Napoleon's Invasion of Russia

by George F Nafziger

  Signed:

  (L.S.) CH. Maurice Talleyrand

  Prince of Benevente

  (L.S.) Marshal, Graf von

  Kalkreuth

  (L.S.) August, Count of Glotz

  Agreement concluded between Major General Prince de Neuchatel, on the one hand and Field Marshal von Kalkreuth, on the other, as Plenipotentiaries of Their Sovereigns, with regard to Article 18 of the Treaty, concluded at Tilsit between their Majesties, the Emperor Napoleon and the King of Prussia signed at Koenigsberg the 12th of July 1807.

  Art 1. Commissioners, from the respective countries, shall be named without delay. These shall post stakes at the frontiers of the Duchy of Warsaw, of the Old Prussian territory of Danzig, and at the frontiers which separate the Kingdoms of Prussia and Westphalia.

  Art 2. The city of Tilsit shall be restituted the 21st of July; Koenigsberg, the 25th of July, and the countries up to the Parssarge River, where the Army's former encampment was, the 1st of August. Old Prussia shall be evacuated to the Vistula River, the 20th of August, and on the 5th of September, the rest of Old Prussia shall be evacuated to the Oder River. The borders of the Danzig territory shall be computed in a circumference of two kilometers, and affixed with stakes marked with emblems of France, the territory of Danzig, Saxony and Prussia. By the 1st of October, all of Prussia shall be evacuated to the Elbe River. On the same day, Silesia shall also be evacuated in order that the entire evacuation of the Kingdom of Prussia shall be terminated in two and one half months. The section of the province of Magdeburg, situated on the right bank of the Elbe River, and the provinces of Prenzlau and Passewalk shall be evacuated on the 1st of November; however, sentries shall surround Berlin so that no troops whatsoever may enter that city.

  The Plenipotentiaries shall determine the exact date for the evacuation of Stettin, and 6,000 Frenchmen shall remain in that city until the evacuation takes place. The districts of Spandau, Kustrin, and in general, most of the districts of Silesia shall be restituted to His Majesty, the King of Prussia, on the 1st of October.

  Art 3. Artillery, all war equipment, and in general, all that is to be found in the districts of Pillau, Col berg and Grandenz shall remain in their actual state, and the same shall hold forth in the districts of Glatz and Kosal if the French have not taken possession of these above-mentioned districts.

  Art 4. The aforesaid arrangements shall be executed within the time period allotted, in countries where taxes imposed therein have been paid. Taxes and fines shall be deemed paid when sufficient and proper guarantees have been given, and if these have been properly acknowledged by the Senior Quartermaster General of the Army. All fines not publicly recognized before the exchange of ratifications shall be considered null and void.

  Art 5. All the Kingdom's revenues shall be paid into the King's treasury, as of the day ratifications are exchanged and made payable to the account of His Majesty, so that contributions which ought to have been paid, and those payments were rendered from the 1st of November, 1806, to the date of the exchange of ratifications are paid in full.

  Art 6. Commissioners shall be named respectively so that amicable agreements on all legal points shall be drawn up: said Commissioners shall travel to Berlin the 25th of July in order to accelerate the evacuation.

  Art 7. French troops and prisoners of war shall be nourished in the said country until the evacuation takes place. Whatever provisions are found in the army warehouses shall be used for this purpose.

  Art 8. If the hospitals have not yet been evacuated when troops retire, the sick from France shall be taken care of by the King's Personal Representatives, who shall see that they receive proper care under medical officers.

  Art 9. The Present agreement shall be effected in full. Done in good faith and signed with our seal in Koenigsberg, the 12th of July, 1807.

