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NAPOLEON BONAPARTE: (1769 - 1821) The "Little Corporal" whose brilliance in the field of battle a...

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NAPOLEON BONAPARTE: (1769 - 1821) The  Little Corporal  whose brilliance in the field of battle a...
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE: (1769 - 1821) The "Little Corporal" whose brilliance in the field of battle and as Emperor of France has made him perhaps the most important figure of post-Renaissance Europe. Fine content, lengthy L.S. "Napole" with holograph emendation, 4pp. 4to., Paris, March 9, 1811, to Berthier at the end of the disastrous Portuguese campaign. In part: "...The government of Aragon will be joined by the provinces of Tortose, Lerida, Tarragon and the country of the West in a line between the road of Garraf on the border of the sea, passing through the coast of Ordas, followed by the road of Noyaup to Iborra...Make this known to Gen. Suchet in his announcement that all the troops leaving the active army will pass through the field under his order...The squadron of the 24th Aragons and the Italian and Neapolitan attachments to the corps will leave the army of Aragon [here, Napoleon adds in holograph: "which are in the highest catalogue at Barcelona"] will rejoin their troops...Gen. Suchet will consult with the Duke of Tarante for the march and after in Barcelona with the detachment which must be there with him...You will consult with the Minister of War to send each officer orders in duplicate by two different routes...My intention is that Gen. Suchet will arrive at the army a short while after the officer. It must be chosen which of the intelligence officers and which knows his mission, finally which in the event, must be separated from Gen. Suchet even by death, will be re-sent to the Duke of Tarante only after having seen Gen. Suchet...Order Gen. Suchet to occupy on the field of battle of Tarragon, choose the line of operation...It will be fortified at intermediary points, that of Montblanc seems very important to occupy solidly by entrenchments...The prize of Tarragon will [be] military glory that General Suchet has achieved in this campaign and will give him a new title from me...". Napoleon's 1810 campaign in Portugal, led by General Andre Massena began optimistically, but his army was repulsed by Wellington at Bussaco in late September, and a winter of increasing frustration followed. By March 1811, Massena was forced to retreat toward Spain, leaving, by April Alameda as the only French stronghold. There, he once again met Wellington, only to once again be roundly defeated on April 4, 1811. Louis Gabriel Suchet (1770-1826), was one of Napoleon's most trusted marshals, serving with distinction in numerous battles in Spain with the Army of Aragon. On July 8, 1811, just weeks after this letter, he was awarded a baton as Marshal of the Empire for his service. Boldly signed, very good. $1,500-2,000