MONCEY (Bon-Adrien Jeannot, de). - Lot 221

MONCEY (Bon-Adrien Jeannot, de). Born in Moncey. 1754–1842. General of the Revolution and Marshal of the Empire. Duke of Conegliano. L.S. “ Moncey and “M” to citizens Garrau and Baudot. 7 Frimaire, Year 3 [November 27, 1794]. 2 pp., in-4. Moncey recounts recent events regarding the enemy’s advance during the Spanish War: ...The enemy (...) having failed on the fourth (Frimaire) to gain the full advantage it had hoped for from its attack, sought to return the following day to continue its string of brilliant successes... it attacked a battery of chasseurs and grenadiers, which... after a long and stubborn battle, completely routed it, killing a thousand of its men and taking several prisoners, among whom were a colonel and several officers... All positions were recaptured from the enemy, including Castelbert, where thirty prisoners were taken. According to reports from Generals Joseph Dumas and Jean Mauco... it appears that the enemy had planned to attack us on the left, where they were in great force; if the center had been breached, a column advancing along the heights of Burguet would have attacked us from the rear, had Marbot [Jean-Antoine Marbot, Major General in the Army of the Western Pyrenees] not held his ground. I had been right to believe that the enemy was decimating our right wing in order to strike on the left, and this circumstance justifies my insistence on keeping the grenadiers with Marbot. Republican valor alone triumphed over superior numbers and tactical maneuvering...