Lazare CARNOT (1753-1823) mathematician and politician; Conv - Lot 240

Lazare CARNOT (1753-1823) mathematician and politician; Conventionnel (Pas-de-Calais), member of the Comité de Salut public, organizer of the Victoire des armées de la République. L.A., signed by his colleagues on the Comité de Salut Public Charles COCHON (1749-1825) and Jean-François-Bertrand DELMAS (1751-1798), 17 Vendémiaire III (October 8, 1794), to the Representatives of the People to the Army of the Western Pyrenees; 3 1/2 pages in-4. Important instructions on behalf of the Comité de Salut Public for the invasion of Spain. Having taken note of the position of the army in the Western Pyrenees, the Committee is concerned about the dispersal of the army. "They recommended withdrawing the guard from the post of Guetaria and using it to increase the defense of the Oria passage and the square of San Sebastian, and they indicated some ways of making any attack on Tolosa very deadly for the enemy. After the capture of Fontarabie and San Sebastian, they expected further rapid successes, and regretted that the army had not taken advantage of the enemy's initial astonishment to attack him on several points and cut off his retreat to Pamplona, which might also have surrendered. However, you must either push forward or retreat: "Start by attacking on your left to drive the enemy out of all his positions and take his camp from the meeting. Try to take decisive action and put the enemy in complete rout, because then it is likely that Pamplona, with no hope of help, will decide to open its gates. For the expedition to be as successful as it must be, you must secretly bring all your available forces to bear on your left, while at the same time making false attacks on the right and center to draw the enemy in. Laborde's division, which has withdrawn as far as Irum and along the banks of the Bidasoa, could, it seems, by moving forward a little, tighten its defensive line. [...] We still have one very important observation to make. You know, and our colleague Garrau who attended the committee's discussions knows particularly well, that our aim is not to nationalize the war, not to shock too strongly the customs and even the prejudices of the peoples among whom we are forced to wage war. It is said that Spaniards, who are very attached to their priests, flee and abandon their homes rather than have them taken away from them. Is it not to be feared that this emigration will swell the mass of his forces and make you new, furious and implacable enemies out of these fanatical hordes [...] We believe that it may be very useful to take hostages from among the priests and nobles, but it could be very dangerous to kidnap all the individuals of these corporations from an ignorant people"...