Translating Volume VII of Arthur Chuquet's <i>Les Guerres de la Révolution</i>, <i>The Siege of Mainz, 1793</i>, I came across the following anecdote. It demonstrates that a forum like the Rhine Tavern, with opponents meeting in friendship and mutual respect, has historical precedent:
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">On 16 May, on the outskirts of Mombach, Marigny exchanged several pistol shots with a Prussian officer, and challenged him to a saber duel. "So be it," replied his adversary, "but what if I came forward as a friend?" -- "Then you would be received as such." The two officers shook hands and embraced. They were joined by their comrades. They chatted, they laughed, and they agreed to meet again. Merlin invited the assembly to meet the next day for lunch, at the same spot.
The following day, Marigny, Reubell, Merlin, Gaudin, Major Lamure, and several other officers of the garrison, together with two members of the Jacobins Club, Hofmann and Rieffel, who initially stayed at a distance, arrived at the rendezvous with an escort of <i>chasseurs-à -cheval</i>. A table was placed on the grass, between the outposts. As if to show off the abundance reigning in the city, Merlin served his guests fresh white French bread, large and small pâtés, and chicken. Rhine wine and Champagne flowed like the sea. Thirty people, including Prince Louis-Ferdinand of Prussia, Colonel Stein, Colonel Wachenheim, several Würmser Hussars, and two émigrés, Turpin and the Duc de La Roche Aymon, a handsome young man who was later to be a Peer of France and lieutenant-general, took part in this luncheon. Louis-Ferdinand was cheerful, pleasant, and manifested "a light-heartedness that was almost French;" but at the end of the meal he took Reubell aside and spoke with him at length. Meanwhile, the escorts fraternized: French <i>chasseurs</i> and Prussian hussars drank together, embraced, ran races, and promised to saber each other heartily at their next meeting. After two hours, the two groups separated, not without regret. The party, said one Frenchman, was as fine as it was extraordinary. A German exclaimed: "What a superb scene! What politeness and friendliness on both sides!" But duty called, the war resumed, and the next day, advancing over the banquet site, Marigny captured Mombach.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
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<b>Maréchal Bill Peterson</b>
Duc de Zurich, Comte de Besançon
2ème Régiment de Grenadiers à Cheval, Cavalerie de la Vieille Garde
Commandant, Ier Corps de Réserve de Cavalerie (<i>Vae Victis!</i>), AdN, NWC
NWC
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