GERMAN CAMPAIGN of 1796. 2 autograph letters signed by Offic - Lot 370

GERMAN CAMPAIGN of 1796. 2 autograph letters signed by Officer GRASSOT, to General MOREAU's Armée de Rhin et Moselle, to his parents, Address: "au Citoyen GRASSOT, Notaire public à Châlons-sur-Saône (Saône-et-Loire)": LAUTERBACH (Germany, Baden-Württemberg) 9 Messidor An 4 (June 27, 1796): "... We have come to bivouac near Lautenbach, and it is from there that I am writing to you. Our column consists of 15,000 men, 50 guns and 200 baggage wagons. Soldiers are forbidden to enter towns on pain of imprisonment. And to us, to all ranks, on pain of dismissal... everyone is obliged to keep his rank and travel on horseback at bull's pace all day in horrible heat, devoured by flies and insects. In two hours' time we'll be on the road again, and we'll be going to Bischwiller again today, so we'll have covered 30 leagues since the day before yesterday. We'll probably cross the Rhine tomorrow or the day after, probably in front of Kell. I'll try to write to you again from this side. The heat is horrible, it's killing men and horses. Yesterday I caught a sunburn on my stomach, which is also hurting. I had undone my jacket to breathe more freely. Otherwise I'm quite well. Last night, from 5 o'clock until 10 o'clock, cannon and fusillade were heard from about 4 leagues away. There must be a major affair on the other side of the Rhine. We don't have more than 25,000 men there yet, but we'll have 60,000 within 3 days. The Austrians will long remember the evening of St. John's Day and their order of the 24th and 25th... it is said that almost all the garrisons of Fort Rhine, Mannheim and Philippsbourg have left on post for the Breisgau... Bischwiller 10 Thermidor... We followed the bank of the Rhine... the cannon and musketry did not cease for a moment. The affair must have been even more terrible... the enemy had an excellent and considerably reinforced position, and put up vigorous resistance. We lost several guns, which were immediately recaptured. Divisional General Beaupuy, commanding the vanguard, performed prodigious feats of valour. He was taken from the battlefield and driven to Strasbourg covered in blood, crippled in the right arm, his skull cracked and his nose cut off. We had many wounded... the émigrés are fighting with the fury of despair..." (General BEAUPUIS was wounded by 8 saber blows, returned to his post a month later and was removed by a cannonball 3 months later). And Second letter from VINLINGEN (Germany) on 9 Thermidor An IV (July 27, 1796) "... we are very tired, having not slept last night, our horses and ourselves, are rendered.... We are 4 places away. From Stuttgart, 10 places from Ulm on the Danube, about 40 places from Strasbourg. Look me up on the map. We're taking advantage of the proximity to go and see the capital of Württemberg, leaving at two in the morning to visit all this beautiful German city. We'll dine at the palace, where there are 100 place settings for French officers every day... We'll probably be back this evening, as the triumphant march of our Army means we can't stay away very long. The enemy is holding on to Ulm, and must be disembarked. The attack is being prepared, and we'll soon be there. Our march is going very fast, we've been travelling through prettier country for the last 3 days, we're going down the Necker, whose banks are charming. Tomorrow I shall post my letter of the 8th to Stuttgart. Adieu, my dear mother, write to me."