Secret Anecdotes of the Revolution of the 18th Fructidor (September 4th, 1797); and New Memoirs of the Persons Deported to Guiana, Written by Themselves....Forming a Sequel to the "Narrative of General Ramel. by (Ramel, General Jean-Pierre.)

215 pp. text of the first English edition of the letters and memoirs of a group of sixteen French army men deported to Guiana following the failed coup d'etat of September 4, 1797, with descriptions of events including escaping from prison, death in exile, and memoirs of the two who remained in Guiana. Table of contents. Not illustrated. Some toning, dust-soiling, minor scattered foxing, creasing and small loss to lower right corner of title page. Small 8vo. Leather-backed boards, loss to leather along spine, slightly shaken. London (J. Wright) 1799. On September 4, 1797, there was an attempted coup d'etat to return Louis XVIII to the throne. General Jean Charles Pichegru, General Ramel, and a number of others involved in the coup were arrested and then deported to Guiana. Pichegru was found guilty of treason. Ramel made a dramatic escape from prison in Guiana, was pardoned by Napoleon, and subsequently rejoined the army in the Iberian campaign, eventually rising to the rank of Maréchal de Campby Louis XVIII. An additional seven of the sixteen deported men were able to escape from prison, while six died in exile. One of the two who remained in Guiana was François Barbé-Marbois, the man who negotiated the Louisiana Purchase treaty.