DAVOUT (LOUIS-NICOLAS). "NEY'S GREAT BRAVERY ON THE BATTLEFI - Lot 197

Lot n° 197
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1500 - 2000 EUR
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Result : 1 950EUR
DAVOUT (LOUIS-NICOLAS). "NEY'S GREAT BRAVERY ON THE BATTLEFI - Lot 197
DAVOUT (LOUIS-NICOLAS). "NEY'S GREAT BRAVERY ON THE BATTLEFIELD IS ENOUGH TO WIN HIM MY FRIENDSHIP AND ESTEEM..." Autograph letter signed to his wife Aimée Leclerc. Dietrichswald [now Gietrzwałd in Poland, near Olsztyn], March 16 [1807]. 4 pp. in-4. " ... IT IS WITH BEAUTIFUL PLEASURE THAT I HAVE SEEN THE MEANS OF BIENVEILLANCE WITH WHICH PRINCESS CAROLINE [BONAPARTE, sister of Napoleon I, wife of Marshal Joachim Murat then Grand Duke of Berg] HAS COMBELLED YOU and the good, albeit too advantageous, opinion she is willing to have of me. This language in her mouth touched me all the more as I cannot suppose that SHE IGNORES THE LITTLE BIENVEILLANCE THAT THE GRAND-DUC OF BERG [Joachim Murat, husband of Caroline Bonaparte] LOOKS TO ME. The Princess, although too delicate to express an opinion other than that of her husband, perhaps considers the Grand Duke's coldness and lack of benevolence towards me in its true light, i.e. as not being as consistent as I suppose; whatever the case, I don't think I have anything to reproach myself for, and that it may depend on me to change these feelings which have been with me for a long time. If these remarks have any foundation, it is the 1st time and the last that I have spoken to you about these matters, which have no influence whatsoever on my way of serving and on my devotion to my sovereign. I have given you these details to give you an idea of the satisfaction I must have felt in reading what the Princess told you about me. I WILL ALWAYS SEEK TO JUSTIFY THE GOOD OPINION SHE HAS OF ME, AND TO DESERVE THE MARKS OF FAVOR WITH WHICH THE EMPEROR HAS SHOWERED ME. I see you with great sorrow, my very good Aimée, without a home in Paris at the time of your childbirth. Since, out of discretion, you did not think it necessary to accept the kind offers of the princess [Caroline Bonaparte] and those of the m[arécha]les Ney and Soult [Aglaé Auguié and Louise Berg], you must resolve to rent a hotel at all costs... I think that by taking every precaution to be as little of a burden as possible, you could have accepted the earlier offers from LA M[ARECHA]LE NEY WITH WHOM YOU WERE BORN [in Madame Campan's institution], offers made from the heart and which would increase, if that were possible, the friendship I bear her husband, but THE GREAT BRAVOUR OF NEY ON THE FIELDS OF BATTLE IS SUFFICIENT TO WIN HER MY FRIENDSHIP AND MY ESTIMATE. You could also have accepted that of the Soult m[arécha]le who has always given you proof of friendship and who is the wife of one of the general colonels of the Guard... I will always be careful to give you my news as soon as possible, especially the day after a battle, but nothing makes me believe that I will soon be in this circumstance: BEAUCOUPES DE PERSONNES CROIENT QUE LA BATAILLE D'EYLAU SERA LA DERNIERE DE CETTE GUERRE. TELL THE PRINCESSE BORGHESE THAT SHE HAS COMMUNICATED HER COURAGE TO HER HUSBAND, WHO A FEW DAYS AGO, AT THE HEAD OF A SQUADRON OF HIS R[E]G[IMEN]T, MADE A FINE CHARGE AGAINST SUPERIOR ENEMY FORCES. The Prince of Borghese has paid well for his services... " LOUIS-NICOLAS DAVOUT (1770-1823), the only MARECHAL D'EMPIRE to remain undefeated, took part in the campaigns of Egypt (1798-1800), Italy (1800), Austria (1805 and 1809), Prussia (1806), Poland (1807) and Russia (1812, where he was the only one to bring back the survivors of his corps in good order). He consistently asserted himself as an outstanding strategist and tactician, a leader of men, and won decisive battles, earning him the dignity of Marshal in 1804, then the titles of Duke of Auerstaedt in 1806 and Prince of Eckmühl in 1809. Napoleon I also called on him for a number of delicate missions, such as the occupation of Poland in 1807-1808 and part of Germany from 1809 to 1812, or as Minister of War in charge of reconstituting an army during the Hundred Days. He always demonstrated exemplary moral rectitude: after the fall of the Empire, he was one of the few to testify on behalf of Marshal Ney, and then, after two years of disgrace, he used his new-found credibility to have the generals of the Hundred Days rehabilitated, taking personal responsibility for their actions under his command. LA MARECHALE DAVOUT, PAULINE BONAPARTE'S SISTER-IN-LAW. Raised in Madame Campan's institution, Aimée Leclerc (1782-1868) made friends with other famous boarders, including Hortense de Beauharnais, Aglaé Auguié (future Marshal Ney) and Pauline Bonaparte, who married her brother in law, General Victor-Emmanuel Leclerc (died 1802). Aimée Leclerc married the future Marshal Davout in 1801.
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