This is a satire on the disastrous Battle of Eylau, which took place in early February of 1807. On the left of the sheet, a large brown Russian bear cradles Napoleon against his chest and attempts to lull him into submission. A large State Prison populated with Prisoners of War looms behind them. Figures can be seen peering from the windows of this sturdy building. Napoleon, well aware of the impending danger, struggles to get out of the bear's embrace. Hat and sword removed, Napoleon waves his arms over his head and calls out to Talleyrand for help. Keeping his back to his commander, Talleyrand steps out of a narrow stream of water--The Vistula-- hat divides the image. With his right leg still in the water, he uses his deformed, bowed leg to haul himself up onto the right bank. His outfit is ridiculous; on his head he wears a bishop's mitre, a long red gown is hitched up around his waist, and a golden rosary and ink pot are tied to his belt. In addition, he wears a shoe placed on blocks on the foot of his crippled leg. Absorbed by the message he inscribes on the cloud of smoke issuing from his trumpet, Talleyrand silences the pleas of Napoleon on the opposite bank saying, "Leave me alone for a Bulletin." An ominous cloud separates from the cloud on which Talleyrand writes. This dark mass contains the "truth": news of the dramatic losses for the French on the Russian campaign. At the head of the stream, a placard reads, "HIC Jacet--Snug in the Bug--several thousand of the Great Nation." An inscription, THE BUG, floats in the water at the base of the sign post. Immediately behind this, an encampment of white tents dots the landscape. The sheet has some staining at the edges from old glue used to paste the print onto some type of backing.
Notes:
Published by Walker. Whereas Broadley attributes this print to Ansell, George attributes it to Williams. 1807-03-00
Dialogue: Russian Bear: "Hush a bye! Hush a bye! take it all quietly, you'll soon find yourself as Snug as a Bug in a Rugg"
Dialogue: Napoleon: "Oh D__n the Bug. I wish I had never seen it. My Dear Talley--don't tell my faithfull subjects the true state of my Situation--any thing but the truth my Dear Talley. Oh this cursed Russian Bear how close he hug me."
Dialogue: Talleyrand: "Leave me alone for a Bulletin"
Inscription: top: "7,000 Prisoners, 3000 drowned, 12 Eagles taken, 12000 Killed" bottom: "FOR PARIS, GRAND BULLETIN, The august Emperor of the great Nation, informs his faithfull and beloved Subjects, that having performed Wonders on the banks of the Bug, he has now closed a glorious campaign for the season, and retired with Ease and Comfort into Winter Quarters."
"Boney and his army in winter quarters"
Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Napoleonic Satires from the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:232385/
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