{"schema_version":1,"access":"public","rights":"Public-domain or compatibly licensed source editions; provenance is retained per record.","work":{"slug":"napoleon-army-cherasco-1796","title":"Proclamation to the Army at Cherasco","author":"Napoléon Bonaparte","tradition":"european","language":"fr","genre":"proclamations","period":"1796","source_url":"https://archive.org/details/correspondancede01napouoft","original":{"text":"### 234. Proclamation to the Army (April 1796)\n\n234. — PROCLAMATION A L’ARMÉE.\n\nQuartier général, Cherasco, 7 floréal an IV (26 avril 1796).\n\nSoldats, vous avez en quinze jours remporté six victoires, pris vingt et un drapeaux, cinquante-cinq pièces de canon, plusieurs places fortes, conquis la partie la plus riche du Piémont; vous avez fait quinze mille prisonniers, tué ou blessé plus de dix mille hommes.\n\nVous vous étiez jusqu’ici battus pour des rochers stériles, illustrés par votre courage, mais inutiles à la patrie; vous égalez aujourd’hui, par vos services, l’armée de Hollande et du Rhin. Dénués de tout, vous avez suppléé à tout. Vous avez gagné des batailles sans canons, passé des rivières sans ponts, fait des marches forcées sans souliers, bivouaqué sans eau-de-vie et souvent sans pain. Les phalanges républicaines, les soldats de la liberté étaient seuls capables de souffrir ce que vous avez souffert. Grâces vous en soient rendues, soldats! la patrie reconnaissante vous devra sa prospérité; et si, vainqueurs de Toulon, vous présageâtes l’immortelle campagne de 1794, vos victoires actuelles en présagent une plus belle encore.\n\nLes deux armées qui naguère vous attaquaient avec audace fuient épouvantées devant vous; les hommes pervers qui riaient de votre misère et se réjouissaient dans leur pensée des triomphes de vos ennemis sont confondus et tremblants.\n\nMais, soldats, vous n’avez rien fait puisqu’il vous reste encore à faire. Ni Turin, ni Milan ne sont à vous; les cendres des vainqueurs de Tarquin sont encore foulées par les assassins de Basseville.\n\nVous étiez dénués de tout au commencement de la campagne; vous êtes aujourd’hui abondamment pourvus; les magasins pris à vos ennemis sont nombreux; l’artillerie de siége et de campagne est arrivée. Soldats, la patrie a droit d’attendre de vous de grandes choses; justifierez-vous son attente? Les plus grands obstacles sont franchis, sans doute; mais vous avez encore des combats à livrer, des villes à prendre, des rivières à passer. En est-il entre vous dont le courage s’amollisse? En est-il qui préféreraient retourner, sur les sommets de l’Apennin et des Alpes, essuyer patiemment les injures de cette soldatesque esclave? Non, il n’en est point parmi les vainqueurs de Montenotte, de Millesimo, de Dego et de Mondovi. Tous brûlent de porter au loin la gloire du peuple français; tous veulent humilier ces rois orgueilleux qui osaient méditer de nous donner des fers; tous veulent dicter une paix glorieuse et qui indemnise la patrie des sacrifices immenses qu’elle a faits; tous veulent, en rentrant dans leurs villages, pouvoir dire avec fierté: « J’étais de l’armée conquérante de l’Italie! »\n\nAmis, je vous la promets cette conquête; mais il est une condition qu’il faut que vous juriez de remplir, c’est de respecter les peuples que vous délivrez, c’est de réprimer les pillages horribles auxquels se portent des scélérats suscités par nos ennemis. Sans cela, vous ne seriez pas les libérateurs des peuples, vous en seriez les fléaux; vous ne seriez pas l’honneur du peuple français, il vous désavouerait. Vos victoires, votre courage, vos succès, le sang de nos frères morts aux combats, tout serait perdu, même l’honneur et la gloire. Quant à moi et aux généraux qui ont votre confiance, nous rougirions de commander à une armée sans discipline, sans frein, qui ne connaîtrait de loi que la force. Mais, investi de l’autorité nationale, fort de la justice et par la loi, je saurai faire respecter à ce petit nombre d’hommes sans courage et sans cœur, les lois de l’humanité et de l’honneur qu’ils foulent aux pieds. Je ne souffrirai pas que des brigands souillent vos lauriers; je ferai exécuter à la rigueur le règlement que j’ai fait mettre à l’ordre. Les pillards seront impitoyablement fusillés; déjà plusieurs l’ont été: j’ai eu lieu de remarquer avec plaisir l’empressement avec lequel les bons soldats de l’armée se sont portés pour faire exécuter les ordres.\n\nPeuples de l’Italie, l’armée française vient pour rompre vos chaînes; le peuple français est l’ami de tous les peuples: venez avec confiance au-devant d’elle; vos propriétés, votre religion et vos usages seront respectés.