Description:

Bonaparte Napoleon


Napoleon Bonaparte LS: "I see with pleasure that my Dragoons leave."

 

1p LS in French inscribed in a clerical hand and signed by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) as "Napol" at bottom. Written at Finckenstein Palace on April 3, 1807. The watermarked cream bifold paper has gilt edges, each sheet measuring 7.875" x 9.75". In near fine condition, with expected light paper folds. From the Marc-Arthur Kohn sale, "The Empire in Paris," December 2, 2013 (Paris, France), part of Lot 39.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte--emperor, military commander, and master geopolitical strategist--addressed this letter to his Minister of War, Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke (1765-1818), in early April 1807. It dates from the waning months of the War of the 4th Coalition (October 1806-July 1807), when Napoleon was inexorably marching east conquering modern day Poland. Napoleon won the war after forcing the surrender of Polish strongholds Szczecin in October 1806, Gdansk in May 1807, and Kolobrzeg in July 1807.

 

Napoleon personally commanded his Grande Armee, comprised of 1,000,000 soldiers at its greatest extent, while invading and incorporating European territories into his ever-expanding empire. In this Polish campaign, Napoleon's French forces joined German, Italian, and Polish troops and faced off against the coalition forces Prussia, Russia, Great Britain, and Sweden. Napoleon's memorandum to General Clarke illustrates both his direct style of leadership and his mastery of logistics.

 

Translation from the French; page breaks have been added for improved legibility.

 

“Monsieur General Clarke, I am sending you the report of Mr. Daru. It is necessary to take measures against cities who give money to small numbers of armed men. -- I see with pleasure that the 3rd provisional regiment has left. You tell me that you ordered 246 men of the 3rd regiment of infantry to leave for Torun. Try to give the same order to those who went to Kolobrzeg; with the one set arriving at Torun and the other at Kwidzyn, I can reunite them. -- I see with pleasure that my Dragoons leave. --

 

I am going to send 120 cavalry and 240 dragoons to Potsdam to show them again. Give them horses, harnesses, and equipment without delay. All the measures that you take with General Bourcier on this subject will be approved.

 

On this, I pray that God keeps you in his holy care. At Finckenstein April 3, 1807.

 

Napol.”

 

As this letter shows, Napoleon was intimately involved in the minutest details of his military campaigns, particularly those involving scheduling and troop movements. There was certainly a lot to keep track of. Napoleon assigned different troops to different places, anticipated their provisioning (food, drink, clothing, arms, ammunition, transport), and forecasted travel time down to the exact day.

 

"Mr. Daru" referred to Pierre Antoine Noel Bruno, Count Daru (1767-1829), who served as Intendant General of the Grande Armee after 1806. Daru had considerable experience with military administration, having served as the Chief Commissary of the French Revolutionary Army in Brittany, Switzerland, and northern Italy between 1793-1803, and Napoleon put him in charge of conquered Prussian and Austrian territories in 1807. He later became Napoleon's Minister of War in 1811.

 

"General Bourcier" was Francois Antoine Louis Bourcier (1760-1828), a cavalry officer who fought in the German, Polish, Russian, and Peninsular theaters. As commander of the dragoons, he knew what "horses, harnesses, and equipment" would be available. Napoleon's dragoons were well-stocked after the October 1806 Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, when they captured thousands of enemy horses.

 

Napoleon was in part able to accomplish all he did by relying on General Clarke, who handled military matters ranging from inspection and provisioning, to conscription and internal discipline. General Clarke was recognized for his great service when he was granted the honorary title of Duc of Feltre in August 1809.

 

Napoleon resided at Finckenstein Palace, located in modern day northeastern Poland, during the latter half of the Polish Campaign, between April-June 1807. The Georgian chateau provided Napoleon with close access to his troops in western and northern Poland. It was also the site of the Treaty of Finckenstein (signed by Napoleon and Persian envoy Mirza Mohammed Reza-Qazvini in April 1807), as well as the trysting place of Napoleon and his Polish mistress Maria Walewska (1786-1817).

 


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