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Bonaparte Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte Signed Letter from Polish Campaign, War of the 4th Coalition: "There are detachments at Perleberg, at Stendal, at Prenzlau, etc. This is what weakens us so much."

 

2pp LS in French inscribed in a clerical hand and signed by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) as "Napoleon" at center of second page verso. Written in Osterode, Germany on March 15, 1807. The watermarked cream paper is in near fine condition, with expected light paper folds, measuring 7.25" x 8.75". From the Marc-Arthur Kohn sale, "The Empire in Paris," December 2, 2013 (Paris, France), part of Lot 38.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte--emperor, military commander, and master geopolitical strategist--addressed this letter to his Minister of War, Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke (1765-1818), in mid-March 1807. It dates from the waning months of the War of the 4th Coalition (October 1806-July 1807), when Napoleon's forces were 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. His memorandum to General Clarke illustrates Napoleon’s direct style of leadership as well as his mastery of logistics.

 

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

 

“Monsieur General Clarke, you only have two Nassau Battalions at Berlin. Go find the 9th Battalion, which has 800 men, and make them rejoin you at Berlin. Perhaps they stayed on the Frankfurt side? The commander of the two Berlin Battalions should know. Send an officer to gather news.

 

Reiterate the order, as soon as possible, to the two companies of military police orderlies, to return to Torun. I don’t have any news from Kolobrzeg. It appears that General Teulie hasn’t written. Ask him for a report of all that he did in February and March so that I can know where things are. Order those at the Potsdam depot, who are available and in a state of readiness, to leave. There are many detachments of dragoon cavalry and infantry at Szczecin, at Kostrzyn, at Berlin. Make them all leave for Torun. I see that March 10th, the 19th was still at Szczecin. Make them leave. Order all available men to leave to go to Kostrzyn.

 

There are detachments at Perleberg, at Stendal, at Prenzlau, etc. This is what weakens us so much. Give a general order that all of them leave.

 

On this, I pray that God keeps you in his holy care. At Osterode March 15, 1807.

 

Napole.”

 

As this letter shows, Napoleon was intimately involved in the minutest details of his military campaigns. The success of his military strategy depended on constant intelligence. Napoleon berated subordinates if they did not report everything to him, and he was clearly annoyed that General Pietro Teulie (1769-1807) had not yet made a report. There was certainly a lot to keep track of. This letter, for example, mentions the movements of at least 6 regiments to and from no fewer than 10 German and Polish cities!

 

Torun, located in the heart of Poland, served as a French satellite command center, complete with garrison and hospital. Napoleon directed troops from across Germany to congregate there without delay. Napoleon's remark, "This is what weakens us so much," shows his frustration at the proclivity of regiments to dawdle in conquered or garrisoned cities. Napoleon wanted his troops instantly ready for dispatch at any time.

 

General Pietro Teulie, an Italian commander, fought in Germany and Poland during the War of the 4th Coalition.  He led spirited attacks against the city of Kolobrzeg, which French coalition forces were besieging, before dying of blood poisoning after a grenade explosion in June 1807. The city fell to French forces a month later.

 

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.

 

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