NRA-L-000033 / 1814

Letter from Dieudonnez to Mr Marcha, 1814-06-28

French correspondence from Verdun to Blois, dated 28 June 1814, concerning a missing acknowledgment for 1,200 francs, wine sales and prices, wartime requisitions, the departure of the English, allied troops, travel and work on a brewery.

Neruda Archives
NRA-L-000033

NRA-L-000033 image 1 showing address to Mr Marcha in Blois via Regnier, with Verdun postal evidence.
Image 1Address panel and postal evidence.
NRA-L-000033 image 2 showing page 1 of Dieudonnez's French letter from Verdun, dated 28 June 1814.
Image 2Letter text - Page 1.
NRA-L-000033 image 3 showing page 2, postscript and signature of Dieudonnez's 1814 letter.
Image 3Letter text - Page 2, postscript and signature.

Transcript and English translation

working scholarly aid

Address Panel

Original transcript

a Regnier marchand proprietaire
a la chaussé st. victore pres blois
pour remettre a Monsieur
Mr. Marcha anglois
a blois
loire et chere

Address Panel

English translation

To Regnier, merchant proprietor
at the Chaussée St. Victore near Blois
to be delivered to Monsieur
Mr Marcha, Englishman
in Blois
Loire-et-Cher

Letter Text - Page 1

Original transcript

Verdun le 28 juin 1814
Monsieur
J'ai recu votre lettre daté du 14 present, dans laquel
vous me marquez que vous avez eu beaucoups d'inquietude
je n'en doute pas car je ne scavoir que penser moi meme, je desi-
-rerois que vous puissiez retrouver ma lettre dans laquelle
etois la reconnoissance des douze cens franc, je vous donnerai
des detaille sur nos affaire + il ne veuille donner de dupli-
-cata a la poste qu'apres six moi, mais je crois qu'en ecrivant
a paris si l'on decouvroit le bureau qui est cause du retard
l'on obtiendrois des indemnités + je vous marquois que j'avois
vendus du vin a credit meme a des Mrs. douteus pendans
le blocus, car dans ce moments ce qui sortois de la
maison, on le croioit sauver, dans la crainte ou l'on etoit
de l'entré des ennemis et des requisitions continuelle
de meme je vous ais marqué que la division du duc de -
raguse m'en ont bu un tonneau, et j'etois encore content
d'en etre quitte pour cela, vous ditte que le vin ogmente
beaucoup de votre coté les vins nouveau ont ogmenté
par ici mais sont retomber de prix les vins vieux
n'on pas varié, vous devez vous faire une idé de notre
commerce depuis le depart des anglois, de ce moments

Notes

An ink blot overlaps the day, but 14 remains legible.

Letter Text - Page 1

English translation

Verdun, 28 June 1814
Sir,
I received your letter dated the 14th of this month, in which you write to me that you have had much anxiety. I do not doubt it, for I did not know what to think myself.
I should like you to find my letter again, which contained the acknowledgement of debt for twelve hundred francs. I shall give you details of our affairs. The post office will not issue a duplicate until six months have passed, but I believe that, by writing to Paris and discovering which office caused the delay, compensation could be obtained.
I wrote to you that during the blockade I sold wine on credit even to gentlemen of doubtful means, because at that time we thought anything that left the house had been saved, such was our fear of the enemy entering and of continual requisitions.
Likewise, I wrote to you that the division under the Duke of Ragusa drank one of my casks, and I was still glad to be let off with that.
You say that wine is becoming much dearer in your area. New wines rose in price here but have fallen again; old wines have not changed.

Notes

An ink blot overlaps the day, but 14 remains legible.

