Lot n° 49
Estimation :
4000 - 5000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 23 998EUR
Napoléon Ier (1769-1821) - Lot 49
Napoléon Ier (1769-1821)
7 L.S. "Bonaparte", one with autograph correction, Boulogne 15-25 brumaire XII (November 7-17, 1803), to Consul
CAMBACÉRÈS; the letters are written by Méneval; 1 page in-4 each, the 1st 1 page and a quarter, the 5th 1 page and a half; vignettes engraved with the name of Bonaparte Ist Consul of the Republic.
[129 to 131, 133 to 136]
Tournee d'inspection au Camp de Boulogne.
15 brumaire. "I spent, Citizen Consul, the day of Sunday to visit the new ports of Ambleteuse & Wimereux, and to make maneuver the troops who are there. The work is going well. After the battle we had, the enemy disappeared: it seems that he went to get supplies in
England. Today I went [to visit] all the Navy workshops in great detail. It is as pitiful as it is possible to imagine. I have just transformed a barracks into a naval arsenal; I must order everything in the smallest detail. I spent several hours inspecting the troops man by man, and making sure myself of the situation of the different parts. I still have work to do here for several days.2 16 brumaire. "I spent the day of yesterday to make maneuver the troops.
Any individual born French who is arrested, and who claims the intervention of an ambassador must be treated more severely, and one must not make any answer to the ambassadors. I am here for several days, because I still have many things to do and to see ".
17 brumaire. "I spent, Citizen Consul, a part of the night, to make the Troops make evolutions of night, maneuvers which educated and well-disciplined troops can sometimes make with advantage against mass levies. A flotilla has just arrived from Le Havre.
It is composed of 25 ships. We are waiting every moment for another division coming from the side of Le Havre, also composed of 25 ships which have anchored at S. Valery sur Somme. The sea being very bad, Admiral [BRUIX] had the flotilla return to the port. The south winds, which have become very violent, have forced six gunboats to take refuge in Calais.
It is feared that a ship, which was driven by the winds on the coast of England, was taken by the enemy ".
19 brumaire. "The sea is horrible, and the rain does not stop falling. I spent yesterday in the port to inspect, because there is always something to see.
[...] I am expecting, tomorrow or the next day, the Minister of the Navy [DECRÈS]. His arrival is necessary so that I know the state of the ports of S. Malo & Le Havre and so that I can make the last arrangements ".
20 brumaire. "The sea continues to be bad here, and the rain falls by torrents. I imagine that finally the Seine must rise. I spent all day yesterday in the port by boat and on horseback; that is to say that I was constantly wet. In the present season, one would not do anything if one did not face the water: fortunately, for my part, it works perfectly for me, and I have never been so well. [...] I don't think I can allow the Abbé de Montesquiou to return to Paris. He is very well in Menton. He has constituted himself the agent of Cde.
Lille [Louis XVIII], and as a priest, he has constantly affected to disregard the
Concordat, a natural conduct in his diplomatic position. An English frigate has just been lost body and goods between Boulogne and S. Valery.
Many effects were thrown on the shore, among which some [autograph correction] books and English registers".
24 brumaire. He announces the arrival of the Minister of the Navy. "I have spent these three days in the middle of the camps and the port. Everything here is beginning to take on the movement and direction that it should have. I saw from the heights of Ambleteuse the coasts of England, as one sees from the Thuileries the
Calvary. One could distinguish the houses and the movement. It is a ditch which will be crossed, when one will have the audacity to try it. The Seine must be very high in Paris; the rain has not stopped here. We have more than 200 ships since S. Malo, in harbor or leaving to join us"... 25 brumaire. "It rains here by torrens. Yesterday the advance guard of a division of the flotilla left from Le Havre arrived. It appears that the remainder of the division entered S. Valery sur Somme ".
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