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014 - Chapter 8 Part 1 General Voyron Organisation Of The Brigade etc · An Englishman in the French Foreign Legion

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Speaker 1: Chapter eight of A Soldier of the Legion by George Mannington.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter eight,
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Speaker 1: Part one, General voyon, organization of the Brigade, Piracy on
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Speaker 1: the Long Sun Railway, politics and pacification, topography, and a
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Speaker 1: tiger hunt. Among the staff records Colonel Gallieni, General pennot Hanoi,
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Speaker 1: General Coronet, Death of a Friend, Adieu to the Army.
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Speaker 1: Time dealt gently with the able officer who was in
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Speaker 1: command of the second Brigade at Bachmien in eighteen ninety two.
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Speaker 1: For this general, when at the head of the French Corps,
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Speaker 1: serving ten years later with the Allied Army under Martial
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Speaker 1: Valdas Say in China, was still the same thick set,
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Speaker 1: active soldier, whose rugged features bespoke the energy and determination
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Speaker 1: of the man, and whose eyes held the genial life
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Speaker 1: which did not belie the kindly nature of the soul within.
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Speaker 1: Throughout the whole of his long career, this officer was
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Speaker 1: associated with France's colonial army. As a young officer, he
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Speaker 1: was severely wounded at the Defense of Bossier in eighteen seventy.
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Speaker 1: He served afterwards under Feiderbe in the Soudan and Senegal
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Speaker 1: and with Briere de Lil in Tonqen. The man in
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Speaker 1: the ranks of all armies is never at a loss
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Speaker 1: to find an appropriate nickname for a superior who appeals
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Speaker 1: to his regard or dislike. And this general had not
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Speaker 1: been long in command before he became known to the
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Speaker 1: men in the French and foreign battalions alike as a
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Speaker 1: Papa Voyrone. It would indeed have been difficult to find
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Speaker 1: another cognomen conveying with equal truthfulness the just, firm and
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Speaker 1: fatherly manner in which he treated the troops under his orders.
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Speaker 1: It is a pleasure to do justice to the high
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Speaker 1: military capabilities and admirable characteristics of this popular French officer.
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Speaker 1: But it must nevertheless be stated that the speech made
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Speaker 1: by General Voyone at Marseilles on his return from Peaking
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Speaker 1: in nineteen o two, containing as it did, several adverse
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Speaker 1: and unmerited criticisms on the discipline and courage of our
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Speaker 1: Indian troops, was a source of some surprise to me. However,
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Speaker 1: when one takes into consideration that of late years politics
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Speaker 1: have unfortunately occupied a predominant place in the minds of
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Speaker 1: France's most capable military men and also that public feeling
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Speaker 1: was unfavorable to England at the time this speech was made.
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Speaker 1: It may be assumed that these aspersions, which tally badly
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Speaker 1: with the character of the gallant officer, were but the
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Speaker 1: result of a passing wave of popular sentiment, to the
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Speaker 1: effects of which the gallic temperament is always so susceptible.
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Speaker 1: The commandant of the brigade, like many others of his profession,
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Speaker 1: possessed a hobby as far removed from le mithier desens
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Speaker 1: as the not infrequent desire fostered by many old merchant
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Speaker 1: skippers for keeping a poultry farm is from the art
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Speaker 1: of navigation. This hobby was horticulture. It should be mentioned
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Speaker 1: that during the cooler months of each year in Tonken
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Speaker 1: October to April, all the edible green stuffs of the
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Speaker 1: temperate zones can be grown with success, though to obtain
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Speaker 1: really good results fresh seed must be procured annually from Europe.
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Speaker 1: General Voyone made it his special care that all the
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Speaker 1: stations in the interior where White troops were garrison should
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Speaker 1: possess a kitchen garden. Thanks to this wise measure, the men,
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Speaker 1: to the benefit alike of their health and palate, were
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Speaker 1: and are still supplied during six months out of twelve
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Speaker 1: with abundant quantities of fresh vegetables, and the quality of
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Speaker 1: the crops obtained from the trim, well kept gardens is
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Speaker 1: a cause of emulation in each of these small garrisons.
