Memoirs of General Count Rapp, First aide-de-camp to Napoleon

The army was dissolved; my command having expired, there was nothing to keep me any longer in Alsace. But the good souls of the Faubourg Saint-Germain had imagined that we were a source of terror to Europe. On the field of battle I believe we were, and the Allies did not disallow it. In other respects this was thinking too highly of us. With regard to plots and conspiracies, it is not we who deserved the palm. I, nevertheless, went to meet that which they wished to allot to me. I wrote to the King, I did not attempt to disguise my sentiments from him. If I had been able to throw the whole coalition into the Rhine I would have done it; I did not conceal it. My letter was thus worded.

"Sire,

"I do not endeavour to justify my conduct. Your Majesty knows that the bent of my mind and my military education have always led me to defend the French territory against all foreign aggression: I could not, above all, hesitate to offer my life in defence of Alsace, which gave me birth.

"If I have preserved the esteem of your Majesty, I desire to finish my career in my own country; if it were otherwise, I should be the first to demand to go and pass my days abroad: I could not live in my country without the esteem of my sovereign."

"I only ask this; I have need of nothing more."

This letter was of use. Marks of regard that had escaped the Monarch kept malevolence within bounds. I passed some months at Paris without being disturbed; but the race of emigrants had filled the chambers and harangued at the tribune. Their vociferations against all the men distinguished for their talent and courage whom France can boast of, gave me such a disgust that I withdrew. I went into Switzerland, where at least aristocracy did not present the scandalous spectacle of the rage of the present time combined with the meanness of the past. The ordinance of the 5th of September was issued a short time afterwards: I returned to Paris, where I live quietly in the bosom of my family, and where I have experienced happiness which till then was unknown to me.

Here the Memoirs terminate. We will only add a few words.

Become a member of the House of Peers, the General was called into the presence of the King. This favour did not make him unfaithful to old recollections. So many immortal days were too deeply engraved in his mind! He could not forget our victories, or him who had conducted them, or those who had obtained them! He had often taken so glorious a part in them! Courage does not disinherit herself. In like manner the brave soldiers who were persecuted by men whom they had eclipsed on the field of battle always found in their General a devoted protector. His purse, his credit were open to them. Never did he repel the unfortunate. Those who had none of the privileges which the standard gives, participated in his benefits; it was sufficient if they were in distress. Misfortune was something sacred in his eyes.

The state of inactivity into which on a sudden he had fallen, after a life of alarms and fatigue, hastened to a fatal termination the wounds with which he was covered. His health was gone; he soon ended the term assigned him by Nature. He beheld death without emotion, ordered himself to be put in a position so as to front the enemy, whom he had always looked in the face, and expired, offering up his prayers for France and his family.

DOCUMENTS

ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE MEMOIRS

Letter from General Rapp to the Duke of WurtembergJune 14th, 1813.

Colonel Richemont has communicated to me the letter which your Royal Highness honoured him with, the … of this month. I learn with pain that the very conciliatory proposals made, in my name, by M. Richemont, have not been accepted, and that discussions have arisen on points which appeared to afford no room for any debate whatever.

I must observe to your Royal Highness, generally, that the armistice was not demanded by the Emperor Napoleon, which supposes that all the articles ought to be construed favourably to the French army; but since the intentions of the treaty are disputed, I see no other means of attaining the object of your Royal Highness, and my own, than by proposing to your Excellency to leave, as regards the limits, things in their present state, and to inform the commissioners appointed by articles 9 and 12 of the armistice, of the difficulties which have arisen in the execution of article 6. I therefore beg your Highness to name, conjointly with myself, two officers who shall be instructed to repair to those commissioners, and who can speedily bring a report of the solution we are to expect.

I also consent that the article relative to supplies be only settled provisionally, that is to say, that if your Royal Highness would not take upon yourself to allow us 30,000 rations of victuals, reckoning from the day of the armistice, which, according to the returns of the force of the garrison, is necessary, Colonel Richemont will be able to settle with the Russian commissioners, the quantities which shall be supplied to us on account, to be deducted from the amount which shall be definitively appointed by the commissioners of the armistice, to whom it will be referred, as well as the article of limits.

