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 SOME 
 DETAILS 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 GENERAL MOREAU 
 
 AND 
 
 HIS LAST MOMENTS. 
 
 FOLLOWED ET 
 
 A SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
 
 BY PALL SYININE. 
 
 CHARGED TO ACCOMPANY THE GENERAL ON THE CONTINENT 
 
 First American from t/te Second London Edition. 
 
 BOSTON ; 
 
 Ti) .AND PUBLISHED ET NATBANISI, WItCJi 
 NO. 76, STATE-STREET 
 
 1814, 
 
 / 

 
 
 TO 
 
 MADAME MOREAU. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 I have ventured on a sketch of the last 
 >• epoch of your illustrious husband's life ; I 
 ^ feel how much I have been unequal to the 
 
 m task I had imposed on myself; but if I have 
 
 33 
 
 succeeded in expressing the admiration I ever 
 
 experienced for his simple and modest vir- 
 tues, and the regrets inspired by his loss, to 
 every noble and generous heart ; if I have 
 collected a few outlines which will not be 
 disdained by those to whom one day will be- 
 long the care of painting this great charac- 
 ter ; I dare believe, that you will not accuse 
 me of presumption, and that you will judge 
 
 321107 

 
 IV. 
 
 with indulgence, of a recital, in which i have 
 solely consulted truth, and my own profound 
 respect for the memory of General Moreau. 
 
 Be pleased to accept, Madam, the as- 
 surance of the profound respect, with which 
 I have the honour to be, 
 Your very humble, 
 
 And very obedient servant, 
 
 P. S, 
 London 1st November } 1813* 

 
 SOME DETAILS 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 GENERAL MOREAU, 
 
 $c. #c. Sfc. 
 
 The great military talents of Gene- 
 ral Moreau were known to ail Europe ; 
 but much less known were his frank 
 and loyal character — his mild and af- 
 fable manners : his private virtues were 
 such, as to induce those who intimately 
 observed him, to believe that he had 
 confined himself (o the practice of do- 
 mestic duties. On beholding him, ev- 
 ery one was surprised that so much 
 simplicity could be compatible with so 
 much glory. It is in this point of view 
   1*
 
 that i undertake to exhibit this great 
 man ; as well as through the different 
 circumstances attending his return to 
 Europe, until the fatal moment which 
 terminated so fair a life. Who, alas ! 
 could have supposed, when I was trac- 
 ing the features of goodness, generosity, 
 and candour, which rendered him so 
 dear to me, and collecting the facts 
 which prove with what enthusiasm he 
 was welcomed in Germany, that I should 
 have to fulfil the mournful duty of doing 
 justice to his memory ! 
 
 It was in America that I first knew 
 General Moreau ; and I have subse- 
 quently had frequent opportunities of 
 seeing him in the detail of his private 
 life, constantly worthy of his great name, 
 and ever meriting the affection of his 
 neighbours, who distinguished him sole- 
 ly by the title of our good Moreau. 
 
 On his arrival on the transatlantic 
 continent, General Moreau, his family
 
 baring been obliged to prolong their 
 stay in Europe, chose to take a journey 
 of observation through a country so 
 abundant in new and extraordinary as- 
 pects to the eye of a stranger. After 
 visiting the Falls of Niagarr, he de- 
 scended the Ohio and the M ssissippi, 
 returning afterwards by land 10 the spot 
 from whence he set out. During this 
 journey he acquired a perfect knowledge 
 of that part of America through which 
 he passed ; which is a proof of the ha- 
 bitual accomplishment he possessed, as 
 a military man, of ascertaining, at a 
 glance, the situations which render a 
 country remarkable. 
 
 On his return from this journey he 
 purchased a handsome country-hou.se at 
 Morrisville, below the Fall of the Dela- 
 ware. It was there that he in part feu it d 
 the happiness of which his cruel rival 
 had sought to deprive him ; it was there 
 that, surrounded by a charming family
 
 8 
 
 and stedfast friends, be seemed so much 
 to lose sight of Hie injustice whose vic- 
 tim he had been, that he was never heard 
 to mention it, and rarely to name him 
 who was the author of it. 
 
 In all that Moreau said or did, it was 
 evident that he himself wished to forget 
 what he had been, and was also de- 
 sirous that others should forget it ; but 
 though in the first moment his perfectly 
 artless manners and his unassuming tone, 
 rendered it difficult to recognize in him, 
 the great man, yet the contrast of that 
 simplicity with his great renown and 
 his lofty deeds, soon filled the mind 
 with admiration, and there was no one 
 who must not with enthusiasm contem- 
 plate the hero in the meek attire of his 
 virtues and of his domestic habitudes. 
 
 His fortune, though extremely lessen- 
 ed by the persecutions directed against 
 him, and by the obligation which had 
 been imposed upon him of paving the
 
 enormous costs of the law-proceedings 
 in which he had been basely implicated, 
 afforded him the means of gratifying his 
 inclination toward hosoitalitv and the 
 relief of the unfortunate. His was an 
 open house to his numerous friends ; it 
 breathed an inexpressible charm, com- 
 pounded of all that interest which must 
 ever be caused by the sight of a hero, 
 proscribed, yet superior to misfortune ; 
 and of the admiration which could noi 
 be withheld from his young and beauti- 
 ful consort, who embellished his retreat 
 with talents and qualities which had 
 shone in the circles of one of the first 
 capitals in the universe. 
 
 The situation of his estate afforded 
 him the free gratification of his taste for 
 fishing and hunting. There could not 
 be any thing more touching than to see 
 him bring home alone in a boat the 
 fruits of these amusements, and revisit 
 the bosom of his family, ever most hap- 
 py in his return.
 
 10 
 
 In the mouth of December he resum- 
 ed liis residence in New York. At that 
 residence he saw persons of all opinions 
 and of all parties ; but his prudent 
 reserve restrained each within proper 
 bounds. The voices of faction were 
 silent before him ; and he seemed to 
 impart to all about him that spirit of 
 conciliation and impartiality which cha- 
 racterized the whole of his conduct. It 
 was with regret if he ever engaged in 
 politics ; indeed it might have been said, 
 that having found more happiness in the 
 new world than he could reasonably 
 expect from it, he felt repugnance in oc- 
 cupying himself with any crisis which 
 was then agitating or about to agitate 
 the old world. Yet the American poli- 
 ticians consulted him as their oracle, 
 and perceived with astonishment that 
 almost all his conjectures were in the 
 sequel verified. 
 
 Great, however, as might be the aver- 
 sion he seemed to entertain from what
 
 11 
 
 ever reminded lihu of days marked with 
 troubles and misfortunes, he could not 
 avert his thoughts and his regards from 
 his country and the love he bore her, as 
 well as the hope of being one day re- 
 called to contribute toward the re-estab- 
 lishment of her repose and glory, urged 
 him constantly to reject the brilliant of- 
 fers which were made him, in order that 
 he might devote his services to other 
 countries. But the disasters which the 
 French armies had undergone in Russia, 
 so afflicted his heart on account of the 
 warm attachment he bore toward France, 
 and irritated him so strongly against the 
 man in whom they originated, and who 
 in that enterprise, equally barbarous and 
 senseless, had sacrificed the flower of 
 the French warriors, that he thought he 
 could no longer refuse the aid of his 
 talents toward the success of the com- 
 mon cause, and toward the general de- 
 liverance. He often said to me, in bit-
 
 12 
 
 ter sorrow, "that man heaps shame and 
 opprobrium on the French name. He 
 lays up in store for my unhappy country 
 the hatred and curses of the universe. 
 The French will soon be worse treated 
 even than the Jews ; more persecuted 
 than that very nation, proscribed as it 
 is by the contempt and the anathemas 
 of every other people.'* 
 
 Having lost the hope of seeing his 
 country saved by some vigorous burst 
 on the part of his countrymen in the 
 interior of France, he thought it his duty 
 to contribute to her salvation by uniting 
 himself to a power to which no ambitious 
 views with respect to France could be 
 imputed, and which had taken up arms, 
 only to repel the unjust aggression of 
 which the latter had been the instru- 
 ment. He consequently acceded to the 
 wishes of his Majesty the Emperor of 
 all the Russias ; but placing implicit 
 trust in him, whose generous and mag-
 
 IS 
 
 nanimous heart he was satisfied that he 
 knew, he refused all the offers made to 
 him by his Imperial Majesty's Minister 
 to the United States, and would not 
 make any preliminary stipulations: there 
 being no bounds to his confidence in the 
 Prince who invited him, and his motives 
 bein"' totally different from those which 
 actuate military men under other cir- 
 cumstances, to enter into the service of 
 a foreign power. 
 
 Perceiving that the field of action Was 
 about to open on the continent, he felt 
 how indispensable it was that he 'should 
 be present on the theatre of military op- 
 erations before the month of June, and 
 I have several times heard him exnress 
 
 k. 
 
 an impatient anxiety to arrive soon 
 enough for his counsels to be of some 
 use. But at the same time his heart was 
 agitated by cruel struggles, divided as 
 he was between his dutv to his country, 
 and the love he bore to his consort and 
 2
 
 14 
 
 child, who had both been in France ten 
 months for the sake of their health. He 
 shuddered to leave those two cherished 
 beings under what he called the claws 
 of the tyrant, not being certain whether 
 his consort had received the letters in 
 which he informed her of his departure. 
 But it seems that notwithstanding the 
 great distance by which they were sep- 
 arated, these great souls had understood 
 each other, for in the month of Mav, 
 General Moreau received from his ladv 
 
 ti 
 
 a communication, the secret of which 
 he alone was able to recognize, and of 
 which none but she could have con- 
 ceived the allegory ; by this he saw that 
 she supposed he must go, and that she 
 had taken her measures accordingly. 
 
 At length he determined to set out in 
 the begiuning of June. The Ilussian 
 minister immediately demanded from 
 Admiral Cockburn a licence for an 
 American vessel going to Europe with a
 
 15 
 
 messenger; the Admiral, to whom the 
 secret of this voyage had been confided, 
 readily aflbrded every necessary facili- 
 ty to it. All our anxiety was after- 
 wards engrossed by the means of con- 
 cealing our projected departure from the 
 knowledge of Napoleon's Minister, who 
 would not have failed either to despatch 
 a French privateer to capture us, or to 
 employ the whole power of his intrigues 
 in order to detain us. Our determina- 
 tion to wait the departure of the Minis- 
 ter of the United States, who was go- 
 ing to France in the Argus, occasioned 
 our own departure to be delayed some 
 days. 
 
 At length on the 21st day of June, I 
 embarked with General Moreau at Hell 
 Gate, on board the ship Hannibal, 550 
 tons burthen, and one of the best sailers 
 in the American marine. 
 
 We soon lost sight of the American 
 coast, and a favourable wind brought us
 
 16 
 
 on ibe 1st of July to the Bank of New- 
 foundland, where we remained ten hours 
 to fish for cod, a diversion which afford- 
 ed some relief to the mind of General 
 Moreau. From thence until we arriv- 
 ed off Gotten&urg we did not see a sin- 
 gle sail, having a wind constantly fa- 
 vourable, and being surrounded by fogs 
 which seemed to protect us against the 
 French and American privateers, from 
 whom we had every thing to fear. I 
 caused General Moreau to notice this/ 
 by telling him we were evidently under 
 the iEgis of Providence. 
 