\n\nNous faisons la guerre en ennemis généreux, et nous n’en voulons qu’aux tyrans qui vous asservissent.\n\nBONAPARTE.","download_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/napoleon-army-cherasco-1796/original.txt"},"translations":[{"id":"trn_napoleon_army_cherasco_1796_mouseia","translator":"Mouseia","kind":"curated","note":"Machine-assisted Musean translation directly from the French transcript; source-language model review covered the earlier corpus, with later changes separately checked as documented in corpus/raw/napoleon-proclamations/source-language-review.md.","text":"### 234. Proclamation to the Army (April 1796)\n\nPROCLAMATION TO THE ARMY.\n\nHeadquarters, Cherasco, 7 Floréal, Year IV (April 26, 1796).\n\nSoldiers, in fifteen days you have won six victories, taken twenty-one flags, fifty-five cannon and several strongholds, and conquered the richest part of Piedmont; you have taken fifteen thousand prisoners and killed or wounded more than ten thousand men.\n\nUntil now you have fought for barren rocks, made illustrious by your courage but of no use to the fatherland; today, through your service, you stand equal to the Army of Holland and the Rhine. Lacking everything, you have supplied every need. You have won battles without cannon, crossed rivers without bridges, made forced marches without shoes, bivouacked without brandy and often without bread. Only republican phalanxes, soldiers of liberty, could have endured what you have endured. Thanks be rendered to you for it, soldiers! A grateful fatherland will owe its prosperity to you; and if, as victors of Toulon, you foretold the immortal campaign of 1794, your present victories foretell one more glorious still.\n\nThe two armies that so recently attacked you with boldness now flee before you in terror; the wicked men who laughed at your misery and rejoiced in their thoughts at your enemies’ triumphs are confounded and trembling.\n\nBut, soldiers, you have done nothing, since there is still more for you to do. Neither Turin nor Milan is yours; the ashes of the conquerors of Tarquin are still trodden underfoot by the murderers of Basseville.\n\nYou lacked everything at the beginning of the campaign; today you are abundantly supplied; the stores taken from your enemies are plentiful; the siege and field artillery has arrived. Soldiers, the fatherland has the right to expect great things of you; will you justify its expectation? The greatest obstacles have surely been overcome, but you still have battles to fight, cities to take, rivers to cross. Are there any among you whose courage is growing soft? Are there any who would rather return to the heights of the Apennines and the Alps, there patiently to endure the insults of that enslaved soldiery? No, there are none among the victors of Montenotte, Millesimo, Dego, and Mondovi. All burn to carry the glory of the French people far and wide; all wish to humble those proud kings who dared contemplate putting us in chains; all wish to dictate a glorious peace that will compensate the fatherland for the immense sacrifices it has made; all wish, on returning to their villages, to be able to say with pride: “I was with the army conquering Italy!”\n\nFriends, I promise you this conquest; but there is one condition you must swear to fulfill: respect the peoples you liberate, and suppress the horrible plunder carried out by villains stirred up by our enemies. Without this, you would not be the liberators of those peoples, but their scourges; you would not be the honor of the French people, who would disown you. Your victories, your courage, your successes, the blood of our brothers who died in battle—all would be lost, even honor and glory. As for me and the generals who have your trust, we would blush to command an army without discipline or restraint, knowing no law but force. But, invested with national authority and strengthened by justice and by law, I will compel this small number of men without courage or heart to respect the laws of humanity and honor that they trample underfoot. I will not allow brigands to stain your laurels; I will enforce to the full the regulation I have had issued in orders. Plunderers will be shot without mercy; several have already been shot. I have had occasion to note with pleasure the eagerness with which the good soldiers of the army have come forward to see the orders enforced.\n\nPeoples of Italy, the French army comes to break your chains; the French people are the friends of all peoples: come forward to meet the army with confidence; your property, your religion, and your customs will be respected.\n\nWe wage war as generous enemies, and we bear ill will only toward the tyrants who enslave you.