NRA-L-000042 / 1811

Letter from Devise to Jean Baptiste Erard, 1811-07-14

A French soldier in Mainz writes to the notary Jean Baptiste Erard in Hauteville about money, military service, and personal effects.

Neruda Archives
NRA-L-000042

NRA-L-000042 image 1 showing the address to Jean Baptiste Erard at Hauteville, with Mainz postal evidence and later upside-down docketing.
Image 1Address panel, postal evidence and later docketing.
NRA-L-000042 image 2 showing page 1 of Devise's letter from Mainz, dated 14 July 1811.
Image 2Letter text - Page 1.
NRA-L-000042 image 3 showing page 2, closing and signature of Devise.
Image 3Letter text - Page 2 and signature.

Transcript and English translation

working scholarly aid

Address Panel

Original transcript

A Monsieur
Monsieur Erard Notaire
à haute Ville Departement
De la Marne Canton de
Vitry Surmarne
= à haute Ville =

Address Panel

English translation

To Mister
Mister Erard Notary
at Hauteville Department
of the Marne Canton of
Vitry-sur-Marne
= at Hauteville =

Letter Text - Page 1

Original transcript

De Mayance le 14 Juillet 1811

Monsieur Jean Bapte Erard C'est pour répondre à
Notre lettre que j'ai reçu en datte du vingt juin qui
ma fait Beaucoup plaisir. Voila la troisieme que je vous
écris Je suis surpris que je vous ai demandé de l'argent
à toutes les lettres que je vous ai ecrit. ce qui me
surprend Beaucoup de ce que vous ne m'en avez point envoyé
C'est n'est point ce que vous m'avez promis lorsque que vous
m'avez quitté
Je vous prie de m'en envoyer le plutot que vous pourez
L'on dit que nous allons partir sous peus de temps mais
nous ne savons pas encore de quel Côté que nous irons
Je vous prie de m'envoyer la somme de deux cent franc
tout de suite parce ce que J'en ai bien besoin Je Prie
Dieu du temps J'en suis Court, parce que J'ai été obligé de
d'emprunter à Mon Caporal la somme de Douze franc
Je vous diray que Je ne suis plus dans le quatrieme
Bataillion Je suis dans le Sixieme Bataillion Depuis
le premier Juillet.
Je ne suis plus avec mellinot mais nous sommes
toujours avec Chabouret dans la même compagnie
mais quand nous partirons nous serons camarade de
lit ensemble
J'ai été a lit Bien fatigué en premier à faire
l'exercice mais à présent je n'y pense plus tous les
effets que vous m'avez donné J'ai été obligé de les laisser
au magasin
Je vous prie vous J'informer de mon Bien et en Bonne
Valeur

Letter Text - Page 1

English translation

Mainz, 14 July 1811
Monsieur Jean Baptiste Erard,
I am writing to answer your letter that I received dated the twentieth of June, which gave me much pleasure. This is the third that I am writing to you.
I am surprised that I have asked you for money in all the letters that I have written to you, and what surprises me much is that you have not sent me any. That is not at all what you promised me when you left me.
I beg you to send me some as soon as you can. They say that we are going to leave in a short time, but we do not yet know which way we will go.
I beg you to send me the sum of two hundred francs right away because I am in great need of it. I pray to God while I am short of it, because I was obliged to borrow the sum of twelve francs from my corporal.
I will tell you that I am no longer in the fourth battalion. I have been in the sixth battalion since the first of July.
I am no longer with Mellinot, but we are still with Chabouret in the same company. But when we leave, we will be bed comrades together.
At first I went to bed very tired from doing the exercise, but now I do not think about it anymore. All the effects that you gave me, I was obliged to leave them at the store.
I ask you to inform me of my property and its proper value.

Letter Text - Page 2 and signature

Original transcript

Si vous ne m'en envoyé pas à cette fois ici
Je seray obligé de vous faire poursuiter parce ce
que je vous denoncerai au General un soldat ne
doit pas perdre ses droits
Je vous fait Bien mes Complimens Je finis en vous
Embrassant Des Complimens à monsieur
Erard et à madame Erard
J'ai eu un grand malheur le huit Juillet en
Passant le rhin dans une Barquette il est Venu une
flotte d'eau ou nous Cautions perire sans le secour
d'un fameux Batelier nous aurions perdu la vie
mais mon sac à été perdu dans l'eau et
tout Mon Butin et mon fusil et ma Giberne
et tout mes equipement je suis reduit à la chemise
de mon Dos

Bien mes
Compliment
à

tout Mademoiselle
Mademoiselle adelle
je vous salue Devise

Letter Text - Page 2 and signature

English translation

If you do not send me any this time, I will be obliged to have you prosecuted, because I will denounce you to the general. A soldier must not lose his rights.
I send you my best compliments. I finish by embracing you. Compliments to Monsieur Erard and to Madame Erard.
I had a great misfortune the eighth of July. In crossing the Rhine in a small boat, there came a surge of water where we almost perished. Without the help of an excellent boatman, we would have lost our lives.
But my bag was lost in the water, and all my belongings, and my musket, and my cartridge box, and all my equipment. I am reduced to the shirt on my back.
Well my
Compliment
Many compliments to all the young ladies, especially Mademoiselle Adèle.
Miss Adelle
I greet you
Devise

Discovery Terms

  • Historical correspondence
  • Military life
  • Personal finance
  • Mainz
  • Rhine River
  • French language
Historical context A soldier's loss while crossing the Rhine 3 sources

Mainz in 1811

Devise wrote from Mainz on 14 July 1811. At that date the city formed part of the French Empire and served as the capital of the département of Mont-Tonnerre, a status it held during the period of French administration from 1798 to 1814.[1, 2]

The accident described in the letter

Devise says that he had been transferred from the fourth to the sixth battalion on 1 July. While crossing the Rhine in a small boat on 8 July, a surge of water nearly caused a fatal accident. He credits the boatman with saving him and reports the loss of his bag, belongings, musket, giberne and other equipment, leaving him with only the shirt he was wearing.[1]

A giberne was a leather-covered cartridge box or pouch used to carry ammunition and related equipment. The term helps identify one item in the reported loss without establishing the soldier's regiment, arm or unit.[1, 3]

A request to a notary

The letter asks the notary Jean Baptiste Erard at Hauteville in the Marne for 200 francs. Devise adds that he had borrowed 12 francs from a corporal, presenting the request as immediate relief after the accident.[1]

Evidence and limits

The accident, losses and transfer are known from Devise's own account and have not been matched to a military register. No regiment, branch of service or precise battalion organization is inferred. Devise, the corporal and other named persons have not yet been independently identified.[1, 2, 3]

Sources & evidence (3)
  1. Primary source · manuscript Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000042, digital images, reviewed transcript and English translation of Devise's letter dated 14 July 1811. View the archive record Supports the transfer, accident, losses, loan and request for 200 francs.
  2. Municipal historical publication Landeshauptstadt Mainz, Forum Regierungsviertel: historische Entwicklung des Regierungsviertels, p. 14. View the municipal publication Supports Mainz's administrative status during the French period.
  3. Historical dictionary Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th edition, entry 'giberne'. Read the dictionary entry Supports the meaning of giberne as a cartridge box or pouch.

Reviewed 2026-07-29 · Context version 1.0

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