So all the potential goes down the drain like a dead goldfish. Hooray…

Sidi, an Arab boy Edgar rescues in the beginning of the story, is a bit more interesting, mainly due to his dynamic with Edgar as basically adopted brothers. He and his family provide Edgar with shelter in their oasis and help him out in a time of need too. Unfortunately, Sidi is a bit of a flat character for someone who gets a pretty major role in the story, but Henty isn’t too good with characters anyway.

Other characters are flat too. To various degrees. Unfortunately, that’s all I can say because there’s a ton of characters.

However, English officers like Nelson and Sidney Smith are whitewashed and glorified to no end. Henty loves sucking the dick of English nationalism, but I already saw that in my other review so no surprise there.

As for the French side of things… I was genuinely surprised that Napoleon was NOT portrayed as Devil Incarnate and it’s mentioned that he does care about his troops.

Many historical figures are name dropped but don’t appear in person, such as Kleber, Desaix, Junot, Menou, etc. Personally, I’m glad they don’t get a cameo in person for several reasons:

A) the book isn’t about them

B) it would be too unrealistic for Edgar to meet those people

C) after the atrocious portrayal of Montagnards, I DO NOT trust Henty with accuracy when it comes to French Republican generals

Eugene de Beauharnais is omitted once again, even though I’m pretty sure he participated in that campaign. Oh well, shout-out to Eugene from me!

5. The Setting

Henty is, once again, bad with settings and his descriptions are, at times, too minimalistic.

I didn’t feel the action in battle scenes, I couldn’t envision the oasis, the streets of Cairo or any other settings. There’s just not enough to achieve immersion.

6. The Writing

The writing is old fashioned, as it was a book written in the 19th century, but for people who are fluent in English there shouldn’t be a lot of issues with comprehending the vocabulary, except maybe all the naval terms that have no definitions given. Grrr…

I can’t necessarily call Henty’s writing awful, but it’s not for me so it didn’t help my overall impression of the book.

7. The Conclusion

Even though it’s not as bad as “In the Reign of Terror” was, it’s still not a book I would recommend and the improvements are insignificant.

Most characters are still flat, the annoying nationalism has still reared its head, the pacing is longer than the Amazon River and the protagonist becomes a Gary Stu in the end.

The verdict? Please find something else to read.

Anyway, the soirée is officially coming to an end. Please stay tuned because more updates are coming soon.

Love,

Citizen Green Pixel

[armagnac-army]

OOC: The Napoleonic Askblog/Roleplay Scene Directory

Here's an Out Of Character post listing the blogs I'm aware of in the Napoleonic RPF Roleplay Scene! It's OOC because Lannes would want to make sarcastic remarks with typos.

If you want (or don't want) your blog on this list, message me and whether you want a main/other blog associated with your name or whether you want to be anonymised! Also happy to include non-Frenchmen and Frev folks.

Doubles or multiple versions of people are welcome, this is a varied afterlife. We all have our different ideas for what this afterlife is like as well.

Feel free to reblog or link to this!

And now we have a OOC discord server to chat about all of this! Feel free to join if you'd like!

The Marshalate

armagnac-army - Jean Lannes, Duke of Montebello - played by cadmusfly

murillo-enthusiast - Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, and ADCs - played by cadmusfly

@le-brave-des-braves - Michel Ney, Prince of the Moskva, Duke of Elchingen, and ADCs - played by @neylo

@your-dandy-king - Joachim Murat, King of Naples - played by @phatburd

@chicksncash - André Masséna, Prince of Essling, Duke of Rivoli, and others - played by @chickenmadam also playing as his ADC, with appearances from Marshal Augereau, the Cuirassier Generals d'Hautpoul and Nansouty, and the Horse Grenadier General Lepic

@your-staff-wizard - Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Neuchâtel and Valangin, Prince of Wagram - played by @chickenmadam, as above

@perdicinae-observer - Louis-Nicolas Davout, Prince of Eckmühl, Duke of Auerstaedt - played by @mbenguin

@bow-and-talon - Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr

@france-hater - Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, or Karl XIV Johan of Sweden, played by @deathzgf also includes the Duke of Wellington and Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration

