MENOU, Jacques-Francois [later Abdallah], Baron (1750-1810). French General.
Letter Signed ("Menou") as Commander and Governor General of "all the departments beyond the Alps" [i.e., Piedmont] to Rear-Admiral Emeriau, Prefect at Toulon, regarding the transport of hemp for the navy.
1 page folio in French, Turin, 16 Messidor an 13 [5 July 1805].
Menou writes to the Maritime Prefect to consult him over the matter of a shipment of hemp.
[Trans:] ". . . The hemp purchased . . . in Boulogne has arrived at Castel-novo di Scrivia. It is impossible for them to go up the Po to Turin, as there is no vessel suited to such navigation, and therefore, after further reflection, and further to the instructions of H.E. the Minister of the Navy, we have decided that the hemp should be left at Castel-novo di Scrivia, whence they will go overland to Genoa. It has been impossible to do any better and it is the only way in which the hemp will arrive promptly at its destination. . . ."
A letter written at the start of what became known as the War of the Third Coalition. Massena, the hero of the siege of Genoa, was brought back to head the Army of Italy, and two months later captured Verona from the Austrians. By the end of the year, the Treaty of Pressburg completed Napoleon's crushing victory over the Austrians.
Furthermore, Napoleon's plans for a French invasion of Britain required naval superiority in the Mediterranean. Hemp was an important commodity, as it was widely used in the manufacture of military uniforms and ships ropes.
Jacques-Francois Menou, certainly one of the more colourful characters of the Napoleonic period, took up his post in 1802 as Commandant of the department of Piedmont. He is best remembered for his command in Egypt, which he undertook after the assassination of Kleber. Menou eventually married an Egyptian, converted to Islam, and changed his name to Abdallah.
From the Crawford collection.
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