Bidspirit auction | NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821) Emperor of

NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821) Emperor of France 1804-14, 1815. A very rare and exceptional L.S., Nap, nine... - NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821) Emperor of France 1804-14, 1815. A very rare and exceptional L.S., Nap, nine pages with gilt edges, 4to, Fontainebleau, 27th January 1813, to Eugene de Beauharnais, in French. A letter of historical interest, dictated by Napoleon to Baron Edouard Mounier, written a month after returning from Russian campaign and only one day after receiving Murat at Fontainebleau and accusing him of having abandoned his army. Napoleon lengthly reports about his intentions to reorganize his armies, refers to many of his Marshals and reveals his intention to return to Russia, and begins his letter saying `My son, I do not have yet a precise idea in mind regarding the way the army has to be re-organized..´ and continues referring to regiments in Danzig, to troops under General Grenier, to General Lagrange `I asked you to replace General Lagrange, he cannot participate in such a war with an arm missing..´, to Marshal Ney `These three divisions will be commanded by the Duke of Elchingen and will keep the name of 11th Corps or take the name of Avant-Garde Corps of the Grande Armée… and this way you will have 6000 horses in the Avant-Garde Corps.´ Napoleon continues sending instructions regarding the reorganization of most of his Corps, Regiments and Battalions, establishing schedules and referring to many of his Generals, further saying `The Elbe Observation Corps (which will get a number), the Observation Corps of Italy, the 1st and 2nd Rhine Observation Corps.. the combined 2nd and 3rd Corps will have four divisions and forty-eight battalions each; the 4th Corps will have three divisions and thirty-six battalions. The total forces of the army beyond the Rhine by the end of June, the Danzig garrison excepted, will include thirty infantry divisions and three hundred and sixty-two battalions. Bringing up the number of men with weapons in each battalion to 650 and to a total amount of more than 200.000 infantry soldiers, and to over 300.000 French including cavalry, artillery and engineers. The Westphalian Corps will be raised… The Saxon, Württemberg and Bavarian Corps will have their ranks filled again. The army will thus be one third stronger than it was during the last campaign. Those various corps may be commanded as follows: 11th Corps, Duke of Elchingen; Elbe Observation Corps, Count Lauriston; Observation Corps of Italy, Count Bertrand; 1st Rhine Observation Corps, Duke of Ragusa or Count of Lobau; 2nd Rhine Observation Corps, Count of Lobau or Duke of Ragusa; 1st Corps, Prince of Eckmühl; combined 2nd and 3rd Corps, Duke of Reggio; 4th Corps, Duke of Taranto.´ Napoleon further confirms his plan, unknown till then, to return to Russia towards August 15th `Supposing Danzig is occupied.. the siege can only begin in April. I will thus have the entire month of June to march on Danzig. Once the siege of Danzig and the siege of Thorn are raised and my communications are restored… I will postpone moving any further until a future campaign or, if appropriate, cross the Niemen around August 15th. It is the best period since the harvest is over at that time, the fodder for horses is ripe and two and a half months are enough for me to march on Vitebsk and the Dnieper area.. corps will be raised to 60,000 men, which will allow at the same time to enter Volhynia… On top of this I will have 120,000 men in France and Italy to defend my coasts and borders.´ Further again referring with strong interest to Warsaw and Russia `I suppose you have summoned back all Cavalry regiments which were in Warsaw. Warsaw must be kept whatever it costs. Austria is rearming. And according to all available information Russia is in a terrible situation and can only send some small light cavalry towards Posen... It is thus necessary to remain in Posen to protect Warsaw and maintain communications.. Russia cannot leave less than 50,000 men in front of Danzig, 10,000 in front of Thorn, just as many in front of Modlin and less than 60,000 facing Galicia. Consequently, it is not possible that the Russian army starts marching towards you. The most important thing is to reorganize the cavalry corps of General La Tour-Maubourg in order to scout around and keep the enemy away from our communications.´ An unusual lengthy letter with extraordinary content. VG £8000-12000 Eugene de Beauharnais (1781-1824) French Prince, son of Josephine de Beauharnais, Viceroy of Italy 1805-14 and Grand Duke of Frankfurt. Stepson and adopted child of Napoleon Bonaparte. Edouard Mounier (1783-1843) Baron of the Empire and cabinet secretary of Napoleon I. Became General Director of the French police in 1819. Paul Grenier (1768-1827) French General during revolution and under the Empire, an excellent tactician credited with many battle victories. Adelaide Blaise Le Lievre de la Grange (1766-1833) Marquis de la Grange et de Fourilles.