Letter Text - Page 2

Original transcript

l'on en demande pas une piece a acheter, le comerce est aneanti
de ce moments, cependant d'un moments a l'autre cela peus
reprendre et je crois comme je vous l'ai marqué qu'il faudrois
saisir le moments que je ne ferois qu'apres votre reponce en
raison de votre derniere, dans le cas de vente il me reste du vin
sufisamens pour finir nos affaires et pour facilité votre
depart. je garderois le vin vendus a credit pour ma part
du benefice
Mr siller a l'arivé des troupes alier a nanci a étés cacher
quatre jours, il est parti ausitot apres pour l'angletaire
ou il est arivé dans le courans de janvier en bonne santé
dans sa famille qu'il a trouvé de meme dans la lettre
que Melle Dieudonnez a recu il desirois scavoir de vos
nouvelles
et Suis votre tres devoué et tres
obeissant serviteur
Dieudonnez
p.s.
depuis le 10 mars jour de mon malheur
causé par la mort de ma femme je viens
seulement de recommencer mon batimens
pour finir ma brasserie je crois avoir encore
au moins pour deux mois d'ouvrage ce qui ogmente
beaucoup mes soins et ne me laisse aucun moments
de relache

Letter Text - Page 2

English translation

You can imagine the state of our trade since the departure of the English. Since then no one has asked to buy a single cask; trade is now at a standstill. It may revive at any moment, however, and I believe, as I wrote to you, that we should seize the opportunity. In view of your last letter, I shall do so only after your reply.
In the event of a sale, I have enough wine left to conclude our affairs and facilitate your departure. I would keep the wine sold on credit as my share of the profit.
When the Allied troops arrived in Nancy, Mr Siller spent four days in hiding. He left immediately afterwards for England, where he arrived during January in good health and found his family likewise well. In the letter received by Miss Dieudonnez, he asked for news of you.
I remain your very devoted and very obedient servant,
Dieudonnez
P.S. Since 10 March, the day of my misfortune when my wife died, I have only now resumed work on the building in order to finish my brewery. I believe I still have at least two months' work ahead of me, which greatly increases my cares and leaves me not a moment's respite.

Discovery Terms

  • Historical correspondence
  • Wine trade
  • Blockade
  • Military requisitions
  • Allied troops
  • Postal loss
  • Debt acknowledgment
  • Brewery construction
  • Verdun
  • Blois
  • French language
Historical context Verdun after the First Treaty of Paris 3 sources

A letter in the first Restoration

The letter was written at Verdun on 28 June 1814, less than a month after the First Treaty of Paris of 30 May. It therefore belongs to the immediate transition from war and occupation to the first Bourbon Restoration.[1, 2]

Troops, wine and a missing receipt

The writer reports that a division under the Duc de Raguse drank a barrel of wine and that a receipt connected with a payment of 1,200 francs was missing. He says that a duplicate could be obtained after six months and asks about the appropriate office in Paris. The title Duc de Raguse identifies Auguste de Marmont, but the particular wine consumption and payment history are known here only from this letter.[1, 3]

Business and household news

Alongside the military claim, the letter discusses wine credit and prices, a planned brewery and personal news. These details show how public upheaval, commercial calculation and domestic life occupied the same sheet, but they remain the writer's report rather than independently reconstructed events.[1]

Evidence and limits

No military receipt, duplicate, reimbursement file or brewery record has yet been located. The reported barrel of wine, the movements of troops and other local events are not independently confirmed. Some personal names and wording connected with the brewery remain difficult and are not used to build further identifications.[1, 2, 3]

Sources & evidence (3)
  1. Primary source · manuscript Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000033, digital images, reviewed transcript and English translation of the letter dated 28 June 1814. View the archive record Supports the date, place, reported military events, payment, wine business and private news.
  2. Diplomatic archive Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères, Archives diplomatiques, material concerning the First Treaty of Paris of 30 May 1814. View the diplomatic archive material Confirms the chronological setting immediately after the treaty.
  3. Historical biography Fondation Napoléon, 'Marmont, Auguste-Frédéric-Louis Viesse de'. Read the biography Confirms Marmont's identity and title as Duc de Raguse.

Reviewed 2026-07-29 · Context version 1.0

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