Description:

French Revolution - Duportail, Maj. Gen. and Chief Engineer during the Revolutionary War, relating to military duties performed during another Revolution - fantastic content! He swears to protect "against all the enemies inside and outside ... to die rather than suffer French territorial invasion by foreign troops".

Duportail had already experienced the American Revolution, but the French Revolution promised to be quite different in its implementation, as our archive demonstrates. 8pp archive comprised of four printed documents on cream bifold paper dating from June 1791 to April 1792. One document is signed by French Minister of War Louis Lebegue Duportail, one is signed by his successor Pierre Marie de Grave, one bears a printed script signature of Louis Lebegue Duportail, and the last bears the typed signature of Louis Lebegue Duportail. Documents are in near fine condition, with expected paper folds and minor scattered edge wear. Docket information inscribed throughout. Average page size 8.5" x 13".

The document dated June 27, 1791 was an order from Duportail enforcing a recent National Assembly decree that all troops take a military oath. The following oath was to be publicly administered: "I swear to employ the arms placed in my hands in the defense of the country, & to maintain against all the enemies inside and outside of the Constitution decreed by the National Assembly, to die rather than suffer French territorial invasion by foreign troops, & to only obey orders that will be given in consequence of National Assembly decrees". Signed by Louis Lebegue Duportail as "Duportail" at bottom right of first page.

Duportail commanded that new rules be distributed to military personnel in the document dated August 15, 1791. In the transitional first years of the French Revolution, the Legislature had not clearly delineated the responsibilities of or expectations for the military resulting in confusion. A recent July 10, 1791 National Assembly decree had clarified these guidelines. Printed script signature "Duportail" appears at top of third page.

The third document dated November 5, 1791 was issued from Duportail to officers who had abandoned their regiments. All officers who had fled their posts were ordered to return to their regiments within fifteen days of receiving this order. " ... it is time that each officer returns to his post, in order to execute and to have orders executed: it is the sole way to bring back troops to the obedience from which they have strayed, & nothing would appear more proper ... to ensure the entire reestablishment of the order & of the discipline in the Army, than the eagerness of officers to rejoin their flags ... " Bearing the typed signature of Louis Lebegue Duportail as "Duportail" on top of second page.

The last document dated April 21, 1792 is signed by Duportail's successor as Minister of War, Pierre Marie de Grave (1755-1823) as "P. De Grave" at center of second page. This document concerns the transition of the war ministry leadership, and the assignment of replacements.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) asked Louis Lebegue Duportail (1743-1802), a graduate of the French royal engineering school, to join the Continental Army in 1776. Duportail served as the Chief Engineer and eventually Major General of the Continental Army from 1777 until 1781. His expertise in fortification building and siege planning proved invaluable to Patriot efforts in Boston, Charleston, and Yorktown. Duportail returned to France at the end of the Revolutionary War, rejoined the French military, and headed its ministry from 1790 to 1791. After politics became increasingly radicalized, Duportail fled France and lived near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania until 1802. He died at sea attempting to return to France.

Our archive shows the transitional early years of the French Revolution in all of its chaos. During the early 1790s, France was still ruled by Louis XVI (1754-1793) but his powers had been considerably checked by parliamentary oversight. In the time span of one month in the summer of 1791, Louis XVI had escaped Paris, was forcibly returned, but was then declared France's inviolable monarch. The documents reflect an unpredictable, turbulent, and foundational period, wherein a newly empowered political body was gaining practical experience but was still uncertain of its final aims. Authority was shared between the king and the Assembly General, and each entity was exploring its newly proscribed roles. This sense of confusion and ambiguity is reflected in our documents, many of which reference laws that have just been redrafted and reissued.

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