Letter from Emperor Napoleon from the Kremlin
AFP news agency reported on November 21 that 11 letters from French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte were just put up for auction, including a letter he sent from the Kremlin, after his hat was sold for a record price.
A letter dated September 18, 1812 was written by Emperor Napoleon when he arrived in Moscow at the height of the French campaign in the former Russian Empire, informing about the enemy’s tactics when burning the city during the Franco-Russian War ( June 24-December 14, 1812).
“Today, I toured the main areas. It was already a breathtaking city. I use the word ‘was’ because today more than half was destroyed by fire,” he wrote.
In the letter, which is being offered for 58,300 USD (1.4 billion VND), he also commented on the city’s alcohol inventory: “We have found cellars full of wine and spirits, things we will be very needed”.
Emperor Napoleon ordered the largest military force ever assembled in Europe up to that point into Russia. About one million soldiers and civilians died during the invasion.
Mr. Nathan Raab, president of Raab Collection, a historical paper auction company based in Philadelphia (USA), said that the letter from Moscow is very rare. “Napoleon is a great figure greatly admired by Americans. He is considered an emperor with strong leadership talent,” he said. Raab Collection is currently auctioning 11 letters.
Emperor Napoleon then continued to destroy a number of towers and walls in the Kremlin, which was then both a royal palace and a military fortress.
He announced he would do so in another letter dated October 20, 1812. This letter was not included in the latest auction, but was sold for 187,500 euros (4.97 billion VND) at an auction in France in 2012.
In another painting, recently sold for $79,500, Emperor Napoleon lists the weapons he would need for the final attack on the Toulon region in southern France after he was elevated to a leadership position, which would eventually lead him to the throne.
Previously, the black and pointed “bicorne” felt hat once worn by Emperor Napoleon was sold for 1.932 million euros (51 billion VND) at the auction last weekend, breaking the record of 1.884 million euros of another of his hats, established in 2014.
Emperor Napoleon’s bloody cloth goes up for auction
