Description:

Bonaparte Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte Signed Letter From Polish Campaign, War of the 4th Coalition: "…I reiterate my wish that the four first provisional regiments start marching for Torun."

 

1p LS in French inscribed in a clerical hand and signed by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) as "Napol" at bottom. Written in Osterode, Germany on March 11, 1807. The cream paper is in near fine condition, with expected light paper folds and wrinkles, measuring 7.125" x 8.45". 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 early 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 mastery of logistics.

 

Translation from the French:

 

“Monsieur General Clarke, I reiterate my wish that the four first provisional regiments start marching for Torun. The 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th are all marching for your Government, but you must not slow down to wait for methodic replacements. The exact time of the arrival of the four last regiments being uncertain, it could be of great interest to have the four first regiments arrive here two days earlier or two days later. -- Regarding the last provisional regiments, I recommend that you review them at Magdeburg and at Berlin, and complete their armament and outfitting. On this, I pray that God keeps you in his holy care. At Osterode March 11, 1807. Napol.”

 

Torun, located in the heart of Poland, served as a French satellite command center, complete with garrison and hospital. Napoleon's directive to send provisional regiments from central Germany by staggering their arrival demonstrates his well-reasoned and methodical way of planning troop movements.

 

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.

 

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. ***PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR SHIPMENT TO BE SENT TO AN ADDRESS OTHER THAN THE ONE YOU HAVE ON FILE WITH INVALUABLE, YOU WILL NEED TO INFORM US OF THIS AS SOON AS PAYMENT IS SUBMITTED FOR YOUR WINNINGS*** Shipping and handling costs are competitive as we maintain discounted contracts with FedEx. If you have any questions, contact University Archives prior to bidding. After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 5 business days following receipt of full payment for item. We currently ship via FedEx but if your purchase is shipping to a P.O. Box, we ship via USPS. All items are insured. We ship from our offices in Westport, CT. We may opt to use a third party shipper for very fragile, bulky or oversized items. Items requiring third party shipping will be denoted in the item description. 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