163 - [J.-J. SAVARY]

[J.-J. SAVARY] [Chouannerie] Long handwritten letter signed “Savary” [Jean-Julien Savary, military officer, politician, and writer] addressed “To the municipal administration of… [stamp reading ‘Council of Elders’] Maine-et-Loire department, Saumur,” dated 2 Vendémiaire, Year 8 [September 24, 1799]. Two folios (2.5 pp. of text); fine copy. Announcement of “a significant victory won by our troops in Holland”; this good news contrasts with Savary’s assessment of the military situation in Maine-et-Loire, where “(…) a large number of towns neighboring Cholet were in revolt (…) a mobile column of 1,200 men had to depart from Tours to go to Angers.” This is followed by a list of reinforcements sent from Italy to Angers in order to “(…) assert authority over the rebel leaders.” At the end of the letter, analyzing the political situation, Savary writes, “(…) never has royalism displayed more cunning, more skill, or more caution around us (…)” concluding, “(…) I hope, however, that love for the Republic will speak louder than all these wretched passions that seem to paralyze the movement of the great machine.”