GAULLE Charles de. Manuscript Important account of his campaign in Poland to defend it against General Boudienny's Red Cavalry. This account was published anonymously by "a French officer" in the Revue de Paris of 1 November 1920 (pp. 35-52). The manuscript, written in black ink, contains numerous erasures and corrections in ink or pencil. This diary or "campaign notebook" contains XVI entries, each corresponding to one day, from 1 July to 26 August 1920. It begins with the return to Poland on 1 July: "Here I am, back from France and, as soon as I step out of the "Gare de Vienne", I realise what a profound change the serious events of this month have made in all my features. Warsaw! I'm beginning to know you, because I've been watching your face for over a year now! In the spring of last year, I saw Warsaw filled with enthusiasm. General Henrys' French Military Mission and General Haller's Franco-Polish army were arriving in Poland. [...] Then, as the months went by, the face of Warsaw darkened. No one could see the end of the war"... De Gaulle describes the worries of the Poles, the "economic distress", and the hope reborn in the spring after the Kiew offensive. On 4 July, he describes a "patriotic ceremony" in honour of the volunteers. 8th July: 'The news from the front is increasingly bad. The northern front (north of the Pripet) no longer has any consistency: of the two armies that make it up, one, which has just lost Vilna, is retreating without a fight and in extreme confusion. The other, constantly outflanked by its neighbour's retreat, kept retreating. [...] This time, the battle was fought on truly national territory. [...] We, the officers of the Military Mission, are following these decisive events with passionate interest, but with a gnawing heart at not being able to take a direct part"... He recounts conversations with officers, and expresses the hope that Poles have in France: "France has once again become the powerful and disinterested arm for Europe, which is called upon in times of distress"... 16th July. "Here comes the long-awaited order: the French government authorises its officers to lend their direct support to the defence of Polish territory. General Henrys was not told twice. That very night, he left for the front and seconded a number of us to each major unit. I was one of the lucky ones, accompanying General B., who was to give his advice on the southern front"... This is followed by an account of the first battles against Boudienny's Cossacks... 17 August: "The offensive began brilliantly. The manoeuvre group commanded by the head of state, Pilsudski, assembled between Srangorod and Chelm, advanced rapidly northwards. The enemy, completely surprised to see the Poles, whom they had thought hopeless, fall to their left flank, did not put up any serious resistance and fled in disorder on all sides or surrendered in whole regiments. At the same time, moreover, the Russian effort on Warsaw broke down in the trenches that our allies had finally agreed to dig, while a manoeuvring army, prepared by General Haller, sheltered by the capital's defences, suddenly left it to the north and ran to the Prussian border to cut off the retreat of the enemy who had ventured as far as Thorn"... Etc. 20th August. "Yes: it is victory, complete victory, triumphant victory. Not much will be left of the other Russian armies that were threatening Warsaw. As quickly as they retreated, the Poles overtook them and gained their rear. The enemy was scattered in bands in the woods where they were picked off"... Etc. 26th August. "General B. returns to Warsaw, his task completed. All along the road, where broken podwodas and dead horses lie far and wide, the peasants tip their hats to us. [...] Here, at last, is the capital, through which a never-ending procession of prisoners is passing. The crowd roars with subdued joy. In the eyes of these people you can feel the just pride of the first great national victory won by the reborn Poland. [...] The crowd, seeing our dusty uniforms, moves around us. From all these chests rises a cry: 'Long live France'". And he concluded: "France! Ah, we haven't forgotten her. But to hear her cheering here, we suddenly feel she is present. France! She was here with us, ardent, wise and resolute. We look at each other with the same eyes. And suddenly, each of the Frenchmen who are here, shivering with a sacred enthusiasm, feels the eternal heart of the Patrie beating against his heart as a passing man. The typescript is attached (double carbon, 17 pages large in-4). Traces of paperclip, with tear in upper part; folds. Articles et écrits (Plon, 1975), p. 33-55. Le Fil de l'épée and other writings (Omnibus/Plon, 1994), p. 565-583.