@simple-giant-ed - Édouard Mortier, Duke of Treviso, played by @isa-ko

@bayard-de-la-garde - Jean-Baptiste Bessières, Duke of Istria

@le-bayard-polonaise - Prince Józef Poniatowski of Poland

@oudinot-still-alive - Nicolas Charles Oudinot duc de Reggio, played by @spaceravioli2

@beausoleil-de-bellune - Claude-Victor Perrin, Duke of Belluno

@commandant-des-traitres - Auguste de Marmont, Duke of Ragusa

The Grande Armée

@general-junot - Jean-Andoche Junot, Duke of Abrantes - played by @promises-of-paradise

@askgeraudduroc - Géraud Duroc, Duke of Frioul, Grand-Marshal of the Palace - played by @sillybumblebeegirl, also with cameos from Marshal Bessières shared with your-dandy-king

@trauma-and-truffles - Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, Surgeon to Napoleon and the Imperial Guard - played by @hoppityhopster23 who also plays his modern assistant

@generaldesaix - Louis Charles Antoine Desaix de Veygoux, most likely would have been a marshal if he lived - played by @usergreenpixel

@messenger-of-the-battlefield - Marcellin Marbot, aide-de-camp of maréchal Lannes - played by @a-system-of-nerds (Inactive)

@le-dieu-mars - Jean-Baptiste Kleber, General - played by @chickenmadam

@puddinglesablonniere - Charles-Étienne César Gudin de La Sablonnière, Gemeral of Davout's Corps

@francoislejeunes - Baron Louis-François Lejeune, ADC to Berthier, Artist and Engineer

@troboi1806 - Jacques de Trobriand, ADC to Marshal Davout

@cynics-and-cynology, Captain Elzéar Blaze

@thehussargeneral - General Antoine-Charles-Louis, Comte de Lasalle, played by upbeatmeeting

@pondicherry-pie - Charles-Rene Magon de Medine, Rear Admiral of the Combined Fleet at Trafalgar, played by chickenmadam

chanceux-et-perdu - Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve, Vice Admiral of the Combined Fleet at Trafalgar, played by cadmusfly

The Bonaparte Family

@carolinemurat - Caroline Murat née Buonaparte, Queen of Naples - played by @usergreenpixel

@alexanderfanboy - Napoleon Bonaparte, The Big Cheese

@frencheaglet - Napoleon II, also known as Franz, Duke of Reichstadt, played by @usergreenpixel

@rosie-of-beauharnais - Rose Beauharnais, also known as Josephine Bonaparte, once Empress of the French

@le-fils - Eugène Beauharnais, Prince of the Empire, Bonaparte's stepson, played by @josefavomjaaga

@jbonapartes - Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia, Prince of Montfort

@napoleon-bonapartee - Napoleon Bonaparte, The Head Honcho

Other Notable Personages

@askjackiedavid - Jacques Louis David, neoclassical painter - played by @sillybumblebeegirl

@lazarecarnot - Lazare Carnot, mathematician, military officer, politician and a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety

@serpentofotranto - Joseph Fouché, Duc d'Otrante, Comte Fouché, statesman and Minister of Police

@monsieurdetalleyrand - Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince of Talleyrand, statesman and diplomat

Not French

Russians

@the-blessed-emperor - Tsar Alexander I (Inactive)

@loyal-without-flattery - General Aleksey Andreevich Arakcheev, who runs His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery (Inactive)

@misha-wants-to-go-home - Count Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich, played by @spaceravioli2

@catherinesucks - Tsar Paul I of Russia, father of Alexander I

@ask-tsaralexander - Tsar Alexander I, played by @goddammitjosef

British

@the1ronduke - Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, played by @spaceravioli2

@banasstre - Banastre Tarleton, Major-General

@pakenham-kitty - Catherine Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington

@britannias-god-of-war - Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte

@lord-byrons-ghost - some Napoleon fan Lord George Gordon Byron, played by @vesseloftherevolution

Spanish

@headlessgenius - Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, Painter and proud Spaniard

Prussians

@der-schnapsvater - Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher

Original Characters and Friends

@the-adventures-of-lydia-brown - Lydia Brown, a jack of all trades and problem solver finding herself in this strange realm with all these dead Frenchmen

Hopster, trauma-and-truffles's modern time travelling assistant

Madam DuQuay, ADC who takes no nonsense, helping out chicksncash, your-staff-wizard and le-dieu-mars

[handfuloftime]

A number of surgeons attended Duroc after his fatal wounding, including François Ribes and Alexandre-Urbain Yvan. Dominique-Jean Larrey also saw him a few hours before his death, and recorded their brief conversation in his journal. He also recounted their meeting in two of his published memoirs, and it's interesting to look at all three side by side.

