Napoleonic Alternate 01 Austerlitz Alternate by Max Lamirande

Author:Max Lamirande [Lamirande, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798767482658
Google: EN_ozgEACAAJ
Amazon: B09LWGSYH5
Publisher: Independently published
Published: 2021-11-14T22:00:00+00:00

Extract from the Memoirs of General Rapp

About to leave Vienna, end of February 1806

The time we spent in Vienna was not just about sheltering from the snow and cold. It was also about resting the troops and getting some supplies. Our ammunition stores had become somewhat depleted by then, especially in artillery shells that were expanded like crazy in the Prerau battle.

Since we had to stop for a while, the Emperor directed me upon arrival in the Austrian capital to find musket balls, powder, and cannon shells for the Grande Armée. I was supplied with a lengthy amount and several logistical types to help me with the task for this endeavor. It took some time, but apparently, the Austrian civilians, quite displeased with our presence in their city, liked the small gold Napoleon coins a lot better than the big Napoleon…

I was consequently able to get the necessary supplies within a mere ten days of being in Vienna. The Emperor, quite pleased at my achievements, no sooner congratulated me that he sent me one errand after the other. Getting an army of this size supplied and fed was no small task. Again, I performed to the satisfaction of Napoleon, who declared that the Grande Armée would be ready to fight because of my great ability to supply what was needed.

As I remember it, this period was one of great activity for Napoleon. After all, the man was running the most powerful force in the world, with all its needs in terms of generalship. And then there was the matter of him being the head of the French state at the same time. As such, he had to entertain a lot of non-military duties like correspondence with Paris and other matters of a more trivial importance like the day-to-day running of the country we occupied. He, of course, had several men to help him in the process, but the Emperor was not a man to leave matters unattended and so did not miss a step with anything.

Every night, on the march north, when the Grand Army would stop for a rest, Napoleon would start his second job, running a state and his diplomacy.

On one of those nights where we approached the Moravian city of Brunn, we received a peculiar visit from an Ottoman envoy, Peshlivan Khan, one of the leading Generals in the Ottoman Army currently roaming the Austrian countryside. The Emperor received the man with all due honors, and some niceties were exchanged thru an interpreter. The Turk gave a nice gold sword to Napoleon, a personal gift from the Ottoman Sultan, and Napoleon accepted it with diligence. The discussion then rapidly dwelled into the situation with the siege of Buda. The French forces were about to arrive at the city’s walls to help the Ottoman launch the final attack on the Hungarian capital. The two men had fought each other before when the then General Bonaparte had battled the Turks in Syria in 1798-1799. They seemed to remember that time fondly and exchanged several war stories on the matter.

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