NAPOLEON I | letter signed, to Général Berthier, on military units for Holland, 11 December 1802

NAPOLEON I

LETTER SIGNED ("BONAPARTE"), AS FIRST CONSUL, TO LOUIS-ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, THE MINISTER OF WAR,

in French, remarking that the 54th Battalion, being sent to Holland, comprises only sixteen hundred men, telling him to command General Victor to send only two battalions, each comprising seven hundred and fifty, drawing on the 3rd Battalion, and making use of conscription but acknowledging that, since this order comes rather late, the precise arrangement should be left to the judgement of the commander, 1 page, small 4to (c.23 x 18cm), engraved vignette by B. Roger ("Au nom de Peuple Français/ Bonaparte 1^er Consul de la République"), Saint Cloud, 20 Frimaire, an 11 de la République [11 December 1802],

Louis-Alexandre Berthier was Minister of War from 1800 until 1810; he became a Marshal of France in 1804, when Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor. The Correspondance de Napoléon I^er (volume 8, 1861) contains two letters to Berthier of this date, but this one is not included.

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