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Speaker 1: Whenever the General inspected the different forts situated in the
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Speaker 1: regions under his care, he never failed to look round
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Speaker 1: these gardens, and when they showed proof that care had
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Speaker 1: been bestowed upon them, he was lavish in his expressions
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Speaker 1: of satisfaction. But there would be a mauvais moment, a
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Speaker 1: passee for the unfortunate officer who had neglected or ignored
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Speaker 1: the Brigadier circulars containing recommendations concerning the necessity of ensuring
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Speaker 1: a liberal supply of vegetables for the men. The internal
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Speaker 1: organization of the brigade staff was very simple. There were
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Speaker 1: three departments, the first being the General Office, the staff
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Speaker 1: of which was charged with the elucidation of all questions
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Speaker 1: relating to administration, promotion and discipline in the core belonging
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Speaker 1: to the Brigade, the printing and dispatching of general orders
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Speaker 1: and circulars, and the drawing up of the monthly reports
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Speaker 1: concerning the available effectives. The existing stocks of arms and ammunition,
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Speaker 1: and the general health of the troops. The Intelligence Department
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Speaker 1: was the second section, and the duties of its chief
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Speaker 1: were both numerous and delicate, some of the most important
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Speaker 1: being the control of the surveying and Topographical bureau, the
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Speaker 1: interrogation of spies or prisoners, and administration of the secret
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Speaker 1: service funds. The translation of code telegrams, the classification of
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Speaker 1: the documents relative to the active operations of the brigade,
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Speaker 1: and the editing of the monthly confidential reports concerning the
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Speaker 1: existing bands of rebels and brigands, which gave detailed information
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Speaker 1: as to their organization, approximate strength, armament, and zones of acts.
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Speaker 1: The third department was the Office of the Brigade Major,
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Speaker 1: through which all completed work passed for inspection and annotation
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Speaker 1: before being transmitted to the General for signature, and from
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Speaker 1: which the first two sections received instructions. The Chief of
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Speaker 1: the Staff, who was at the head of this office,
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Speaker 1: was also charged with the transmission of the General's decisions
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Speaker 1: relative to punishments or censor inflicted on officers under his orders,
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Speaker 1: and to his care were entrusted the confidential notes concerning
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Speaker 1: each of these subordinates These notes consisted of information concerning
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Speaker 1: the past services, punishments, special aptitudes or failings, as the
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Speaker 1: case might be, of each officer in the brigade, and
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Speaker 1: were contained in a little parchment covered book known as
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Speaker 1: de les vree Individual, on the outside of which was
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Speaker 1: written the name of the person it concerned. One such
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Speaker 1: book is made out for every sub lieutenant as soon
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Speaker 1: as he passes out of sincere and obtains his commission,
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Speaker 1: and this little telltale record follows him from corps to
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Speaker 1: corps during the whole of his career. It will be
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Speaker 1: easily understood that it is considered a matter of extreme
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Speaker 1: importance that no officer should ever become acquainted with the
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Speaker 1: contents of his liverree individual, and to this effect, the
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Speaker 1: only persons who are allowed to handle them are the
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Speaker 1: commandant of his regiment, who notes therein every six months
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Speaker 1: his appreciations of his subordinates military capabilities and moral conduct,
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Speaker 1: the chief of the brigade staff, and the General. The
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Speaker 1: secretaries on the brigade took turns on night duty, for
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Speaker 1: it was necessary that a man should be at the
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Speaker 1: office from six p m. To six a m. To
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Speaker 1: receive the telegrams when they arrive and in event of
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Speaker 1: their being of urgent importance, to send them on to
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Speaker 1: the U S Chief of saff We were so busy
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Speaker 1: in the intelligence department that in the first week in
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Speaker 1: September the Major decided to get another man so as
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Speaker 1: to relieve me and aid in the topographical work. To
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Speaker 1: my delight, Lipta was chosen for the post, so that
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Speaker 1: a few days later I was able to welcome my
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Speaker 1: old chum into his new quarters. This increase in work
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Speaker 1: was due to the state of affairs on the railway
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Speaker 1: then in construction from Fu Lagtuang to lang Soon. For
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Speaker 1: the region was overrun by bands of Chinese brigands under
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Speaker 1: the orders of the famous Luiki, who attacked the working
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Speaker 1: parties and carried away into captivity several of the French
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Speaker 1: engineers and contractors. Encouraged by their success, the robbers ambuscaded
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Speaker 1: several of the convoys going by road to lang Soon,
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Speaker 1: and after slaying the majority of the escort, carried off
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Speaker 1: important quantities of treasure, several cases of LaBelle rifles and
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Speaker 1: a good deal of ammunition. In one of these engagements,
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Speaker 1: a major of the Infanterie de Marine, Commandant Bonot, was
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Speaker 1: shot dead So great was the mobility of these bands,
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Speaker 1: and such excellent cover was offered by the mountainous country
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Speaker 1: on either side of the road, that all attempts to
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Speaker 1: engage and scatter them made by the little parties of
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Speaker 1: troops garrisoned in the different forts proved of no avail.
