113 



Jcrountnf the War Depot in Frame. [Sept. 



fticl; n, nnrayrniilrl nnt lie fct up in op- 

 j)(jiiLinn to iho niulrifaiious ii(lvaiita;j;<'S of 

 which the alteration would be prodiic- 

 livc. 



The (Irmlgery Uiat a mnn has to iinflcr- 

 ri) in his (farch for a will, may, in nn- 

 incrous inftuitcc=i, h;iv<! operated as a de- 

 Ilia! of vijlit : the rxpeciation of furccls 

 ill hisprtrfttit may not be fo intenfe as to 

 infhicc to futTt-r a certain pofitlve lofs, by 

 pnrehalin'j; the fervices of a profefiional 

 man, for t lie chance of obt;\ining h;s o!.- 

 )e(1 ; but maybe at a futVicient de;:rce 

 of intcnfity to induce him to facritice 

 his own time for the purpofe : but dil- 

 <;n(iefl with the ohltaclcs he hnds in his 

 w.iv, he abandons h.ih pnrfuit, and tliu-; 

 perhaps lofes a benclit which he nii;.^ht be 

 pnlitled to, and which, were the obfta- 

 rlcn to his rcfcarch removed, he might 

 obtain. If this be the cw'i^^ with the man 

 of or<hnary leurninsr, the inconvenience 

 protTcf. with peculiar f( verity on the iliite- 

 rite and poor; to them the nntural and 

 rifeparable obftacle-. attendin'j: fuch ;t re- 

 ix-arch are abiinduntly fu!'tici( lit, without 

 tlK; addition of artificial one.s. The fub- 

 jeV-l is one of very coiifiderablc iinport- 

 'i.i\c.c ; and were the inifchiefs above pnint- 

 erl out the only ones occafioned by the 

 «?ontinunnce of'the prefent fylH'ii}, they 

 ••lald not, I imagine, be confidcred as 

 inftjliicient to warnnit the alterations 

 KtV>ve propofed. I am, Sir, 6cc. 



June 10, 1806. K. 



Tor the Monthly Mag^~>ite. 

 Jn .\CCOVNT nf the. ORIOtX, progkess, 

 anilprtjhit stati;, of the war deiot 

 in iHANCK. 



IT is known to all the world, that the 

 fucccfh of the French armies in the 

 late continental wars has been owinsi to 

 no caufe more evident than the tlvilt'nl 

 Cdiubinafious with which their nio^c- 

 Bients have been <liri'cled at Paris; and 

 that this fliill has arifen from the fcienti- 

 fic and literary ivfouices of its War De- 

 pot. That eihihldiunent is, therefore, 

 became interel]in;i not only as an olijeit 

 of curiolity, but as worthy of iniitation 

 iu all other countries. 



It was formerly the prut'^tice for the 

 wai-ininilters of IVance t/j hold their oUir 

 res at their refiieclive hotels; fo that, 

 on ;i chaime of adniiniltration, or a 

 de-ath, the records of that department 

 werecarelcfsiy lran>ferred to tin- rchdence 

 the new miuilter, and fre(|uently lolt or 

 raifplaced in the removal. 

 ■ Loiivois, thi; Jliiiilitr of Louis XIV. 



in 16()H firft Tindertool: the ln-rcnlean la- 

 bour of oriianizini: this ' vail mafs of 

 confufion : but at his death tlie archives 

 were removed to the jjarrets of \'erfaillc«, 

 unheeded by l;is fuccciVors, who, ncvcr- 

 thelefs, fnlTeVcd the collection to incrcafc 

 its bulk, for the benefit of polterity. — 

 Towards the end of that reitrn they were 

 removed to the Hotel rtrs Iiira/idoi, at 

 Paris, under a regular eliablilhnient of 

 clerks, to be conducted by ^1, de li^. 

 J'aye. 



'i'iie plan of oi^anizarion was now r«»- 

 newed with fpirit, and at the end of le- 

 veral years' fnccefsful perfeverance, many , 

 valuable docunu-ntswcre brought to light, 

 to the great improvement of Icience, hil- 

 tory, and military tactics. When the 

 pence of Utrecht gave repofe to Kurope, 

 the V\'i)r WiniRers of France employed 

 the interval towards perfening thefe mi- 

 litary treafiires. All papers relating to 

 the dilfcrent wars were mfthodically 

 clalVed, and enrolled under two diltiiv.t 

 heads; the firll, relating to <lii'patches 

 from general olficers with the army; 

 and the fecond, containing the replies 

 of the KiiiL', or his !\Iinillei-s — either tlie 

 ori^iiia! documents or attelled copies of' 

 them To earh volume M. de ('hamil- 

 lart caufed a table of contents to b(^ 

 anne\ed; and, eradually, addi'd ttierc-i 

 to a fuinmary of each year's military 

 operations, under the title of " Avertiffc- 



Thcfe manuferipts, diftin;:uilhed at the 

 depiSt as their " .\ncient .An-JiiM-s," com- 

 prife, at halt, 0700 volumes; referring, 

 in part, to the eleventh century, but com- 

 niencing in ferice only from th.e year 



t{j:;i. _ ■ " 



The importance now given to this de- 

 partment anthori/ed tlie nomination of a 

 treneral otlic<"r to its future direction ; and 

 the Marlhalde Mailli!)ois, fo well known 

 ill the (ierman eanijiaigns of VjHt-A, 

 and in the Italian campaigns of 174-1—5, 

 was ap])oinU d to the charge. 



In the year 1(596, a corps was infiifut- 

 ed called " h'.ngineers of ('amps and Ar- 

 mies," which ii-rved uiitkr the eoimnaiid 

 of }i]. de J^illier, afterwards a iirigadier. 

 In 17'2(>, tlu:y were named ♦' Ceographi-T 

 cal I'.iiL'iiu'ers," and employed with the' 

 liatV of iIk' army, in drawing plans, \-c. 

 Theie drawintrs, however, were not ad- 

 dielVed to the War Depot till the year 

 17'11, wiien the JNliuiiier Argenfon united 

 this colleciiim, and that of the ]\Jiniller 

 at War, with the I'ortification Depart- 

 iiiiTits, and L'ave Ihibihty to the (Jeogru- 

 phii-.d Eu^iiiter Corps. They Uad a re-, 

 lidein.*; 