\n\nBONAPARTE.","download_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/napoleon-army-cherasco-1796/translations/trn_napoleon_army_cherasco_1796_mouseia.txt"},{"id":"trn_napoleon_army_cherasco_1796_plain","translator":"Mouseia","kind":"plain","note":"Independently produced machine-assisted Plain translation directly from the same French transcript; source-language model review covered the earlier corpus as documented in corpus/raw/napoleon-proclamations/source-language-review.md.","text":"### 234. Proclamation to the Army (April 1796)\n\nProclamation to the Army\n\nHeadquarters, Cherasco, 7 Floréal, Year IV (April 26, 1796).\n\nSoldiers, in fifteen days you have won six victories, captured twenty-one flags, fifty-five guns and several strongholds, and taken the richest part of Piedmont. You have taken fifteen thousand prisoners and killed or wounded more than ten thousand men.\n\nUntil now you had fought for barren rocks, made famous by your courage but of no use to your country. Your service now makes you the equals of the army of Holland and the Rhine. You had nothing, yet you made up for everything. You won battles without guns, crossed rivers without bridges, made forced marches without shoes, and bivouacked without brandy and often without bread. Only republican ranks, soldiers fighting for liberty, could have endured what you endured. Our thanks to you for this, soldiers! A grateful country will owe its prosperity to you. As your victory at Toulon foretold the immortal campaign of 1794, so your victories now foretell an even finer one.\n\nThe two armies that recently attacked you so boldly now flee from you in terror. The wicked men who mocked your hardship and gloated in their minds over your enemies' triumphs are now dismayed and trembling.\n\nBut soldiers, you have done nothing, because there is still work to do. Neither Turin nor Milan belongs to you. The murderers of Basseville still trample the ashes of the men who defeated Tarquin.\n\nAt the start of the campaign you had nothing; now you are amply supplied. You have taken many stores from your enemies, and the siege and field artillery has arrived. Soldiers, the country has a right to expect great things of you. Will you live up to that expectation? No doubt the greatest obstacles are behind you, but battles remain to be fought, cities to be taken and rivers to be crossed. Is anyone among you losing heart? Would any of you rather go back to the heights of the Apennines and the Alps and patiently suffer the insults of those enslaved troops? No, not one of the victors of Montenotte, Millesimo, Dego and Mondovi. All are eager to spread the French people's glory to distant lands. All want to bring low those proud kings who dared to plot to put us in chains. All want to dictate a glorious peace that compensates the country for its immense sacrifices. All want, when they return to their villages, to be able to say with pride, “I was in the army that conquered Italy!”\n\nFriends, I promise you that conquest, but you must swear to fulfill one condition: respect the peoples you liberate and stop the horrific plunder committed by criminals stirred up by our enemies. Otherwise you would be a scourge to those peoples, not their liberators; instead of being an honor to the French people, you would be disowned by them. Your victories, courage and successes, and the blood of our brothers who died in battle, would all be lost, even honor and glory. The generals you trust and I would be ashamed to command an army without discipline or restraint, one that knew no law but force. But I am vested with national authority and strengthened by justice and the law. I will make that handful of men without courage or heart respect the laws of humanity and honor that they trample on. I will not let robbers stain your laurels. I will strictly enforce the regulation I have had put into the orders of the day. Looters will be shot without mercy; several already have been. I have been pleased to observe how eagerly the army's good soldiers have come forward to see the orders carried out.\n\nPeoples of Italy, the French army is coming to break your chains. The French people are friends of all peoples. Come out to meet the army with confidence; your property, religion and customs will be respected.\n\nWe wage war as generous enemies, and our quarrel is only with the tyrants who enslave you.\n\nBONAPARTE.","download_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/napoleon-army-cherasco-1796/translations/trn_napoleon_army_cherasco_1796_plain.txt"}],"retex_markdown_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/napoleon-army-cherasco-1796/retex.md"}}