DAVOUT (Louis-Nicolas). Correspondence of... - Lot 14 - Osenat

DAVOUT (Louis-Nicolas). Correspondence of 7 letters (6 autographs, one autograph) to his wife Aimée Leclerc. After his brilliant participation in the Prussian and Polish campaigns (battles of Auerstaedt, Czarnowo, Golymin, Eylau), he was chosen in August 1807 to command the French troops stationed in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Created by the Treaty of Tilsit despite the strong reluctance of Alexander I, this political entity was to be placed in the hands of King Frederick-Augustus III of Saxony... who took a long time to take possession of it. That's why, during one year in Poland, Marshal Davout had to face alone an extremely difficult situation: financial crisis, food shortage, political ambiguities of the high nobility, actions of Prussia and Austria, unhappy to have lost their Polish territories and provoking incidents on the borders. He carried out his task with great mastery and justified the emperor's confidence: it was in thinking of the administrative qualities displayed by Marshal Davout in Poland (and later in Hamburg) that Napoleon I made him his Minister of War in 1815. A LARGE LAND OWNER IN POLAND BY THE MUNIFICENCE OF NAPOLEON I. Marshal Davout was experiencing personal cash flow difficulties which caused him numerous recriminations from his wife, who remained alone in Paris and was looking for a private hotel. A man of integrity who did not allow himself to be depredated or to be taken advantage of like others in the countryside, he was reluctant to ask for the emperor's help. However, he received an important endowment in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, attached to his title of duke of Auerstaedt, and based on the property of the former principality of Lowicz, which included the palace of Skierniewice between Lódz and Warsaw. In addition, an important imperial gratification allowed his wife Aimée to acquire for them a hotel in Paris, the one then called "Hotel de Monaco", rue Saint-Dominique, until then occupied by the ambassador of the Ottoman Empire. - Hohenstein [now Olsztynek in Poland], February 24 [1807], with date stamp of March 15, 1807. " ... I have so much confidence in fortune that I do not conceive how one can distrust it, you had enough proof that my absolute confidence was founded, everything announces that I will not need its favors any more. We are taking up our winter quarters and EVERYTHING SUPPOSES THAT OUR ENEMIES, FATIGUE AND DISGUSTED BY THE GREAT BATTLE OF E[Y]LAU, ARE SERIOUSLY CONCERNED ABOUT PEACE. This has always been the wish of our emperor..." (2 pp. 1/4 in-4, address on back, remnant of red wax seal, 3 paper tears due to opening without affecting text). - Warsaw, October 12 [1807] with date stamp of October 27, 1807. "I received your letter of 25 September, my dear Aimée. THIS CONTINUATION OF UNJUST REPROACHES CAN ADD NOTHING TO THE CONVICTION I ALREADY HAD THAT FROM NOW ON ALL DOMESTIC HAPPINESS WAS LOST TO ME. It was, however, the only one I could enjoy. God forbid that I should make recriminations, they would not be confessed by my heart and they would be groundless, as I have already told you. It would be more advantageous for us to avoid a kind of correspondence that does nothing but harm and to stick to talking about our health. As for me, when you tell me "I am doing well" as well as your two little ones, I feel a satisfaction which makes me forget what the rest of your letter may be unpleasant, especially since I have the strongest attachment to you and do not deserve any of the reproaches they all contain. You must have and feel the need to reproach me to point out that I have not yet mentioned my second daughter in my letters and that I have forgotten her name, Léonie, which you named her... [The very prolonged absence of the marshal and the needs for money of his wife, who had to give birth alone in June 1807 to their daughter Adèle, Adèle Napoléone Léonie of her full name, had temporarily but strongly embittered their relations]. Finally, my good Aimée, SINCE YOU DOUBT MY FEELINGS, THERE IS NO REMEDY. I WILL LIMIT MYSELF TO ASSURING YOU THAT I WILL NEVER CHANGE, THAT I WILL ALWAYS BE A GOOD HUSBAND AND A GOOD FATHER..." (1 p. 1/4 in-folio, address on the back, vestige of red wax seal with the shield bearing his initials placed on marshal sticks, black postal mark " N° 43. GRANDE-ARMEE", one margin frayed with tears due to the opening affecting a word, small worm work affecting some letters). - Warsaw, December 22 [1807]. " ... You are upset about the debts you have, about the impossibility of buying a hotel with the price given by the emperor. Usually you see everything in black and you feel the strongest