First, in his journal of 1813, held in the Wellcome Collection (my transcription):

Interview with the Grand Marshal of the Palace Duke of Frioul - mortally wounded by a cannonball, he was laid in a [illegible] cottage near where he had received the fatal blow. He sent for me immediately and did not stop asking for me. I had still not rejoined the general staff however I arrived and [illegible]. He was drowsing and his eyelids were closed. I gently approached his deathbed and took his left hand with care to take his pulse and judge the condition he was in. "What is that hand that touches me and does me so much good?" he said in a trembling and plaintive voice. He opened his eyes and recognized me. "Ha! I was sure of it. It's you, my dear Larrey. I've wanted you for a while now and have waited for you impatiently. You see the state I'm in. You can't fix me up this time. But give me something that will let me end the horrible torments I'm suffering. Render me this service of a true friend. Don't let me suffer any more, my dear Larrey, I'm counting on you." My heart seized. My senses fled. I couldn't muster a single word, my tears couldn't fall and I felt my strength vanish. My friend Ribes who was nearby, took me and led me away from that awful spectacle. A new motion of drowsiness [illegible] the eyelids of my illustrious and too unlucky friend - he clutched my hand for the second time at the same instant and without a doubt his soul bade me an eternal farewell. What a sad day for me - It's one of the greatest losses I could have experienced [illegible] - the general's shade will undoubtedly pass to the abode of my two other great friends.

Then in his 1817 Mémoires de chirurgie militaire et campagnes, which gives only a short summary of the event:

On my arrival at headquarters, a short trip from Hainaut, I learned the sad news of the deaths of Generals Kirgener and Bruyeres, and the mortal injury of Marshal Duroc, Duke of Frioul. This general had asked for me several times, and was extremely impatient to see me. He had been put in a cottage belonging to one of the inhabitants of the village where he had been wounded. On entering this cottage, where I found the marshal stretched out on a pile of straw and still dressed in his uniform, I was seized with the fear of seeing that he had been struck a mortal blow. My sinister presentiment came true only too soon. Only with difficulty could he articulate a few words. The effects of his wound could be seen through the trappings that covered him, and his face was marked with a deathly pallor. He had had the wall of his lower belly carried away by a large ball, the intestines torn at several points and thrust through the abdomen. I realized, with the greatest sorrow, that all the aid of our art couldn't save him from the near and inevitable death that awaited him. Indeed, a few hours later, this general officer, one of my honorable companions in Egypt, concluded his career. His name and those of Desaix and Lannes are deeply graven in my heart in recognition of the friendship that these illustrious warriors, raised to the highest honors, always kept for me.

And finally his 1841 Relation médicale de campagnes et voyages de 1815 à 1840, which, while still cleaned up for an audience, gets a bit closer to the anguish (and the dying man's desperation) in his journal:

General Duroc (Michel), Duke of Frioul, Grand Marshal of the Palace of Napoleon, was my intimate friend and my companion in Egypt. I saved his life by the attentive and fortunate care that I gave him for a very serious wound in the right thigh, made by the explosion of a shell at the siege of Saint Jean d'Acre (see my Egyptian Campaign); I was not so lucky for the last wound he received at the end of the battle of Wurschen, in May 1813. A cannonball, fired with full force from the enemy camp, after passing through the body of General Kirgener, shaved General Duroc's belly from right to left; his clothes were torn, a large portion of the skin of his abdomen carried away, and many circumvolutions of the small intestine pierced. This interesting wounded man was nearly in his last moments, when I arrived at the cottage where he had been left. "I've waited for you very impatiently, my dear Larrey," this unfortunate General cried, once he saw me; "You can render me the last service of a friend: I feel that my wound is beyond the resources of your art, but put an end, I beg you, to the horrible torments to which I've been subjected for thirty hours, and you will have my tenderest and last farewells." He expired a few hours later. This interview was for me one of the cruelest moments of my life. The Emperor, who had visited the Marshal some hours before me, lost his most faithful friend, his surest counselor, and one of his wisest and most intrepid warriors.

