French military officer (1763-1844) who was appointed Marshal of France by Napoleon and later became King of Sweden (as Charles XIV Johan) and King of Norway (as Charles III John) from 1818 until his death. LS in French, signed "J. B. J. Bernadotte," three pages on two adjoining sheets, 8.5 x 11.5, Liberie Egalite letterhead, August 15, 1804. Lengthy letter, with several corrections in Bernadotte's hand, to his Minister of War. In part: "If victory momentarily has abandoned our flags, it must partly be attributed to the devastation and pillage that have existed in the armies of the Republic. Men who by status were given to watch for and guarantee the defense of the homeland, those who were entrusted with caring for the interests of the State, the very recipients…did not blush when they looked at their occupation as a fecund vein which they exploited for their sole profit…they received payment for objects they never delivered, and succeeded in having such deteriorated supplies accepted that it was impossible to use them; those who should have opposed such criminal behavior sold their silence for its weight in gold. Often the person in charge of stipulating the interests of the Republic was also the one accepting those supplies." In fine condition, with splitting to the hinge and the central horizontal fold.
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