Call Number:

C1410

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

French and English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Bertrand de Moleville Counterrevolution Papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1805 (inclusive)

Creator:

Bertrand-de-Molleville, Ant.-Fr. (Antoine-François), 1744-1818

Form:

Manuscripts, French -- 19th century and Proposals -- 19th century.

Abstract:

Consists of manuscripts and related material regarding Bertrand de Moleville's proposals to the British government for invading France and Spanish America. The marquis de Bertrand de Moleville was a nobleman and navy minister in the French Constitutional Cabinet. He urged Louis XVI to flee Paris and was accused of being one of the "Austrian Committee," the shadowy circle accused of anti-revolutionary plots. He emigrated to England in 1793.

The marquis de Bertrand de Moleville was a nobleman and navy minister in the French Constitutional Cabinet. He urged Louis XVI to flee Paris and was accused of being one of the "Austrian Committee," the shadowy circle accused of anti-revolutionary plots. He emigrated to England in 1793.

The collection consists of manuscripts and related material regarding Bertrand de Moleville's proposals to the British government for invading France and Spanish America. Included is a manuscript (1805) in English detailing a plan for a counterrevolution to recapture France from Napoleon Bonaparte and return the monarchy and King Louis XVIII to the French throne. Bertrand de Moleville gives details of where the soldiers of the army should come from, how much the expedition would cost the king of England, and how it should be executed. He suggests to the British monarch that the army capture the Ile d' Oléron which would present very little resistance, from there to capture the Ile de Ré́ and the Ile d' Aix, and finally to enter the French mainland at Rochefort.

The collection also contains manuscript material regarding Bertrand de Moleville's secret plans for an invasion of Spanish America, establishing an independent Mexico: his cover letter (in French, dated 2 January 1805) conveying the proposal to British government official Jonathan McArthur, requesting that he forward the material to Lord Melville, First Lord of the Admiralty; the four-part plan (in French); and an English précis of the proposal with McArthur's recommendation (7 January 1805) to Melville.

Arranged by country.