MORAS (Gaspar, Balthasar, Melchior). - Lot 236

MORAS (Gaspar, Balthasar, Melchior). Born in Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1772 - died in 1824. French sailor. Officer of the Legion of Honor. Colonel of the 2nd flotilla regiment. P.A.S. "G. Moras", addressed to the citizens jury. S.l.n.d. [ca. ventôse an IV / march 1796]. 2 pp. large folio. Important memorandum written by naval officer Gaspar Moras as part of the proceedings brought against ensign Berthelin, after the surrender of the flute L'Étoile during the campaign of An IV. The text constitutes a veritable plea in favor of Berthelin, who was accused in relation to "the navigation and capture of the flute L'Étoile, which he commanded between 29 and 30 Ventôse, Year 4". Moras, acting as rapporteur before the jury of the Court Martial, set out to demonstrate that material and military circumstances made any other outcome impossible. The sailor insisted on the concordance of the testimonies and on "the most complete proof of the existence of the objects which gave rise to each of these charges", while recalling that military justice must also consider "the surrounding circumstances" and the moral intention of the officer prosecuted. In an extended and highly structured argument, Moras describes Berthelin as : "a young officer full of zeal and courage, victim of general efforts which a combination of fatal circumstances unfortunately betrayed". The memoir successively analyzes several factors that led to the loss of the vessel: confusion of signals, isolation of the ship, superiority of enemy forces and the material impossibility of maneuvering effectively. Moras argues that Berthelin tried instead to save the French division: "...to hold off and thus attract a portion of the enemy forces in pursuit, to operate a diversion all the more advantageous to the other French ships". The text concludes with a very favorable assessment of the accused officer, whose surrender appears less as a personal fault than as the direct consequence of a desperate military situation. A rare and remarkable document on military justice under the Directoire and the difficulties faced by the French navy during the revolutionary wars. A fine piece of naval procedure, of real historical interest.