DAUGIER (Eugène). - Lot 240

DAUGIER (Eugène). Born in Courthézon in 1764 - died in 1834. Sailor, Republican officer and politician. P.A.S. "Daugier". Brest, 6 vendémiaire an III de la République [September 27, 1794]. 11 pp. in-folio manuscript. Important autograph memoir on laid paper, preserved sewn in a period cover titled: "Extrait des moyens justificatifs du citoyen Daugier...". Some foxing, marginal dampening, minor flaws and wear at folds; very well preserved for this type of revolutionary document. Very important justificatory memoir written during the late Terror by the imprisoned Republican sailor Eugène Daugier, to demonstrate his innocence after being accused of treason and suspicious signals within the naval army commanded by Vice-Admiral Morard de Galles. The document is a remarkable testimony to the political tensions and suspicions that shook the revolutionary navy during the naval campaigns of 1793-1794. In it, Daugier recounts his arrest and long months of detention, and responds point by point to the accusations levelled against him by General Landais, whom he accuses of being the victim of "delirious imaginations": "General Landais (...) submitted (...) a long memoir, the fruit of his delirious imagination, in which he suspected me (...) of having made particular signals...". The memoir then develops a meticulous technical demonstration of the maritime signals used in the squadron. Daugier gives a detailed description of the flags, red flames and reconnaissance signals used on board Republican ships, to demonstrate the absurdity of the accusations. The work is enriched by numerous copies of handwritten certificates and testimonials signed by officers, counter-admirals, administrators and sailors of the Republican fleet, all attesting to Daugier's patriotism and loyalty to the Republic. Several passages explicitly denounce the political paranoia reigning in the armies at the time: "It would be unwise to entrust the command of our naval forces to a man whose head is already weakened..." On the contrary, several witnesses praise "his zeal and patriotism", asserting that he "would be useful to the Republic". The memoir sometimes takes on a deeply personal and dramatic dimension. Daugier recalls "a year of cruel detention", the suffering of prison and the pain of being accused despite his services to the Republic: "After a year of cruel detention (...) it is painful to still have to claim justice..." The document closes with a vibrant profession of republican faith and a call for national justice after the excesses of the Terror. Rare and very important manuscript testimony on the French navy under the Revolution, the political purges in the Republican armies and the climate of suspicion that reigned within the naval forces after the great Atlantic campaigns of 1793-1794. Of great historical and documentary interest.