Le Bâton disparu

Davout wasn't a sailor, but the time fits so who knows, he might have used this kind of recipe to brew himself hot cocoa. Technically he might have had someone do it for him, but from what I think about him after reading the biography ... dunno, he seems the kind to do it himself to make sure it was 100% the way he liked it. Unless he had an extremly trusted assistant ...

ah yes, those congratulations!!

is that from the same artist who drew "War and Peace" with the magnificent Davout? Is it online anywhere? Or just single pages here and there?

OK, I declare this one post of the month in the Napoleonic part of Tumblr.

Oh…oh my god.

Davout is clearly scarred for life.

if anyone knows where one can read this online, it would be greatly appreciated! The odd thing to want to read a War and Peace manga from the last millenium for the Davout drawings. Alas, such is my brain, such is my fate ...

- I do feel bad about Davout during the Egyptian campaign and either being sick (dysentery) or ordered to do administrative task. I know he also fought (and sometimes just threw himself into battle it seems), but probably not as much as he could have. - maybe Gallagher is biased or maybe I am but I love that it sounds like when Napoleon ordered Davout to organise getting horses for cavalry Davout went ahead and acquired the best horses you could find in that region ... like, of course he did. Davout be davout-ing XD - Madame Junot describing Davout "It originated in the personal slovenliness of Davoust, who by the way was at that time the most dirty and ill-dressed man imaginable" It still seems to be at odds with him being so rigorous about stuff ... - alas, a few pages later they talk about him and Aimée and despite being younger, beautiful and rich she accepted him where she rejected another ... all I can think of is Aimée going "this is it, this is my blorbo from the Army"

apologies, I hopelessly neglected to update this as I read along. Thought about giving my thoughts after finishing it at least and then got distracted. So, now, finally sitting down to add to it. - the descriptions of the battles don't mean much to me, but I must assume Davout really is a bamf on the field - unless other people are being dumb, there's confusions of orders, they're not following the orders etcetc. - yes, I could feel myself becoming more and more Davout apologist as things went on, but to be fair I read the biography in the first place because he piqued my interest. - I do have to give him props - or the biographer for making it appear so - that Davout with his self-imposed rules and all made the decisions that were the best to him at a given time. Which also meant changing his recommendations if the situation changed. And that to many isn't easy. People prefer to stick to decisions. - have to say though, I can't see him trying to become the new ruler of Poland. Like ... I dunno, from the vibes I get from him, he doesn't seem to be the type who would have wanted it. - similarly I can't see him having even one affair or whatever they had accused him off in Poland. But maybe that just my own idealism. Somehow his first wife having had an affair and Davout's adherence to rules and his own moral code just seem to not allow for this. - he stuck to his coe so much, even if it had negative consequences e.g. he could have easily made his financial situation easier if he looted more, but no, he still refused it. (So his Aimée had no reason to be ashamed for his action) - I wish the biography had more of the little stories and bits that make people be people. There were some mentions of and references to things his daughter had written later on, but I wish they had been more elaborated on. Reading about these here, when people translate entire sections from french, is part of what made me fall for him so easily. There were many great military commanders, but I like him for his rules and the stories that make him human despite it all ... the hot cocoa set, helping someone who was technically to small get into a certain group, the birds, him liking his wife so much, etcetc. - I felt really sorry for him for being left behind in a way in Paris to be Minster of War because Napoleon needed a good administrator there when he also was needed on the battlefield ... alas ... so yeah, it was certainly an interesting read, but kind of incomplete on the personal annecdotes-side

ah yes, thanks for putting it in perspective if there are more informations when you get to the time in prison, please let us know!

- I do feel bad about Davout during the Egyptian campaign and either being sick (dysentery) or ordered to do administrative task. I know he also fought (and sometimes just threw himself into battle it seems), but probably not as much as he could have. - maybe Gallagher is biased or maybe I am but I love that it sounds like when Napoleon ordered Davout to organise getting horses for cavalry Davout went ahead and acquired the best horses you could find in that region ... like, of course he did. Davout be davout-ing XD - Madame Junot describing Davout "It originated in the personal slovenliness of Davoust, who by the way was at that time the most dirty and ill-dressed man imaginable" It still seems to be at odds with him being so rigorous about stuff ... - alas, a few pages later they talk about him and Aimée and despite being younger, beautiful and rich she accepted him where she rejected another ... all I can think of is Aimée going "this is it, this is my blorbo from the Army"

