To Lieutenant Count Gérard, Commander of the Armée de la Moselle
I have received your letters of the 7th and 9th of this month, Count, I see with trouble that the Armée de la Moselle, which you command, will not be gathered in Rocroi in its entirety until the 15th. The Emperor was counting, however, on it having arrived on the 13th without fault and on you having adjusted its march accordingly. The delay is all the more egregious since the whole army must be at the Sambre on the 14th and since the Emperor will probably have the enemies attacked the same day; you must, therefore, upon receipt of my letter, hasten the march of your columns so that they gain at least one day, and instead of establishing yourself in the vicinity of Rocroi as you declare you have the intention of doing, you will continue your march to Chimay and Beaumont where you will join the 3rd army Corps commanded by Lieutenant General Vandamme, and you will take position slightly behind him. If, upon your arrival in Beaumont, General Vandamme has moved forward you will follow his movement such that you join him as soon as possible and you form his second line as it is stated here above while waiting for new orders that you will receive. You will take care, General, to inform me immediately of all arrangements that you make in carrying out the present order and to inform me in detail of the march of your troops and of their position.
I advise you that I am giving the order to General Delort, Commander of the 14th Cavalry Division who is arriving on the 13th in Mézières, to go also to Beaumont to join the 4th Cavalry Corps. I am ordering him to hurry his march in order to arrive on the 15th in Beaumont.