[davidnmarat]

Oh...! Well, hello there, General Desaix. It's a pleasure, mostly for receiving such a positive feedback.

Thanks you.

Correct! What my buddy Marat said!

And yes, Bonaparte told me about you... And I'm so sorry...

...May I offer you a painting?

Only if you EVER finnish it...! You still owe poor DuQuay her painting!

Well-

*a care package arrives for Marat, containing moisturizers and steroid topical cream*

- Citizen Green Pixel

Oooh!

I give my gratitude, citizen Green Pixel! This surely will make the itch go slighly away...

...

Sigh.

I wonder why I have to still bear it... I know that, I may have done not so good things in my life... But I hoped atleast to get a release on death. Seem that God pretty much hates me.

...

...Thanks you again.

[generaldesaix]

LOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

Oh NOW the party can START - well, once we get Kleber here, muwhahahahaa!

~Mme DuQuay

Please, bring him in. He is a beast and a pleasure to be around!

[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.

[empirearchives]

Unfinished sculpture by Joseph Chinard, c. 1807

La Mort du général Desaix / The death of general Desaix

General Desaix died at the Battle of Marengo during the War of the Second Coalition. He was struck in the chest towards the end of the battle. Napoleon said “Why am I not allowed to weep?” (Source)

[josefavomjaaga]

Rumours about Augereau (1797)

And our witness is ... general Desaix, who by the end of July 1797 visited the army of Italy and went on a journey through Lombardy in order to report back to the Directory. This is taken from his "Journal de voyage", which seems to have been more of a notebook, where he jotted down first impressions that he felt he needed to remember.

That way, he gave brief descriptions of several of Bonaparte's generals. About Augereau, he has the following to say:

Augereau. Tall, handsome man, good figure, big nose, served in every country, soldier more or less, braggart a lot.

And some time later, he adds an ugly story he learned about him:

Fact about Augereau. In a town in Romagna, he enters a pawnshop, fills his pockets with diamonds and precious objects, places a sentry there whom he has shot in cold blood because he has taken something. He does not believe in probity or delicacy; he calls it foolish; he claims that it is useless and not to be found in the world.

[impetuous-impulse]

At What Point Did Ney and Soult's Relations Become So Embittered?

The more I find out how Ney and Soult are mentioned and perceived (in relation to each other) in the Napoleonic timeline, the more I am convinced that they were on decent terms up until the Empire was well-consolidated. This is mostly a response to this episode, which takes place four days before Napoleon's coronation. During that time, Soult was commandant-in-chief of the Camp of Boulogne and Ney was commandant-in-chief of the left wing of the army at the Camp of Montreuil. They mst have corresponded and cooperated well with each other on various matters, at least on a professional level. Attridge’s Ney biography has an episode about a hay bale conspiracy by the English that necessitated communication between both camps. Hayman, in his Soult biography, even hedges that they were willing to play court with each other through the unpublished correspondence of General Marchand (which he frustratingly paraphrases and does not give a date for).

[...] Marchand accompanied his own chief, Ney, to dinner with the Soults, indicating that these two rivals from the Sambre-et-Meuse were still on social terms. The dinner was followed by a magnificent ball given in honour of Louise Soult, who appeared in an elegant black dress covered with diamonds. The ball cost some six million francs to which senior officers were asked to contribute. Marchand hoped that a similar ball would not be given in honour of Madame Ney since he and his comrades just would not be able to afford it! (p. 50)

We can infer from this letter that around 1803-1805, Soult was still civil with Ney by inviting him to a dinner, and Ney still had some sense of being an equal to Soult despite being the Commander of Montreuil. I wonder if Ney himself contributed to Soult's ball (and if he was willing).

