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. NAPOLEON DECLARES VICTORY FROM THE 'BLOODY' BATTLEFIELD OF EYLAU. A most historic and important manuscript L.S. 'Napole', 1p. 8vo., Feb. 9, 1807, to HENRI-JACQUES CLARKE (1765 - 1818), then serving as governor of Erfurt and of Berlin, or possibly in Paris preparing to assume the position of Minister of War. On the day after the Battle of Eylau, scene of one of the greatest cavalry battles of all time and with thousands of bodies still littering the fields, Napoleon declares victory over his Russian enemies. He writes Clarke, his most valued friend and military asset, in part: '...Yesterday there was a battle where victory remained for us, the battlefield was very bloody. The [?] and the season give the need to shelter in winter quarters from a swarm of Cossacks will perhaps lead me to take the left bank of the Vistula. Keep [?] in [?] convoys the money which would be sent to Warsaw. With this, I pray to God that he has you in his holy custody...'. Light folds, else fine. The Battle of Eylau was a bloody and strategically inconclusive battle on 7 and 8 February 1807 between Napoleon's Grande Armee and the Imperial Russian Army under the command of Levin August von Bennigsen, near the town of Preussisch Eylau in East Prussia. On 14 October 1806, Napoleon crushed the armies of the Kingdom of Prussia at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt and hunted down the scattered Prussians at battles that soon followed. In late January, Bennigsen's Russian army went on the offensive in East Prussia, pushing far to the west. Napoleon reacted by mounting a counteroffensive to the north, hoping to prevent their retreat to the east. After his Cossacks had captured a copy of Napoleon's orders, Bennigsen rapidly withdrew to the northeast to avoid being cut off. The French pursued for several days and found the Russians drawn up for battle at Eylau. In a vicious evening clash, the French captured the village, with heavy losses on both sides. The following day brought even more serious fighting. Early in the battle, a frontal attack by Napoleon failed, with catastrophic losses. To reverse the situation, he launched a massed cavalry charge against the Russians. That bought enough time for the French right wing to throw its weight into the contest. The battle swung back and forth for hours until nighttime when Bennigsen decided to retreat, leaving Napoleon in possession of a snowy battlefield covered with thousands of dead and wounded - over 25,000 casualties each for the French and Russians! Eylau was the first serious check to the Grande Armee, and the myth of Napoleon's invincibility was badly shaken. Nevertheless, the French went on to decisively defeat Bennigsen's army at the Battle of Friedland, four months later. A letter of great import!

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December 6, 2024 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

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