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Speaker 1: And it soon became evident that it would require a
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Speaker 1: strong and well organized column to secure any favorable results,
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Speaker 1: to insure the security of the route and to allow
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Speaker 1: of the work upon the railway being continued. In August,
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Speaker 1: General Rest, the commander in chief at Hanois, made an
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Speaker 1: urgent appeal to the Governor General for permission to undertake
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Speaker 1: operations against Luiquis on a scale to ensure success. But
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Speaker 1: Monsieur de la Naissant refused to countenance any such movement
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Speaker 1: and declared that the military authorities ought to be able
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Speaker 1: to crush the bands with the forces already at their
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Speaker 1: disposal in garrison along the lance En route. There is
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Speaker 1: little doubt that the Governor, in making this reply was
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Speaker 1: influenced by political motives. The recent successful operations in the
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Speaker 1: Yinte had been utilized to further his political aspirations in France,
10:26
Speaker 1: and the metropolitan press had repeatedly announced, with a great
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Speaker 1: flourish of trumpets, that rebellion and brigandige were now dead
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Speaker 1: in Tonkin. Indeed, in one of his reports to the
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Speaker 1: colonial Minister, Monsieur de la Naissan had declared that, owing
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Speaker 1: to the success of his administration, the pacification of the
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Speaker 1: colony was now an assured fact, and it was possible
10:50
Speaker 1: to wander over the country with no other protection than
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Speaker 1: a stout walking stick. The absurdity of such statements was
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Speaker 1: clear in tong Kin, but they found favor with the
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Speaker 1: public in France, where people were only too willing to
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Speaker 1: believe that an era of peace and plenty was at
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Speaker 1: last to open in their far eastern possessions, with a
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Speaker 1: consequent cessation of the enormous sacrifice of men and money
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Speaker 1: that had accompanied the past ten years. The governor, because
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Speaker 1: of this advertisement, was declared to be the first of
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Speaker 1: France's viceroys capable of grappling with the situation, and as
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Speaker 1: it was his firm intention to again contest in the
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Speaker 1: near future the seat in the Chamber which he had
11:35
Speaker 1: resigned on accepting the high position he was now filling,
11:40
Speaker 1: he can hardly be blamed in a country where men
11:43
Speaker 1: take up politics as a business for fostering interest which
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Speaker 1: would assure him a considerable number of votes when the
11:51
Speaker 1: time came that this state of affairs was detrimental to
11:54
Speaker 1: the progress of the colony is certain, but political influence,
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Speaker 1: party hatreds, and electioneering jobbery have had much to do
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Speaker 1: with retarding the development of Indo China since its administration
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Speaker 1: was placed in the hands of a civilian governor and
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Speaker 1: staff in eighteen eighty six. It is, however, possible that
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Speaker 1: the governor made these declarations in good faith, for he
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Speaker 1: had hardly been a year in the country and was
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Speaker 1: obliged to rely for advice on the residents and vice residents.