The officer who brought the armistice would have been able to notify at the Imperial head-quarters the discussions which have arisen, if his instructions did not oblige him to delay his departure till after the first distribution which is to be made to the garrison by the directions of the General commanding the blockade.

I should have greatly desired that we could have come to an understanding, on the execution of the treaty, as I have reason to fear that false inferences may be drawn from the delay of this officer, as to the good understanding which the armistice supposes to exist between us; a contingency which I should the more lament, as it appears to me that your Highness might have acceded to the proposals of Colonel Richemont, which I should most certainly have done in your place, without fearing the least reproach for it from my sovereign.

(Signed,)      Count Rapp.ANSWERSulmin, June 15th, 1813.

I received the letter which your Excellency did me the honour to write to me, dated the 14th of June, and I must frankly confess that it is my duty to enter into the fullest explanation of the cause of the misunderstandings which exist relative to the literal execution of the articles of the truce.

This treaty having laid down fixed principles, in order to avoid every subject of dispute, it appears to me, that it would be infinitely more simple and natural to adhere strictly to it. I confess to your Excellency that it is with sincere pain that I agree to depart from it according to your proposition. It appears to me that by this arrangement, which you wish, both of us, to a certain degree, exceed the limits of our powers, and that it would be much better to settle between us the line of neutrality according to the literal sense of the armistice. Nevertheless, to avoid all farther discussion, I consent to let things remain on their present footing: I will even order the commanders of my advanced posts to come to an understanding with yours about making some arrangements, which may be agreeable to your Excellency, in respect to sentinels and piquets, to prevent any collision between our light troops.

Respecting what concerns the article of provisions, the commission assembled for that purpose has already commenced its sittings, and I hope that Colonel Richemont will soon be able to announce that this article has been definitively settled.

As to what regards the two officers whom your Excellency would send to the commissioners appointed definitively to settle all the difficulties which appear to arise respecting the stipulations of the truce, I must observe, that it is not in my power to grant them the necessary passports: the article of provisions, which will be forthwith settled, will allow, in the course of a few days, Captain Planat to undertake this commission.

Be persuaded, moreover, General, that accustomed, in the course of twenty-five years' service to fulfil with exactness the orders of my sovereign, I should have acted in a very different manner, if I had agreed to the propositions which have been made to me by Colonel Richemont, and which deviated so essentially from the articles of a truce, the simple and natural expressions of which leave no room for the least discussion.

Your Excellency, moreover, will always find me ready to do whatever may be agreeable to you, and which at the same time may not be inconsistent with my duty. I shall eagerly seize all the opportunities that I can to convince you that nothing equals the high consideration with which I have the honour to be, &c.

(Signed,)      Alexander, Duke of Wurtemberg.Letter from the Duke of Wurtemberg to his Excellency Count RappFrom my head-quarters, July 12, 1813.

(Received on the 14th, though the Duke was but two leagues from Dantzic.)

General,

A messenger, who has just arrived from head-quarters, brings me an order for suspending the allowances which have been hitherto made to the garrison of Dantzic. The corps of Volunteers under the orders of the Prussian Major Lutzow having been attacked, during the continuance of the truce, without the least cause, is announced to me as the reason which has caused this determination, and which is not to be varied from until this affair shall be definitively settled.

In communicating the orders which I have received to you, I announce at the same time that this affair, which will probably soon be settled, does not however change the other articles of the truce, which are to remain in full force.

I have the honour be, &c.(Signed,) Alexander, Duke of Wurtemberg,General of Cavalry.ANSWERDantzic, July 14, 1813.

Monsieur le Duc,

From the commencement of the arrangements agreed upon between us, in consequence of the armistice, I have seen, with much pain, that your Royal Highness does not fulfil them with that exactness which such stipulations demand.