If the primary sources these biographies use are not all too reliable, at the very least, the first big rift in Ney and Soult's relationship that I found was in Saint-Chamans’ memoirs, quoted in Gotteri's Soult biography. This was after the battle of Eylau, 3 February 1807, when Napoleon held a meeting with his Marshals to discuss objectives. As I translate in approximation below:

Marshals Murat and Ney wanted to march onto Königsberg; marshal Soult held that it was necessary to retire behind the Passarge (a small river which was difficult to pass, fifteen miles behind Eylau), to fortify the points of passage, and wait in this position so that the troops can alleviate the fatigues they had accumulated, and so the reinforcements who, in our depots in France, were in route to come join us, would arrive; the discussion was lively, and the opinion of marshal Soult prevailed; marshal Ney was very offended by this [the original word is "piqué", lit. stung], and, from this moment, they were completely at odds [lit. they always made quarrels]. (p. 181)

And even then, Ney would make his remark about borrowing Soult's culottes to Soult himself just four months later, around 6 June 1807. They were evidently still able to joke around with each other after their military disagreements, which always happens on campaign, even between civil colleagues (examples I can think of include Lannes and Murat or Desaix and Saint-Cyr). Or maybe Soult did not reciprocate Ney's jokes by 1807; I have no way of knowing right now.

[four-loose-screws]

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Chapter 6 - The Newly Reborn Kingdom of Zofia

Part 1 - His Name is Zeke

Princess Anthiese, the only successor of the Zofian royal family, was alive. That news reached the entire continent, spreading throughout not only Zofia, but also north to Rigel. The people sensed that it would have a large effect on both governments.

But though they knew Princess Anthiese was alive, that did not necessarily mean that the info passed onto them was correct. Grieth's brigand kingdom had now changed and become a mercenary kingdom led by the young mercenary Jesse. 

The information came from the easternmost village in Zofia - Atlas's village, which had become the go-between for Jesse's nation and Zofia. As it traveled from the villagers to peddlers to travelers, the details became distorted from the truth. According to the version most people believed, Grieth had been plotting to take over Zofia, imprisoning the princess and her gold circlet in his desert castle. Then, a group of holy fighters came from Novis Island, and worked with young mercenary king Jesse and his soldiers to free her.

The fact spread quickly that the holy fighters were known as Mila's Restoration Army and were led by Celica, but that fact that she was also Princess Anthiese was so far beyond what anyone could reasonably believe, that it was left out. It was proof of just how ingenious Mycen's plan had been from the very start, when he had taken her with him as a baby from the castle to safety.

And there was possibly a very specific reason why the princess's rescue was passed along as an epic hero's tale of Jesse's rather than giving Mila's Restoration Army the credit - it was all because of Jesse's spin on the story as a top-notch strategist.

But regardless of the exact details, Princess Anthiese was alive. That truth of course made Desaix tremble in fear. With this, the remaining members of the Knight of Zofia were fulou revitalized as the Deliverance. Now that Desaix had lost the castle, so long as he still had the western stronghold, the army that was once not even the smallest of threats to him was no longer just a thorn in his side, but a tumor that could prove fatal. And now that the people knew an heir to the throne was alive, they all passionately supported the Deliverance, multiplying those tumors to become countless in number.

And if Desaix was quaking in fear, then it was no exaggeration to imagine there were other people who felt that they were in danger as well - and those people were none other than those of the Rigel Empire, supporting Desaix from behind the scenes. If Desaix fell, the momentum would cause Rigel's entire plot to invade Zofia to unravel. The group that reacted the strongest to that danger was Rigel's border army, because they were the group at the greatest immediate risk.

-

A deep ravine filled with water separated the north and south of Valentia, forming the border between Zofia and Rigel. A single sturdy stone bridge was the only path that connected the two countries. At the northern end of the bridge was Rigel's border defense base, where a light shined bright in the strategy room. While their soldiers were fast asleep, two generals were still up, continuing their strategy meeting.

