FROM THE MEMOIRS OF M. LE COMTE D'ARTAGNAN: RELATED TO THE REIGN OF KING PHILIPPE THE SEVENTH
Chapter Three, in which Monsieur d'Artagnan drowns in both Boredom and Duty, but still manages to write two Letters
".... I must note that I have found the next weeks I had to spend near Paris exceedingly boring. While I, upon the orders of the Duc de Chartres (now the Dauphin), rejoined the First Hussars, my duties were mainly limited to patroliing and policing the countryside or executing the usual functions of the squadron commander. Paris was at the time fuming because of the scandalous trial of the Ministers - but for me, alas, after the intense campaign in Algeria, the new life seemed quote dull.
This is how I usually planned my day:
Standing up in the morning, I ate a healthy meal - usually an omellette with ham and basil - and washed it down with half a bottle of Burgundy wine, some coffee and hot scons following. The apartment I rented at rue de la Huchette was in a house owned by a most charming widow of a salt merchant - twenty-six years of age, blond and quite well-shaped. Soon I took to sharing the bedchamber with her and, due to our mutual sympathy, the services of her kitchen were always available to me, even when my purse was quite thin.
Then, in 9AM, the aide-de-campe of the squadron, Lieutenant Langenot, came to me with the report, followed by the commanding officers of all three companies within my detachment. Then I inspected each of the companies, and, once in two days, proceeded to the squadron drill, which usually took from two to four hours.
The schedule was usually the same that I worked out for my squadron before departing, as a volunteer, to Algeria. On the sound of the bugle, trotting, marching and galloping, both by platoons, by echelons, by columns and by squads. Swifly halting and changing formations upon command, right wheeling and left wheeling, drawing sabres and then sheathing them, counter-marching and changing front, and so on. Such maneuveres performed again and again created the perfect rhytm and spirit of obedience and cooperation within the squadron. The drills helped to restore the sense of discipline, that, I must confess, was damaged by the participation of the Chartres Hussars in the Three Days and their fraternizing with the citizens.
I must note that even some officers, in the jubilance and agitation of the revolution, started to forget about their duties. One of them, sous-lieutenant Marchand, a son of a notary from Rennes, a new arrival, had complained to me after one of the drills, when both him and his men ended covered in dirt from their boots to shoulders. He voiced the opinion that such "movements", as he called them, were not important at "real war", but only diromg parades. I had to reprimand him most severely, reminding that such maneuvering builds character and ability to swifly follow orders, which would save the lives of his soldiers in the future battles. He was, in the end, ashamed of himself. In the future he would prove to be a fine officer and lose his life fighting the enemies of France - but of this I would tell in another part of these Memoirs.
Both before, during and after the drill I had to send, following the orders from the colonel, some of my hussars on patrol duties. I must note that, while Paris was rejoicing, in many parts of the countryside of the Seine department the local landowners were quite overcome with the fear of the Verdet violence they have heard off. I had seen some of them bombard our headquarters with quite unreasonable pleas to send whole units to guard their manors - that were not, one might note, threatened at the moment. I did understand their worries, though - at that point of time we could not know, if the enthronement of the Duc de Orleans as King Philip VII would put a stop to the disorders or new rebellions would follow.
We simply had to wait and do what we are ordered.
Aside from that much of my duties were tedious administrative toil, related to the procurement of wheat for the horses, the paperwork and various disciplinary issues regarding the hussars.
I, as ever. enjoyed fine relationships with the officers of my squadron, so in the evening I usually supped with them, sometimes also playing a friendly game of baccarat. Captain de Chaignon told us anecdotes from his homeland, Normandy. Lieutenant Senlois had a good voice and sometimes, when we continously asked him, he would agree to sing
La Victoire Est a Nou. Captain Fanfaroux often entertained us with stories about his numerous amorous adventures, usually ending with him jumping out of someones window.
These gatherings livened up my days, otherwise long and tiring.
I also took notice of the political affairs. The Durand Ministry has proposed quite a number of laws to the two Chambers. Most of them, it seems, had the aim to get rid of what was considered the most odious Ultraroyalist inheritance and restore the liberal financial acts passed during the Presidency of the Duc de Valence. The proposal that quite surprised me was the educational bill, which has, in fact, forbidden the schools to hire clergymen as teachers and allowed such to act only as theology professors within the universities. First of all, I doubted that this proposal corresponded with the principle set both by the Charter of 1814 and of 1830 - of everybody being admissible for civil employment. Secondly, I overall questioned the prudence of the measure - many learned paedogogues in our Realm were ordained priests, and to refuse to accept their services due to the anticlerical sentiments may have been unwise.
However, since I was not a father yet (at least, knowingly), the reform perhaps bothered me less than others.
However, I also could not stop thinking of what my patron, the Prince of Bauffremont, had told me. I was already thirty-three years old and I have spent more than fifteen years in the Army. Perhaps it was time to move forward. I needed to make a name for myself and to get married to a woman of station and means, one worthy of the House of Batz de Castelmore. However, I did understand one thing. Unless there was a war or I got the command of a regiment and then a brigade soon, I could have spent nother decade in the ranks, peacetime promotions often being quite slow. I once again considered the idea of my patron - perhaps I should serve France in another field, the field of politics? His offer to assist me with money was surely tempting.
And yet... yet the habit of an army life, my love for honor and discipline connected with it, were still very strong. I also did have a hope that now, when my Colonel was the heir to the Throne, we, the officers of the Chartres Hussars, would get more opportunities.
Thus, I continued to execute my duties. Wishing, however, to somehow make some changes to this overall tedious existence, I wrote two letters - one to a young officer recently transferred to our regiment and another to an old Marshal recently appointed to the Royal General Staff..."
To Marechal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Duc de Dalmatie ((
@Maxwell500 -Private))
Your Excellency,
While it may be found unappropriate for a much more junior officer like myself to write a personal letter to a Marechal of France, especially one so acclaimed, I do dare to do so upon insistence of a man who is as much as my second father, Prince Alexandre Emmanuel Louis de Bauffremont-Courtenay. The Prince de Bauffremont, when I have last visited him in his chateaut in Haute-Saone, has informed me that he is acquainted with you since the times of Bonaparte, when he was the president of an electoral college, and then associated with you both in 1814, when you have served as the Minister of War to His Most Christian Majesty, King Louis XVIII, and then, since 1825, in the Chamber of Peers, where you both sit. Therefore, hearing that you are returning to Paris, he asked me to deliver you a letter from him and also personally convey his greetings.
If you would find it appropriate, I would visit you at the time comfortable for Your Excellency. I must say that, while I have served in both the Spanish campaign and Algerian expedition, it would have been of great honor to me to talk with an officer of superior military experience.
I most faithfully remain,
Gabriel-Constantin de Batz de Castelmore, Comte d'Artagnan
To Henri-Auguste-Georges du Vergier, Marquis de La Rochejacquelein ((
@Fingon888 - Private))
M. le Marquis,
It has been a great pleasure for me to hear that a scion of a distinguished family has recently, upon the orders of His Royal Highness, our Colonel, has joined the ranks of the 1st Hussar Regiment. It is even more commendable that a young man has exchanged the luxuries of a life as a Peer of France for the armor of Mars.
As a senior officer of our glorious Regiment, I believe it is important that the ties of companionship exist among the comrades-at-ams and, since we did not have the honor of being acquainted before, I invite you to dine with me this Friday, at two o'clock, rue de la Huchette, 12.
If this would be convenient for you, please respond.
Sincerely yours,
Gabriel-Constantin de Batz de Castelmore, Comte d'Artagnan,
Commandant, First Hussar Regiment
