LANNES (JEAN). - Lot 9

Lot 9
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Estimation :
3000 - 4000 EUR
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Result : 4 940EUR
LANNES (JEAN). - Lot 9
LANNES (JEAN). Set of 13 autograph letters signed to his wife Louise Guéheneuc. Present-day Poland, 1806-1808. - Stettin [then in Prussia, now Szczecin in Poland], November 4, 1806. "I thought... that everything was over and that I would be with you soon; we are leaving in two days for Poland [in fact his cavalry would leave on November 7 and his infantry on November 8], but you can rest easy, we won't be fighting anymore and this movement will only delay the pleasure of embracing you for a few days... I urge you, my dear friend, not to grieve. THIS IS OUR LAST CAMPAIGN. It is much better to end it now that we are underway, than to start again in two months[s]. So, my dear friend, once I am with you, it will be for life... Thomières and Louis are doing well..." (one p. in-4, address on spine with vestige of bronze wax seal; tear to address leaf due to opening without damage to text). Louis Guéheneuc, brother-in-law and future aide-de-camp to Marshal Lannes, would become a general and aide-de-camp to Napoleon I. The future general Jean Guillaume Barthélemy Thomières was then adjutant-commander of the 5th corps staff under Marshal Lannes. - Bromberg [then in Prussia, today Bydgoszcz in Poland], November 14 [1806]. "I haven't heard from you for several days... Why don't you write to me by the courier of the Empress? I AM WITH MY CORPS ON THE VISTULA. THE POLES ARE VERY FOND OF US. There's talk of peace. You have no doubt... of the pleasure it would give me. As soon as it's assured, I'll send you a letter to let you know. And in case we spend the winter in this country, I'll bring you to Berlin. You can be sure of that..." (one p. in-4, address on spine, vestige of red wax seal; tears to address leaf due to opening without affecting text). - Thorn [then in Prussia, now Toruń in Poland], November 24, 1806. "You see, my good friend, that I am keeping my word to you, and that I am sending you a lovely courier to accompany you to Berlin [Louis Guéheneuc, brother of the maréchale, future aide-de-camp to Jean Lannes, also a future general and future aide-de-camp to Napoleon I]. I advise Louis not to walk at night. I forbid you, you hear me, to come at short notice because of the strait. As soon as you get to Berlin, I'll leave to join you... A SU[S]PENSION OF ARMS HAS BEEN SIGNED IN BERLIN, Marshal Duroc has gone to see the King [of Prussia] for ratification, and there is no doubt about it. Je pence... que la paix s'en suivra bientôt, et que nous reviendrons ensenble près de nos petits enfans..." (one p. in-4, address on back). - "To the Imperial Quarter" [Finkenstein Castle in Prussia, now Kamienec in Poland], April 30, 1807. "Mr. Quioq has arrived, he took 13 days on the road, he gave me all your letters. I am very surprised, my good friend, that you are not hearing from me... I have received a letter from Monsieur Corvizard [Jean-Nicolas Corvisart, Napoleon I's personal physician, and a great friend of Jean Lannes], and I am jealous that my little girl is as much in love with him as he tells me she is...". (one p. in-4, address on spine; tears to address leaf due to opening without damage to text). The future general Joaquim-Jérôme Quiot Du Passage, aide-de-camp to Lannes during the Austerlitz campaign, had been colonel of the 100th infantry regiment in the V corps of the Grande Armée under the same Lannes since December 2, 1805. - In front of Danzig [in Prussia, now Gdańsk in Poland], May 20, 1807. " ... My health is still the same, THERE IS ONLY COURAGE THAT SUPPORTS ME. J'AURAI BIEN DE LA PEINE A BIEN REMETTER, MON CŒUR N'EST PAS CONTENT, tu sais mieux que personne que je ne suis pas heureux quand je ne fais pas les choses avec plaisir, et serte je ne suis pas payé pour cela; ON N'AIME ICI LES GENS QUE QUAND ON A BESOIN D'EUX, je m'en suis bien convincu, heureux si on ne cherche pas à attaquer votre honneur... I'm not writing to your friend [Louise's father], I'm on horseback night and day..." (one p. in-4, address on spine; marginal tears due to opening without damage to text). The marshal, wounded at Pułtusk in December 1806, had been ill and had had to leave his command to take convalescent leave in Warsaw, then had been placed at the head of the reserve corps of the Grande Armée in May 1807 to cover the operations of the siege of besieged Danzig: he enabled the Russian relief army to be repulsed. COMPLETE CARD TO BE FOUND IN THE CATALOG
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