According to your letters to me on the 16th and 17th, I did not defend as I should have the defiles of the Vosges nor the crossings of the Meurthe and the Moselle. This accusation is too serious for me to remain indifferent and I must believe that you will have the kindness to deliberate my defense or place it under the eyes of His Majesty.

I was before Colmar with 7,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry when the enemy crossed the Rhine with an army of 60,000 men. This army moved behind me, at some days march, and I was in the presence of the army commanded by Gen. Wrede; not able to remain in Alsace in this situation, I had to withdraw. I was able to move through Saverne, according to the first instructions of the emperor; I was able to establish myself in the valley of St. Marie-aux-Mines and to defend this passage for some time, but none of the dispositions that I took could prevent the enemy from advancing on Nancy either through Saverne or through St. Dié. By defending one of the valleys of the Vosges, I would have had to open the roads to Metz and Nancy to the corps that came through Saverne. Wrede, for his part, marching on St. Dié through the valleys of Colmar and Remiremont, threatened my movement in the valley of St. Marie-aux-Mines. Moreover, the troops could not find any resources to live on.