Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps and table
- Preface
- Abbreviations and note on coinage
- Glossary of French terms
- Introduction
- Part I The means of repression
- Chapter 1 A cheap police force
- Chapter 2 Police recruitment and discipline
- Chapter 3 The maréchaussée at work
- Chapter 4 The prévôtal court
- Part II Crime and disorder
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 3 - The maréchaussée at work
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps and table
- Preface
- Abbreviations and note on coinage
- Glossary of French terms
- Introduction
- Part I The means of repression
- Chapter 1 A cheap police force
- Chapter 2 Police recruitment and discipline
- Chapter 3 The maréchaussée at work
- Chapter 4 The prévôtal court
- Part II Crime and disorder
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Prévôts-généraux
It is difficult to see any relevance whatsoever in the years of military experience demanded of these men, for after their appointment they became executive pen pushers, slaves to their paper-work. Operations in the field were carried out, organised, and directed by their lieutenants. The prévôts devoted their lives to administration, which meant in practice correspondence on matters of finance – compiling claims for expenses on behalf of their cavaliers, justifying them to higher authority, complaining when the money was not forthcoming:
I must inform you that not one of my cavaliers has been paid for the days spent supervising road works… My company is on the point of collapse and in no state to do any duties other than its routine patrols … particularly as it has been used for many years to carry out special assignments for which it has not received the smallest gratuity.
The prévôt of the Auvergne was equally obliged to devote his energies to increasing the effectiveness of the force by trying to make it financially viable, and like Barret de Ferrand, du Deffan resorted to emotional appeals on behalf of ‘those unfortunate cavaliers … who are in no state with their pay to be able to afford these extraordinary expenses’ and ‘these unfortunate cavaliers most of whom get into debt buying a horse … and who are wretched thereafter for the rest of their lives’.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1981