"The princess's survival has sharply increased the rebel army's morale. Desaix must be careful.” Said Jerome, a Gold Knight and the general of the border guard. He’d cut off a chunk of his own earlobe so that his helmet would fit on his head, creating his ghastly appearance and proving just how far he would go to climb the ranks of Rigel's army. His desire for a promotion was also why he volunteered to serve in the border guard.

Zeke, the second general in command of the border guard, having discussed most everything he had to talk about, was now sitting across from Jerome. He looked down at his glass. He had his hands around it, but had not drank even a single sip, staring at the corner of the room until this moment, appearing to be deep in thought.

Jerome hated Zeke. He hated that Emperor Rudolf favored this man so, and he hated that the emperor thought so little of him he went out of his way to appoint a second in command, even when Jerome said that he would be fine on his own.

And most of all, he hated that Zeke was a Gold Knight, yet of an utterly different beauty than him. Zeke had luscious, wavy blond hair that earned him the nickname "the Golden General," smooth cheeks that showed not a scar even after countless battles, and a mysterious air that hung around him like a thick dark forest and drew others in. But what was most alluring of all were his eyes that would look like that of a goddess', even though he was of the opposite sex.

Jerome hated all of it.

'If he was a girl, he'd be cute.' Jerome cursed in his head before saying, "What's the matter, Zeke? Something seems to be troubling you."

Zeke raised his head, finally snapping out of his dreamlike trance and taking a sip of his drink. He did not look at Jerome, but did speak. "I cannot help but feel that this battle is futile. Even more so now that we know the princess is alive."

Zeke had been skeptical about the invasion of Zofia from the first step of Emperor Rudolf's plot. Though he would never say it aloud, he felt that this invasion would not unify Valentia, but lead it towards utter destruction. 'If the princess is alive, shouldn't that change our plans?' He thought. 'Right now, couldn't we still successfully start over, and lay the foundation for friendly relations between our two nations? After all, isn't that what the people wish for? Not unification, but true coexistence?'

"Jerome, I think we should write a report to Emperor Rudolf and request he order Desaix to fall back within Rigel territory, so that he may join the border guard with us.” Zeke proposed.

Jerome twisted his battle-scarred lips into a smile. "What, have you lost your nerves? Are you afraid of Alm and his gang? Sugar-coating things won't help you now." Jerome said. "Perhaps you have forgotten what Emperor Rudolf said. He told us one thing, and one thing only. Crush Zofia. Nothing more, nothing less than those two exhilarating words."

Zeke had not forgotten that, of course. When Desaix decided to switch sides and was summoned to Rigel Castle, Emperor Rudolf showed his appreciation for Desaix's willingness to go this far for him by ordering him the honor of slaughtering every single member of the royal family. He did not even hesitate when he spoke the word to cut off all their heads, including the infants. Zeke remembered the moment in his head as if it had just happened yesterday, down to the cruel smile on Emperor Rudolf's face.

'But is that truly his will?' That question was the cause of all Zeke's doubts.

Zeke was not a unit originally from Rigel, nor Zofia. He mysteriously woke up one day in Rigel territory, injured and lying on the ground. He had no memory of anything before that moment.

With his head now slightly dizzy from the alcohol, he thought, '...The emperor is so kind, yet so cruel… It does not add up to me. I have memory loss so severe that I have no memories of Rigel, or even where I came from. Yet Emperor Rudolf believed in my abilities, and even trained me to become one of his generals. It does not add up to me that he could be so kind, yet so cruel. So much so that I cannot simply hate Zofia like Jerome does.

Still…' Zeke cleared his head and finished the rest of his drink in one fluid motion. 'When I swore my loyalty to him and all of his kindness, I also swore my loyalty to his cruelty…'

"It means nothing for my resolve to waver now. We will march tomorrow morning when the first thrush starts chirping." Zeke said and put down his glass, then looked back at the model of Valentia in the middle of the room, specifically the section that depicted a battle in Zofian territory. 

The border guard was to wait until dawn, invade the Zofian border, then immediately run to Desaix to serve as his reinforcements. He and Jerome received the message just before sunset ordering them to start an all out war. The word came suddenly, but they had already suspected that they would have to be ready for war, preparing their troops and devising a strategy to do so. They were in position to be able to rush into battle at any time.