 On the 22d of July we made the 
 coast of Norway, and were hailed by 
 an English frigate. It was the Hermo 
 dry, Captain Chatham. He, learning 
 from me that General Moreau was on 
 board, leapt into his boat to come and 
 offer us ail the services in his power. 
 It was by him that General Moreau was 
 informed of She arrival of his consort in
 
 England, which entirely 'dispelled ijtf- 
 cloud which had from time to time hun<r 
 over his brow during the passage. 
 
 On the 24th of July we entered the 
 port of Gottenburg. During the whole 
 voyage the General had enjoyed the 
 most perfect health ; and reading was 
 his favourite occupation. 1 shall never 
 forget this happy epoch of my life. I 
 gave myself up entirely to the pleasure 
 of hearing him discourse on a great di- 
 versity of subjects. Mis manner of ex- 
 pressing himself, though pure and often 
 elegant, was quite his own ; it partook 
 of the frankness of a warrior, and the 
 politeness of a man of the world. He 
 laid open his thoughls with clearness 
 and ease ; so much had he read and ob- 
 served, that he imparted the greatest 
 variety and unahatins; interest to our 
 conversation. The only topics on which 
 it was difficult to lead him to speak, 
 were the facts which constituted his
 
 18 
 
 military glory, and the persecutions lie 
 had suffered on the part of his enemies. 
 lie could not pardon Bonaparte for the 
 evils which this man had caused France 
 to suffer; but he forgave him all those 
 with which he bad afflicted him. His 
 angelic soul was a stranger to hatred, 
 and his heart rejected every idea of 
 private revenge. The only matters I 
 could gather from him as to his impris- 
 onment, related to the refusals and the 
 honest pride with which he incessantly 
 opposed the insinuations of Napoleon's 
 agents, whose endeavours were to in- 
 
 CD 7 
 
 duce him to make some advances to- 
 ward the latter, which might tend to an 
 approximation. When Bonaparte had 
 lost the hope of sacrificing General Mo- 
 neau, he sent If**** to the Temple to 
 propose to him the conditions on which 
 he would grant him his liberty and be 
 reconciled to him ; but they were drvlv 
 rejected by the (general, who said he
 
 19 
 
 preferred his own lot to that of his; per 
 secutor. When he arrived on the fron- 
 tiers of Spain, the officer who had ac- 
 companied him thither by order of (he 
 police, told him mysteriously, that if he 
 had any intention of writing to the Em- 
 peror he might do so, and wait an an- 
 swer on the frontiers, which could not 
 fail to be prompt and favourable. The 
 General answered that he wouM not 
 write to the person whom the officer 
 called Emperor, nor would lie have 
 anv intercourse whatever with him. On 
 our passage he often spoke to me with 
 tenderness of General Fichegi\u 5 whose 
 great talents and energetic virtues he 
 admired, and whose lamentable end, he 
 incessantly deplored. K-e also delight- 
 ed to expatiate on the genius and mili- 
 tary talents of our immortal Bouvoroffi, 
 of whom, however, he judged with im- 
 partial severity. He had taken some 
 pains to correct the errors made by the
 
 so 
 
 historians of that General, but unfortu- 
 nately the notes he had made on the 
 subject, as well as many others equally 
 interesting, were lost along with his li- 
 brary, in the fire which consumed his 
 country-house in December, 181 L 
 
 On the 26th July, we landed at Goi- 
 tenburg. The first visit of the. Gene- 
 ral, was to the Governor : he was after- 
 wards disposed to view the town, hut the 
 eagerness of the multitude, nnd their 
 demonstrations of joy, soon obliged him 
 to give up the walk. 
 
 On the same day, he wrote to the Em- 
 peror of Russia and to the Prince Roy- 
 al of Sweden, On the 27th, he paid a 
 visjt to Marshal Yon Essen. The lat- 
 ter General, expressing, with the frank- 
 ness and sincerity of an old soldier, the 
 joy he felt at seeing him, said to me, 
 u You have brought us a reinforcement 
 of 100,000 men : what pleasure his arri 
 val will afford to our Prince Royal, who
 
 21 
 
 is incessantly speaking of his friend, 
 General Moreau. How many times 
 lias the Prince repeatedly told me, that 
 Moreau was born a general,— that he 
 had the conception, the glance, (coup 
 d'oeil) the decision of a great captain !;" 
 
 For more than a year, the report had 
 been spread in Sweden, that General 
 Moreau would come into that kingdom. 
 This report originated in the following 
 circumstance : when t\\Q Prince Royal, 
 accompaniad by the Marshal, repaired 
 to Stockholm, he asked the latter, cverv 
 time that they passed a handsome conn- 
 try-bouse, "Is that to be sold ?" and on 
 the Marshal's observing to him, that 
 the King had live superb castles ; his 
 Royal Highness answered, that the on- 
 ly object of these questions was to find 
 out a handsome habitation for his friend, 
 General Moreau. 
 
 During the few days that General 
 Moreau remained at Gotienburg, he bu~
 
 22 
 
 hied himself among his country-equi- 
 page, that is to say, he caused to he 
 laid aside the greater part of his effects, 
 to he forwarded to Russia, and reserv- 
 ed only some maps, of which he posses- 
 sed a valuable collection, together with 
 a few changes of linen. Few men were 
 more limited than he was, in their per- 
 sonal wants : he could do without every 
 thing that was not strictly necessary : 
 and a servant was, to him, almost a su- 
 perfluity. When 1 testified to him my 
 great astonishment at seeing him so in- 
 dependent of all which constitutes the 
 indispensable necessaries of existence, 
 lie answered, " Such should be the life 
 of a military man ; he must know how 
 to bear the want of every thing ; never 
 be discouraged by privations ; it is thus 
 that we made war. The General in 
 chief had scarcely a single carriage. 
 Our baggage never encumbered our 
 march ; and on our retreat, we were
 
 23 
 
 never hampered with those numerous 
 equipages which occasion the loss of 
 more men to an army than a retreat 
 does. 7 ' 
 
 He had a way of arranging his pack* 
 ages, which deserves to be mentioned 
 here : he divided his money, his clothes, 
 his linen, and other necessary effects, 
 as equally as possible, and deposited 
 portions in each of them, so that he was 
 almost certain of not being exposed to 
 the privations to which military men, 
 who are less provident, must ever be 
 exposed by the chances of war. 
 
 On the first of August we left Gotten- 
 burg ; from that moment our journey, as 
 far as Estadt, was, to General Moreau, 
 a triumphal procession ; every one dis- 
 puted the honour of seeing and having 
 him at his house. We almost constant- 
 ly found the proprietors of the castles 
 in the neighbourhood of our route, wait- 
 ing for us. at Hie relays, to offer their
 
 24 
 
 services to the General : he enchanted 
 every body by his manners and his 
 conversation, 
 
 At Estadt we found a Swedish brig 
 of war, on board of which the General 
 was conducted by the Swedish Admiral 
 ■General, who paid him the highest hon- 
 ours. The passage lasted forty-eight 
 hours ; and ou the Gih of August, we 
 anchored in the road of Stralsund. I 
 went first on shore tq announce our ar- 
 rival to the commandant of the place, 
 who told me, that the General was ex- 
 pected, and that an aide-de-camp had a 
 letter to deliver to him from the Prince 
 Royal, He landed at noon, and was 
 saluted with twenty-one guns; the ship's 
 crew being on the masts. He was re- 
 ceived at the port by all the Swedish 
 generals and superior officers, who ac- 
 companied him to the palace, through 
 the midst of the inhabitants, raising 
 eaatimial huzzas ; and by the troops,
 
 25 
 
 who paid liim military honours. He 
 was at dinner with the commandant, 
 when the arrival of the Prince Royal 
 was announced to him — he flew to meet 
 him ; hut as soon as the Prince perceiv- 
 ed him, he darted from his carriage, 
 rushed into his arms, and lavished on 
 him the warmest expressions of friend 
 ship : this truly affecting interview drew 
 tears from all eyes. From that moment, 
 the first question which the Prince Roy- 
 al put to those who addressed him, was, 
 (i Have you seen Moreau ?" 
 
 During the three days that these two 
 great men passed together, they never 
 quitted each other ; they employed that 
 interval in concerting the grand plan 
 which is to give repose and happiness 
 to the universe. On the following day, 
 they went to visit the fortifications of 
 Stralsund, and were present when the 
 English troops entered into that town, 
 under the command of General Gibbs. 
 3
 
 26 
 
 v Fhe General was much satisfied at fincL 
 ins here Count Walmoden, with whom 
 be had a long conference. It was then, 
 also, that we were joined by Colonel 
 llapatel, bis former aide-de-camp. 
 
 AYe left Stralsund at three o'clock in 
 the morning. What I have said of the 
 manner in which Moreau was received 
 in Sweden, scarcely affords an idea of 
 the reception given him in Prussia : — 
 every one expressed, in his own way, 
 the joy which his presence caused. The 
 innkeepers refused his money — the post 
 masters furnished him their best horses ; 
 scarcely did his carriage stop an instant 
 ere it was surrounded by a multitude 
 easer to see him and applaud him. He 
 was far from ascribing to himself all 
 this homage. "These good people/' 
 said he, " prove by all these demonstra- 
 tions, the hatred they bear to Bonaparte, 
 and the desire which animates them to 
 be forever freed from him," The effect
 
 37 
 
 caused by his presence, produced seve- 
 ral touching scenes, from among which, 
 I shall only cite one, remarkable fru- 
 its simplicity. At the gate of a small 
 town, an old grey -haired corporal asked 
 me the name of the traveller whom I 
 accompanied, and as soon as I had ut- 
 tered that of General Moreau, he re- 
 pented it thrice with great signs of aston- 
 ishment ; then, with tears in his eyes, lie 
 eagerly seized the General's hand, and, 
 notwithstanding his efforts, repeatedly 
 kissed it, calling him " our father, our 
 father." He then called loudly to three 
 invalids, who composed the whole guard 
 of the gate, and formed them in line to 
 salute the General, who was deeply ai- 
 fected by this simple and artless testi- 
 mony of the interest which his presence 
 inspired. 
 
 In proportion, as we advanced into a 
 country where every thing recalls to 
 mind the glory of the great Frederic,
 
 28 
 
 (SeHeral Moreau astonished me by the 
 knowledge lie possessed, not only of 
 the political and military events which 
 rendered it interesting, but also of its 
 manufacturing and territorial resources. 
 Charles XII. and Frederic the Great 
 were his favourite heroes ; the first, on 
 account of his grand character and 
 astonishing intrepidity ; the second, on 
 account of that expanded genius and 
 that vigorous soul which never display- 
 ed their means to greater advantage, 
 than in the midst of the greatest revers- 
 es ; he admired him equally as a sage, 
 a hero, and a king. " He/*' said the 
 General, " never abandoned his army 
 when surrounded by dangers ; nor was 
 he ever at a loss how to manage it 
 in the midst of battles. His victories 
 were the fruit of the highest combina- 
 tions ; seconded by a coup d'cetl, the 
 most accurate and just, by the rarest de- 
 cree of sunsr froid, and by » courage
 
 Q 
 
 9 
 
 such as it best becomes a Sovereign to 
 display. The fury-tending tactics of 
 Bonaparte have entirely overthrown the 
 art of war ; battles are now no longer 
 any thing but butcheries ; it is not, as 
 formerly, by sparing the blood of the 
 soldiers, that a campaign is terminated ; 
 but, in fact, by making that blood flow 
 in torrents. Napoleon has gained his 
 victories solely by mortal dint of men." 
 
