STATE PAPERS. 



273 



Armistice concluded at Steyer, the 

 25tk of December, 1800. 



Armi/ of the Rhine. — The General 

 of Division, Chief of the Staff, 

 to the Minister of War. 



Head-quarters at Steyer, 

 Dec. 26, 9lh Year of 

 the French Republic, 

 one and indivisible. 



Citizen minister, 



THE archduke Charles has pro- 

 posed an armistice to the gene- 

 ral-in-chief, by announcing to him 

 that the emperor had sent a courier 

 to M. de Cobentzel with orders to 

 sign a peace. 



The general-in-chief, considering 

 that the line of the Traun and the 

 Inn was forced, that we were ad- 

 vanced one hundred leagues before 

 the other armies, and were already 

 near the rear guard of the Austrian 

 army in Italy; that, consequently, 

 M. de Bellegarde could avail him- 

 self of the possession of Saltzburg 

 and Inspruck, as the two grand open- 

 ings by which he could send troops 

 to join those that were left in the 

 Tyrol, and by attacking our rear 

 with these, might cut off our com- 

 munication with the Traun; for 

 these reasons he thought proper to 

 agree to a suspension of arms, which 

 procuring great advantages for us, 

 would put us in a condition to learn 

 the movements of the army of Italy, 

 of which we had as yet heard no 

 account. 



The character of the archduke 

 Charles, and his well-known loy- 

 alty, gave us sufficient assurances of 

 the emperor's desire to put an end 

 to the war. He was also impelled 

 to it by the deplorable condition of 

 \a& army, which having in the course 



Vol. XLII. 



of twenty days lost seventy leagues 

 of territory, twenty-five thousand 

 prisoners, twelveorfifteen thousand 

 in killed or wounded, one hundred 

 and forty pieces of cannon, and im- 

 mense magazines, was no longer 

 able, nor could it be able in three 

 months, to hinder our army from 

 conquering all Austria,and dictating 

 laws in the capital. But, in order 

 to efiect this without danger, it 

 would have been necessary for the 

 army of Italy to be already in pos- 

 session of the defiles of Carinthia. 



Besides, the general-in-chief was 

 of opinion, that to stop in the most 

 brilliant victories was conformable 

 to the character of moderation by 

 which the first consul manifests 

 himself to Europe. 



I have the honour to present you 

 with a copy of the convention of 

 the armistice. The emperor im- 

 mediately entered into a treaty; and 

 our line running along the Danube 

 to the mountains of the Tyrol, put- 

 ting us in possession of Kufstein 

 Schcemitz, Braunau, &c. wiU en- 

 able us to recommence the war 

 with great advantages, and> above 

 all, with great security. Health 

 and respect. 



(Signed) DessoUes. 



ARMISTICE. 



His majesty the emperor and king 

 wishing to treat immediately for 

 peace with the French republic, 

 whatever the determination of his 

 allies maybe; the generals-in-chief 

 of the French army and of the im- 

 perial army in Germany, desirous 

 of putting a stop, as far as is in their 

 power, to the evils inseparable from 

 war, have agreed to treat for an 

 armistice and suspension of arms : 

 for this purpose they have respec- 

 tively charged with special powers 



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