Memoirs of General de Caulaincourt - The Retreat From Moscow by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History, Spain & Portugal, France, Military
ISBN: 9781908692696
Publisher: Wagram Press
Published: 2011-08-17T04:00:00+00:00

To my regret this conversation was interrupted by our arrival in the early hours of the morning [December 12th] at the Hôtel de Saxe, at Posen.

"Give me my despatches," were the Emperor's first words. In accordance with my instructions, the director of posts{334}had kept the two which came through. The Emperor's impatience was such that he would have ripped open the cases if he had had a knife at hand. Numb with cold, my fingers were not quick enough for him in working the combinations of the padlocks. At last I handed him the Empress's letter and one from Madame de Montesquiou enclosing the report on the King of Rome. This was the first news since leaving Wilna, for luck had been against us, as we had met no courier between that town and Mariampol. The Emperor had never ceased to speculate on the impression that would be caused by the absence of any news of the army, so it can easily be imagined with what eagerness he read the despatches from the Arch-Chancellor and the other Ministers. I could not tear the envelopes open quickly enough to keep pace with his impatience. He scanned the pages rather than read them, to obtain a general idea of their contents. After this hasty review, he settled down to perusing carefully those despatches which had struck him as being the most important. He did me the honour of reading aloud the letters from the Empress and Madame de Montesquiou.

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