 In passing to New Oremburg, where 
 the head quarters of the Prince of Swe- 
 den were, the venerable Marshal Steel- 
 ing, being informed of the arrival of Ge- 
 neral Moreau, instantly rose from table 
 to go and invite him to dinner. I never 
 witnessed more concord, more harmony, 
 than in the reunion of those brave war- 
 riors, who listened with enchantment to 
 a great man, whom they had until then 
 known only by his exploits. 
 
 We entered Berlin at eight o'clock 
 in the evening. As soon as the report
 
 30 
 
 was spread of -General Moreau's arrival 
 in that capital, the streets which termi- 
 nated at his hotel, and the rampart which 
 fronted it, were filled hy a great multi- 
 tude, who testified their joy hy huzzas a 
 thousand times repeated. On the next 
 day, he went to pay a visit to his High- 
 ness Prince Frederic, and to his Excel- 
 lency the Russian Ambassador, Gene- 
 ral Suetelen, and to General Buiow. 
 We quitted Berlin the same day at 
 noon, accompanied by a still more con- 
 siderable multitude than that which had 
 welcomed us the eveninc before. 
 
 On our way, we found in each town 
 and village, deserters from the French 
 army, mostly Germans and Italians, 
 who all begged to serve among the al- 
 lied troops. Among them we found a 
 single veteran who had served under 
 Morean ; the rest were all but very 
 young. This brave man recognized, 
 with tears in his eyes, his former Gene-
 
 31 
 
 ral, and assured him that his meinoi v 
 was deeply engraven in the hearts of 
 the French soldiers, and also that Na- 
 poleon was so frightened at this, that he 
 had forbidden, under pain of death, that 
 any one should utter the name of Mo- 
 reau in the army, and declared that no- 
 thing was more false tluiu the rumour of 
 his arrival on the continent. The vete- 
 ran added, that there now remained 
 very few soldiers who had fought in the 
 former campaigns on the llhinc ; that 
 the greater part had perished in llus- 
 sia, and that the small number of those 
 vvho had escaped that disastrous cam- 
 paign, was daily diminishing, on ac- 
 count of the necessity which existed of 
 placing the veterans in front, in order 
 to animate and sustain the children of 
 whom the greater part of Bonaparte's 
 army was composed. The Genera' 
 chatted a pretty long while with him, 
 and on a iking what was the motive
 
 Z2 
 
 which induced him to desert, he answer- 
 ed, (i My General, there is no longer 
 any pleasure in serving in the French 
 army ; nothing is to he seen there but 
 children, who never consent to fight un- 
 til their ears have been stunned by the 
 roar of two hundred pieces of cannon/"' 
 
 Near Olau we met General Pozzo di 
 Boriro, who informed us that Use Aus- 
 trians had joined the allies, and spoke 
 of the impatience with which Moreau 
 was expected at head quarters. 
 
 Having learnt at Glatz that the Em- 
 peror was to pass the night at llatibos- 
 chitz, we directed our way toward that 
 place, where we arrived unfortunately 
 two hours after his Imperial Majesty 
 had quitted it for Prague. 
 
 When we entered the high road lead- 
 ing to Prague, we found it covered 
 with the Russian park of artillery. The 
 general admired the steadiness of the 
 men, the beauty of the draught horses
 
 33 
 
 the lightness of the carriages and of the 
 cannons. " It is tlrus," said he, " that 
 the thunders of war should be borne ; 
 the appearance of your artillery already 
 explains to me tiie superiority it has 
 maintained during the late campaigns." 
 He caused our carriage to go slower, in 
 order to examine this branch of our 
 military material, more in detail. 
 
 We soon found ourselves in the midst 
 of the Imperial Russian Guard, and the 
 name of General Moreau, which imme- 
 diately flew from mouth to mouth, made 
 the most lively impression on those 
 brave men. The generals Miloradovitz, 
 Ermoloff, and Rosen, hastened to come 
 and testify to him their satisfaction at 
 seeing him in the army, and accompani- 
 ed us to a great distance. Contentment 
 was exhibited on all faces ; our young 
 officers rushed before our carriage to - 
 contemplate their great model. Tiie 
 General bestowed just praise on their"
 
 34 
 
 good behaviour and their martial air. 
 * f Behold," said he to me, fj the heroes 
 of Pultusk, of Eylau, of Smolensk ; 
 one might undertake every thing with 
 such men." 
 
 We were compelled, by an accident 
 which happened to our carriage, to re- 
 main four hours at Konigsgratz, which 
 afforded the General time to go and vis- 
 it the Prince Royal of Prussia, who 
 was in the town. The young Prince 
 received him with the most charming 
 manners ; warmly expressed to him the 
 joy he felt on seeing him ; and during 
 a conversation of some hours spoke to 
 him chiefly of his campaigns, which he 
 had very sedulously studied. 
 
 On the IGth of August, at eight 
 o'clock in the evening, we arrived at 
 Prague ; it was the evening before the 
 rupture of the armistice. Scarcely had 
 we alighted when the General sent me 
 with Colonel Rapatel to receive the ox-
 
 85 
 
 defs of his Majesty the Emperor Alex 
 ander, whom we found just on the point 
 of going out with the Emperor of Aus- 
 tria to the theatre. Colonel Rapatel re- 
 ceived orders to be at the Palace after 
 the play was over. His Majesty, after 
 expressing to him the entire satisfaction 
 which General Moreau's arrival gave 
 him, told the Colonel he supposed he 
 would take repose after the long and 
 fatiguing journey he had just performed, 
 and that he himself would postpone un- 
 til next day the pleasure of receiving 
 him. At the same time the Emperor 
 sent one of his aides-de-camp to com- 
 pliment the General. 
 
 On the next day at half- past eight in 
 the morning, I was going out of our 
 apartment, when I met the Emperor just 
 about to enter : I bad but just time to 
 apprize the General of the arrival of hi*3 
 Malesty, who embraced as soon as he 
 addressed him ; and quitted him after a
 
 3G 
 
 very animated conversation, which last 
 ed two hours. On quitting his Majes- 
 ty, the General came to me with tears 
 in his eyes, and said to me in a softened 
 
 voice, " Ah ! my dear S , what a 
 
 man is the Emperor ! from this moment 
 I have contracted the sweet and sacred 
 obligation of sacrificing mv life for him. 
 There is no one who would not die to 
 serve him. How much are all the flat- 
 tering reports which I have heard rela- 
 tive to him, how much are nil the pre- 
 possessions I had entertained in favour 
 of him, beneath that angel of good- 
 ness !" 
 
 The General then repaired to the 
 Castle, where his Majesty presented 
 him to their Imperial Highnesses the 
 Grand Duchesses of Weimar and of 
 Oldenburg. He was enchanted with 
 their wit, their mental acquirements, 
 and their manners. On quitting them 
 lie went to visit the Ministers and the
 
 37 
 
 Generals. In the evening he had a 
 very interesting conversation with Count 
 Metternich. 
 
 On the 18th at noon the General was 
 presented by his Majesty the Emperor 
 of Russia to his Majesty the Emperor 
 of Austria, who received him with the 
 greatest marks of distinction; and among 
 oilier thines, thanked him for the mode- 
 ration and mildness he had constantly 
 shewn on every occasion, during the 
 period of the campaigns on the Rhine ; 
 adding, that the personal character of 
 the General had very much contributed 
 to diminish the evils of war with regard 
 to the subjects of his Imperial Majesty. 
 
 His Majesty the King of Prussia bad 
 just arrived at Prague. The E« v peror 
 Alexander earnestly desired to present 
 the General to him, but foreseeing at 
 the same time that tiie latter, having to 
 set out the next day for the armv, had 
 scarcely, time sufficient for preparations 
 
 321107
 
 38 
 
 of the most indispensable kind, his Ma 
 jesty invited the General to go and wait 
 his orders at home. We were so wait- 
 ing when all on a sudden the Emperor 
 entered with the King of Prussia, and 
 addressing himself to the General, said, 
 ii General Moreau ; his Majesty the 
 King of Prussia. 77 This Prince ac- 
 costed him. by saying, that he had come 
 " with a great deal of pleasure to see a 
 General so renowned for his talents and 
 his virtues. 77 He then added in a more 
 touching tone. " how much he admired 
 the motives which had urged him to re- 
 pair to the army of the allies, and how 
 much lie relied on his talents and his 
 virtues for the success of the common 
 cause. 77 The two Sovereigns then clos- 
 eted themselves with him for two hours. 
 In treating Moreau with so much dis- 
 tinction, the Emperor shewed that he 
 knew, from the nature of his own heart, 
 what was calculated to captivate that of
 
 39 
 
 a great man. Decorations and rewards 
 of all kinds were nothing in comparison 
 with that reception, in which his impe- 
 rial Majesty for an instant forgat the 
 supreme rank, in order by a brilliant 
 advance, to honour a man whose mili- 
 tary renown was his least merit. The 
 latter felt it so deeply, that he could not 
 speak in cool deliberate terms of that 
 august Sovereign, and when he heard 
 him once called by one of the Generals, 
 "the best of Princes," he replied brisk- 
 ly, "how, Sir? say the best of men." 
 
 The General told me that his Im- 
 perial Majesty had stated to him in a 
 few hours the preceding campaign in a 
 maimer so precise, so clear, and with 
 observations so just, comments so pro- 
 found, that he fancied he was listening 
 to the most experienced of Generals. 
 Re permitted himself to put the most 
 detailed questions to the Emperor ; 
 which gave his Majesty occasion to
 
 40 
 
 explain all the marches and all the 
 maneeuvres of the armies, and in that 
 manner to supply whatever was obscure 
 or incomplete in the official reports, 
 which were the only documents which 
 the General had read in America, in 
 order to form an idea of those move- 
 ments. Af.er this conversation I often 
 heard Moreau say ? that if any thing im- 
 paired the many perfections with which 
 the Emperor was endowed, it was an 
 excess of modesty. He also professed 
 the highest admiration of the Grand 
 Duchess of Oldenburg; "she is," said 
 lie, "the great Catherine herself; her 
 genius astonishes ; and her manners 
 captivate all who know her." 
 
 On the 19th, in the evening, Moreau 
 set out for the army with one of his Im- 
 perial Majesty's aides-de-camp, and left 
 me with Colonel Rapatel to make those 
 arrangements which his numerous visits 
 prevented him from attending to. We 
 were to rejoin him next day.
 
 41 
 
 How sweet was it for me to hear, 
 after his departure, the encomiums which 
 every one passed upon him. In two 
 days he had won all hearts ; his frank 
 ness and his noble simplicity had re- 
 moved all ideas of jealousy which might 
 have arisen against him on witnessing 
 the welcome with which he had been 
 received. Every one highly applauded 
 the unlimited confidence which his Im- 
 perial Majesty placed in him. The 
 General himself had charged me to re- 
 peat to all those who inquired about 
 him, that he had no other ambition than 
 to concur, with his means and expe- 
 rience, to the success of the common 
 cause, the triumph of which must neces- 
 sarily restore happiness and peace to 
 his own country, in the bosom of which 
 he wished to close his days in the prac- 
 tice of the domestic virtues. 
 
