Excerpt from Memoirs of Barras, Member of the Directorate, Vol. 4 of 4: Edited, With a General Introduction, Prefaces and Appendices<br><br>The Executive Directorate has, citizen general, ordained, by its enactment of the 16th Messidor, the arraignment before a court-martial of all commandants of fortified towns in the Cisalpine Republic or in Piedmont who shall have surrendered these towns to the enemy. I beg you will let me know as early as possible the names and rank of these commandants, as well as the corps to which they are attached, Should they not belong to the general staff. I ask you also the name of their depart ments, and whether they are still in the arrondissement of the army you command, or whether they have returned home. In the former case, you will place them under arrest at once; in the latter, I shall transmit a like order to the generals in whose di visions they are.<br><br>You duly informed my predecessor, Citizen general, that you had sent the commandant of Ceva before a court-martial. It is undoubtedly to be regretted that signal examples should be nec essary in order to restore to military laws all their force; no commandant can have been ignorant of the fact that these laws forbid capitulating before the town has stood an assault; and even had the laws not spoken thus, should not a Frenchman - a Republican - find such a prohibition within his soul? Do not courage and honor rise superior to every law?<br><br>These trials are awaited by the whole nation the Army of Italy calls for them the glory and safety of the Republic com mand them.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.