Previous image preload Next image preload
Back to catalog
Lot 194
image_0 image_1 image_2 image_3 image_4 image_5 image_6 image_7 image_8
Conquest of Minorca Large Archive of Nearly 50 Letters: French Besiege British in the Mediterranean, Distracting them from Fighting Americans during the Revolutionary War
Conquest of Minorca Large Archive of Nearly 50 Letters: French Besiege British in the Mediterranean, Distracting them from Fighting Americans during the Revolutionary War
image_0 image_1 image_2 image_3 image_4 image_5 image_6 image_7 image_8
Description:

Revolutionary War

Conquest of Minorca Large Archive of Nearly 50 Letters: French Besiege British in the Mediterranean, Distracting them from Fighting Americans during the Revolutionary War

An archive of 49 letters addressed to Joseph d'Eyssautier (1729-1785), a Provençal war commissioner, before, during, and after the French and Spanish conquest of the British-controlled island of Minorca, ca. 1780-1784. The French and Spanish, who were allies of the rebellious American colonists, prevented the British from fully dedicating themselves to suppressing the American Revolution. The archive underscores how the American Revolution was engaged in multiple theaters, from North America and the Caribbean, to the Mediterranean, Asia, and Africa.

The letters are inscribed on cream bifold laid paper. Roughly half of the letters include integral address leaves bearing red wax seal remnants (the letters followed d'Eyssautier wherever he was dispatched by the military, to Paris, Mahon, and Perpignan.) Most letters were numbered by the sender, and have been docketed by the letter recipient. Scattered pencil or colored pencil markings throughout, mostly unobtrusive and probably reversible. Expected wear including paper folds, light toning, and isolated pen bleeding, else near fine. The average letter size is 7" x 9".

1 letter dates from 1780; 22 letters date from 1781; 18 letters date from 1782; 5 letters date from 1783; and 3 letters date from 1784. Thus the majority of the archive dates from the actual French and Spanish invasion of Minorca, carried out between August 1781 and February 1782. Another large segment of the archive treats the aftermath of the invasion, when the French were forced to stay on the island instead of returning home.

The letters were mostly penned by d'Eyssautier's son-in-law, Jacques Coye de Castelet (1747-1803), who wrote on behalf of his wife (and d'Eyssautier's only daughter) Marie Anne Jeanne Rose, called Nanette (1752-1836), and his mother-in-law, (and d'Eyssautier's wife since 1751) Catherine Henriette Collin (b. 1727/1730). Portions of the letters were written in the hand of d'Eyssautier's daughter, but Castelet was the principal amanuensis. D'Eyssautier's wife, who suffered from debilitating cataracts and referred to herself in one letter as a pauvre aveugle, or blind person, was able to scrawl a few lines in her own hand on occasion. The earliest letter in the archive series dated September 20, 1780 was written by d'Eyssautier. All of the letters were written in Aix-en-Provence, where the d'Eyssautier household was located. (See genealogical background information included.)

The British had possessed Minorca, considered the second most valuable Mediterranean island after Gibraltar, for most of the eighteenth century. Mahon, with its deep water port, was of strategic importance for provisioning westbound ships en route to the Atlantic. The French and Spanish were allied against Britain following the 1779 Treaty of Aranjuez; their principal aim was to wrest Minorca away from the British. In the summer of 1781, French and Spanish fleets assembled in advance of a 3-pronged attack of Minorca. The allies besieged Fort St. Philip throughout the fall. The British, who were outnumbered and under provisioned, surrendered to the allies on February 4, 1782. As we shall see, news had reached d'Eyssautier's family by the end of that month. Despite the successful allied takeover of Minorca, d'Essyautier was not permitted to leave. He languished on Minorca for nearly two years after the British capitulation, not returning to Provence until December 1783.

The archive gives us insight into the realities of eighteenth-century everyday life, warfare, transportation, and communication. D'Eyssautier's family responds to news coming from Minorca: about the siege and seizure of Fort St. Philip, the surrender of the British, and the subsequent occupation of the island by French and Spanish forces.

