MS Field Promotion Document signed by Macdonald in the Aftermath of his Defeat on the Trebbia.
MACDONALD, (Marshal Jacques-Étienne-Joseph-Alexandre)
4to. MS document in an attractive and clearly legible hand. Some mild old creasing, but overall very good. Dated 12th Thermidor, an 7 [30th July, [1799]
Entirely in MS, including the headings - "Liberté - Egalité" &c. - this document promotes Leiut. Herdeboudt of the Carabiniers of the 15th Demi-Brigade of Light Infantry to the Brevet Rank of Captain of the 1st Company of Carabiniers of the same unit in replacement of Citoyen Serant "tué à l'affaire de la Trebbia". With the bold signature of Macdonald at the foot.
At the time Macdonald was Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Naples. Following the Battle of Modena, a victory for Macdonald in which he was wounded, he was defeated by an Austro-Russian force at the Trebbia River. The French Army lost virtually a third of their men and nearly all of their officers in the engagement, Cambray was killed, and Macdonald lost his share of the booty accrued as C-i-C, valued at £34,000.
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