Napoleon I | Letter signed, complaining about his brother Joseph, to the Comte de Cessac, 1813

Napoleon I

Letter signed (Nap"), to the Comte de Cessac 

complaining that his brother, Joseph, King of Spain, has acted beyond his authority ("...il n'a le droit de prendre en france ni arrêté ni décret..."), agreeing with the proposals set forth in Cessac's letter of 5 July, and ordering him to inform both Soult and the Minister of War that no general is to issue proclamations within the Empire but only army orders, 3 pages, 4to, Dresden, 9 July 1813, light staining to outer leaves, remains of former mount to final blank

Napoleon expresses concern about the breakdown of order on the Spanish front whilst preparing for his last great victory at the Battle of Dresden the following month. Napoleonic forces had been defeated by Wellington at the Battle of Vitoria on 21 June and Marshal Soult - now Duke of Dalmatia - had been sent to the south of France to prevent the Allies from invading through the Pyrenees. Lines of authority were becoming blurred in the confusion, both between French and Spanish and also between military and civilian authorities. Napoleon expressed his annoyance about the behaviour of his brother Joseph even more openly in a celebrated letter to the Minister of War, the Duc de Feltre, two days later on 11 July 1813: "His [Joseph's] behaviour has never ceased bringing misfortune upon my army; it is time to make an end of it." Napoleon's correspondent here is Jean-Girard Lacuee, Comte de Cessac, minister for the administration of war.

PROVENANCE

Christie's, New York, 19 December 1986, lot 185