NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821)

NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821)

‘It seems to me that what I want is not difficult to understand…

otherwise it will only be a cacophony’

 

NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821) Emperor of France 1804-14, 1815. A fine and lengthy L.S., `Np´, three pages, gilt edges, 4to, Saint Cloud, 8th April 1813, to the Duc de Feltre, in French. The present letter is dated only few months after the catastrophic retreat of the French Grande Armée from Russia, and refers to the organization of the French troops before facing the German campaign. Napoleon had to gather in a short period an army of 150 thousand men, with often inexperienced recruits. In the present letter the Emperor shows his exceptional skills organizing with energy his regiments, squadrons, appointing officers and complaining of the inefficiency of his subordinates, stating in part `Le Duc de Plaisance me mande en date du 3 avril qu´il n´a pas été possible de trouver assez de chefs d´escadron pour completer les cadres des 2 divisions de marche de cavalerie… Comment sur 16 n´en peuvent-ils pas fournir deux? Cette partie de l´organisation marche bien lentement. Si cela était, il faudrait sur le champ en nommer. Je ne puis pas approuver que vous nommiez…´ (“The Duke of Plaisance reports to me on April 3rd that it has not been possible to find enough squadron leaders to complete the 2 cavalry marching divisions… How can it be that out of 16 they cannot provide two? This part of the organization works very slowly. If so, we would have to appoint some right away. I cannot approve that you appoint...”) Napoleon lists many appointments of officers which he disagrees with and indicates clearly that they have to remain where they were, explaining which way this has to be handle, and quite annoyed repeats his orders once more saying `Je vous renvoie donc cette organisation pour que vous la refassiez. Il me semble que ce que je desire n´est pas difficile à comprendre. Je forme chaque régiment de marche de 6 régiments différents. Il faut que les colonels, chefs d´escadron, capitaine, lieutenant, etc.. de ces régiments de marche soient tirés des régiments qui les forment; sans quoi ce ne sera que cacophonie´ (“I therefore send this organization back to you so that you can redo it. It seems to me that what I want is not difficult to understand. I form each marching regiment of 6 different regiments. The colonels, squadron leaders, captain, lieutenant, etc.. of these marching regiments must be taken from the regiments which form them; otherwise it will only be a cacophony”) Before concluding Napoleon complaints once again for such lack of capacity of his subordinates, saying `Il ne s´agira plus que de réunir les escadrons par regiments primitifs et toute la cavalerie se trouvera alors réorganisée. Il faut qu´il y ait bien peu d´intélligence dans votre bureau de cavalerie si on ne comprend pas cela…´ (“It will then and only be a question of reuniting the squadrons by primitive regiments and all the cavalry will then be reorganized. There must be very little intelligence in your cavalry office if this is not understood...”) Accompanied by a small 12mo holograph pinned receipt to the bottom left corner. Very small age toning, otherwise VG

 

Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke (1765-1818) Duc de Feltre and Minister of War under Napoleon. Later Marshal of France in 1816, one of six created under King Louis XVIII from 1815-24