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LS in French, signed "Nap," with the emperor's own handwritten revisions and cancellations (nine autograph lines of text on the second page struck through by the emperor himself, who also crosses out a word in the text and replaces it above in his own hand), one page, both sides, 7.25 x 9, October 16, 1812. Addressed from Moscow to Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Neuchâtel and Major General of the Armies, in part (translated): "My cousin, write to the Duke of Bellune that Babinowitschby is a place rich in resources and that his division must stay there. The Emperor has ordered the movement of the Westphalian contingent to Smolensk. It is important that General Loison's division, formed at Koenigsberg, be well concentrated. It is too far from Minsk. It must hasten to rejoin the 9th Corps, comprised of the Westphalian regiment and a regiment of Darmstadt, which must remain at Vitebsk and Kovno, at the governor's disposal until the division arrives." The final eight lines were vigorously struck through, with the cancellations extending into a ninth line in which he commended the addressee to God's protection. In fine condition. Letters from Napoleon sent from Moscow are exceedingly rare, and those containing the emperor's autograph text are virtually impossible to find.
Napoleon's invasion of Russia in June 1812 grew out of the collapse of the Continental System, the economic blockade intended to isolate Britain after the Treaties of Tilsit. Expecting the capture of Moscow to compel Tsar Alexander I to negotiate, Napoleon entered the ancient capital on September 14th, only to find it largely deserted and soon engulfed in flames. During the ensuing five weeks he repeatedly sought peace, but Alexander refused all overtures. Dated October 16th, this letter was written during the emperor's final days in Moscow, just three days before he abandoned the city and began the retreat that destroyed the Grande Armée and marked the decisive turning point of the Napoleonic Wars.
Addressed to Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Neuchâtel and Napoleon's indispensable chief of staff, the letter demonstrates that even as his strategic position deteriorated, the emperor remained immersed in the operational details of the campaign. Ordering the movement and concentration of French and allied forces at Babinowitschy, Smolensk, Koenigsberg, Minsk, Vitebsk, and Kovno, it concerns the very communications and supply corridor upon which the Grande Armée would soon depend during its withdrawal from Russia. Before dispatching the letter, Napoleon personally revised the text, replacing a word in his own hand and striking through its closing lines, preserving tangible evidence of his direct involvement in military correspondence at one of the most consequential moments of his reign.
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