 Colonel Rapatcl and myself had the 
 honour to be presented on the 20th to 
 4*
 
 42 
 
 ftieir Imperial Highnesses tlie Grand 
 Duchesses of Weimar and Oldenburg, 
 for whom General Moreau had left us a 
 letter. We had every reason to be sat- 
 isfied with the gracious reception they 
 gave us. Their Highnesses asked us a 
 host of questions about our General, and 
 required us to let them know every par- 
 ticular of his manner of living in the. 
 New World. We had the pleasure to 
 hear them express themselves with re- 
 gard to him in terms of heartfelt admi- 
 ration : they said they had never seen 
 a man so well deserving of renown, 
 and, having so just a right to make the 
 highest pretensions, to be at the same 
 time so modest, so simple, and so frank. 
 Their Imperial Highnesses, in an audi- 
 ence they gave me on the following day, 
 charged inc to remind General Moreau, 
 fch&t they eagerly expected news of him, 
 and to urge him speedily to let th< m 
 jmve liis consort along with them ; add-
 
 43 
 
 ing, that no one in the world interested 
 them so much as Madame Moreau. 
 The Grand Duchess Catherine gave 
 Colonel Rapatel a letter for the General. 
 On the 2;">th, we rejoined him at 
 Reiehstadt, six miles from Dresden. 
 From thence, he immediately set out 
 on his approach to that capital, and in 
 this journey, as in all others, accom- 
 panied his Majesty the Emperor. The 
 whole of the next day, he also passed 
 on horseback, accompanying his Impe- 
 rial Majesty, and his Prussian Majesty. 
 The attack on Dresden commenced at 
 four o'clock in the afternoon, and to- 
 wards evening became very serious; tke 
 town was seen to be on fire in twelve 
 places. At eight o'clock, the General 
 made a sign to me to follow him, and 
 we descended into the valley, where the 
 Austrian cavalry was ranged in order of 
 battle. He went along the front of the 
 columns with the greatest rapidity, in
 
 11 
 
 the midst of bullets and bombs which 
 fell on all sides, and siopt only to speak 
 to General Chastler, who received, him 
 with every demonstration of the most 
 lively interest and respect. The Gene- 
 ral then moved further in advance, to 
 reconnoitre the batteries of the enemy. 
 We ever experience, when near a hero, 
 a feeling of assurance ; this sentiment, 
 in the present instance, hindered me 
 from reflecting on the perils that sur- 
 rounded me ; but seeing with what te- 
 merity Moreau exposed himself, and 
 feeling of what high value his life was 
 to us, I warmly expressed to him my 
 fears, conjuring him to think on the 
 deep sorrow which would be spread 
 among the allies by the loss of the man 
 on whom so many of their hopes rested. 
 He listened to me, and resolved to re- 
 turn and be near the Emperor. We 
 were lighted on our way by the flames 
 of Dresden then burning, and by the
 
 45 
 
 explosion of the bombs which fell at 
 some distance from us. We found the 
 Emperor Alexander uneasy respecting 
 what had become of Moreau, whom he 
 had seen at his side the whole day. 
 The latter gave his Imperial Majesty 
 an account of the positions of the enemy 
 at all points. 
 
 In the night, he had an occasion of 
 becoming known to His Imperial High- 
 ness the Archduke Constantine, who 
 came to announce, that the intention of 
 the enemv was to debouche on the riirht. 
 
 The accounts given by the prisoners, 
 confirmed the arrival of Bonaparte at 
 Dresden, at one in the afternoon, with 
 60,000 men, part of whom, who were 
 his guards, had been brought in post 
 carriages. 
 
 It was during this day, that two 
 Wurtemhurg regiments passed over, 
 with drums beating, to our side, and 
 took their stations immediately among 
 our troops.
 
 46 
 
 The 27th, (a fatal day ! which was 
 
 marked by a catastrophe so afflicting to 
 all Europe, so terrible to France, and so 
 cruel toward the friends of order, and 
 the admirers of real glory !) the weath- 
 er was dreadful ; the rain, which fell in 
 torrents, scarcely allowed any use to be 
 made of the artillery ; ami in spite of 
 every precaution, the muskets were so 
 penetrated by the wet, that they became 
 useless in the hands of the soldiers. 
 Towards noon, Moreau was communi- 
 cating some military observations to his 
 Imperial Majesty, who was at a very 
 short distance, when a ball from one of 
 the enemy's batteries, which was aim- 
 ing to dismount one of ours, behind 
 which, these great persons were con- 
 versing, shattered to pieces the right 
 knee of the General, and passing through 
 his horse, carried away the call* of his 
 other leg. It would be difficult to rep- 
 resent the grief which my Sovereign en-
 
 47 
 
 ♦lured at the sight of this dreadful blow 5 
 he was affected by it even to tears, and 
 hastened, in person, to administer to 
 the hero who had just been struck, all 
 ihe succour and consolation that mierht 
 either sooth or re-assure him. Colonel 
 Kapatel had flown to his side to receive 
 him in his arms : " I am lost, my deaf 
 Rapatel," said he, "but it is most sweet 
 to die for so good a cause, and before 
 the eyes of so great a Prince.' 7 The 
 Colonel sought to disguise from him his 
 sad condition : saying, it was easy to 
 save him, and if a man like him had his 
 head and his heart left, he might still 
 hope to do great services, and to run 
 a. glorious career. But the General, 
 though unwilling to damp the hopes of 
 friendship, shewed, by his silence, that 
 he could have no faith in these prognos- 
 tics, and that already his great soul had 
 perceived death without affright. 
 
 A litter was hastily made with the 
 pikes of the Cossacks; Ihev covered
 
 48 
 
 him with some cloaks, and carried 
 him away to a house less exposed to the 
 fire of the enemy. It was there that 
 M. Welly, first surgeon to his Majesty 
 the Emperor Alexander, directly ampu- 
 tated the right leg above the knee : 
 when this first operation was terminat- 
 ed, the General begged him to examine 
 the other, and to tell him if it was pos- 
 sible to save it ; but on receiving for 
 answer, that this was impossible, " well 
 then, take it off," said he, coolly. I 
 have no need to tell what invariable 
 firmness he displayed in the midst of 
 the torments of both these amputations, 
 or the care he himself took to console 
 those whom he saw weeping over his 
 sufferings ; their tears he reproached 
 them with, as marks of a pusillanimous 
 friendship. 
 
 In a short time, notwithstanding all 
 the efforts that had been employed to 
 conceal this catastrophe from the armies*
 
 49 
 
 the news spread rapidly, and caused a 
 general consternation. The army hav- 
 ing received orders to make a move- 
 ment to approach that of General J31u- 
 cher, Moreau was removtd to Fassen- 
 dorf, where he passed the night : he. 
 had a short, hut tranquil slumber, and 
 very little fever ; he took only a little 
 soup, and some wine and water. 
 
 On the 28th, at four o'clock in the 
 morning, we placed him on litters Let- 
 ter contrived than the other, and fur- 
 nished with curtains. Forty Croats 
 were ordered out to carry him, and tun 
 Cossaeks of the guard served him as* an 
 escort. The morning was very rainy ; 
 the General frequently asked for water 
 to refresh his mouth, and on arriving at 
 Dippoldeswalden, he took a little bread 
 in some soup. He seemed very tran- 
 quil, and even healthy. I had an op- 
 portunity of seeing here the King of 
 Prussia, who was repairing to Toplitz 
 6
 
 50 
 
 His Majesty inquired most prcssingly 
 of me concerning his condition, which 
 seemed deeply to affect him, and said 
 to me, "• I should consider his death as 
 the greatest misfortune that could befal 
 me." We continued our route toward 
 the frontiers of Bohemia ; and having 
 halted at four o'clock to give him some 
 repose, the Croats ay ho carried him were 
 relieved bv some Prussian guards. We 
 were afterwards met by the Emperor 
 and his suite. His Majesty having 
 learnt from me, that the General was 
 not asleep, approached him, made the 
 most tender inquiries respecting Is is 
 health, and spoke a few words to him 
 respecting the positions occupied by the 
 army. We arrived at night fall, ai 
 head' quarters. 1 cannot describe the 
 affliction occasioned among all the troops 
 by the view of this General, who. some 
 Clays airo, had been the object of so 
 many hopes and so much enthusiasm,
 
 51 
 
 thus borne on a litter, and so grievously 
 wounded. How many tears did I see 
 flow down cheeks covered with glorious 
 scars ! How many noble and courageous 
 hearts have I seen unable to bear such 
 an affecting picture ! 
 
 Notwithstanding the fatigues of the 
 journey, the General was in a condition 
 which gave hopes, which were the bet- 
 ter founded, since the fever was consid- 
 erably diminished. M. Welly con- 
 firmed those hopes by a report on the 
 state of the patient. He relied on the 
 purity of his blood, which he found to 
 be most extraordinary, and on that 
 greatness of soul which prevented the 
 agitation of the mind from envenoming* 
 his bodily sufferings. He added, how- 
 ever, that there was scarcely a single 
 example of recovery from such severe 
 wounds. 
 
 On the 29th, the Emperor supposing 
 that the General might bear the motion
 
 5% 
 
 of a carriage, sent him his own coach 
 and six ; but according to the advice of 
 the surgeon, it was resolved, that he 
 should be still borne on a litter ; and a 
 company of Russian grenadiers were 
 allotted to us for that purpose. Though 
 the road across the mountains was 
 frightful, and toilsome even for a man 
 in good health, the General supported 
 the fatigues and iuconveniencies attend- 
 ing it without exhibiting the slightest 
 symptom of weakness ; and we found 
 in that amazing fortitude and immovea- 
 ble constancy, new grounds of hope. 
 We met with abrupt mountains and 
 sud :.len declivities ; sometimes the roads 
 we had to cross were overwhelmed by 
 torrents : at other times the footpaths 
 bounded by deep precipices and roaring 
 gulfs, hardly afforded room for the bear- 
 ers of the General to walk in line. 
 Thus, to the deep concern which his 
 wounds occasioned us, were united ap-
 
 o3 
 
 
 prehensions almost as terrible respcctin 
 the dangers of the road. The Emper 
 or overtook us, half-way, with his suite, 
 and failed not, in person, to ask the 
 General how he found himself, forbear- 
 ing however to make him speak too 
 much, and to advert to subjects which 
 might occasion him any agitation. We 
 then stopt to give him some tea; he had 
 not ceased during the daw to refresh his 
 mouth with cold water, which appeared 
 to afford him an agreeable sensation : 
 but which excited in me some vague 
 fears, lest he should not be so well as 
 he looked. 
 
 When we descended into the great 
 valley, we could distinctly hear a very 
 brisk cannonade, and saw two villages 
 and the town of Toplitz in Haines. We 
 redoubled our steps to arrive as soon as 
 possible at Ducks, where the head quar- 
 ters of the Emperor were ; we arrived 
 there late. At eleven in the evening. 
 
 5*
 
 5* 
 
 the first dressings were removed, and 
 the wounds appealed to he in a favoura- 
 ble state ; they were beginning to close, 
 and shewed very little inflammation. It 
 was in this place, that we heard of the 
 victory obtained by the Russian guards, 
 under the command of Count Osterman 
 Tolstoy, over the corps of General Van- 
 damme, which was infinitely superior to 
 them in number. When I related to 
 General Moreau, the repeated acts of 
 valour, bv which our brave men had 
 distinguished themselves in this affair • 
 he said to me, " We must naturally ex- 
 pect the greatest things from the best 
 troops in the world." All the Generals 
 and Officers who were at head quarters, 
 came to make inquiries about him, in 
 the most earnest anxiety. 
 