More mundane letters discuss local news and family matters such as marriages, deaths, and sickness. Business affairs, finances, and household concerns, like finding a low-cost apartment, are also addressed. Over two dozen locations in France, Spain, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean are mentioned in the letters. These include: in France: Aix-en-Provence, Antibes, Avignon, Bassigny, Coillioure, Grasse, Le Tholonet, Lyon, Manosque, Marignane, Marseille, Martigues, Montpelier, Paris, Perpignan, Pougnan, Roussillon, Tarascon, Toulon, Vence; in Spain, the Mediterranean, and Caribbean: Algeciras, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Mahon, St. Roch.

D'Eyssautier's communication with his family depended on uncontrollable things like the weather. The post was conveyed via unreliable shipping routes, whose obliging sea captains sometimes remembered to deliver the mail. Despite the distance separating them--36 hours by ship between Aix-en-Provence and Mahon, Minorca--d'Eyssautier and his family exchanged all number of foodstuffs and provisions. Madame d'Eyssautier sent her husband linen, shirts, shorts, stockings, collars, boots, uniform braid, a camp bed, a gun, a sword, and his hunting bag. He also received home-made sausages, marinated tuna, olives, capers, rice, rum, and wine. D'Eyssautier faced difficulties, certainly, but few privations; in multiple letters, his wife mentions having shipped him silver table settings, and finding him an itinerant servant. In return, d'Eyssautier sent his family honey, oil, oranges, onion seeds, a Turkish rug, and "English wheelbarrows that fold like books."

Selected Excerpts

Letters in the archive were written without standardized spelling. Obvious orthographic errors have been silently corrected, and punctuation has occasionally been added to clarify meaning.

August 26, 1781

Castelet, d'Eyssautier's son-in-law: "They say here that we are sending 10 battalions to Mahon, commanded by a Camp Marshall, and also 3 regiments, arriving here during the first days of next month, of which 2 will stay until new orders, but we don't absolutely know yet the name of the people who will be employed by this expedition."

October 15, 1781

Castelet, d'Eyssautier's son-in-law: "I come finally to learn by Mr. de Tressemans arriving from Toulon, that the corvette that passed you at Mahon returned to Toulon. He assured me that he had seen Mr. de Venal, who told him that you were so scared of the sea to the point of not eating, but that after a 36-hour-long crossing you had reached Minorca on Friday…the Bouillon (?) regiment, which leaves from here for Toulon where they must embark for Minorca on Friday…this departing regiment causes the whole city to regret them. All the officers have a polished honesty and the soldiers are as well-behaved as girls…"

October 25, 1781

Madame d'Eyssautier: "I come finally, my dear and good husband, to learn by Mr. de Biron that the convoy left Toulon the 22nd; it gave me great pleasure because you would soon be among many French…"

December 11, 1781

Madame d'Eyssautier: "I only think about Mahon and I always see with renewed pleasure everything that comes from that country where all of you must go."

January 8, 1782

Nanette d'Eyssautier: "We are always in anxiety that you are in that country. We wish that this siege would soon be finished, we would like it better to have you with us…"

February 26, 1782

Madame d'Eyssautier: "I don't know how to express, my good and dear husband, how I rejoiced to hear of the seizure of Mahon; my sorrows are going to be over, when I will cease to be separated from you by the sea…this conquest caused the greatest joy in the city. I await your letters with so much more impatience since only they will convert my incredulity about the seizure…At present I cannot too much recommend not going too often to the fort, for fear that the air must be plagued by the dead and the sick that one finds there…try to preserve yourself so that you can return the earliest that you can, to rest your fatigues in the bosom of your family awaiting you with open arms…"

Nanette d'Eyssautier: "…finally Mahon is taken, my good papa…we flatter ourselves that the term will be more short, and that we will soon have the sweet satisfaction and the true happiness to see you among us…"

March 5, 1782

Madame d'Eyssautier: "Yesterday they gave a performance at the Comédie [depicting] the seizure of Mahon…it swept through the city, [everyone] applauded the play made and welcomed by patriotism with enthusiasm."

