Autographs and Manuscripts
BERTHIER, Louis Alexandre, Prince of Wagram and Neuchatel (1753-1815). French Marshal. ()
Document Signed ("Ml Al Berthier") as Minister of War, an extract from a ministerial decree setting out the desired composition of battalions.3 pages folio in French, Osterode, 26 March 1807.
An interesting document written at the time of the Polish campaign. Setting out Napoleon's decree about the composition of military transport battalions, we find included not only [trans:] "one veterinary artist" but also "one master tailor" and "one master bootmaker", as well as the officers one would normally expect. The document further sets out that the "men required to make up . . . the battalion of . . . military transport will be recruited through conscription or volunteers", etc.A few months later, Berthier was to assist at one of the most memorable encounters of the era, the meeting between Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia at Tilsit.The document is rather dusty and split at the fold.
Stock Code: AU3412
