29. Bulletin of the Grande Armée
The 29th bulletin of the Grande Armée ( French Vingt-neuvième bulletin de la Grande Armée ) was an announcement by Napoléon Bonaparte , which was published on December 17, 1812 as part of a periodical in the French newspaper Le Moniteur Universel .
background
During the retreat of the Grande Armée from Russia at the end of November 1812, the Battle of the Beresina broke out , in which the remnants of the French armed forces and their allies only barely escaped complete destruction. During a stopover in the Belarusian city of Maladsetschna (Molodechno) on December 3, Napoléon dictated the bulletin to justify the failure of his Russian campaign and, in particular, the defeat on the Berezina . Two days later he left the remnants of his army and returned to Paris .
content
Napoléon blamed a sudden cold snap for the negative outcome of the campaign, which had been successful up to that point. The bulletin begins with the words "Jusqu'au 6 novembre, le temps a été parfait, ..." (German: "Until November 6th, the weather was great ..."). The subsequent drop in temperature caused most of the horses to freeze to death, so that the cavalry was no longer operational. At the same time, the draft animals for the artillery and the train were canceled, so that large amounts of material could no longer be carried and had to be destroyed. The French army lost all clout within a few days. The Russian army, which had proven to be a more than equal opponent (and also had to withstand the same weather conditions), and its leadership, which in some cases was tactically skilful, is not discussed. His own wrong decisions, which had contributed to its failure in the run-up to and in the course of the campaign, also remain unmentioned. In contrast, Napoléon finally used the opportunity to dispel rumors about his state of health or even his alleged death. So the announcement ends with the famous phrase "La santé de Sa Majesté n'a jamais été meilleure." (German: "His Majesty's health has never been better").
reception
When the European public was confronted for the first time with the full extent of the catastrophe of the Russian campaign, the Bulletin came as a shock: The emperor, used to victory, suffered a serious defeat. Only a meager remnant had returned from his Grande Armée, which was considered invincible; over half a million soldiers had either fallen or been captured.
Nevertheless, Napoléon's descriptions created the still widespread legend that the Grande Armée only failed because of the Russian winter.
bibliography
- Eckart Kleßmann : Napoleon's Russian campaigns in eyewitness reports , Munich 1972. (contains a German translation)
- David Markham: Imperial Glory: The Bulletins of Napoleon's Grande Armée, 1805-1814 , Greenhill Books, 2003.
Web links
- Napoleon's 29th Bulletin (English translation)
- Twenty-ninth bulletin of the great army (1812) (Leipziger Zeitung No. 254.)
- Mentir comme un bulletin
- Vingt-neuvième bulletin de la grande armée ( Oeuvres de Napoleon Bonaparte )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kleßmann, p. 318.