Description:

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
(1769 - 1821) The "Little Corporal" whose brilliance in the field of battle and as Emperor of France has made him perhaps the most important figure of post-Renaissance Europe. Important manuscript D.S. "Bonaparte" 2pp. sm. folio, Paris, Apr. 2, 1798 to Gen. Baraguay d'Hilliers (1764-1813), at this time serving as France's governor of Venice. D'Hilliers joined the army at the age of twenty and served as Custine's chief of staff, but unlike his senior, escaped the guillotine during the Revolution. After his arrest on suspicion of royalist sympathies, the young officer (later general) participated in the capture of Bergamo, led a brigade at the Battle of Rivoli, and was appointed governor of Venice. D'Hilliers would later fight under Bonaparte in Egypt, Germany, and in the disastrous Russian campaign where his division marched into the jaws of the advancing Russian army. In this important document, Napoleon orders that preparations be made for the invasion of Malta, a prelude to his invasion of Egypt which had been approved by the Directory only a few weeks earlier. In part: "...The Consul will receive the 600,000 [livres?] by tomorrow's courier which, when joined with the 200,000 that I already sent, should amount to the sum necessary for the embarkment. Send me...1. A report on the battleships, the amount of equipment in tons for each ship as well as the number of men and the name of each corps...2. A report on your division...your 2 commissioners...artillery officers...Make sure to board as many surgeons and doctors as possible, French or Italian...independent of those of the corps and ambulances. Board 18 or 20 armorers with all their tools, be they French or Italian...Write to General Berthier to have him forward 3,000 guns to you if he's able. Do not leave without new orders. Have 3 or 4 days' worth of food onboard. Make sure not to load anything non-essential...Have one superior officer waiting in Genoa to assign to each corps...so that they can meet up with the men leaving the hospitals. Every time the men add up to 100 we will give them orders to join us...Let me know by return courier the exact state of everything having to do with the soldiers. Make sure to have 3 good hospital directors and a number of good nurses...". Very good, with a large, bold signature. At the beginning of the campaign, Napoleon's expedition seized Malta from the Knights of Saint John on June 9 and then landed successfully at Alexandria on July 1, eluding, for the time being, detection by the Royal Navy.

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December 16, 2010 11:00 AM EST
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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