  Signed:

  Marechal Alexander Berthier

  Field Marshal, Graf von Kalkreuth

  The Berlin Decree 21 November 1806

  Considering:

  1. That England makes no recognition of the law of nations which is universally followed by all civilized peoples;

  2. That she counts every individual belonging to an enemy state as himself an enemy, and consequently makes prisoners of war not only the crews of vessels armed for war, but also the crews of trading-ships and merchant vessels, and even the commercial agents and traders who travel for business purposes;

  3. That she extends to the ships and merchandise of traders and to the property of individuals the right of conquest which can only apply to the property of the enemy state;

  4. That she extends to unfortified towns and ports of trade, to harbors and the mouths of river, the right of blockade which, according to season and the usage of all civilized peoples, is only applicable to fortified places;

  That she even declares to be in a state of blockade places which all her combined forces would be incapable of blockading, entire coasts and a whole empire;

  5. That this monstrous abuse of the right of blockade has no other object but to impede communications between peoples and raise the commerce and industry of England upon the ruins of the industry and commerce of the Continent;

  6. That such being the evident aim of England, whoever trades in English merchandise upon the continent is by this fact furthering her designs and making himself her accomplice;

  7. That this conduct of England—conduct in all ways worthy of the earliest ages of barbarism—has procured the advantage of this power to the detriment of all others;

  8. That it is the natural right to oppose an enemy with the arms which he himself makes use of, and to combat in the manner in which he combats when he repudiates all those ideas of justice and those liberal sentiments which are the effect of civilization upon human society:

  We have resolved to apply to England the methods which she has sanctioned in her maritime code.

  The dispositions of the present decree shall always be considered as a fundamental principle of the empire, until England has recognized that the laws of war are one and the same on land and sea; that hostilities cannot be extended either to private property of any kind whatever, or to the persons of individuals who are unconnected with the profession of arms; and that the right of blockade must be restricted to fortified places genuinely invested by forces of adequate strength;

  We have in consideration decreed and do decree the following:

  Art 1. The British Isles are declared to be in a state of blockade.

  Art 2. All commerce or correspondence with the British Isles is forbidden. In consequence, letters or packets addressed either to England or to an Englishman, or written in the English language, will not be allowed to pass through the post and will be seized.

  Art 3. All individuals, subjects of England, of whatever state or condition they may be, who are in the countries occupied by our troops or by those of our allies, shall be made prisoners of war.

  Art 4. Any commercial establishment, any merchandise, any property of any kind whatever belonging to an English subject, shall be declared a lawful prize.

  Art 5. Trading in English merchandise is forbidden; and all merchandise belonging to England or coming from its factories or its colonies is declared to be a lawful prize.

  Art 6. A portion of the receipts from the confiscation of merchandise and the properties declared as lawful prizes by the preceding articles shall be employed to compensate those merchants who have suffered losses by the seizure of merchant vessels by English privateers.

  Art 7. No ship coming directly from England or the English colonies, or having been there since the publication of the present decree, will be received into any port.

  Art 8. All vesels, which, by means of false declaration, that contravene the spirit of this decree, shall be seized; and the vessel and its cargo shall be confiscated as if it were English property.

  Art 9. Our Prize Tribunal in Paris is charged with the final judgment of all contestations which should occur in our Empire or
in the countries occupied by our French armies, relative to the execution of the present decree. Our Prize Tribunal in Milan shall be charged with the final judgment of such contestations which should occur in the Kingdom of Italy.

  Art 10. The communication of this decree shall be given, by Our Foreign Minister, to the Kings of Spain, Naples, Holland and Etruria, and to Our other allies, whose subjects are victims, as are Ours, of the injustice and barbarity of the English maritime legislation.

  Art 11. Our Foreign Minister, Ministers of War, the Navy, of Finance, the Police, and Our General Postal Directors, are charged, as each is concerned with the execution of this decree.

  Napoleon

  British Orders in Council 7 January 1807

  Order in Council prohibiting Trade to be carried on between Port and Port of Countries under the domination or usurped control of France.