I have perceived, in the delay of all the deliveries, a secret war which was destroying in detail the spirit of the armistice. In spite of my continual protests, a great part of the provisions has been left in arrear; you have not even supplied what is due at present, and it is in this state of things that I receive, to-day, the 14th, the letter from your Highness, dated the 12th, which informs me that you have orders to suspend the provisions. This suspension has actually taken place these four days past, that is to say, since the 10th; and as our correspondence may reach each other in two hours, I will not conceal from your Highness with what sentiments I must look at the difference between the date and the arrival of your despatch.

The conditions of an armistice, my Lord Duke, are alike binding on both the parties; and as soon as one of them allows himself to annul one of the principal and most essential clauses, the armistice is from that moment broken, and he puts himself in a state of war against the other. It is in this light, that I consider from henceforth the declaration you have made; and although your Highness informs me that the other articles of the truce shall remain, you must perceive that I cannot accept such modifications but by the orders of my sovereign. It only remains to me, then, to beg you to acquaint me whether the six days which are to precede the recommencement of hostilities are to be reckoned from the 12th at one o'clock in the morning, or from the 14th at twelve.

I must declare to you, that I account you responsible for the rupture of an armistice that was concluded between our sovereigns, and that I cannot listen to any evasive explication until after the reception of all the provisions which are due to me.

(Signed,)      Count Rapp.Letter from the Duke of Wurtemberg to General Count RappFrom my head-quarters, July 15, 1813.

I have just received the letter which you have addressed to me, and I cannot conceal from your Excellency that I have been more than ordinarily surprised at its contents.

It would be absolutely useless again to repeat to your Excellency what MM. Generals Borozdin and Jelebtzou have not failed to observe to you repeatedly, that is to say, that the momentary delays which the garrison of Dantzic has experienced in being revictualled have only been occasioned by the sudden change of the arrangement that was proposed and demanded by your Excellency, of buying the provisions by your own commissaries, which has necessarily produced the greatest embarrassment; the Prussian commissaries having excused themselves on the state of entire destitution of the provinces contiguous to Dantzic, which have been already charged for so long a time with the provisioning of my troops. If, as I have several times requested, there had been at my head-quarters, conformably to the stipulations of the truce, a French commissary permanently, he would have been able to convince himself of the extreme embarrassment that the Prussian commissaries have felt in procuring waggons, and the necessary provisions for revictualling Dantzic, and for the maintenance of my own troops; so that it is not the army forming the blockade which has thrown obstacles in the way of revictualling the place. Moreover, it is only my sovereign, the august Emperor Alexander, to whom I must render an account of my actions.

I now come to an article of far greater importance, since it may be attended with the most serious consequences; for it appears, according to the letter of your Excellency, that you are decided on recommencing hostilities on your own authority, whilst the places, Stettin and Custrin, are also temporarily deprived, as well as Dantzic, of the provisions stipulated for in the armistice. I hope, however, that you will seriously consider what you are about to do, and I render you responsible for all the measures you may take, and which may prevent the belligerent powers from coming to an adjustment of their differences.

I send you an exact copy of the letter which I received from the Commander-in-chief of all the armies, Barclay de Tolly; you will see, that far from there being any thoughts of recommencing hostilities, I am expressly prohibited from doing so.

If, in spite of all my observations, which I have had formally certified by my Generals, commanders of corps, you do not think fit to wait patiently till the affair of the legion of Lutzow, which has caused the temporary cessation of the revictualling of Dantzic, (of which the arrears, by the way, are only suspended,) and of the other fortresses, is amicably settled, and you attack my forces, I will prove to you that my brave Russians do not stand in dread of the menaces of any one, and that they are moreover ready to shed their blood for the cause of all sovereigns and all nations.

(Signed,) Alexander, Duke of Wurtemberg.ANSWERDantzic, July 16, 1813.

