Boniface, comte de CASTELLANE (1788-1862) maréchal de France. Manuscript notebook with corrections and 6 1/2 autograph pages, Bagatelles sur mon temps, 1824-1830; 128-page notebook, small in-4. Beginning of the Marshal's memoirs, including accounts of his Empire campaigns with Napoleon. The present manuscript, begun in Barcelona in November 1824, shows variations with the beginning of the published text of the Journal du maréchal de Castellane (Plon 1895-1897), where it is stated that the diary consists of 56 handwritten volumes: "During the Russian campaign, he had carried two small notebooks in which he recorded his impressions. He lost all his luggage when crossing the Berezina and at Kowno, and saved only these two small notebooks, which he carried in his pocket [...] Having froze his right hand, he continued for some time after his return to write with his left hand, and since then has often been obliged to dictate his notes to secretaries. Since 1831, M. de Castellane had undertaken to write his memoirs, using his Journal, notes taken by him prior to 1812, and his daily correspondence with his father. He had given this essay the title Bagatelles sur mon temps, and in it he recounts his life since joining the service in 1804. From 1812 onwards, Bagatelles sur mon temps almost faithfully reproduces the Journal". The manuscript, in the hand of a secretary, features numerous autograph corrections; six and a half pages concerning the Russian campaign are autograph. He begins as follows (this passage does not appear in the published Diary): "Everyone makes memoirs. Why shouldn't I recount my life like someone else, I've written campaign reports, I've made a few remarks in a Diary about what was going on around me [...] I'll say who I am, because you still have to know the author of a story. I was born on March 21, 1778"... He gives details of his family and explains why "a Castellane must always be called Boniface, no matter how ridiculous the name. He recounts his childhood, then gives his service record up to 1830. He recalls the battles in Spain in 1808, at Burgos, where Count Lobau asked for the rank of Captain of the Guard and the Cross, which Napoleon refused, finding him too young; the Austrian campaign in 1809, where the Emperor was wounded in the foot, the death of Lannes, the battle of Wagram "one of the finest military butcheries". In 1812, it was the Russian campaign: "We crossed the Niemen on June 24 with the most formidable army I have ever seen, made up of all nations, speaking every language, a veritable Tower of Babel [...] The butchery of Moskova took place on September 7, with only 134,000 men present and 583 cannon; we lost at least 30,000 soldiers [...].] On Monday 14th, we entered Moskou; fire broke out in the evening, and the Emperor, examining the fire from the top of the Kremlin the next day, said to Count Lobau This augurs the greatest misfortunes [...As early as November 7, a good number of soldiers who lived only on horseback died on the way from a singular illness; at first they looked drunk, then they made precipitous movements, fell to the ground, cried out I have no strength left, and expired. [...] We arrived at the Beresina on the 26th, and the whole army, with the exception of the Oudinot and Bellune corps coming from Pollosk, was in disarray. On the 27th, we crossed the bridges peacefully. On the 28th, there was fighting and disorder as they passed. The Emperor left the army at Smorgonie [...] On December 7th at Miedniki, both my hands froze; they were rubbed with snow, the left came back, the right a little, and I wore it in a sling for six months, leaving me crippled"... Etc. Castellane then recounts the French campaign, the Restoration (having sworn an oath to Louis XVIII, he did not serve during the Hundred Days), and the Spanish Expedition; it is at this point that he begins writing these memoirs, the notes of which continue until August 1830. Enclosed is a letter to Colonel Boni de Castellane (from a relative), Versailles March 2, 1814, on the advance of Blücher's corps and family news.