  At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 7th of January 1807; Present, the King's most excellent Majesty in council. —Whereas, the French government has issued certain Orders, which, in violation of the usages of war, purport to prohibit the Commerce of all Neutral Nations with his majesty's dominions, and also to prevent such nations from trading with any other country, in any articles, the growth, produce, or manufacture of his majesty's dominions; and whereas the said government has also taken upon itself to declare all his majesty's dominions to be in a state of a blockade, at a time when the fleets of France and her allies are themselves confined within their own ports by the superior valour and discipline of the British navy; and whereas such attempts on the part of the enemy would give his majesty an unquestionable right of retaliation, and would warrant his majesty in enforcing the same prohibition of all commerce with France, which that power vainly hopes to effect against the commerce of his majesty's subjects; a prohibition which the superiority of his majesty's naval forces might enable him to support, by actually investing the ports and coasts of the enemy with numerous squadrons and cruisers, so as to make the entrance or approach thereto manifestly dangerous; and whereas his majesty, though unwilling to follow the example of his enemies, by proceeding to an extremity so distressing to all nations not engaged in the war, and carrying on their accustomed trade, yet feels himself bound by a due regard to the just defense of the rights and interests of his people, not to suffer such measures to be taken by the enemy, without taking some steps on his part to restrain this violence, and to retort upon them the evils of their own injustice; his majesty is therefore pleased, by and with the advice of his privy council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, That no vessel shall be permitted to trade from one port to another, both which ports shall belong to or be in the possession of France or her allies, or shall be so far under their control, as that British vessels may not freely trade thereat; and the commanders of his majesty's ships of war and privateers shall be, and are hereby instructed to warn every neutral vessel coming from any such port, and destined to another such port, to discontinue her voyage, and not to proceed to any such port; and any vessel after being so warned, or any vessel coming from any such port, after a reasonable time shall have been afforded for receiving information of this his majesty's Order, which shall be found proceeding to another such port, shall be captured and brought in, and, together with her cargo, shall be condemned as a lawful prize; and his majesty's principal secretaries of state, the lords commissioners of the admiralty, and the judges of the high court of admiralty, and courts of vice admiralty, are to take the necessary measures herein as to them shall respectively appertain.

  Principal Order: Blockade Ordinance Order in Council; declaring the Dominions of his Majesty's Enemies, and of Countries under their Control, in a state of Blockade, under the Exceptions specified in said Order.

  At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 11th of November 1807; Present, The King's most excellent Majesty in council. —Whereas, certain Orders establishing an unprecedented system of warfare against this kingdom, and aimed especially at the destruction of its commerce and resources, were some time since issued by the government of France, by which the British Islands were declared to be in a state of blockade, thereby subjecting to capture and condemnation all vessels, with their cargoes which should continue to trade with his majesty's dominions. —And whereas by the same Orders, “all trading in English merchandise is prohibited; and every article of merchandise belonging to England, or coming from her colonies, or of her manufacture, is declared lawful prize;” —And whereas the nations in alliance with France, and under her control, were required to give, and have given, and do give, effect to such Orders; — And whereas his majesty's Order of 7 January last, has not answered the desired purpose, either of compelling the enemy to recall those Orders, or of inducing neutral nations to interpose, with effect, to obtain their revocation; but, on the contrary, the same have been recently enforced with increased rigour; —And whereas his majesty, under these circumstances, finds himself compelled to take further measures for asserting and vindicating his just rights, and for supporting that maritime power which the exertions and valor of his people have, under the blessing of Providence, enabled him to establish and maintain; and the maintenance of which is not more essential to the safety and prosperity of such states as still retain their independence, and to the general intercourse and happiness of mankind: —His majesty is therefore pleased, by and with the advice of his privy council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, That all the ports and places of France and her allies, or of any other country at war with his majesty, and all other ports, or places in Europe, from which, although not at war with his majesty, the British flag is excluded, and all ports or places in the colonies belonging to the commanders of ships of war and privateers, and to the judge of the high court of the admiralty, and the judges of the courts of vice-admiralty, directing that the ships and goods belonging to the Inhabitants of Hamburg, Bremen, and other places and countries in the north of Germany, which vessels and goods shall be employed in a trade to or from the ports of the united kingdom, shall until further order be suffered to pass free and unmolested, notwithstanding that the said countries are or may be in the possession or under the control of France and her allies; and that all such ships and goods so trading, which may have been already detained, shall be forthwith liberated, and restored; …

