French army

Miscellaneous letters and papers relating to French military affairs, 1744-1846

1. Letter from Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson (1696-1764), comte d'Argenson, French secretary of state for war, to the bishop of Evreux, on a military appointment. Versailles, 25 April 1744.

2. Letter from Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix de Castries (1727-1800), marquis de Castries, to a correspondent named ?Thorau, mentioning his wound [sustained at the battle of Rossbach]. Marburg, 20 October 1762.

3. Order by the marshals of France, following a petition by a M. Thetion, a sadler in Paris, for recovery of a debt owed by Armand Joseph de Béthune (1738-1800), comte de Béthune, a maréchal de camp, for the investigation of the case. Paris, 23 March 1784. Endorsed with a request from Béthune, dated Paris, 2 June 1784, for a two-month period of grace to repay the debt.

4. Letter from General Jacques Bernard Modeste d'Anselme (1740-1814), to M. Miolis, commandant at Antibes, on the defence of Antibes. Grasse, 8 August 1792.

5. Table of secretarial expenses for the army of the Rhine for September 1792. With authorisation for payment subscribed by Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine (1740-1793), commander in chief, and Claude Blanchard (1742-1802), 'commissaire des guerres en chef de l'armée campée près de Spire [ie Speyer] sous les ordres du general Custine'.

6. Memorandum of military supplies despatched from Nice on 29 vendémiaire an IV [20 October 1795]. Signed as a true record by an offical called Hermitte.

7. Letter from General Grillon, commandant of Lyons 'en état de siège', to the 'citoyens administrateurs du département du Rhône', on prisoners and plots in the city. Lyons, 2 vendémiaire an VII [23 September 1798].

8. Letter from Henri Rolland, 'Commissaire des Guerres' in the Seine département, to M. Pigoreau, 'Commissaire aux Ventes' , on the sale of effects of deceased troops. Paris, 20 méssidor an XII [8 July 1804].

9. Letter from General Joseph Paradis (1741-1824) to General Henri Antoine Jardon (1768-1809) with details of the movement of hospital cases. Antwerp, 11 fructidor an XII [28 August 1804].

10. Letter from General Lassalle Cazeau, 'ancien général de brigade', to an unidentified count, seeking his support in obtaining admission to the Légion d'Honneur'. Gondrin, dép. Gers, n.d. [c.1808].

11-12. Mandates from a Dr. Leblanc to Aimé-Marie-Gaspard, comte de Clermont-Tonnerre (1779-1865), in favour of French soldiers of the army in Spain. Paris, 21 September 1808- 21 May 1809.

13. Letter from General Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan de la Peyrière (1765-1845) to an unidentified marshal [probably Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1769-1851, French commander in chief in Spain], covering a report [not present] on his division's operations on 20 January 1810. Andújar, 23 January 1810.

14. Letter from Étienne Félix d'Henin de Cuvillers (1755-1841), 'commandant le département du Simplon', to Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke (1765-1818), duc de Feltre, French Minister of War, covering a situation report [not present] on a detachment of troops which had recently left his département for France. Sion, 9 January 1812.

15. Letter from le comte Dusaillaux, 'préfet de la Lippe', to [Félix Julien Jean Bigot de Préameneu, 1747-1825], French 'Ministre des Cultes', on spiritual provision for sick and wounded troops in Germany. Munster, 13 May 1812.

16. Letter from General Duval, [French commander on Elba], to M. ?Le Cours Desguerres, on medical provision on the island. [Porto]ferraio, 13 November 1812.

17. Letter from a B. ?Marchand, of the 'bureau des fonds' of the Grand Army, to M. Gérard., an army pharmacist, on his claim for compensation for war losses. Metz, 12 January 1814.

18. 'État des chasseurs de la 4e Compagnie [of the 4th battalion of the 12th legion] cités au Conseil de discipline de 13 Juillet 1838'. Signed by sergeant major Laurillard, n.p., n.d. [1838].

19. Letter from Colonel Dumas, aide-de-camp to King Louis-Philippe, to General Louis Marie Baptiste Atthalin, Baron Atthalin (1784-1856), on a military appointment. Tuileries Palace [Paris], 20 March 1846.