I received the letter which your Royal Highness did me the honour to write to me on the 15th of this month. I will not again touch on the different observations which you make on the non-execution of the conditions of the armistice; they have been constantly brought forward, and always victoriously refuted; and therefore present nothing new. General Heudelet, whom I sent to the conference that was demanded by General Borozdin, has made known on my part the only expedient for a provisional arrangement which could again take place between us.

In a letter of the 14th instant, I intreated your Royal Highness to appoint at what precise time the six days between the rupture and the commencement of hostilities were to begin; to this I have had no positive answer. I must, therefore, acquaint you, that as the letter of your Royal Highness, dated the 12th, only reached me on the 14th at noon, and I can consider your positive and official refusal to continue the supplies as nothing else than a rupture of the armistice, hostilities will recommence on the 20th; I owe this determination to the Emperor and to my corps d'armée. Six guns fired from the different forts of Dantzic, at noon, shall leave no doubt on this subject. I beg your Royal Highness not to consider as a threat the obligation which I am under to interpret the violation of one of the articles of the treaty as a formal declaration, annulling the armistice; I know the brave Russian troops, whom I have often fought with, and I know that they are worthy to be opposed to our own.

Here, my Lord, my letter would close, were I not compelled to make a remark to your Royal Highness on some expressions of your letter of the 15th, that I also am only accountable to my sovereign for my determinations; that, as for what your Highness calls the cause of all sovereigns and all nations, these are very extraordinary phrases in the letter of a prince, who knows better than any one that the Emperor Alexander, his sovereign, was engaged during five years, in our alliance against the despotism of a maritime power, which would make all the Continent tributary to it; and that his august brother, the King of Wurtemberg, has been for a long time past one of the most staunch supporters of this same cause.

(Signed,)      Count Rapp.Letter from the Duke of Wurtemberg to General RappFrom my head-quarters, July 17, 1813.

General,

I should have nothing more to add to the letter which I wrote to your Excellency, dated the 15th of July, if the formal declaration of war which you make to me, as from one power to another, did not oblige me still to make a few important remarks, before the commencement of hostilities which you axe about to undertake.

I will observe to you, then, (although it is absolutely impossible for me, officially, to accept the declaration, that you are about to begin hostilities, and though I must declare you, once more, responsible for all the consequences that this event may produce) that if, in spite of my observations, you, nevertheless, persist in a determination which, as I believe, will not even be approved by the Emperor Napoleon, the period for the rupture which you fix for the 20th of July at mid-day, is contrary to the 2d and 3d articles of the armistice; since, after the 20th of July, the term of the expiration of the truce, hostilities should not take place, according to article 9th, till six days after the 20th of July, which will bring us to the 26th of the month; and it would be really singular for us to be the only two chiefs of corps on the theatre of war to recommence hostilities.

I am convinced, that with a little patience we shall soon hear that the affairs of the Cabinets are taking a different turn. What would be then the regret of your Excellency if, by too much precipitation, you should once more create difficulties between the two Courts, of which my own has nothing to reproach itself with, since it was very natural that it should for the time take measures of retaliation, after it had learnt the destruction of the corps of Lutzow in the midst of the armistice;—as it is not possible to bring to life the men so destroyed, while it will, on the other hand, be very possible to furnish the garrison of Dantzic with the provisions in arrear.

I now close my letter, General, compelled to make an observation or two on the last phrases in yours, which have appeared to me extremely strange. All Europe, and, I dare say, France also, is perfectly acquainted with the reasons which caused the rupture of the peace that was signed at Tilsit. It also knows the dictatorial tone which the ambassador Count Lauriston assumed in the heart of the capital of Peter the Great. The august Emperor Alexander was compelled, by such an excess of audacity, to appeal to his sword; he was obliged to surround himself with his valiant soldiers to open the churches, and to confide himself to a generous and faithful people, who have proved to him what may be done by a nation happy in its own territory, but who have not hesitated a moment to arm themselves in defence of their honour and of their sovereign.