 On the 30tb, at noon, we arrived at 
 Laun : and going on to Iklin, which 
 affords excellent mineral waters, tho 
 General desired to have some botiles of
 
 ;>3 
 
 it, which I procured for him. During 
 the whole journey he had continued to 
 refresh his mouth with spring water, 
 and to drink some, mixed with v ine ; 
 and moreover, he seemed to ns extreme- 
 ly tranquil. It was at Laun we heard 
 of the total defeat of the corps of Yan- 
 damrae, and of that Commander's being 
 made prisoner. All the details on this 
 combat, so much like thai of Thermo- 
 pylae excited his warmest admiration. 
 
 Hating learnt that the Swedish Min- 
 ister was to dispatch a Courier in the 
 evening, the General desired to write to 
 Madame Moreau. We in vain observ- 
 ed to him, that he would run the risk of 
 fatiauine: himself very much by writing 
 with his own hand ; he persisted in his 
 resolution, and it was on a desk which 
 I held before him that i;e wrote, with a 
 tolerable steady hand, this letter, which 
 in its brief, yet concise contexture, gives 
 flie lie authentically to the calumnies
 
 56 
 
 which Napoleon lias spread abroad, re- 
 specting the manner in which this great 
 man bore the dreadful blow with which 
 he had been struck. Here is the let- 
 ter : 
 
 " My dear friend, at the battle of 
 Dresden, three days ago, I had both 
 legs carried away by a cannon shot. 
 Thai scoundrel, Bonaparte, is always 
 lucky. 
 
 "The amputation has been perform- 
 ed as well as possible. Though the 
 army has made a retrograde movement, 
 it is not directly backward, but side- 
 ways, and for the sake of getting nearer 
 General Blucher. Excuse my scrawl : 
 I love thee, and embrace thee with my 
 whole heart. I charge Rapatel to fin- 
 ish. V. M » 
 
 The General then shewed a great in- 
 clination to chat : but we complied with
 
 it as little as possible, well knowing 
 how dangerous that would be in his 
 situation. We were father disposed to 
 keep every body out of his apartment, 
 but we could not refuse to let in his Roy- 
 al Highness th«> Duke of Cumberland, 
 who staid nearly a quarter of an hour 
 with him. This Prince told him, "he was 
 very happy in becoming acquainted with 
 him ; but his happiness would have 
 been still greater, had he formed that 
 acquaintance on the field of battle/' 
 The General answered, " that they 
 might probably meet together there, in 
 six weeks." 
 
 Alas ! at the moment when hope was 
 dawning on his heart, it was leaving 
 ours; and on seeing him thus rely on 
 the recovery of his health, we the more 
 deeply felt the concern which his situa- 
 tion caused us. Count Metteruich af- 
 terwards came on the part of the Em- 
 peror of Austria, to testily to him ail the
 
 i>8 
 
 ' interest which his Majesty took in his 
 condition, and quitted him after a con- 
 versation of ten minutes. Until mid- 
 night he remained very tranquil ; but 
 all at once, a hiccup and frequent vomit- 
 ings having come on him, it was no lon- 
 ger possible to be mistaken as to the 
 degree of danger he was in. 
 
 On the 31st, the same symptoms con- 
 tinued, and never left him a moment of 
 repose, so that he sunk into a state of 
 great weakness. The cold of death 
 had already reached his intestines, when 
 the news of General Blucher's victory 
 seemed to reanimate him, and to spread 
 through every sense, a reviving balm ; 
 but this apparent change for the better, 
 could not alter our mournful forebo- 
 dings. 
 
 On the 1st of September, the physi- 
 cians had succeeded in removing the 
 hiccnp; and lie expressed a most earnest 
 desire to be borne on to Prague; but he
 
 59 
 
 was so weak, that we made him feel he 
 could not bear the journey. He then 
 said, it was perhaps possible to go by 
 water ; and inquired, if there wa9 not 
 some point of communication with the 
 Moldau, maintaining, that at all events, 
 the journey, as far as that river, was not 
 too long for him to venture upon. He 
 examined the map several times, in or- 
 der to ascertain, if what he desired could 
 be executed. He was busied in this ex- 
 amination, and 1 was alone with him, 
 when he heard shouts, which came from 
 the street. He had the curiosity to learn 
 the cause ; and on my telling him, they 
 were occasioned by the arrival of Gene- 
 ral Vaiidamine. who was making his 
 entrance into the town, amidst the hoot- 
 ings of the multitude ; he said to me, 
 with astonishing warmth, "It is high 
 time that monster should be put out of 
 condition for doing harm!" and he then 
 was silent. Ho testified the greatest
 
 60 
 
 pleasure on being told, that Vandamme 
 having complained to the Grand Duke 
 Constantine, of the ill treatment they 
 made him experience, by refusing him 
 bis aide-de-camp, and taking him in an 
 open carriage, which might expose him 
 to the insults of the populace ; that 
 Prince answered, " that the harshesi 
 treatment would be even generosity to 
 ward a man, sullied like him, with the 
 blackest crimes," and afterwards his 
 Imperial Highness caused his sword to 
 be taken from him, which, through an 
 excess of goodness, the Emperor Alex 
 ander had allowed that he should retain 
 The General sent Colonel Rapatel ami 
 me to go and look at Vanuatu rae ; i 
 found him declaiming like a madman 
 against Bonaparte, whom he accused of 
 bavins: abandoned, sacrificed, bereaved 
 him. I left this maniac in the rakist of 
 his paroxysms of furv. and returned t© 
 tell what 1 had seen of him.
 
 61 
 
 All night, from the 1st to the 2d of 
 September, the unfortunate Moreau was 
 restless, yet lie did not seem to be in 
 pain. He never ceased consulting his 
 repeater, and calling sometimes Colonel 
 Rapatel, and sometimes me, to write, 
 after his dictation, a letter to the Empe- 
 ror. At length, toward seven in the 
 morning, finding myself alone with him, 
 he made me take up the pen, and dicta 
 ted to me the following lines : 
 
 " Sire, 
 
 '" 1 go down to the grave with the 
 same sentiments of admiration, respect, 
 and devotedness, which your Majesty 
 inspired me with, from the first moment 
 of our interview" * * * 
 
 He had got on thus far, when he 
 closed his eyes. I thought he was 
 meditating on what he was gokig to 
 dictate to me, and 1 held the pen ready 
 to follow him — but, he was no more ! 
 6
 
 G£ 
 
 n> 
 
 Hie best, the noblest of men was nt> 
 more ! Death had imprinted on his 
 countenance no sign of suffering, or of 
 convulsion ; he appeared to sleep a 
 peaceful slumber, peaceful as was his 
 heart at the moment when he was struck. 
 It was then within live minutes of seven 
 o'clock. During his short but painful 
 catastrophe, never had his cool firmness 
 forsaken him ; on seeing our tears and 
 our sadness, he himself took care to con- 
 sole us; *'My friends," said he, "what 
 good is there in mourniug ? thus has 
 Providence willed it ; we must submit 
 without a murmur." On the evening 
 before, wishing to announce to him, in 
 the most gentle, and sparing manner, 
 that ihe physicians had no longer any 
 hopes, we spoke to him of his unaltera- 
 ble tranquillity, of that calmness with 
 which he beheld the progress of his dis- 
 order, &c. &c. " My friends," answer- 
 ed he without permitting us to enter in-
 
 63 
 
 to particulars, "it is because I have 
 nothing wherewith to reproach myself." 
 Thus ended this hero, consecrating his 
 last action and his last thought to the 
 Sovereign whom he rightly regarded as 
 the principal repairer of the wrongs and 
 ills of Europe,, as him to whom France 
 would one day owe the fall of her tyrant, 
 and the re-establishment of her happi- 
 ness on the just and solid basis of legit- 
 imacy. This was the observation I 
 made to mv Sovereign when I an- 
 nounced to him this sad intelligence. 
 
 On arriving at Toplitz, I found his 
 Imperial Majesty assisting with the 
 Emperor of Austria, and the King of 
 Prussia at a Te Deum, which was sung 
 in the midst of the army to celebrate the 
 victories just obtained over Bonaparte. 
 I did not think proper to disturb his 
 Majesty while entertaining all the con- 
 soling ideas, all the happy presages 
 which this ceremony doubtless present.
 
 64 
 
 etl to his mind; I waited until the close^ 
 to fulfil the sad duty which brought me 
 to Toplitz. His Majesty's emotions 
 were extreme when I announced to him 
 the death I had witnessed. He deign- 
 ed to take me by the hand, and to say 
 to me in a tone of the severest grief, 
 4i that was a great man ; a very noble 
 heart." 
 
 On quitting his Majesty I was sur- 
 rounded by all the Generals and aides- 
 de-camp who were there ; and 1 felt 
 some consolation at witnessing the trib- 
 utes of praise, and even the tears, which 
 those brave warriors bestowed on his 
 memory. I saw several who regretted 
 that the stroke which had carried oil' 
 that great man, had not taken them 
 away in his stead. 
 
 At eight o'clock his Imperial Majes- 
 ty having caused me to come into his 
 cabinet, gave me the following orders : — 
 i. To convey the body of the General
 
 65 
 
 to Prague to be embalmed. 2. To ei^ 
 trust it to Colonel Rapatel, whom his 
 Imperial Majesty charged to accompany 
 it to St. Petersburg, in order to be inter- 
 red in the Catholic church with all the 
 funeral honours which had been paid 
 to Marshal Prince Koutousoff. "Let 
 us endeavour at least to honour his 
 memory," said the Emperor to me. His 
 Majesty then ordered me to enter inio 
 all the details which concerned General 
 Moreau, his wife, his daughter, his for- 
 tune ; and desired that I should set out 
 with a letter written by his own hand 
 to Madame Moreau : " it is a conso- 
 lation which I cannot withhold from 
 Madame Moreau, that of sending you 
 to wait upon her," said his Majesty, 
 " she will be interested at seeing a man 
 who was with her husband until his last 
 moment." 
 
 I have heard it said that when the 
 question arose between the two other 
 6*
 
 66 
 
 Sovereigns and the Emperor Alexan- 
 der, respecting their claims to the body 
 of' General Mo re an, this Prince, said, 
 " his ashes are too dear to me to let me 
 forego the ambition of possessing them 
 in my capital." Indeed, the most dis- 
 tinguished homage which his Imperial 
 Majesty has rendered to the memory of 
 that General, is the letter of which he 
 made me the bearer, to Madame Mo- 
 reno. It is impossible to read without 
 the most tender emotion and admiration, 
 those expressions at once touching and 
 noble, which the Emperor lias employed 
 to soften a grief, tiie extent of which he 
 estimated bv the regrets he himself ex- 
 perieneed. Greatness never employed 
 a more worthy lah&uasre, nor nitv more 
 sweet consolations. Every thing, in 
 that expansion of an elevated soul and 
 a pore heart, bespeaks the Sovereign 
 who protects, and the friend who con- 
 Soles. There is nothing Ih i* that
 
 67 
 
 breathes either formality or affectation ; 
 it is the impulse of the liveliest sensi- 
 bility anil the truest grief. Whatever 
 may be written of General Moreau will 
 never be capable of equaling the tribute 
 of regret and of eulogy paid to his mem- 
 ory in those immortal lines ; and if any 
 one inquire of his desolated widow, she 
 will doubtless say that they have re- 
 stored her to the consciousness of exis- 
 tence, that they have recalled her from 
 the brink of the grave, and that in read- 
 ing them she has been enabled to con- 
 ceive that it was possible not to sink 
 under the most poignant grief with 
 which the human heart can possibly 
 be afflicted. Here is that letter. 
 i{ Madam, 
 " When the dreadful misfortune 
 which befel General Moreau ov iuv 
 side, deprived me of the. luminous mind 
 and experience of that great man, I 
 cherished the hope that by great ear; il
 
 68 
 
 might be possible to preserve him to lii» 
 family and to ray friendship. Provi- 
 dence has ordained otherwise. He has 
 died as he lias lived, in the full energy 
 of a strong and constant soul. There 
 is only one remedy for the great evils of 
 life ; it is that of seeing them shared. 
 In Russia, Madam, you will every 
 where find these sentiments ; aud if it be 
 convenient for you to settle there, I will 
 seek out all the means to embellish the 
 existence of a person, of whom I hold 
 it to be my sacred duty to be the com- 
 forter and the supporter. I pray yon, 
 Madam, to rely on it most confidently ; 
 never to leave me in ignorance of any 
 circumstance in which I can be at all 
 useful to you, and to write to me always 
 direct. To anticipate your wishes will 
 be always an enjoyment to me. The 
 friendship I had vowed to your husband 
 goes beyond the tomb, and I have no 
 other means of acquitting myself well,
 
 69 
 
 at least in part, towards him, than in act- 
 ins; so as to ensure, as I shall ever he (lis- 
 posed to do, the well-being of his family. 
 " Receive, Madam, in the present 
 cruel and distressing circumstances, 
 these testimonials, with the assurance 
 of all mv best sentiments. 
 