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Speaker 1: And these civilians, hating the military element, were only too
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Speaker 1: eager to throw doubts on the exactitude of the information
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Speaker 1: contained in the reports coming in from the military territories,
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Speaker 1: and they openly declared that the officers of the colonial
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Speaker 1: army were intentionally exaggerating the gravity of the situation in
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Speaker 1: the hope of provoking operations likely to bring them promotion
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Speaker 1: and decorations. The contradictory advice of this civilian staff was
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Speaker 1: possibly one of the causes which led the governor to
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Speaker 1: poo pooh the importance of this new upheaval, declaring that
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Speaker 1: the generals were alarmist, and that the well armed and
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Speaker 1: organized bands of Luiqui were cadevaleur de voche pourvenier oubou desquelles,
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Speaker 1: hilsufrey de calc gentarmes, only cattle stealers with whom a
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Speaker 1: few policemen could deal. These declarations provoked the anger and
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Speaker 1: disgust of every officer and man in the colony, and
13:32
Speaker 1: very soon a veritable hatred reigned between the civil and
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Speaker 1: military elements. The different newspapers sided with the parties appealing
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Speaker 1: most to their sentiments or their pockets, for it was
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Speaker 1: an open secret that some of these journals were subventioned
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Speaker 1: by the government, and a worthy warfare wherein neither insults
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Speaker 1: nor invective were spared, was the order of the day. Doubtless,
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Speaker 1: there were faults on both sides gides, and it is
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Speaker 1: certain that the commander in chief committed an unpardonable error
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Speaker 1: by issuing general orders to the troops to be read
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Speaker 1: at parades and posted up in the barracks, in which
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Speaker 1: the civilian authorities were belittled and reproached with having insulted
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Speaker 1: the army. This necessarily added fuel to the fire, and
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Speaker 1: the situation became so strained that officers and civilians came
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Speaker 1: to fisticuffs in the streets of the capitol, and several
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Speaker 1: serious duels took place. Things were, however, brought to a
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Speaker 1: climax towards the ends of August by the abduction of
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Speaker 1: three frenchmen on the railway line, one of whom Monsieur
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Speaker 1: Vezin was the principal engineer representing the big contracting firm
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Speaker 1: five Liel and Company. The consternation in high quarters when
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Speaker 1: this news was received was considerable, for there existed no
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Speaker 1: possible chance of keeping such thrilling information out of the
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Speaker 1: newspapers in Paris. As soon as the coup had been
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Speaker 1: successfully carried through, Luquis retired into the security of his
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Speaker 1: lair in the mountains of the Boodt Range, and from
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Speaker 1: here he sent out messengers to the nearest military station,
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Speaker 1: announcing that he would release the prisoners on the receipt
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Speaker 1: of a sum of one hundred thousand dollars in silver.
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Speaker 1: But he also declared that in event of the troops
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Speaker 1: approaching his encampment, he would have the captives executed immediately.
