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LOT 956:
CADOUDAL GEORGES: (1771-1804)
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Sold for: €8,000
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CADOUDAL GEORGES: (1771-1804)
‘I am confident about the fate of this unfortunate country’
CADOUDAL GEORGES: (1771-1804) French General, leader of the Chouannerie during the French Revolution. Executed by guillotine and posthumously made a Marshal of France by King Louis XVIII. A good, rare A.L.S., Georges, one page, small 4to, n.p., 26th February 1800, to Guillaume Brune, in French. Cadoudal states that he has received his correspondent's letter and proclamation and will depart immediately for Nantes 'comptant sur vos promesses' (Translation: 'counting on your promises'), further remarking 'Je suis tranquille sur le sort de ce malheureux pays' (Translation: 'I am confident about the fate of this unfortunate country') and adding 'Je suis etonne que vous vous plaigniez des legions de Debar et de Rohu je suis certain qu'elles ont depose les armes et que ces deux officiers ont le plus grand desir de jouir de la paix et de la procurer a leurs infortunees legions' (Translation: 'I am surprised that you complain about the legions of Debar and Rohu, I am sure that they have laid down their arms and that these two officers have the greatest desire to enjoy peace and to procure it for their unfortunate legions'). Cadoudal makes a request of Brune, 'Je vous prie de faire passer au citoyen Mercier deux passes et deux garanties pour le citoyen Cecillon Aine et le citoyen Gauville de Lautore' (Translation: 'Please give Citizen Mercier two passes and two guarantees for Citizen Cecillon Aine and Citizen Gauville de Lautore') and concludes by stating 'Je desire que ce que vous m'annoncez se realise et que mon voyage de Paris puisse etre de quelque utilite pour mon malheureux pays' (Translation: 'I hope that what you announce to me will come true and that my trip to Paris may be of some use to my unfortunate country'). With integral address leaf (some dust staining and a small area of paper loss caused by the original breaking of the seal). A letter of good content and interesting association, written during a brief lull in the relations between the two enemies. VG
Guillaume Brune (1764-1815) 1st Count Brune. French military commander and political figure who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Marshal of the Empire.
Jean Francois Edme Le Paige de Bar (1763-1813) French military officer who fought with the Chouannerie during the French Revolutionary Wars.
Jean Rohu (1771-1849) French military officer who fought with the Chouannerie during the French Revolutionary Wars.
Pierre-Mathurin Mercier la Vendee (1774-1801) French Field Marshal who fought with the Chouannerie during the French Revolutionary Wars.
As announced in the present letter, Cadoudal was going to Paris to meet Napoleon, who admired his enemy's skill and obstinate energy. The meeting did not go well and Cadoudal declined the post of Brigadier General offered to him in the Republican Army and refused to come to any understanding with the government. From 1800 it was impossible for Cadoudal to continue to wage open war, so he centred his efforts on conspiracies, often whilst based in England. The General was indirectly involved in the Plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise in December 1800 although managed to flee to England again. By 1803 Cadoudal and his conspirators wanted to undertake a new kidnap or assassination attempt on Napoleon whilst on the road to Malmaison. Cadoudal was eventually arrested and found guilty of his involvement in the assassination plot and sentenced to death. He refused to ask for pardon and, aged 33, was guillotined in Paris along with eleven of his companions.
