NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821) An excellent content letter signed "Bonaparte"

NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821) An excellent content letter signed "Bonaparte"

NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821) Emperor of France 1804-14, 1815. An excellent and very clean L.S., `Bonaparte´, five pages, over two bifolium 4to, Paris, 29th April 1802, to the Minister of War, Berthier, in French. The letter bears an attractive Republican vignette to the heading, stating `Au nom du Peuple Français - Bonaparte Consul de la République”. Napoleon sends a very lengthy and interesting letter, showing once more the control he had in full detail of his troops, his working methods, and scolding his correspondent and Minister, requests a better and more precise work, stating in part `J´ai parcouru avec attention, Citoyen Ministre, les quatre états relatifs à la conscription dans les différents départements. 1º Tous les départements n´y sont pas, d´abord les qutre départements du Rhin, ensuite les départements de l´Ouest; de sorte qu´au lieu de 102 départements il n´y en a que 86. 2º Le Piémont est porté pour recruter les corps en garnison; il vaut mieux, pour cette année, porter au complet les demi-brigades et les régiments qui ont été tirés de ce pays. 3º Les départements de la Corse sont portés pour recruter la 23º demi-brigade, qui y est en garnison; il faut au contraire que la 23º se recrute dans le Var, ou mieux encore dans les Alpes-Maritimes, et faire recruter une demi-brigade qui se trouve à Nice ou en Provence par les conscrits de la Corse; bien entendu qu´il faut leur assigner une demi-brigade d´infanterie légère. 4º On ne s´est pas assez attaché, dans ce tableau, à affecter les pays montagneux à l´infanterie légère, et les pays de plaine à l´infanterie de ligne; par exemple la 6º est affectée à l´Allier qui est un pays tout de plaine. Il est essentiel de choisir les trente localités les plus montagneuses pour les affecter au recrutement des trente demi-brigades d´infanterie légère. Le travail ne parait pas avoir été fait avec méthode...´ (Translation: "I have carefully read, Citizen Minister, the four statements relating to conscription in the different departments. - 1º. All the departments are not included, first the four departments of the Rhine, then the departments of the West; so that instead of 102 departments there are only 86. - 2º. Piedmont is listed to recruit the corps in garrison; it is better, for this year, to list in full the demi-brigades and regiments that have been drawn from this country. - 3º. The departments of Corsica are listed to recruit the 23rd demi-brigade, which is in garrison there; on the contrary, the 23rd must be recruited in the Var, or better still in the Alpes-Maritimes, and a demi-brigade located in Nice or Provence must be recruited by the conscripts from Corsica; of course, they must be assigned to a demi-brigade of light infantry. - 4º. In this table, not enough attention has been paid to assigning mountainous regions to light infantry and plain regions to line infantry; for example, the 6th is assigned to Allier, which is an entirely plain region. It is essential to choose the thirty most mountainous localities to assign them to recruiting the thirty demi-brigades of light infantry. The work does not appear to have been done methodically....") Further, Napoleon continues pointing out the multiple mistakes and inconsistencies he has observed in the military report received from Berthier, and orders to work to be fully redone, stating in part `L´état nº 2, de trois colonnes, ne me parait point exact... La 45º demi-brigade diffère bien davantage encore....elle n´a donc besoin pour se compléter, que de 72 hommes, et vous portez dans votre état 394 hommes, elle n´a donc besoin que du sixième de ce que vous portez... Ainsi, par le simple aspect des revues que vous m´avez remises hier, comparées à votre travail, il résulte que l´état que vous m´avez présenté a été fait sur des bases fausses; il faut donc le faire refaire sur des bases réelles...´ (Translation: "The situation report No. 2, of three columns, does not seem exact to me... The 45th demi-brigade differs even more....it only needs 72 men to complete itself, and you carry 394 men in your state, it therefore only needs a sixth of what you carry... Thus, by the simple appearance of the reviews that you gave me yesterday, compared to your work, it results that the situation that you presented to me was made on false bases; it must therefore be redone on real bases...") An extremely interesting military content letter. Paper with watermark. Very small overall minor age wear, otherwise VG

Louis Alexandre Berthier (1753-1815), Marshal of France, Prince of Neuchatel. Chief of Staff under Napoleon. At the time of the present letter Berthier was General and Minister of war 1800-07. He will be appointed Marshal two years later in 1804.