1806.] 



Account of the War Depot in France. 



•\ii 



the Director of that departnient ; bti't tlic 

 lituation was not virtnaJly hiled till May 

 irya, v. hen Citizen (jaloii, formerly of 

 tiie Geographical Engineer DepnrtmeRt, 

 was appointed bv the iViiniller Bouchotte 

 to tjiat ortice, iii'which he wra alliitcd by 

 Citizen Deldorides, General of a Divi- 

 iion. 



In the fame year Citizen Carnot eftnb- 

 liiJiet! a pnvat^ topographical cabiwct, 

 the materials for which were drawn from 

 the War Depot; and this inititution re- 

 awakened the then Government to the 

 importance of this neglected deijarC- 

 ment. 



As tlie troops of the Republic wei-e 

 called into aciion, the want of Geogr.Y- 

 phical Engineers was very leverely felt 

 by the liatV of the army ; and after a va- 

 xiety of eliorts to fupply this (leficic.'jcy, 

 it became advifeable to revive tha.t corps. 

 T)i!co new companies were aceordindy 

 raifwl, each co'uipofed of twelve arthts, 

 and chiffed in proportio.i to their refpert- 

 ive merit«. Thefe p^rfons were lately 

 chijaged in preparing plans of Bavitriu, 

 Sjiabia, &c. The materials collef^tcd in 

 Earj'pt, at Naples, Piedmont, and St. Do- 

 mingo, will next occupy their attention. 



In 1793, this Depot not only rc-fumcd 

 its fonner importance, but with an ir.- 

 creafed ellabiiilunent. The expencc of 

 the interior amounted to 128,000 francs, 

 luid tiiat of the Geograpl:ical Ensi,ince.-s 

 employed with the army to 102,500 

 francs. 



By an order from the Committee of 

 Safety, of 22 Brumuire, yenr 2, the grand 

 map of France, attributed to Calfini, 

 was removed from the ( JhlVrv-atcry to the 

 AVar Depot; and tweli'e engravers and 

 five deputies were appointed to retotich 

 and pei-fc6t the plate. Latterly the De- 



fot lias been Gnrich«?d by ri chart of the 

 .ow Countries by Feraris, and anothei- 6f 

 Piedmont by Ifeigonio. 



Such, at the commencement of the 

 jcar 2, was the attual hiuufion of the 

 War Depot, then eftabliflicd at the Place 

 Vaxtome; and a committee v*as appoint- 

 ed to collect all geographical materials, 

 of whatever natuic, and wherever to be 

 found. This order was produrtive of 

 many valuable additions to the War De- 

 pot ; hut tlie fenice had withdVawn fo 

 many plans, &c: during the war, that on- 

 lefb Government had taken fome Vfcry de- 

 cifive itep towards their relloratiou a fe- 

 verc lolii would be fufiai«ed. 



The rapidity of evc'nts, d«d froqiteni! 

 cliaiigcs of government, which agitated 

 tlie Republic at this momentous crifis, 

 Jfeveiic any regular detail of iLe vaiiaus 



Jilosmiv Mao, No. 147. 



ojierations which infltienCed tJie War Dfe- 

 pot ; but under the direttion of Genefkl 

 Dupont many ufeful arrat^cihcrnits <veie 

 made. 



In the year 5, that Genera!, having 

 been otherv.ife appointed, was fucceed- 

 ed by the Gerieral of Dr\ilion Emouf, 

 formerly Chifde i'E''at 5ic:j0r in the anny 

 of theSainbre andMeufe. During this ad- 

 miniitiation, ?. •v-aluable library was eftab- 

 lillicd at the War Depot, and has iince 

 been very coiiiiderably augihented by 

 every iuterelting work on war, whether a 

 national or foreign pubHcstion. The 

 grand plate of the map of Fr incc was 

 completed about this time, at the ex- 

 ■peiice of 85/100 francs, afterwards paid 

 by montlily inllallmenls of 1,836 francs.' 



The great rcfources atlbrded by this 

 Depot fo the military fcrvice, at length 

 tletcrmincd the Directory to perfect its 

 organization ; which it did by framing a 

 plan foy Hi adminiliration, under which 

 it now floiirirties. 



• The interior is conducted by twenty- 

 oi^.e clerks, and the Geographical Engi- 

 neers employed on fer\'ice arc paid out of 

 the " extraordinary difburfements" of tlie 

 army. In their capacitiesi of* topogra- 

 phical drufcfnicn, it is their duty to ad- 

 di'cfs to the Director of the War Depot 

 all charts, routes, ])lans, and other mili- 

 tary operations, refulting from their la- 

 bours; and fuch perions as were omitted 

 in the Rliuiftei-'s yearly lift vvore confider- 

 cd as no longer employed. The duties 

 of tlic Director, and the attributes of tlie 

 Depot remain nearly the fame as thent 

 impofed by the Ar?!!^ of 25 April, 1793. 



The reduction of the map of the Ty- 

 rol into a pocket compafs, >yas among 

 its labours in that year. 



In the year 8, tlie 'firft of the Confu- 

 hite, tlie War Depot was confided to the 

 direction of the Geiieral of Divifion 

 Clarke, employed near the perfon of the 

 Fh-ll Conful, wl'.en he eftabli.lied. a pri- 

 vate topograrphical bureau. Genera! . Del- 

 dorides was iiov,- replaced by. the Adju- 

 ta:nt-Commandant Hallrcl. 



At the clofe oF tiiis year, all the pub- 

 lic otFices refumed a pcViiiSnent forrh, and 

 many conhderabl'i improvements took 

 place in th^ War Dep6t. An analytical 

 catalogue is in forvvardners of the ancient 

 archives. The lib ary h«"s hoen claffedj 

 methodized, and catalogiicd, inafmucn 

 that upv^ards of 8000 volumes, compre» 

 hending every thing rare ar.d fcietitifio, 

 relating either tO the arts, geography, 

 ancient or modern hi'.loi-y, voyages, the 

 art of war, pliilolbph^-, iityrature, &:c. 

 and every atteiitioa is paid icwards au5« 

 ^ aaentis; 