"This is it." Zeke said, and stood in front of the model of the battlefield. "If the worst case scenario does occur and Desaix's stronghold falls, our Cavalier units will work together to guard all of the locks."

Jerome looked at Zeke's wide back. He decided to get up from his chair to go up to the model, and finalize the strategy together with Zeke.

But that was not what he actually ended up doing. He simply stood up to take the liquor bottle, refilled his glass, then sat back down and said, "You have no reason to worry about me. My knights will not go to Zofia. Only your knights will."

Zeke doubted his ears for a moment. The entire border army was supposed to move together, and provide reinforcements for Desaix. That was exactly what the emperor's message said. And wasn't the strategy they'd been preparing until now based entirely around the assumption that both their armies would support Desaix's army?

"What do you mean?" Zeke asked, though he did not turn around. He already felt Jerome's loathing of him, even from behind. If he did turn around, he knew he would see Jerome's ugly smile, and he'd rather avoid that.

"There's really nothing else we can do." Jerome said. "Desaix is already likely a lost cause. Even if we do go to him. I will not send my knights into a losing battle, so only you should go. Only you should make this mistake, and at best, die an honorable death."

Desaix's fall would mean nothing to Jerome. He had no interest in such minor details, like the foundation of their invasion of Zofia crumbling. All he wished for right now was for Zeke to fall.

'If the emperor learns that Desaix fell because Zeke wasn't strong enough, then he will leave the border entirely to me. I haven't needed Zeke here once since the beginning. If my cavaliers win the battle without Zeke, no matter how hard a fight it becomes, then everyone will know I defended the border valiantly on my own, and the glory my Cavaliers earn will finally earn me a position in the government.' That was how Jerome felt, and came to plot his evil plan.

And if Zeke died, no other result could be better than that.

"Are you turning your back on the emperor's orders?" Zeke asked.

Jerome laughed out loud. "Not if you keep your mouth shut."

"Are you making fun of me?!" Zeke shouted and got right up in his face, but Jerome simply took another swig of his drink, his face not even flinching. 

Jerome looked back at him out of the corner of his eyes, with his true feelings for Zeke on full display.

In that moment, Zeke realized just how evil Jerome's plan was.

"Where do you think your cute little Tatiana is right now?" Jerome's words were far more threatening than they implied. 

Zeke understood exactly what they meant. Jerome had laid a hand on his beloved Tatiana, taking her hostage from the small village on the Rigelian plains she lived a modest life in, where she was waiting patiently for his return. And with that, Jerome had also taken his freedom.

Tatiana, a Saint unit, was the person Zeke owed his life to. When he was injured, near death, and unable to remember anything about himself, she stayed up all night to heal him. What her magic could not do, she made up for with her tender kindness, even taking off her robe to cover him when he was losing body heat, and continuing to care for him naked. That was simply the kind of person she was. As she spent many days and months nursing him back to health, she fell in love with him, and Zeke reciprocated not just because he was gracious for all she had done, but also because he genuinely loved her in return.

Zeke was so angry that sweat dripped from his clenched fists down to the stone floor. But he did not have the luxury of making his own choice. He even had to suppress his desire to punch Jerome and send the man flying as his imagination flashed an image of her, captured and suffering, before his eyes.

"Remember that I am not going because of your despicable plot." Zeke bit his beautiful rose-colored lips and said. "I am going only because of my undying loyalty to Emperor Rudolf!" He shouted. As he exited the room, he remembered how much he had loathed sharing a bottle of liquor with the vile man behind him, picked up his glass, and smashed it against the floor.

[askgeraudduroc]

Well... Things really changed since your... Parting away.

He... Changed.

Perhaps, I could invite you to my place to catch up!!!

I'll make you a nice tie and biscuits!!! ^7^

Duroc! Hello! Is Bonaparte up to tomfoolery lately?

- @generaldesaix

Oh my, hello there Desaix!!!!

It so, so good to see you again!!!!!

How have you been???

*But, Duroc's happy expression would turn a bit grim at the mention of Napoleon*

... I don't know.

For... Certain events, I have cut contact with him.