Description:

Napoleon Bonaparte
Château de Saint-Cloud, France, April 9, 1812
Napoleon Troop Movement Directive Boldly Signed "N" Re: Raising Troops In Advance of Russian Invasion
MDS

A 3pp document in French boldly signed by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) as "N" on the first page at the center of the left margin. The original document is dated April 8, 1812, n.p. Napoleon's answer is written in a secretarial hand in the left margin, dated April 9, 1812, from the Château de Saint-Cloud, France, and reads (translated): "Leave, from now on, all who arrive at or leave the hospitals, in the Battalion - this will strengthen the esprit of the 5th Battalion." Countersigned by French War Minister Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke (1765-1818) as "Duc du Feltre" on the third page near the top. The document is partly printed and partly manuscript on watermarked paper, with "Rapport A Sa Majesté l'Empereur et Roi" letterhead. With numerous clerical dockets and scattered notes on the first page. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds. Isolated loss, surface abrasions, and yellowing affecting the inner edges of each page, probably once bifold but now separated. Else legible and very clear. 7.875" x 12.125."

French War Minister the Duke of Feltre informed Napoleon that he had just conveyed the Emperor's troop movement instructions to "Général Hulin." This referred to Major General Pierre-Auguste Hulin (1758-1841), a veteran Napoleonic War soldier who had served with distinction in the Grande Armée in 1805 and 1806; from 1807-1814, Hulin also served as Governor of Paris. Napoleon's instructions to Hulin (via Feltre) were to assemble as many extra soldiers and officers as possible from the 5th Battalion military depots. While Hulin was able to scrape together 63 men, he regretted that he lacked the requisite number of officers needed to command them, since officers were already in short supply for training large numbers of raw conscripts.

Napoleon was most likely trying to expand the ranks of the Grande Armée in advance of his planned invasion of Russia. Napoleon had first begun releasing internal plans about his ambitious assault a year earlier, in March 1811. About six weeks before Napoleon authorized this directive, on February 24, 1812, France's ally Prussia had promised him 20,000 men for the planned invasion. On March 14, 1812, Austria - his second wife Marie-Louise's native country - had vowed to provide Napoleon with an additional 30,000 men. Even though Napoleon was anxious about troop numbers prior to the invasion, his secretarial note indicates that, to him, some considerations - like the esprit de corps of the 5th Battalion - were more important than army rolls. More damage would be caused if quotas were prioritized over morale.

Translated in part, with punctuation silently added to improve clarity:

"I have the honor of informing the Emperor, that, on your order and in accordance with your intentions, I have delivered [instructions] to General Hulin, to draw from the depots of the 5th Battalion, the aforesaid 32nd, 58th Regiments of Line Infantry, [as well as the] 2nd, 4th, 12th & 15th of Light Infantry, all the men [including] former soldiers who are still available there, and to form them into a marching detachment for the Grande Armée, commanded by good officers and sub-officers. This General summoned me [to indicate] the results of the review that he made; there exist in these depots…





Total: 63 available soldiers

Taken from among the veterans and the 1811 conscripts and, in the majority, leaving the hospitals or under convalescence; but that seeing the lack of officers and sub-officers which comprise the deployed numbers of the 5th Battalion, and the necessity of conserving these for the instruction of the large number of 1812 conscripts, he does not believe that he will be able to siphon off any in order to command a detachment of 63 men, and in this regard, he will await other orders.

And in order to better understand the situation of the 5th Battalion in terms of its officers, sub-officers, and soldiers, he includes his Status Report here attached, [not included in this lot] of which I have the honor of putting under the eyes of Your Majesty, who will remark upon the available force in fusiliers as well as the number of men necessary for the Administration, Instruction to the Police in Discipline, and finally, the number of 1812 Conscripts received at the depots of these regiments who have already left, together 750 veteran soldiers, in the first 15 days of March.

Minister of War

Duc de Feltre."

Napoleon's Grande Armée would march into Russia about two months later, in June 1812, with approximately 685,000 men. Napoleon reached Moscow in September 1812, but it was nothing but a Pyrrhic victory as the capital was already abandoned, and Tsar Alexander I refused to negotiate a surrender. Napoleon eventually retreated through Western Russia with what was left of his armies. Costly battles, sickness, starvation, and the extreme cold had reduced his principal fighting force to 45% of its original number.

Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke served as Napoleon's War Minister between 1807-1814. 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 Clark was recognized for his great service when he was granted the honorary title of Duc of Feltre in August 1809.

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.

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  • Dimensions: 7.875" x 12.125"
  • Medium: MDS

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