  Additional Instructions to the Commanders of Ships of War and Privateers, to the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty

  Our will and pleasure is, that the ships and goods belonging to the inhabitants of Hamburg, Bremen, and other places and countries in the north of Germany, which vessels and goods shall have been employed in a trade to or from the ports of our united kingdom, shall, until further order, be suffered to pass free and unmolested, notwithstanding that the said countries are or may be in the possession or under the control of France and her allies; and all such ships and goods so trading which may have been already detained shall be forthwith liberated and restored.

  11 November 1807

  Order in Council; containing certain Regulations under which the trade to and from the enemies Country shall be carried on:

  At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 11th of November 1807; Present, The King's most excellent Majesty in council. —Whereas, articles of the growth and manufacture of foreign countries cannot by law be imported into this country, except in British ships, or in ships belonging to the countries of which such articles are the growth and manufacture, without an Order in Council specially authorizing the same: —His majesty, taking into consideration the Order of this day's date, respecting the trade to be carried on to and from the ports of the enemy, and deeming it expedient that any vessel, belonging to any country in alliance or at amity with his majesty, may be permitted to import into this country articles of the produce or manufacture of countries at war with his majesty: —His majesty, by and with the advice of his privy council, is therefore pleased to order, and it is hereby ordered, That all goods, wares, or merchandises, specified and included in the schedule of an act, passed i
n the 43rd year of his present majesty's reign, entitled, “an act to repeal the duties of customs payable in Great Britain, and to grant other duties in lieu thereof,” may be imported from any port or place belonging to any state not at amity with his majesty, in ships belonging to any state at amity with his majesty, subject to the payment of such duties, and liable to such drawbacks, as are now established by law upon the importation of the said goods, wares, or merchandise, in ships navigated according to law; and with respect to such of the said goods, wares, or merchandise, as are authorized to be warehoused under the provisions of an act, passed in the 43rd year of his present majesty's reign, entitled, “an act for permitting certain goods imported into Great Britain, to be secured in warehouses without payment of duty,” subject to all the regulations of the said last-mentioned act; and with respect to all articles which are prohibited by law from being imported into this country, it is ordered, That the same shall be reported for exportation to any country in amity or alliance with his majesty. —And his majesty is further pleased, by and with the advice of his privy council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, That all vessels which shall arrive at any port of the united kingdom, or at the port of Gibraltar, or Malta, in consequence of having been warned pursuant to the aforesaid order, or in consequence of receiving information in any other manner of the said Order, subsequent to their having taken on board any part of their cargoes, whether previous or subsequent to their sailing, shall be permitted to report their cargoes for exportation, and shall be allowed to proceed upon their voyages to their original ports of destination (if not unlawful before the issuing of the order) or to any port at amity with his majesty, upon receiving a certificate from the collector or comptroller of the customs at the port at which they shall so enter (which certificate the said collectors and comptrollers of the customs are hereby authorized and required to give) setting forth, that such vessels came into such port in consequence of being so warned, or of receiving such information as aforesaid, and that they were permitted to sail from such port under the regulations which his majesty has been pleased to establish in respect to such vessels; but in case any vessel so arriving shall prefer to import her cargo, then such vessel shall be allowed to enter and import the same, upon such terms and conditions as the said cargo might have been imported upon, according to law, in case the said vessel had sailed after having received notice of the said Order, and in conformity thereto. —And it is further ordered, That all vessels which shall arrive at any port of the united kingdom, or at Gibraltar, or Malta, in conformity and obedience to said Order, shall be allowed, in respect to articles which may be on board the same, except sugar, coffee, wine, brandy, snuff and tobacco, to clear out to any port whatever, to be specified in such clearance; and, with respect to the last mentioned articles, to export the same to such ports and under such conditions and regulations only as his majesty, by any license to be granted for that purpose, may direct …