As to what concerns my brother, the King of Wurtemberg, whom your Excellency calls one of the most staunch supporters of the cause which you defend, I can assure your Excellency that a Russian General-in-chief does not think himself inferior in any respect to a King of the Confederation, since it only depends on the Emperor Alexander to elevate me to that dignity, if he thinks fit; and then I shall be king like any other; I should, however, premise one small condition, that is, that it should not be at the expense of any power, or any person.

(Signed,)      Alexander, Duke of Wurtemberg.CAPITULATION OF DANTZIC

Capitulation of the fortress of Dantzic under special conditions, concluded between their Excellencies Lieutenant-general Borozdin, Major-general Welljaminoff, in quality of chief of the staff, and the Colonels of Engineers, Manfredi and Pullet, intrusted with full powers by his Royal Highness the Duke of Wurtemberg, Commander-in-chief of the troops besieging Dantzic, on one part;

And their Excellencies Count Heudelet, general of division, the General of Brigade d'Hericourt, Adjutant-general; and Colonel Richemont intrusted with full powers from his Excellency Count Rapp, aide-de-camp of the Emperor, Commander-in-chief of the 10th corps d'armée, on the other part.

Article I. The troops forming the garrison of Dantzic, and of the forts and redoubts thereunto belonging, shall leave the town with their arms and baggage on the 1st of January, 1814, at ten o'clock in the morning, by the gate of Oliwa, and shall lay down their arms before the battery of Gottes-Engel, if by that period the blockade of the garrison of Dantzic is not raised by a corps d'armée, equivalent in force to the besieging army, or if a treaty concluded between the belligerent powers shall not by that time have fixed the fate of the city of Dantzic. The officers shall retain their swords, in consideration of the vigorous defence and distinguished conduct of the garrison. The company of the Imperial guard, and a battalion of six hundred men, shall retain their arms, and shall take with them two six-pounders, with the ammunition waggons belonging to them. Twenty-five horsemen shall also preserve their arms and their horses.

Art. II. The forts of Weichselmunde, the Holm, and the intermediate works shall, together with the keys of the outer gate of Oliwa, be given up to the combined army, on the morning of the 24th Dec. 1813.

Art. III. Immediately on the signature of the present capitulation, the fort La Corte, that of Neufahrwasser, with its dependencies, and the left bank of the Vistula, as far as the height of the redoubt Gudin, and the line of redoubts extending from this last-mentioned work on the Zigangenberg, as well as the Mowenkrugschantz shall be surrendered in their present condition, without any deterioration, into the hands of the besieging army. The bridge which at present connects the tête-du-pont of Fahrwasser with the fort of Weichselmunde, shall be removed and placed at the mouth of the Vistula, between Neufahrwasser and the Nowenkrugschantz.

Art. IV. The garrison of Dantzic shall be prisoners of war, and shall be escorted to France. The governor, Count Rapp, formally engages that neither officers nor soldiers shall serve again, until their perfect exchange, against any of the powers now at war with France. There shall be drawn up an exact muster-roll of the names of the generals, officers, and soldiers composing the garrison of Dantzic, without any exception. There shall be two copies of this roll. Each of the generals and officers shall sign a promise and give his word of honour not to serve against Russia or her allies till his perfect exchange. An exact muster-roll shall be also made of all the soldiers who are actually under arms, and another of those who are sick or wounded.

Art. V. The governor, Count Rapp, engages to accelerate as much as possible the exchange of the individuals forming the garrison of Dantzic, rank for rank, for an equal number of prisoners belonging to the allied powers. But if, contrary to all expectation, this exchange should not take place for want of the necessary number of Russians, Austrians, Prussians, or other prisoners belonging to the courts allied against France, or if the said courts should throw obstacles in the way of it, then at the end of a year and a day, dating from Jan. 1, 1814, new style, the individuals forming the garrison of Dantzic shall be released from the formal obligation contracted in Art. IV. of the present capitulation, and may be again employed by their government.