GAULLE Charles de. Autograph, Order no. 20.654, [23 July 1919]; 2 pages in-12 (folds). Captain de Gaulle's copy of the extract concerning his nomination for knighthood in the Legion of Honour. [Captain de Gaulle, commanding the 10th Company of the 33rd Infantry Regiment, was wounded on 2 March 1916 and captured by the Germans south of the church at Douaumont. As his body was never found, he was given up for dead by Lieutenant-Colonel Boud'hors at the end of the day. General Pétain took over the colonel's report and had to deliver de Gaulle's eulogy. On 7 May 1916, his commendation in the Army Order was published in the Journal officiel]. De Gaulle copied this extract about him from Marshal Pétain's order for his knighthood, also awarding him the croix de guerre avec palme : "At Douaumont, on 2 March 1916, under a terrifying bombardment, when the enemy had broken through the line and was reaching his company from all sides, after fierce hand-to-hand fighting, he organised an island of resistance where everyone fought until all the ammunition was spent, the rifles smashed and the unarmed defenders fell; although seriously wounded by a bayonet shot, continued to be the soul of the defence, until he fell lifeless under the action of the gas. - 2 previous wounds - (2 citations)". Also copied is the signature: "Le Mal de France Cdt en chef des Arm. Eastern France. Pétain". The folds show that de Gaulle must have kept this document with him. LNC, I, p. 463 to 466.