 " Alexander. 
 '« Toplitz, the 6th Sept. 1813." 
 
 The Emperor the more deeply felt 
 the loss he had just sustained, since he 
 regarded Moreau as the intermedial be- 
 tween tlie Allies and the French nation. 
 Ah ! who, more than he was capable of 
 proving to the French, whom he loved 
 so much, and to whom he was himself 
 so dear, that it is not to reduce them to 
 subjection, but to deliver them, that the 
 Allies have taken up arms. 
 
 Events had succeeded each other in 
 such rapidity, that the General had not 
 had time to publish a proclamation
 
 70 
 
 which lie addressed to the French na- 
 tion, and which his Majesty approved, 
 It bore simply this title; " General Mo- 
 reau to the French." It was short, 
 plain, and energetic, as was every thing 
 he wrote. In it he explained the object 
 of his arrival on the continent, which 
 was to aid the French in withdrawing 
 themselves from the dreadful despotism 
 of Bonaparte ; he there announced that 
 he came to sacrifice, if need were, his 
 life, to restore repose and happiness to 
 a country which had never ceased to be 
 dear to him; he ended by calling all 
 the true and faithful sons of France to 
 the standards of independence. Thi» 
 address entirely contradicts the procla- 
 mation, dated Grosviteh, the 17th of 
 August, which has been attributed to 
 him, and in which he lias been made to 
 assume the title of Major General in 
 the service of Russia. To this suppo- 
 sition 1 would object; 1, that at the
 
 71 
 
 date of the 17th of August, General 
 Moreau was at Prague. 2. that he had 
 caused the Emperor Alexander to agree 
 that he should have no title near his per- 
 son, seeing that, having no other ambi- 
 tion than to restore repose to France, 
 his sole wish, after arriving at the ac- 
 complishment of this great end, was 
 quietly to terminate his days there in 
 the bosom of his family. His Majesty 
 then said to him, (i Well ; be then my 
 friend, my counsel !"' and are not these 
 two titles worth all that a man can be 
 ambitious of obtaining? 
 
 In the General's papers has been 
 found the commencement of a journal 
 of the operations of which he had been 
 an eye-witness, until the fatal day 
 when lie was wounded ; this has been 
 sent to her Imperial Highness the Grand 
 Duchess of Oldenburg, for whom he 
 was writing it. 
 
 At length, after the body of General 
 >reau bad been embalmed at Prasue*
 
 7* 
 
 a solemn service was performed over it, 
 and then it was left exposed at the pal- 
 ace of the Archbishopric for two days. 
 The crowd which went thither to see 
 him, expressed their regrets in the most 
 touching manner. 
 
 On the 6th of September it was de- 
 posited in a. coffin to be conveyed to St. 
 Petersburg. 
 
 After having seen the last duties paid 
 to him, I thought only on those which 
 the honour of having known him, and 
 the advantage of having valued him, 
 imposed on me. Happy if in this brief 
 and slight sketch I have not too much 
 fallen short of the great name I have 
 celebrated, and of the great man whom 
 I have tried to make known to the 
 world as I myself knew him !
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 GENERAL MOREAL 
 
 J. V. Moreau, the son of a distin- 
 guished advocate, was born at Morlaix, 
 in 1761. At the time of the revolution 
 he held the office of Provost of Juris- 
 prudence at Reunes, and possessed very 
 great influence among the students ; he 
 owed it as much to his talents as to an 
 air of frankness, and a most agreeable 
 mein, which at first sight were prepos- 
 sessing. At the epoch when the parlia- 
 ment of Bretagnc was in opposition to 
 the court, he ranged himself on the side 
 of the magistracy, and was called the 
 General of the Parliament, For five 
 
 4
 
 months, during which there existed a 
 species of civil war between the parti- 
 sans of that body and the governor of 
 the province, Moreau shewed bravery 
 and even skill. The Commandant of 
 Rennes, having given orders to arrest 
 him, but to take him alive, he opposed 
 to the searches which were made for 
 him, so much prudence and intrepidity, 
 that though he appeared every day in 
 the public places, the garrison could 
 never seize him. But when, in its turn, 
 the parliament of Rennes, seconded by 
 the states of Bretagne, wished to oppose 
 the measures of the ministry for the con- 
 vocation of the states general, Moreau 
 changed sides without changing his 
 principles, and he was seen to command 
 the forces, which at Renncs and Nantes 
 had organized themselves against the 
 parliamentary party. 
 
 After having presided in January, 
 t/90, over the confederation of the
 
 75 
 
 youths of Bretagne, at Pontivi, he was 
 appointed commandant of the first bat- 
 talion of volunteers, organized in his 
 department. 
 
 Thenceforward he seriously occupied 
 himself in the military art ; and, the re- 
 sult of his studies naturally reclaiming 
 him to principles of order and discip- 
 line, the effervescence of his first opin- 
 ions soon made him incline to more 
 moderate views ; and when the consti- 
 iuiion of 1/93 was presented to the suf- 
 frages of the army, he did not dissem- 
 ble his very great disapprobation of it : 
 so that his battalion was the last to ac- 
 cept it. 
 
 Mis bravery and his talents soon made 
 him conspicuous, and in 1793 he was 
 appointed Brigadier-General to the ar- 
 my of the North. In April, 1/9^? hav- 
 ing been made General of Division, at 
 the demand of the General in chief, 
 Pichegrti, who had very early appreci-
 
 76 
 
 ated him, he was principally charged 
 with the conduct of the sieges, and suc- 
 cessively took Menin, Yprcs, Bruges, 
 Ostend, Nienport, the Isle of Cassand- 
 ria and Fort L'Ecluse. It was at the 
 moment they were taking possession of 
 this latter fortress, that he was informed 
 the jacobins of Brest had sent his old 
 father to the scaffold, because he had 
 consented to take care of the adminis- 
 tration of the property of some French- 
 men who were absent. This news af- 
 fected him so deeply, that he would 
 have emigrated immediately, if Piche- 
 gru had not observed to him that he was 
 not sure he would be well received by 
 the Austrians, and that from them he 
 had to apprehend a treatment similar 
 to that which La Fayette had been made 
 to undergo, as well as those who ac- 
 companied him in his flight. 
 
 During the famous campaign of the 
 winter of 1794, he commanded the right
 
 77 
 
 wing of the army of the North, and 
 from that epoch laid the foundation of 
 that military renown, which, supported 
 by the suffrage of his general, ami the 
 opinion of the whole army, soon gained 
 him the command in chief, when Pich- 
 esiru went to take that of the Rhine and 
 Moselle. 
 
 Moreau, imitating his illustrious pre- 
 decessor, soon disengaged himself from 
 the shackles imposed on him by the re- 
 volutionary government established in 
 Holland by the Deputies of the Con- 
 vention, and having fixed his plan of 
 operations, political, as well as military, 
 lie communicated it to Generals Baen- 
 dels and Dumonceau, ordering them to 
 signify to the Batavian committee, that 
 they should second it, and in eight days 
 signify to him their obedience to thi>> 
 injunction. 
 
 When Fichegru was forced to qui; 
 the armv of the Rhine and Moselle, '■■■•. 
 
 4
 
 78 
 
 the bad proceedings of the Directory, 
 who had suffered him to want provis- 
 ions at Bassein, and had never allowed 
 iiim sufficient forces, Moreau was ap- 
 pointed in his stead, and opened that 
 campaign of 1790, which determined 
 the elevated rank he afterwards occupi- 
 ed among the French Generals. After 
 having repulsed General Wurmser, as 
 far as Manheim, he was seen succes- 
 sively to effect the passage of the Rhine 
 near Strasburg ; to attack, on the 6th of 
 July, the Archduke Charles atRastadt; 
 and, notwithstanding the great skill dis- 
 played by that Prince, to force him to 
 abandon the course of the Necker. Af- 
 ter the battle given on the 11th of Au- 
 gust, near Heydenheim, and which last- 
 ed seventeen days, leaving both parties 
 uncertain as to whom the success be- 
 longed, General Moreau seeing the Aus- 
 trians retiring on the Danube, hastened 
 to move in advance. The Archduke
 
 79 
 
 Charles, having then filed toward the 
 right to relieve General Wartensleben, 
 who was hard pressed by Jourdain, 
 Moreau bent his efforts toward the pur- 
 suit of General Latour. 
 
 Notwithstanding the victory which 
 Moreau gained at Friedberg. near Augs- 
 burg, on the 24th August, and his feint 
 of a march on the Danube, as if he had 
 meant to go and relieve Jourdain, he 
 found himself obliged, on account of 
 the reinforcements which the Austrians 
 daily received from the hereditary states, 
 and of the precipitate flight of that Gen- 
 eral, to effect his own retreat, which 
 took place on the 11th September. 
 
 Here commences one of the finest mil- 
 itary achievements ever mentioned in 
 history. Moreau, wishing to ensure the 
 conveyance of his baggage, at first 
 sought to make himself master of both 
 Banks of the Danube : but, on finding 
 the bridge of Neuburg occupied by Gen-
 
 80 
 
 feral Naucndorff, he saw himself oblijr- 
 cd to move along the right bank, and 
 thence lost for the moment a point on 
 which he had relied for his military op- 
 erations. But with that precision of 
 movements, and that wisdom of combi- 
 nation, which have characterized this 
 magnificent retreat, he suddenly repass- 
 ed the Leek, and obtained some advan- 
 tages over a corps of observation, which 
 he astonished by his rapid march. The 
 reverses he experienced on his right did 
 nut prevent him from beating tite Aus- 
 trians at Biberach ? and he would have 
 obtained a decisive advantage over them, 
 if the army of Conde had not held in 
 check for the whole of the day, his right 
 wing, with a bravery, which often in 
 these campaigns, prevented the most 
 disastrous defeats. 
 
