Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- 1 The New Charlemagne
- 2 Barbarians at the Gate
- 3 The Frankfurt Proposals
- 4 Napoleon and the French
- 5 The Left Bank
- 6 The Right Bank
- 7 The Lower Rhine
- 8 The Upper Rhine
- 9 The Middle Rhine
- 10 Alsace and Franche-Comté
- 11 The Vosges and the Saône
- 12 Lorraine
- 13 The Saar and the Moselle
- 14 Belgium
- 15 The Marne
- 16 Bourgogne, the Rhône, and the Aube
- 17 The Protocols of Langres
- Appendices
- APPENDIX A CLAUSEWITZ TO GNEISENAU
- APPENDIX B “REGARDING EACH SUGGESTION OVER WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IF THE ENEMY CROSSES THE RHINE” 31 OCTOBER 1813, BY RADETZKY
- APPENDIX C GNEISENAU TO ALEXANDER: Regarding the Great Question of the Day
- APPENDIX D GNEISENAU TO ALEXANDER, 24 NOVEMBER 1813
- APPENDIX E MÜFFLING'S PRO MEMORIA OF 29 DECEMBER 1813
- APPENDIX F THE FRANKFURT DECLARATION
- APPENDIX G BÜLOW'S PROCLAMATION TO THE DUTCH
- APPENDIX H BÜLOW'S PROCLAMATION TO THE BELGIANS
- APPENDIX I HIMBERT DE FLEGNY TO THE MAYORS OF THE VOSGES DEPARTMENT, 9 JANUARY 1814
- APPENDIX J GNEISENAU TO RADETZKY
- APPENDIX K GNEISENAU TO KNESEBECK
- APPENDIX L MACDONALD'S PROCLAMATION TO THE SOLDIERS OF THE 25TH MILITARY DISTRICT
- APPENDIX M NAPOLEON TO METTERNICH, 16 JANUARY 1814
- APPENDIX N VICTOR TO BERTHIER
- Bibliography
- Notes
- Index
APPENDIX K - GNEISENAU TO KNESEBECK
from Appendices
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2015
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- 1 The New Charlemagne
- 2 Barbarians at the Gate
- 3 The Frankfurt Proposals
- 4 Napoleon and the French
- 5 The Left Bank
- 6 The Right Bank
- 7 The Lower Rhine
- 8 The Upper Rhine
- 9 The Middle Rhine
- 10 Alsace and Franche-Comté
- 11 The Vosges and the Saône
- 12 Lorraine
- 13 The Saar and the Moselle
- 14 Belgium
- 15 The Marne
- 16 Bourgogne, the Rhône, and the Aube
- 17 The Protocols of Langres
- Appendices
- APPENDIX A CLAUSEWITZ TO GNEISENAU
- APPENDIX B “REGARDING EACH SUGGESTION OVER WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IF THE ENEMY CROSSES THE RHINE” 31 OCTOBER 1813, BY RADETZKY
- APPENDIX C GNEISENAU TO ALEXANDER: Regarding the Great Question of the Day
- APPENDIX D GNEISENAU TO ALEXANDER, 24 NOVEMBER 1813
- APPENDIX E MÜFFLING'S PRO MEMORIA OF 29 DECEMBER 1813
- APPENDIX F THE FRANKFURT DECLARATION
- APPENDIX G BÜLOW'S PROCLAMATION TO THE DUTCH
- APPENDIX H BÜLOW'S PROCLAMATION TO THE BELGIANS
- APPENDIX I HIMBERT DE FLEGNY TO THE MAYORS OF THE VOSGES DEPARTMENT, 9 JANUARY 1814
- APPENDIX J GNEISENAU TO RADETZKY
- APPENDIX K GNEISENAU TO KNESEBECK
- APPENDIX L MACDONALD'S PROCLAMATION TO THE SOLDIERS OF THE 25TH MILITARY DISTRICT
- APPENDIX M NAPOLEON TO METTERNICH, 16 JANUARY 1814
- APPENDIX N VICTOR TO BERTHIER
- Bibliography
- Notes
- Index
Summary
Although I have a right to complain that you did not answer the letter that I wrote you while still in Frankfurt and that you also had refused to submit my memo to His Majesty the Tsar of Russia, I will nevertheless postpone everything that I have on my mind and once again offer to you the opportunity for true cooperation. Direct correspondence between us, I believe, will produce good results; we are so close to the goal, allow us to unite and proceed together.
What one did not believe of me in Frankfurt has happened. Holland is almost completely conquered because Bülow had the boldness to drive between the fortresses of this land. France has lost these fortresses because it does not have the resources to furnish them. All of Europe would not have the means for this. Had we immediately crossed the Rhine when we arrived at this river, we would have taken many of the most significant fortresses and we would now be in Paris. Confusion and despair now reign - even after the enemy has been allowed eight weeks to rest and recuperate. None of fortresses are sufficiently provisioned; there are no palisades; they are manned only by recruits; the majority of the veteran soldiers are sick or dying. Dissension rules the government. Encouraged by the mood of the people of Paris, the Legislative Corps sent its president to the emperor to demand an explanation - now it has been dissolved. Now or never is the time for us to march to Paris and dictate the type of peace that is demanded to satisfy the people and the security of the old royal families, then we may return home and enjoy our days in peace and quiet.
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- The Fall of Napoleon , pp. 566 - 568Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007