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Bonaparte Napoleon



Napoleon Bonaparte Triumphant LS Written to Brother Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia, at Midway Point of 2-Day Battle of Kulm: "General Vandamme writes that there is terror throughout the Russian Army"

 

1p LS in French signed by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) as "Np" at bottom right. Signed in Dresden [modern day Germany] on August 29, 1813, at 7:30 pm. Inscribed overall in a clerical hand, the remaining pages are blank. The watermarked cream bifold paper has a few isolated areas of light foxing or surface unevenness. A few wrinkles, else near fine. 7.25" x 9".

 

Translation:

 

"[inscribed] 29 August 1813 at 7h 1/2 in the evening

 

My brother, today [the] 29 [th] at 6h in the morning, General Vandamme attacked the Prince of Würtemberg near Hollendorf; he took 1,500 prisoners and 4 pieces of cannon, and he led them away defeated: they were all Russian. The Gal Vandamme marched on Toplitz [modern day Teplice, Czech Republic] w. all his corps. The Gal Prince de Reuss, who commanded one of our brigades, was killed. -- I write you that for your govern. [government] -- The general Vandamme writes that there is terror throughout the Russian Army.

 

Your affectionate brother,

 

[signed] Np

 

[inscribed] at Dresden, this 29 August 1813. at 7h 1/2 in the evening."

 

This remarkable letter, dictated by Napoleon Bonaparte at the midway point of the Battle of Kulm (August 29-30, 1813), gives us an eerie perspective on what could have been. Napoleon was flushed and jubilant over the day's victories; though one of his seven commanding officers had been slain, his forces had captured a sizable enemy contingent and valuable war materiel. Modern readers are granted the historical hindsight that Napoleon was not; French forces would suffer a complete reversal before 24 hours had passed. At the end of the second day of the Battle of Kulm, an estimated 5,000 French were killed or wounded, and between 7,000-13,000 French were prisoners of war, including General Vandamme himself!

 

Napoleon twice noted the time of day when he drafted the epistle--7:30 pm--seemingly knowing that news was important only when it was breaking, and that things could change at any moment. He was proved correct.

 

Napoleon's French forces had clashed with Coalition forces (Prussian, Austrian, and Russian) several days earlier, at the Battle of Dresden (August 26-27, 1813). There, Coalition forces antagonized Napoleon's periphery until "Old Boney" appeared himself and aggressively counterattacked. The French won the day despite being significantly outnumbered. French casualties were 10,000, compared to Coalition losses of 38,000.

 

Napoleon's forces were unable to consolidate their victory at the Battle of Dresden, however, because the Grande Armée was still underequipped following its disastrous invasion of Russia the year before. Coalition forces were thus allowed to retreat  and regroup about 35 miles to the southeast, where General Vandamme engaged them outside Toplitz [Teplice, Czech Republic] and Kulm [Chlumec, Czech Republic] two days later. (Hollendorf, the other landmark mentioned in this letter, was about 3 German miles (or roughly 15 miles) away from Teplice.) The French enjoyed initial success chasing Russian forces outside Chlumec until Prussian units attacked Vandamme's rear.

 

Napoleon's correspondent was his younger brother Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860). Napoleon relied on family members and trusted friends to help him rule his extensive empire. His siblings, cousins, and in-laws married into the ruling families of territories that he had recently conquered or consolidated. In this way, Napoleon could rule by proxy through the House of Bonaparte in Italy, Naples, Spain, Holland, and Westphalia.

 

Thus Jerome became the leader of one of these French satellite states, the Kingdom of Westphalia. Jerome ruled this region in modern day western Germany between 1807-1813 from his administrative capital of Kassel, located some 250 miles northwest of the fighting near Chlumec. During his brief reign, Jerome Bonaparte had often clashed with General Vandamme. Twentieth-century historian Philip W. Sergeant acknowledged the mutual dislike of the two men, noting "the friction… between [the] titular and real fighting chiefs" of Napoleon's empire in Germany. Was Jerome the puppet king happy to hear of his rival's success, or resentful that it had not been him?

 

"General Vandamme" referred to Dominique Vandamme (1770-1830), one of Napoleon's most brilliant and ornery military commanders. A career soldier, Vandamme had enlisted before the French Revolution and served in the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic during the Napoleonic Wars. Vandamme purportedly had a sarcastic and vitriolic manner that alienated many. He was chastised for permitting looting, and cited for frequent insubordination. Once he was taken prisoner, Vandamme did not return to France until 1815, when he rejoined the Emperor. He was exiled to Philadelphia during the Bourbon Restoration.

 

"Gal Prince de Reuss" was Henry LXI de Reuss-Schliez (1784-1814), a sovereign prince of Napoleon's Rhine Confederation. He had served in Russia, Austria, Germany, and Poland before being promoted to brigade general in July 1813. Reuss was slain at the Battle of Kulm, and his corpse, which was stored in a baggage train, was captured by Coalition forces.

 

"Prince of Würtemberg" was Duke Eugen de Würtemberg (1788-1857), a German prince who was a general in the Russian Imperial Army. A veteran of both the Battles of Borodino (September 1812) and Krasnoi (November 1812), the Prince of Würtemberg also saw action at the Battles of Dresden and Kulm. 2/3 of the Prince of Würtemberg's forces would be decimated at the Battle of Leipzeig just two short months later, in October 1813.

 

A fascinating letter, revealing that even Napoleon--universally heralded as a master strategist--did not foresee the impending French defeat at the Battle of Kulm!

 

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