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Speaker 1: The excitement throughout the colony was intense, and party rancor
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Speaker 1: was forgotten in the general anxiety felt for the three
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Speaker 1: unfortunate prisoners, as the cruelty of the Chinese bandits was
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Speaker 1: well known to all. After three weeks of negotiation, a
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Speaker 1: slight reduction in the ransom was obtained, and the three
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Speaker 1: gentlemen were released, after having suffered indignity and torture at
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Speaker 1: the hands of their captors, with the result that their
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Speaker 1: constitutions were wrecked by privation and exposure. The governor still refused, however,
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Speaker 1: to authorize effective operations against the robbers, and it was
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Speaker 1: not until several military convoys had been captured and a
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Speaker 1: good many officers and men slain, that Monsieur de la
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Speaker 1: Naissans finally agreed that the bandits were worthy of more
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Speaker 1: serious attention than they had previously received. When the column
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Speaker 1: actually commenced operations, its work was considerably facilitated by the
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Speaker 1: death of the famous chief Luis Qui from the effects
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Speaker 1: of a wound received during the attack made on the
16:40
Speaker 1: convoy when Major Bonaut was killed, but owing to the
16:44
Speaker 1: rugged nature of the country in which the operations took place,
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Speaker 1: it was fully six weeks before the brigands were defeated
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Speaker 1: and scattered. A good many of the bandits escaped to
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Speaker 1: kwang Se, and others fled to the mountainous region in
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Speaker 1: the north. The telegrams and reports coming in from the
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Speaker 1: column were of great interest to me, as my company
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Speaker 1: was taking part in the battou. I happened to be
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Speaker 1: on night duty one evening towards the end of September
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Speaker 1: when a wire was received stating that a detachment of
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Speaker 1: my comrades had been caught in an ambuscade among the
17:21
Speaker 1: rocky defiles of the kai Kin at a point not
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Speaker 1: far from Cho Trang, my former garrison. This despatch mentioned
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Speaker 1: that Captain Wotran, our commander, was among the slain. Both
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Speaker 1: Lipte and myself were shocked at this news. We experienced, however,
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Speaker 1: a certain relief on hearing next day that the body
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Speaker 1: of our chief had not fallen into the hands of
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Speaker 1: the enemy, though seven of the men were hit while
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Speaker 1: carrying the corpse out of the narrow defile to a
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Speaker 1: place of safety. Several months later I met a man
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Speaker 1: who had assisted at this engagement, and he informed me
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Speaker 1: that the legionaire went raving mad when they learned that
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Speaker 1: this popular officer was killed, and after rushing the position
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Speaker 1: to gain which they had to pass one at a time,
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Speaker 1: down a sort of narrow funnel fifty feet long, swept
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Speaker 1: by the enemy's fire, they slew every Chinaman found behind
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Speaker 1: the improvised ramparts. Our losses were very heavy owing to
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Speaker 1: the strength of the position, but the men would not
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Speaker 1: be denied and took a terrible revenge for the death
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Speaker 1: of their captain. In October, the rebel chief began to
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Speaker 1: give trouble again. He made overtures for peace, and, profiting
18:38
Speaker 1: by the confidence thus inspired and the absence of the
18:41
Speaker 1: majority of the troops from the region, he left his
18:44
Speaker 1: retreat in the forest and captured and occupied a strongly
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Speaker 1: fortified village called von Kuk, about ten miles south of Nannam.
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Speaker 1: He established his headquarters there and ravaged the surrounding district
18:59
Speaker 1: until a fortnight later he was driven from his fastness
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Speaker 1: by a column under major bar and again escaped to
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Speaker 1: the mountains with the majority of his men. Notwithstanding the
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Speaker 1: hard work we were having on the brigade, time passed
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Speaker 1: agreeably at Baksen, for there was plenty to see in
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Speaker 1: the town. When we were off duty, that is, for
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Speaker 1: anyone interested in studying the native industries and customs. Besides,
19:25
Speaker 1: to relieve the monotony of garrison life, the General had
19:29
Speaker 1: encouraged the French troops to organize a theatrical troop, which
19:33
Speaker 1: gave some very amusing concerts and dramatic performances in a
19:37
Speaker 1: temporary theater in the barracks, the commandant of the brigade
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Speaker 1: and his staff never failing to attend. In October, General
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Speaker 1: Rest was recalled to France and General Duchemin took over
19:50
Speaker 1: the supreme command of the troops in the colony, after
19:53
Speaker 1: which the animosity between the civilians and military subsided. At
19:58
Speaker 1: this time, I was often left in charge of the
20:01
Speaker 1: intelligence department, for Lieutenant Castier and Liptae were away three
20:06
Speaker 1: days in each week making a new survey of the
20:09
Speaker 1: surrounding country. During one of these outings, they were approached
20:13
Speaker 1: by the head man of a village, who begged them
20:16
Speaker 1: to come and slay a man eating tiger that had
20:19
Speaker 1: established his headquarters in a cluster of trees inside the
20:23
Speaker 1: hamlet itself. The beast had been there three days already,
20:27
Speaker 1: and each morning had seized upon and devoured one of
20:30
Speaker 1: the unfortunate inhabitants, so that the remainder were afraid to
20:35
Speaker 1: leave their houses. The natives declared that they had employed
20:39
Speaker 1: every available means of driving the fierced brute away, but
20:42
Speaker 1: the beating of drums and gongs, the throwing of lances
20:46
Speaker 1: and lighted torches into the scrub, had only served to
20:49
Speaker 1: enrage their uninvited guests, and that very morning one of
20:53
Speaker 1: the villagers, who had approached too near to the thicket,
20:56
Speaker 1: had been slain before the eyes of his comrades. The
21:00
Speaker 1: officer and my friends, taking with them their escort, consisting
21:05
Speaker 1: of ten native soldiers and a corporal, proceeded at once
21:09
Speaker 1: to the scene of the tragedy. The terriers, instructed to
21:13
Speaker 1: shout and keep on firing off their rifles in the air.