 The Archduke Charles had endeav- 
 oured, by the most skilful manoeuvres, 
 to dispute the passage of the Black For-
 
 81 
 
 est ; but, Moreau, through the greatest 
 obstacles, at length succeeded in de- 
 bouching in Brisgau, and in passing the 
 Rhine at Brissae and Huninguen, pre- 
 serving on the right bank a tete-de-pont 
 before the latter town and the fort of 
 Kehl. The Archduke Charles lost be- 
 fore Kehl a precious portion of time, 
 which he might have better employed 
 in going to relieve the army of Italy. 
 The siege was vigorously kept up, and 
 notwithstanding a very brisk sortie, 
 headed by Moreau in person, and in 
 which he carried several works of the 
 opposing army, this fortress surrendered 
 on the 31st December. The tete-de- 
 pont of Huninguen, defended with an 
 obstinacy quite unexampled, fell by ca- 
 pitulation into the hands of the Aus- 
 trians, on the 4th of February, 1797- 
 
 It was at this epoch that Moreau, set- 
 ting himself above all sentiments of ri- 
 valry, which but too often exist among
 
 82 
 
 Generals, who, at distant points, com 
 mand separate armies, on learning that 
 Bonaparte was extremely hard pressed 
 by the Austrian forces in Italy, deter- 
 mined to detach from the troops under 
 his command, a corps sufficient to rein- 
 force him. The following is what Car- 
 not says of it in the work which he pub- 
 lished in 1799, in his own justification, 
 as Director of the French Republic. 
 
 " Though Bonaparte had his flanks 
 and his rear free, he had not forces 
 enough to warrant him in expecting de- 
 cisive successes against the Emperor. 
 He demanded fifteen thousand men ; I 
 formed a project for giving him thirty 
 * *• * * < These thirty thousand men 
 were to be drawn from the armv of the 
 Rhine and Moselle primarily ; then the 
 half to be replaced by the army of the 
 Sambre and Meuse. Never was an or- 
 der more punctually, more faithfully, 
 more loyally executed. More an, who
 
 83 
 
 foresaw Hie necessity of this disposition, 
 had held for a long time a corps in re- 
 serve for this very purpose ; and though 
 his army was most unfortunate, because 
 it could not, like, the others, subsist at 
 the expense of the enemy, and though 
 the penury of our finances was an hin- 
 drance to the supply of its necessities, 
 he had made further sacrifices, in order 
 that this corps should be passably well 
 equipped, and ready to set out at the 
 first signal. This signal is given ; the 
 troops are on their march ; they arrive 
 on the frontiers of Mont-Blanc, before 
 the enemy can surmise that their desti- 
 nation is for Italv." 
 
 We cannot here withhold ourselves 
 from citing what Carnot said on the dis- 
 interested conduct of Moreau on this oc- 
 casion. The enthusiasm of that ex- 
 Director cannot here be attributed to his 
 republican opinions, but to the admira- 
 tion excited in him bv an act worth v of
 
 84 
 
 the most illustrious days of ancient 
 times : We think that the manner in 
 which he has expressed it is an histori- 
 cal homage which all parties will ap- 
 plaud. 
 
 " O Moreau," said he, " my dear 
 Fabius ! how great wert thou in this 
 circumstance ! How superior wert thou 
 to those little rivalries among Generals, 
 which sometimes make the best projects 
 fail ! Let some accuse thee for not bav- 
 ins; denounced Pichegru ; let others ac- 
 
 *a 
 
 cuse tbee for having done so ; I care not. 
 But my heart tells me that Moreau could 
 not be culpable ; ray heart proclaims 
 thee a hero. Posterity, more just than 
 thy contemporaries, shall raise altars to 
 thee." 
 
 Here then behold Moreau, forgetting 
 both his own perilous situation, aud the 
 sentiment of his own glory, and contrib- 
 uting to the success of Bonaparte, who 
 has since sought to deliver him over to
 
 85 
 
 the axe of the executioner, and subse 
 quently doomed him to the torments of 
 exile, when it was proved to him that he 
 could not sacrifice him with impunity. 
 
 Moreau, wishing to assume the of- 
 fensive, meditated the passage of the 
 Rhine, but being in want of money to 
 construct the necessary bridges, he went 
 to Paris, in the hope of obtaining from 
 the Treasury where with to complete 
 this operation. " i induced him/' says 
 Carnot, •• to set out again immediately, 
 and to risk a coup de main, even though 
 lie should not be quite ready. Moreau 
 had no need of that ; never was there a 
 (xcneral more devoted, more modest. 
 He sets out ; and the passage of the 
 Rhine is executed ; he astonishes the 
 enemy only : in France we were daz- 
 zled and overheated with victories. I 
 did not expect such prompt success." 
 
 hi fact Moreau had effected the pas- 
 sage of the Rhine in open day-light, 
 8
 
 86" 
 
 and by main force against an enemy 
 ranked in order of battle on the other 
 bank, and on the very day when the 
 preliminaries of Leoben were signed by 
 Bonaparte. The sequel of this brilliant 
 operation was the immediate retaking of 
 the fort of Kehl ; several pieces of col- 
 ours, the military chest, and nearly 4000 
 prisoners, fell into the hands of the 
 French. 
 
 There had been seized at the com- 
 mencement of the Campaign, in the bag- 
 gage-waggon of the Austrian General 
 Klinglin, a correspondence which prov- 
 ed the understanding that subsisted be- 
 tween Pichegru, the Prince of Conde, 
 and the English minister, Wickham. 
 This correspondence, which was in ci- 
 pher, had been very slowly made out, 
 and Moreau shewed the greatest repug- 
 nance at communicating it to the Direc- 
 tory. At length seeing the strife be- 
 tween that body and the councils settled .
 
 87 
 
 and guessing what would be the issue of 
 it, the General felt that he would lose 
 himself by his silence, without saving 
 Pichegru, and being particularly press- 
 ed by his chef d'etat Major, who an- 
 nounced to him that if he persisted in 
 his silence, he should be obliged to re- 
 veal every thing, he wrote that letter 
 with which he has never been reproach- 
 ed, unless because the imperious neces- 
 sity to which he had yielded, was un- 
 known. He did not write it to the Di- 
 rectors collectively, but made a kind of 
 confidential communication of it, aban- 
 doned to the discretion of Barthclemy, 
 whom he was far from expecting to see 
 proscribed along with Pichegru. The 
 latter, after his return from Cayenne, 
 never shewed any sort of resentment at 
 it ; very far from participating in the 
 prejudices of the multitude in this re- 
 spest, he was heard to declare several 
 times, that it was from Moreau himself
 
 88 
 
 that lie wished to know the circum- 
 stances which had forced him to this 
 proceeding, and until then he would 
 suspend his judgment on the conduct of 
 a former companion in arms. 
 
 The Directors were not mistaken as 
 to this tardy declaration of Moreau, and 
 they very soon placed him under the 
 necessity of asking leave to retire. Yet 
 the want which was felt for his talents 
 soon re-established him in the army, 
 without however putting a stop to his 
 disgrace; and in September, 1798, after 
 being named Inspector General, he was 
 called to preside over a Military Board, 
 charged by the Directory to prepare 
 plans of campaigns. It does not appear 
 that this state of inaction suited his 
 character ; for, on the very opening of 
 the campaign in Italy, he was seen to 
 repair, as a volunteer, to the army of 
 Scherer, where he was an eye-witness 
 lo Die defeats experienced by that Gene-
 
 89 
 
 ral near Verona. At length the latter, 
 «o longer knowing how either to com- 
 mand or fight, referred to Moreau the 
 care of saving the army, which he ex- 
 ecuted by the most skilful. manoeuvres 
 in the presence of forces much superior 
 to his own. He had just been nomina- 
 ted Commander in Chief of the army of 
 the Rhine, when Joubert came to take 
 that of the army of Italy. This young 
 General, on the point of giving battle, 
 wished to defer the direction of it to 
 Moreau, who refused it, and only asked 
 to fight under his orders. In fact, he 
 fought in person at the battle of Novi, 
 where Joubert was killed, and he him- 
 self incurred the Greatest dangers, hav- 
 ing had three horses killed under him, 
 and received a ball in his clothes, which 
 grazed his shoulder. He then operated 
 his retreat with so much superiority, 
 that he almost nullified to the allies the 
 fruit of their victory.
 
 9(5 
 
 It was after this last mantEiivrc that 
 he quitted the army of Italy, and termi- 
 nated a campaign, in which he display- 
 ed, according to the avowal of all milita- 
 ry men, a genius which plaeed him on a 
 level with the greatest captains. It is 
 impossible not to admire the art with 
 which, at the head of the remains of 
 a conquered army, he disputed some 
 leagues of territory which .Europe be- 
 lieved were never to cost more than a 
 few marches to the victorious armies of 
 the allies, especially when we reflect 
 that he was contending against the great 
 Suvarow. 
 
 Before going to take command of the 
 army of the Ilhine, Moreau went to 
 Paris ; he arrived there at the moment 
 when the existence of the Directory was 
 tottering under the weight of its own 
 faults, under that, also of the haired of 
 France, and the contempt of all parties. 
 The men who in their councils had
 
 91 
 
 formed the project of overthrowing hiin ; 
 believed that there was only one mili- 
 tary man of great reputation who could 
 restore consideration and respeet to the 
 Government of France, and eclat to her 
 arms ; they in consequence proposed to 
 General Morean to take charge of the 
 destinies of a country, illustrious by his 
 exploits, and of late solely preserved 
 from invasion by his firmness, his pres- 
 ence of mind, and his talents. Moreau, 
 not believing himself in a condition to 
 direct, amidst the contest of the reani- 
 mated parties, the affairs of his country, 
 refused. This fatal distrust of himself, 
 which he has since bitterly regretted, 
 has put off for many years the repose of 
 France. 
 
 Bonaparte, who arrived during these 
 transactions, did not oppose the same 
 scruples to the same proposals, and Mo- 
 reau, ever modest, ever readv to sacri- 
 fice his pretensions to what he thought
 
 93 
 
 was to operate for the good of his conn, 
 trv, consented to serve under the orders 
 of Bonaparte, and to aid him with his 
 influence and his means in the revolu- 
 tion which was preparing. Some days 
 after the 18th Brumaire, he saw that 
 he had been mistaken, and feared that 
 he had concurred in giving a tyrant to 
 his country. Being soon appointed to 
 the command of the army of the Danube 
 and of the Rhine, he went to put the 
 seal on his great military reputation by 
 a new campaign. Those who have ob- 
 served him in the different affairs by 
 which it opened, say that he then car- 
 ried his contempt of life too far, and on 
 seeing him expose himself with the te- 
 merity of a soldier, his comrades thought 
 lie was seeking to terminate in battle a 
 life, thenceforth poisoned by a presenti- 
 ment of the evils which Bonaparte was 
 preparing for France. At the battle of 
 .Moeskireh he exposed his person like
 
 a grenadier^ hajj four horses killed un- 
 der him, and received a spent ball in 
 his chest. A very remarkable circum- 
 stance in this campaign, it is, that at the 
 moment when Moreau was entering 
 Biberach, Pichegru, then a proscribed 
 man, and a refugee in Germany, was 
 fleeing from this town when the rapid 
 march of his early friend had failed in 
 overtaking him. Strange vicissitude of 
 a revolution, which thus presented a 
 General fleeing before his pupil in the 
 art of war, and Pichegru afraid to fall 
 into the hands of French soldiers \ 
 
 Under a regular government, Piche- 
 gru would have confided in his friend : 
 bat, under the influence of the Directo- 
 rial Oligarchy, he would not, iu de- 
 livering himself into Morearrs hands, 
 have occasioned any thing but the pro- 
 scription of them both ; this was what 
 hindered him from making an appeal to 
 a soul, whose candour and lovalty were 
 well known to him.
 
