Du Journal aux Mémoires. Bussy, mestre de camp général de la cavalerie légère

It is easy to identify sections of Bussy-Rabutin’s Mémoires which were lifted from the Journal of the general mestre de camp of the light cavalry : contrary to the re-use of campaign journals, these suspend the narrative. The references testify to a process of selective composition : they sought to bring the zeal of the officer to the attention of Louis XIV. They also highlight the differences between the version of the Mémoires, and their Suite, which the King might have read and the work which was conceived by the exile.