March 14, 1782

Madame d'Eyssautier: "There is no point speaking about the obligations that you have towards all the other sick officers. In the cares and the attentions that you have shown for them, I recognize your beautiful soul. All my fear at present is that you yourself will get some illness going to the hospital. I can't recommend too much taking all possible precautions to preserve yourself."

March 19, 1782

Madame d'Eyssautier: "The news coming from Mahon is only too true, and everyone here is convinced that the 4 French regiments will form a garrison and that the Spanish troops will go to reinforce St. Roch."

May 12, 1782

Madame d'Eyssautier: "…the troops have left, the correspondence ships no longer sail…I am sorry to see that you stay alone at Mahon."

May 23, 1782

Madame d'Eyssautier: "I received a letter from Mr. de Roussiere, my good and dear husband, by which I learn that the army left Mahon the 22nd or 25th of this month, in order to report to a new destination. I assure you that I am sorry to see you stay alone on your island…Pray the heavens that the Gibraltar expedition is soon over…"

August 21, 1782

Madame d'Eyssautier: "But if you haven't already received [the packet] from Toulon, I will have the pleasure of being the first to inform you that you have been made the principal employed at Roussillon."

August 27, 1782

Madame d'Eyssautier: "I received, my good and dear husband, your two letters of the 15th and 16th of this month, that were delivered to me by M. Despadre, comdant of the corvette la Blonde."

** La Blonde was a full-rigged ship launched by the French Navy in 1781. In the spring of 1782, la Blonde transported some of the 4,000-man expeditionary force that had participated in the invasion of Minorca to Algeciras, Spain. She later became a whaleship and was captured by a French privateer in 1796.

January 17, 1783

Madame d'Eyssautier:  "I curse the slowness of the Spanish, who retain you in a very small country where there are no more French…"

February 21, 1783

Madame d'Eyssautier: "It has been such a long time since you announced your return to us and you never arrive…when will I hear it said that you have landed a foot in France?"

Madame d'Eyssautier's letter from October 4, 1781 reveals that d'Eyssautier had been absent from his family on various duties since April 1780. The last letter from our archive, dated March 31, 1784, leaves him in Perpignan, where we know he died sometime in 1785. Did Joseph d'Eyssautier ever see his family again? It is uncertain, but sadly unlikely.

Joseph d'Eyssautier was first appointed war commissioner some twenty years earlier, in 1765. Before his military career, he supervised the Provençal postal service.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Paypal, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

We do our own in-house worldwide shipping!

Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. We offer several shipping options, and remain one of the few auction houses who proudly provides professional in-house shipping as an option to our clients. All items will ship with signature required, and full insurance. Most items are sent via Federal Express, with P. O. Box addresses being sent through USPS. We insure through Berkley Asset Protection with rates of $.70 per $100 of value, among the lowest insurance rates in the industry. Our shipping department cameras document every package, both outgoing and incoming, for maximum security. In addition, we compare our shipping and handling rates against those of other auction houses, to ensure that our charges are among the lowest in the trade.

Upon winning your item(s), you will receive an invoice with our in-house shipping and handling fees included. ***We will ship to the address as it appears on your invoice, unless you inform us otherwise, immediately upon your receipt of invoice***

Third Party Shipping Option: If a third party shipper is preferred, the buyer is responsible for contacting them directly to make shipping arrangements. For your convenience, we have provided some recommended shippers. For your protection, we will require a signed release from you, confirming your authorization for us to release your lots to your specified third party Please copy and paste this following link into your browser: http://universityarchives.com/UserFiles/ShippingInfo.pdf. At that point, our responsibility and insurance coverage for your item(s) ceases. Items picked up by third party shippers are required to pay Connecticut sales tax. Items requiring third party shipping due to being oversized, fragile or bulky will be denoted in the item description.

Please see our full terms and conditions for names of suggested third party shippers.


After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 5 business days following receipt of full payment for item.Packages shipped internationally will have full value declared on shipping form. International buyers will be responsible for any customs fees incurred.

Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Westport, CT to the buyer's door. Please see full Terms and Conditions of Sale.

University Archives

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 25% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000