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Nicolas Oudinot's Personal Copy of this Extraordinary map of the Rhine Valley

Fine engraved map Rhine River Valley published in Paris by Jean de Beaurain.

A large-scale military map of the campaign of the French-Dutch war. The map illustrates the hilly topography as well as the complicated rivers of the unregulated Rhine, field obstacles, all fortifications, civil constructions and, in the larger cities, the street network. The map shows the Rhine between Basel and Mainz (in approximately the summer of 1674) when Marshal Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne Viscount de Turenne (1611-1675) defeated Charles V Lorinsky at the battle of Sinsheim after the Battle of Sasbach (Ortenau). A year later, when the French won again, Marshal de Turenne fell. A simple legend shows the marches, lying, and the position of combat troops, especially the French maneuvers after De Turenne's death. The landscape is displayed at the time of the campaign which is more than a hundred years before the map was published. This is clearly demonstrated by looking at Nefu Brisach, predating Vauban's additional fortifications, whose construction began in 1698. However, the map includes the monument erected in 1782 at Sasbach in the memory of Marshal de Turenne - the name "Pyramid" here probably refers to the unrealized design of architect Étienne-Louis Boullée (1728-1799)

General Nicolas Charles Oudinot

A final detail that gives this map particular importance is the identity of its former owner, Nicolas Charles Oudinot, 1st Comte Oudinot, 1st Duc de Reggio (1767 - 1848), and a Marshal of France. A fierce fighter, the man was wounded no less than 34 times during his military career!

The only one of nine siblings to live past childhood, Oudinot joined the army without a noble pedigree, and therefore without a chance of high promotion. That all changed in 1792, with the outbreak of the French Revolution. In that year, Oudinot was elected lieutenant-colonel of the third battalion of the volunteers of the Meuse. After transfer to the regular army and admirable service in Belgium, he was promoted to the rank of general in June 1794 after the Battle of Kaiserslautern.

From Belgium he shifted to the German and Swiss fronts, where he fought as a general of division and chief of staff to Andre Massena. Oudinot stood out at the Battle of Monzambano so much so that Napoleon himself presented him with a sword of honor, now known as the Legion d'Honneur. Napoleon did not forget him after he established his empire; now Emperor Napoleon recognized Oudinot again, this time with a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Oudinot continued to acquit himself commendably. He was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies, commanded a company of grenadiers nicknamed for him, and fought in battles from Vienna to Poland. In 1808, he was appointed governor of Erfurt and was made a Count of the French Empire. Finally, in 1809, after the Battle of Wagram, he was named a Marshal of France, France's highest military distinction.

Oudinot continued to serve as an administrator in Holland and on the battlefield in the Russian campaign. After Napoleon's fall, Oudinot joined the Bourbon Restoration and stayed loyal to the King even after Napoleon's return in 1815. For his loyalty and service, he was named a peer of the realm. He served until 1823, when he participated in the French invasion of Spain. Then, he turned again to political and administrative appointments; he died while serving as governor of Les Invalides, at the veterans' hospital in Paris.

Provenance

Purchased at auction in Paris, from Artcuriel, Collections from the Castle of Malicorne Marshal Oudinot's Historical Souvenirs, June 13, 2017 (Lot 156).