Albert Depréaux. Itinerary and war and captivity memoirs of Philippe Beaudoin.

Excerpt from the "Sabretache notebook".

LIMITED EDITION of 55 numbered copies.Philippe Beaudoin (1775-1864), a volunteer, promoted to corporal then sergeant, was assigned to the Army of the West. This is where his narrative begins.He describes the injuries and destruction, as well as the fear of the "chouan," then Brittany and its "savage" populations, before arriving in Brest. He remained there until his embarkation for the Saint-Domingue expedition on 3 Prairial Year X (May 23, 1802). He thus participated in the fierce repression campaign of the slave revolt led by Toussaint Louverture. After the evacuation of the island by French troops, he was captured twice by the British fleet in Cuba in December 1803 and May 1804. He was taken prisoner and sent to Belfast, then transferred to Greenlaw, in southern Scotland.He finally obtained his discharge from the army, "worn out by the fatigues of war" (this is where his narrative ends), and returned to settle in Batilly-en-Gâtinais where he ended his days. He died on February 25, 1864, at the age of 89.

This notebook is notably an exceptional testimony to the Saint-Domingue expedition and the conditions of detention in British jails during the Napoleonic Wars.