The Marseillaise (War Song for the Army of the Rhine)
Composed by Joseph Rouget de Lisle when he learned that France had declared war on Austria, the Marseillaise quickly became the anthem of the republican Revolution. it remains the French national anthem today. A republican anthem, the Marseillaise was considered suitable for all sorts of revolutionary events. While it was often sung casually in streets and parks, its learned composition also facilitated its adoption as a hymn by formally–trained musicians and singers.
1792
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/625/
625
The King Seeks Foreign Assistance (20 November 1790)
Despite a show of support for the Revolution, by the fall of 1790, the royal family and its entourage increasingly felt that the changes of the past eighteenth months had cost them their dignity and power. Unable to stop or even control the changes being wrought in the Constituent Assembly, the King and Queen began to seek assistance from other European monarchs to help them regain their lost power in France. In this letter, Louis authorizes the Baron of Breteuil, his former foreign minister who had already fled the kingdom, to find out secretly if any other government might be willing to intervene in France against the revolutionary government. The King and his court were already making moves to unravel the new constitution, even as the Constituent Assembly was still at work drafting it.
"Letter from Louis XVI to the Baron de Breteuil (20 November 1790)," in <i>Annales Historiques de la Révolution française</i>, no. 40 (1962), 40.
November 20, 1790
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/306/
306
Toussaint L’Ouverture in <i>An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti</i>
Rainsford paints a glowing portrait of the abilities and accomplishments of L’Ouverture, the most noted leader of the rebellion and one of the key founders of the nation of Haiti.
Marcus Rainsford, <i>An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti: Comprehending a View of the Principal Transactions in the Revolution of Saint-Domingo; with its Ancient and Modern State</i> (London, 1805), 239–43, 245–248.
1805
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/347/
347
"The Declaration of Pillnitz"
In response to the "Padua Circular," King Louis’s brother, the Count of Artois, a leader of the<i> émigré </i>nobles, expressed his support for Emperor Leopold II of Austria. Leopold, in conjunction with Prussian King Frederick–William III, then issued this "Declaration of Pillnitz"; the "resolution to act quickly" was perceived as a declaration of war on France for the purpose of ending the Revolution, even though neither Austria nor Prussia was displeased by French weakness.
George F. de Martens, <i>Recueil des traites</i>, 2d ed., vol. 5 (Gottingue, 1917), 260. Translated by <i>Exploring the French Revolution </i>project staff from original documents in French found in J.M. Roberts, <i>French Revolution Documents</i>, vol. 1 (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966), 439.
August 27, 1791
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/421/
421
A Girondin View: Roland Calls on the King to Declare War
In the spring of 1792, the Legislative Assembly—particularly its Executive Committee, dominated by Girondins—took a more aggressive attitude toward Austria, repeatedly arguing that France needed to act first to ward off invasion and thereby not only preserve but advance the Revolution by spreading it across Europe. In June 1792, Jean–Marie Roland de la Platière, a Girondin minister in the King’s cabinet, wrote the following letter, informing the King that the assembly favored war and suggesting that the constitution required him to execute this decision as the will of the people and warning that if he did not act, the people would consider Louis an accomplice of the "conspirators" against the Revolution. Upon receipt of this letter, Louis dismissed Roland, signaling that he did not feel compelled either to obey the will of the assembly on this matter or to distance himself from counterrevolutionaries.
M. J. Mavidal and M. E. Laurent, eds., <i>Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860, </i>première série (1787 à 1799), 2d ed., 82 vols. (Paris: Dupont, 1879–1913), 45:163–64. Translated by <i>Exploring the French Revolution </i>project staff from original documents in French found in J.M. Roberts, <i>French Revolution Documents</i>, vol. 1 (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966), 459–63.
June 1792
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/423/
423
Proclamation to the Army of Egypt (22 June 1798)
In his Proclamation, issued en route to Egypt, Bonaparte explained his aims and urged his soldiers to respect the customs of the Muslims.
Martyn Lyons, <i>Napoleon Bonaparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution</i> (London, Macmillan, 1994), p. 25.
June 22, 1798
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/514/
514
An Ordinary Soldier’s Account (1806)
The “French” armies included units from many allied states. Excerpted below is the memoir of an ordinary foot soldier in Napoleon’s army. Jakob Walter came from Württemburg, one of the medium-size German states allied with Napoleon. He fought against other German states, in this instance Prussia.
Marc Raeff, ed., The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier: Jakob Walter (New York: Doubleday, 1991), pp. 3, 10-13.
1806
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/515/
515
An Ordinary British Soldier Recounts the Portuguese Campaign (1810)
This account, probably by Thomas Howell, a soldier of the Highland Light Infantry regiment, offers a firsthand account of the skirmishes between British/Portuguese forces and the French armies. Little is known about Howell except that he was born in 1790 of Methodist parents. His memoir was published shortly after the events described (a second edition dates from 1819).
Christopher Hibbert, ed., A Soldier of the Seventy-First: The Journal of a Soldier of the Highland Light Infantry, 1806-1815 (London: Leo Cooper, 1975), pp. 48-53.
1810
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/520/
520
Another Firsthand View of the Fighting in Portugal
This account by British Private William Wheeler of the 51st Regiment gives a vivid account of the hand–to–hand fighting in Portugal. Wheeler’s letters home were saved by the family and form the basis of their publication in 1949.
B. H. Liddell Hart, ed., The Letters of Private Wheeler (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1952), pp. 156-158
November 21, 1813
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/521/
521
The Burning of Moscow as Seen by One of Napoleon’s Generals
Philippe de Ségur served as Quartermaster–General during the invasion of Russia and had accompanied Napoleon on many of his military campaigns.
General Count Philip de Ségur, History of the Expedition to Russia, undertaken by the Emperor Napoleon in the Year 1812, 2 vols. (London: H.L. Hunt and C.C. Clarke, 1825), II: pp. 38-48
September 14, 1812
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/522/
522