21:16
Speaker 1: From time to time, were told to advance upon the
21:19
Speaker 1: little clump of trees from three sides at once, while
21:23
Speaker 1: the lieutenant and lepte waited on the other. By these
21:27
Speaker 1: means they succeeded in driving the tiger out into the open,
21:31
Speaker 1: and he was dispatched with a couple of well aimed shots.
21:35
Speaker 1: I saw the beast when brought into back men. He
21:37
Speaker 1: was a fine specimen of his kind, measuring nine feet
21:41
Speaker 1: seven inches from the tip of the tail to the muzzle.
21:45
Speaker 1: At this period of my service I was promoted to
21:48
Speaker 1: the post Evaccavist, and thus was placed in charge of
21:52
Speaker 1: all the records of the brigade. I should mention that
21:55
Speaker 1: at this time they were in a serious state of disorder,
21:59
Speaker 1: owing to the negligence of the secretary who had preceded
22:02
Speaker 1: me in this work, so that I was obliged to
22:05
Speaker 1: set to and sort the whole of them. It was
22:09
Speaker 1: somewhat weary work at first wading through this mass of paper,
22:13
Speaker 1: the greater part consisting of musty, dust covered dossiers, dating back,
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Speaker 1: some of them to the conquest of the country by
22:21
Speaker 1: the French. But there were documents of immense interest among
22:25
Speaker 1: this medley of yellow, evil smelling and worm eaten dispatches,
22:29
Speaker 1: and the reconstruction with the aid of all the original
22:33
Speaker 1: reports of the famous march of General de Negier to
22:37
Speaker 1: Lanson and the frontier of China, the subsequent retreat to
22:41
Speaker 1: Kep and the inquiry prior to the court martial held
22:45
Speaker 1: on the unfortunate Colonel Herbinger, who took over the command
22:49
Speaker 1: of the troops after the general was wounded at Quiluis
22:53
Speaker 1: was a source of pure joy to me for several days.
22:58
Speaker 1: In December, General Voyon left Tonkin for France, and Colonel Gallini,
23:03
Speaker 1: later a general and governor of Madagascar, came down from
23:07
Speaker 1: lang Soon, where he was in command of the first
23:10
Speaker 1: military Territory, and took over the service par interim. The
23:15
Speaker 1: governor general, who had already done away with the brigade
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Speaker 1: at Sante, thinking no doubt that this was a magnificent
23:22
Speaker 1: occasion to weaken still further the hand of the military
23:26
Speaker 1: party in the colony, decided to dispense with another brigadier,
23:31
Speaker 1: so he issued a decree abolishing the command at Bachmin.
