"The Sergeant-General, after having delivered this speech, which the army heard in silence, made the two divisions of infantry, the cavalry, and artillery defile before him, and went in great pomp to display at the offices of the Prefect and Mayor the white flags that had been made by his orders. The troops then returned to their barracks, and submitted themselves to the authority of their respective officers.
"As soon as they were restored to liberty, the Generals, Colonels, and superior officers were anxious to repair to Count Rapp, to express to him the pain they had experienced at seeing the army thus unmindful of the rein of discipline. They even caused a protest against the seditious movements which the army had given way to, to be printed, which they all signed, and which contained expressions very flattering to the General-in-Chief.
"Two days after, they laid down their arms at the arsenal, and all the corps were disbanded. Dalouzi, as leader of the revolt, had incurred the penalty of death; but he was pardoned on account of the good order that he had maintained in the midst of the insurrection."[3]
[3] Summary of the Operations of the Armies of the Rhine and Jura, 1815.
The army was dissolved; my command having expired, there was nothing to keep me any longer in Alsace. But the good souls of the Faubourg Saint-Germain had imagined that we were a source of terror to Europe. On the field of battle I believe we were, and the Allies did not disallow it. In other respects this was thinking too highly of us. With regard to plots and conspiracies, it is not we who deserved the palm. I, nevertheless, went to meet that which they wished to allot to me. I wrote to the King, I did not attempt to disguise my sentiments from him. If I had been able to throw the whole coalition into the Rhine I would have done it; I did not conceal it. My letter was thus worded.
"Sire,
"I do not endeavour to justify my conduct. Your Majesty knows that the bent of my mind and my military education have always led me to defend the French territory against all foreign aggression: I could not, above all, hesitate to offer my life in defence of Alsace, which gave me birth.
"If I have preserved the esteem of your Majesty, I desire to finish my career in my own country; if it were otherwise, I should be the first to demand to go and pass my days abroad: I could not live in my country without the esteem of my sovereign."
"I only ask this; I have need of nothing more."