 94 
 
 At length, after an uninterrupted se- 
 ries of victories, Moreau gained tiic 
 memorable battle of Hohenlinden, which, 
 terminated the campaign, and forced 
 the Austrian cabinet to enter into a ne- 
 gociation for peace. The General re- 
 turned to Paris, where he received the 
 testimonies of the public admiration. 
 Bonaparte, in spite of the secret jeal- 
 ousy which was devouring his heart, 
 could not avoid appearing to unite his 
 suffrage to that of all France, and said 
 to Moreau, on placing in his hands. a 
 pair of magnificent pistols, " that he 
 had wished to have had engraved on 
 them all his victories, but there could 
 not be found room enough for them.* 7 
 This forced, trivial, incomplete eulogy, 
 proves how far from sincere was the ad- 
 miration of a rising despot toward a 
 General who had, in his eyes, the wrong 
 of having acquired more glory than him- 
 self, and loved the country which he 
 was meditating to ruin and enslave.
 
 m 
 
 From that moment, Moreau thought 
 solely of living in retirement ; and hav- 
 ing united his lot to a young person* 
 in whom were combined all the quali- 
 ties of the mind with all the graces of 
 beauty, brilliant talents and solid virtues, 
 he settled on the estate of Grosbois which 
 he had bought of Barras. 
 
 It was there that in the sweets of con- 
 jugal union, and in the midst of the 
 foreigners, who arrived in crowds to 
 testify to him their admiration, he en- 
 deavoured, not indeed to withdraw him- 
 self entirely, but to render less importu- 
 nate the sinister forebodings which an- 
 nounced servitude and misery to France. 
 He almost entirely gave up going to 
 Paris, and entirely ceased visiting Bona- 
 parte, blaming, with a frankness more, 
 laudable than prudent, all the acts by 
 which that man was forming a prelude 
 
 * Mademoiselle Hullo! . 
 
 v
 
 96 
 
 of tyranny. All Paris then seized with 
 avidity, some traits which had escaped 
 him against the latter. 
 
 A rather remarkable incident which 
 happened in the beginning of 1802, 
 must have indicated to Moreau that he 
 was watched by spies, and that the ha- 
 tred of his ferocious rival had been feed- 
 ing on all that had escaped him, and on 
 his patriotic discontent. A certain Ab- 
 be David, known by a hook published 
 on the Operations of the Campaign in 
 Holland, had conceived the idea of ap- 
 proximating Pichegru and Moreau, fore- 
 seeing that the union of those two great 
 men might one day be useful to France. 
 He found from the very first overture, 
 that Moreau was delighted with the 
 idea of placing himself in communication 
 with his friend, his former brother in 
 ifrins, and set out for London with a let- 
 ter which expressed to Pichegru, that 
 wish of a noble soul and a feeling heart.
 
 97 
 
 But the police followed (he traces of the 
 Abbe David as far as Calais, and ar- 
 rested him just as he was about to em- 
 bark. He was taken to Paris, detained 
 at the Police Administration Office, 
 whither Bonaparte secretly repaired at 
 each examination, to listen to the details 
 of it, hid behind a screen, either because 
 he feared his own agents would not ren- 
 der him an account of it faithfully, or 
 because, in his impatience to find pre- 
 texts for the perdition of Moreau, he 
 could not wait for their report. The 
 Abbe David went to expiate at the tem- 
 ple, the wrong of having wished to re- 
 establish between two great men, that 
 confidence and friendship which had 
 once intimately united them. 
 
 Pichegru, sure of what were the sen- 
 timents of his early friend, had directed 
 General Lajolais to him in 1803, in 
 order to become acquainted with the 
 projects which occupied him : but Mo 
 9
 
 98 
 
 veau having but little esteem for the lat- 
 ter, had confined himself to assurances 
 of the entire interest he took in the fate 
 of his friend, and of the desire which he 
 had of soon seeing him again in France. 
 Lajolais fancied he could interpret this 
 avowal as an invitation given to Piche- 
 gru to repair thither, in order to concur 
 in the overthrow of the government of 
 Bonaparte ; and he came to London to 
 bring the positive assurance, that Mo- 
 reau was ready to connect himself with 
 any kind of project which should have 
 that for its object ; and that he ardently 
 desired the presence of Pichegru at 
 Paris. He took good care not to say, 
 that Moreau had testified to him so lit- 
 tle confidence, that he refused to lend 
 him fifty louis d'or for his journey. 
 
 For several months General Georges 
 was in Paris, to prepare the means of 
 carrying off Bonaparte by main force, 
 in one of his rides from Paris to Hi
 
 99 
 
 Cloud. The plan he had concerted 
 with Pichegru was just at its maturity ; 
 and from day to day, advices were ex- 
 pected which were to determine the de- 
 parture of the latter with two Princes of 
 the house of Bourbon, But what Lajo- 
 lais announced of the intentions of Gen- 
 eral Moreau, appeared too important 
 not to encourage an attempt to profit by 
 them immediately ; and it was decided 
 that, as this General earnestly desired 
 the presence of Pichegru in Paris, the 
 latter should set out directly to concert 
 with him. Moreau in fact testified to 
 his early friend how happy he was to 
 see him, but he was far from guessing 
 the project which brought him, and still 
 more so, that every thing was ready to 
 realize it. 
 
 Without disputing the necessity of 
 the re -establishment of the Bourbon 
 family, Moreau still wished to prepare 
 for it by gradations, which should bring
 
 100 
 
 over bis own party, in which he counted 
 several republicans, to approve and sec- 
 ond it. Pichegru, who had concerted 
 every thing with Georges, and who felt 
 that any slowness of proceeding might 
 occasion the loss of the latter, and of the 
 people Avhom he had collected for the 
 audacious enterprise in contemplation, 
 wished that Moreau should declare him- 
 self immediately, and unconditionally 
 bind himself to the cause, of which lie 
 secretly desired the success. At length 
 Moreau, sacrificing his scruples to the 
 security of his friend, and to his warm 
 entreaties, had agreed that those who 
 had prepared the plan should execute 
 it; and that in case of success, he should 
 place himself in advance with his party, 
 to protect them against the measures 
 which the partisans of Bonaparte might 
 take at the first moment to avenge him. 
 He decided too late : the police, en- 
 lightened by what Guerelle revealed.
 
 101 
 
 knew of the presence of Piehegru and 
 Georges at Paris, and of their connexion 
 with Moreau ; the latter was first ar- 
 rested. 
 
 All Europe knows the details of this 
 disastrous affair ; hut what are less 
 known, are the persecutions in detail 
 which Bonaparte employed to wound 
 Moreau in the dearest affections, and 
 the marks of respect and attachment 
 which the latter received from all the 
 military men during the proceedings. 
 
 The order had been given by the 
 agents of Bonaparte, not to let Madame 
 Moreau communicate with her consort, 
 until after having made him experience 
 all the vexations of a restless inspection, 
 and suspense the most painful. When 
 this interesting woman presented herself 
 at the Temple with her young infant, 
 they forced her to wait in the open air 
 in fehe midst of a cold and rainv season 
 until the moment when it was convenient 
 9*
 
 102 
 
 for the jailor to open the gates. Some- 
 times she passed whole hours exposed 
 to the inclemency of the weather, un- 
 less when she owed to the pity of the 
 sentinels, the permission of seeking 
 shelter under a shed. This sad epoch 
 did not, however, glide away without 
 affording to the General some enjoy- 
 ments, which, in part, compensated the 
 sufferings thus inflicted on his heart. 
 Although Moreau was a prisoner, and 
 although thev took him before judges, 
 who, it was believed, were devoted to 
 the tyranny which was to crush him ; 
 he received military honours every time 
 he passed hefore the soldiers charged 
 with guarding the outside of that tribu- 
 nal ; and he had the pleasure of seeing 
 a crowd of Generals, who assisted at the 
 debates, put their hands on their sabres, 
 and say to him, every time he was with- 
 in bearing, " Comrade, fear nothing, we 
 have sworn on our swords to defend th\
 
 103 
 
 life." Bonaparte thirsted for the blood 
 of Moreau, but the public opinion dis- 
 puted against him this illustrious vic- 
 tim ; and he confined himself to banish- 
 ing him. The details which precede 
 this memoir, have sufficiently instructed 
 the reader concerning the last and fa- 
 tal episode of the life of this great 
 man. 
 
 We cannot terminate this notice bet- 
 ter than by publishing on the brilliant 
 career which the General had made in 
 the eyes of Europe, some reflections 
 which have been inspired by a deeply- 
 felt admiration of the talents and virtues 
 of that great man, 
 
 ik It was on the approach of those 
 frightful misfortunes, which were di- 
 rectly menacing France, that there ap- 
 peared, all at once, in the ranks of the 
 Allies, enemies of Bonaparte and not of 
 the French, a General who had been 
 for eight years exiled from the eounl -
 
 104 
 
 which he had served with as much glory 
 as fidelity. 
 
 " A. victim of jealousy, which his em- 
 inent services had excited in a heart 
 hostile to all the glories which have 
 preceded that to which it aspires, and 
 of the virtues which it has never pos- 
 sessesed ; this great man had even suf- 
 fered himself to be forgotten as long as 
 he saw some security for France in the 
 triumphs of her actual chief; but after 
 the horrible catastrophe of Russia, what 
 should this distinguished Patriot, this 
 General do, who, in other times, sacri- 
 ficed his self-love and his resentments, 
 in order to save a French army ? Was 
 he to content himself with mourning in 
 silence over the misfortunes of his coun- 
 try, and over the deplorable end of so 
 many brave men ? Was lie to see tran- 
 quilly to fall into shreds, that fair 
 France, the object of his wishes and his 
 regrets? And was he to shut himself out
 
 103 
 
 forever from the prospect of one day 
 seeing her again, under the influence of 
 a reparative and tutelary government? 
 No ! his inaction, in so menacing a 
 crisis, would have been treason, and he- 
 has never shewn himself greater, than 
 when, braving the prejudices of weak 
 minds, the calumnies of his persecutor, 
 and the declamations of the French 
 Journalists, he came to offer on the one 
 hand, to the allied powers his co-opera- 
 tion against the tyrant of France, and 
 on the other hand, to the French a 
 guarantee that it is not on them but 
 on the ambition of their chief, that 
 the Sovereigns of Europe are making 
 war. 
 
 " The love which the great man had 
 always borne towards his country, that 
 ambition which he had constantly shewn 
 to serve it and not to subjugate it ; his 
 conduct, equally wise and heroic, in the 
 midst of the disgraces he had endured.
 
 106 
 
 the one under the Directory, the other 
 under Bonaparte, all served to prove 
 that he was directed hy the nohlest and 
 purest of motives in the brilliant pro- 
 ceeding which has honoured the end of 
 his life. He sought not rank or riches ; 
 he was not willing to dispute with the 
 despot his authority in order to become 
 a despot in his turn ; the entire whole 
 of his life proves, that his tastes were 
 simple, his desires moderate ; and his 
 modesty always refused the rank, which 
 opinion assigned him among great men 
 and great captains. He could have 
 placed himself at the head of the Gov- 
 ernment of his country, but he feared 
 the seductions of power, the immense 
 responsibility of the supreme rank. He 
 consulted his heart ; he felt not in it the 
 courage to be severe : he consulted his 
 strength ; he felt himself not in condi- 
 tion to govern France. Bonaparte had 
 not the same scruples ; and his petulant
 
 107 
 
 ambition blindly seized on a part, in 
 which it perceived only an unbound- 
 ed authority to exercise, and immense 
 riches to acquire,"
 
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