23:36
Speaker 1: Probably the fact that the announcement of this step would
23:39
Speaker 1: be hailed in France as another proof of the supposed
23:42
Speaker 1: pacification of the country was an inducement to the taking
23:47
Speaker 1: of this measure. It is doubtful from a military standpoint
23:51
Speaker 1: if the change was a wise one, for though it
23:54
Speaker 1: saved the colony about forty eight hundred pounds a year
23:57
Speaker 1: the salary of two generals, it was hardly possible for
24:01
Speaker 1: the commander in chief and Hanoi to deal directly with
24:05
Speaker 1: the commandants of the different regiments, military territories and garrisons
24:10
Speaker 1: in the Delta, who were scattered all over so vast
24:13
Speaker 1: a country. Indeed, the insufficiency of the new system was
24:17
Speaker 1: so evident that the authorities eventually returned to the original arrangement,
24:22
Speaker 1: and to day, though the country is almost completely pacified,
24:26
Speaker 1: there exist two brigades in tong Kin and one in
24:30
Speaker 1: Coach in China. However, though Monsieur de Lanissan planned this
24:36
Speaker 1: important change in the colony, the colonial ministry in Paris
24:40
Speaker 1: did not look at affairs in the same light. As
24:43
Speaker 1: soon as they learned that General Voyon was leaving, they
24:46
Speaker 1: sent out General Pernout to replace him, and the latter
24:49
Speaker 1: arrived in Indo, China to find that the post he
24:53
Speaker 1: had come out to fill no longer existed. Monsieur de
24:57
Speaker 1: Lanissan would have liked to send the general back to
24:59
Speaker 1: fe Grant, and indeed he proposed to do so, but
25:03
Speaker 1: the authorities in Paris, probably because they had no post
25:07
Speaker 1: for the officer at home, insisted that he should remain.
25:11
Speaker 1: Thus the brigade was resuscitated for his benefit, and its secretaries,
25:16
Speaker 1: already on their way to rejoin their respective regiments, were
25:20
Speaker 1: recalled to back Nin I had been in fu Lang
25:24
Speaker 1: Duang four days and was awaiting a convoy for Nanam
25:28
Speaker 1: when the order arrived for my return, and its arrival
25:31
Speaker 1: caused me no little surprise and speculation. Two days later
25:37
Speaker 1: I was back in my old place, my absence having
25:40
Speaker 1: lasted about a week, And the following morning General Pennault
25:43
Speaker 1: came up from Hanoi with his staff. He was a short, fat,
25:47
Speaker 1: red faced man with a very loud, disagreeable voice and
25:51
Speaker 1: a temper that was worse, and his reputation with the
25:54
Speaker 1: men of being a crusty martinet was not altogether unjustified.
26:00
Speaker 1: The day following his arrival, he came to the office
26:03
Speaker 1: and passed a review of the secretaries. On learning that
26:07
Speaker 1: I was in charge of the records, he came over
26:09
Speaker 1: to where I was standing at attention and asked, you
26:12
Speaker 1: are naturalized? I suppose, no, mont General, I answered, what
26:18
Speaker 1: not naturalized? Yet you have the intention of becoming so
26:22
Speaker 1: of course, no mont General, I replied. He glared up
26:26
Speaker 1: at me with an angry stare, and his face took
26:29
Speaker 1: a dull red color. I thought he was going to burst.
26:33
Speaker 1: Oh indeed, he blurted out, At last, you must put
26:37
Speaker 1: in an application to become a French citizen, or go
26:41
Speaker 1: back to your battalion. I will have no foreigners in
26:44
Speaker 1: a post of confidence on my staff. Grant dieu. What
26:48
Speaker 1: have they been doing to allow such a thing? It
26:51
Speaker 1: is shameful, nomb denome. He almost shouted the last words,
26:56
Speaker 1: so great was his indignation, and from the express he
27:00
Speaker 1: put into them, one might have been justified in imagining
27:03
Speaker 1: that the Republic was in danger owing to my presence there.
27:08
Speaker 1: I did not become naturalized, and I heard nothing more
27:11
Speaker 1: about the question. And in justice to this cantankerous officer,
27:15
Speaker 1: I must acknowledge that during the fifteen months he commanded
27:19
Speaker 1: the brigade, he treated me with consideration. On the rare
27:23
Speaker 1: occasions that I had any direct business to transact with him,
27:27
Speaker 1: he had risen from the ranks. Indeed, I was told
27:30
Speaker 1: that he began his career as a sailor on a
27:33
Speaker 1: man of war. And it is therefore probable that his
27:36
Speaker 1: modest origin and the hard times he experienced at his
27:40
Speaker 1: debut accounted for his rough and rude manners. End of
27:46
Speaker 1: Chapter eight, Part one