apologies, I hopelessly neglected to update this as I read along. Thought about giving my thoughts after finishing it at least and then got distracted. So, now, finally sitting down to add to it. - the descriptions of the battles don't mean much to me, but I must assume Davout really is a bamf on the field - unless other people are being dumb, there's confusions of orders, they're not following the orders etcetc. - yes, I could feel myself becoming more and more Davout apologist as things went on, but to be fair I read the biography in the first place because he piqued my interest. - I do have to give him props - or the biographer for making it appear so - that Davout with his self-imposed rules and all made the decisions that were the best to him at a given time. Which also meant changing his recommendations if the situation changed. And that to many isn't easy. People prefer to stick to decisions. - have to say though, I can't see him trying to become the new ruler of Poland. Like ... I dunno, from the vibes I get from him, he doesn't seem to be the type who would have wanted it. - similarly I can't see him having even one affair or whatever they had accused him off in Poland. But maybe that just my own idealism. Somehow his first wife having had an affair and Davout's adherence to rules and his own moral code just seem to not allow for this. - he stuck to his coe so much, even if it had negative consequences e.g. he could have easily made his financial situation easier if he looted more, but no, he still refused it. (So his Aimée had no reason to be ashamed for his action) - I wish the biography had more of the little stories and bits that make people be people. There were some mentions of and references to things his daughter had written later on, but I wish they had been more elaborated on. Reading about these here, when people translate entire sections from french, is part of what made me fall for him so easily. There were many great military commanders, but I like him for his rules and the stories that make him human despite it all ... the hot cocoa set, helping someone who was technically to small get into a certain group, the birds, him liking his wife so much, etcetc. - I felt really sorry for him for being left behind in a way in Paris to be Minster of War because Napoleon needed a good administrator there when he also was needed on the battlefield ... alas ... so yeah, it was certainly an interesting read, but kind of incomplete on the personal annecdotes-side

might I ask where you got those pages? Is there a place where one can read those two volumes online?

- I do feel bad about Davout during the Egyptian campaign and either being sick (dysentery) or ordered to do administrative task. I know he also fought (and sometimes just threw himself into battle it seems), but probably not as much as he could have. - maybe Gallagher is biased or maybe I am but I love that it sounds like when Napoleon ordered Davout to organise getting horses for cavalry Davout went ahead and acquired the best horses you could find in that region ... like, of course he did. Davout be davout-ing XD - Madame Junot describing Davout "It originated in the personal slovenliness of Davoust, who by the way was at that time the most dirty and ill-dressed man imaginable" It still seems to be at odds with him being so rigorous about stuff ... - alas, a few pages later they talk about him and Aimée and despite being younger, beautiful and rich she accepted him where she rejected another ... all I can think of is Aimée going "this is it, this is my blorbo from the Army"

The requirement for the up-and-coming military aristocracy to purchase imposing maisons particulieres in Paris began under the Consulate. The lucky generals were on the hook for the townhouses and all the contents. That changed after Austerlitz, when the marshals, or at least the favored ones, got what amounted to pay raises, as well as the ability to augment their incomes by whatever means they liked short of conspicuous larceny and looting. When they were required to purchase suitable country estates as early as 1807, Napoleon began the practice of awarding the “dotations” or chunks of real estate in allied–more or less–territories from Poland to Italy to help out with the necessary ostentation. The only time Lannes had any financial issues was in 1801, when the famous overspending on the Consular Guard–he was ratted out by Bessie, as we all know–and ended up in Lisbon, which turned out to be not only a diplomatic success but a very lucrative post. Amazing how much money you can make when people pay you to STFU. He also made a lot of solid real estate investments from 1797 on n and around Lectoure, mostly good agricultural land and sizeable vineyards which he rented out to friends he could trust, and used the considerable profits for the house on the rue de Varennes and later on the chateau in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, formerly owned by the comte d'Artois. The only financial strain was minimal and arose from his tacky bourgeois wife’s over-fondness from trinkets and froufrou ornamentation. And I know this because of a curious little book published by a local historian from Lectoure who literally cataloged item by item and franc by franc everything Jean-Boy owned in any of his various properties–what each was, what each cost, and the endless streams of money coming in and from what sources and going out and for what. An amazing little work, to be sure. Even the famous Merino sheep made an appearance.

The land awards make a lot of sense now! I have read in Davout’s biography that a lot of his real estate was in Poland which he was administrating since the Poland campaign in 1807.