I. On Civilities in War The following is a direct quotation for Phipps, The Armies of the French Republic, Vol. IV, p.173: "...On 7th April (1797) as he approached Saint Michael, he (Massena) received the news than an armistice had been concluded by Bonaparte at Judenburg in rear on that day. As he had been ordered to occupy Leoben, he sent a flag of truce on to warn the Austrians that he would advance, and when they asked for an hour's time, he replied: "Not five minutes", and moved on. Then came a pathetic incident. Out of one of the first houses of Saint Michael came an old Austrian General, napkin in hand saying. "Monsieur le general, it is a week since I have dined: cannot you halt your troops and let me take my meal?" "You are quite at liberty", said Massena, laughing, "to take your diner, and to to rest as long as you like, but I have no power to go slower or to suspend my movement. So get the road cleared, or I attack." The road was left free, and Massena advancing to Loeben through the Austrian division, left a regiment to watch it, until dinner finished, the General and his men withdrew...." So, obviously, the old Austrian general used the psychological approach and found a sympathetic ear on the importance of a diner (especially after a week of being unable to do so!) in the person of Massena. On occasions, there was room for civilities in war. Napoleon himself, sometimes, extended the civility of a meal to a defeated enemy. He did so at the Battle of Champaubert in 1814, inviting to diner the unfortunate Russian General Olsufiev with his staff. II. On Napoleon's Chicken I have found a series of amuzing anecdotes in Recolllections of the Private Life of Napoleon, 2 volumes, English translation by Walter Clark, The Saalfield Publishing Co., Akron, Ohio, 1902, which was authored by Constant, Napoleon's premier valet de chambre (first butler) who served the Emperor. Constant joined the Emperor in June 1800, and was with him as his chief personal attendant, day and night, never leaving him until that eventfulday, fourteen years later, he walked down the steps at Fontainebleau. Constant gives many "inside" first hand stories that should be of interest to the readership. Here is the first direct quotation from Constant: "...At Schoenbrunn, as at Paris, his Majesty dined habitually at six o'clock; but since he worked sometimes very far into the night, care was taken to prepare every evening a light supper, which was placed in a little locked basket covered with oil-cloth. There were two keys keys to this basket, one of which the stewart kept, and I the other. The care of the basket belonged to me alone; and as his Majesty was extremely busy, he hardly ever asked for supper. One evening, Roustan, who had been busily occupied all day in his master's service, was in a little room next to the Emperor's, and meeting me just after I had assisted in putting his Majesty to bed, said to me in his bad French, looking at the basket with an envious eye, "I could eat a chicken wing myself; I am very hungry." I refused at first; but finally, as I kew that the Emperor had gone to bed, and had no idea he would take a fancy to ask me for supper that evening, I let Roustan have it. He, much delighted, began with a leg, and next took a wing; and I do not know if any of the chicken would have been left had I not suddenly heard the bell ring sharply. I entered the room and was shocked to hear the Emperor say to me, "Constant, my chicken." My embarrasment may be imagined. I had no other chicken; and by what means, at such an hour, could I procure one! At last I decided what to do. It was best to cut up the fowl, as thus I would be able to conceal the absence of the two limbs Roustan had eaten; so I entered proudly with the chicken replaced on the dish, Roustan following me, for I was very willing, if there were any reproaches, to sahre them with him. I picked up the remaining wing, and presented it to the Emperor; but he refused it, saying to me, "Give me the chicken; I will choose myself." This time, there was no means of saving ourselves, for the dismembered must pass under his Majesty'e eyes. "See here," said he, "since when did chickens begin to have only one wing and one leg? That is fine; it seems that I must eat what others leave. Who, then, eats half of my supper?" I looked at Roustan, who in confusion replied, "I was very hungry, Sire, and I ate a wing and a leg." - "What, you idiot! so it was you, was it? Ah, I will punish you for it." And without another word the Emperor ate the remaining leg and wing. The next day at his toilet he summoned the grand marshal for some purpose, and during the converstion said, "I leave you to guess waht I ate last night for my supper. The scraps which M. Roustan left. Yes, the wretch took a notion to eat half of my chicken." Roustan entered at that moment. "Come here, you idiot," continued the Emperor; "and the next time this happens, be sure you will pay for it." Saying this, he seized him by the ears and laughed heartily." III. And More on Mushrooms and the Napoleonic Soldiers Mushrooms were certainly more to the Napoleonic soldier than we realize. Recently, I put my hands on several "foreign" mushroom recipes that were very likely prepared by some Napoleonic cooks at least for some officers and even some soldiers. (1) Russian Mushrooms in Sour Cream Russian cooking use fairly often cream in its dishes - Beef Strogonov is a typical example - and mushrooms were and still are accomodated that way by the Russians. So, here we have a very delicate and delicious concoction that goes very well with a nice steak such as a filet mignon, "Mushrooms in Sour Cream". I am pretty sure that the dish was made by Russian officer's cooks during the Napoleonic wars. Believe me you are in for a treat. Ingredients 1 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 medium onion, split in half, then sliced wafer thin 2 tablespoons butter 1 cup sour cream 1 teaspon all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon powdered mushrooms (available on spice racks) 1 teaspoon freshly grated cheese such as parmesan, swiss cheese or cheddar Salt to taste 1. Place the mushroms in a deep mixing bowl and pour over them enough boiling water to cover. Let stand about 10 minutes. 2. In a sausepan cook the onion in butter, without browning. Stir the onion until wilted and translucent. 3. Drain the mushrooms and add them to the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, five to ten minutes over low heat. 4. Blend the sour cream and flour and stir this into the mushroom mixture. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to cook, stirring over low heat until the sauce is pipin hot. Do not boil the sauce. 5. Serve as garniture. Makes about 3 cups. (2) Austrian Mushroom Soup The Austrians are still making a simple and tasty mushroom soup which was pretty much within the possibility of the Austrian soldier with some left over or freshly made beef soup. It is very simple to make and yield 4 to 6 servings. Ingredients 4 cup Beef Stock (or Beef Consomme) 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms 4 to 6 teaspoons dry sherry 1. Combine the stock and mushrooms in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer one minute. 2. Ladle the soup into hot cups and add one teaspoon of sherry to each cup. Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 14 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by Emperor's Headquarters This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com