NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821)

NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821) Emperor of France 1804-14, 1815. An excellent L.S., ` Bonaparte´, two pages, 4to, Paris, 8th June 1802, to General and Minister Berthier, in French. The very interesting content unpublished letter to Berthier refers to creating a new battalion exclusively formed with Corsican soldiers. Napoleon states in part ` Vous recevrez, citoyen Ministre, un arrêté qui forme un 3eme bataillon à la 3eme demi-brigade d´infanterie légère. Le battaillon n´est attaché à cette dimi-brigade que pour entrer dans le cadre de l´armée. Son avancement roulera seulement dans le bataillon. Il sera crée une instruction pour former des dépôts à Ajaccio et Bastia et accordé des fonds pour les engagements. Mais les officiers, sous-officiers et soldats de ce bataillon devront tous être corses.´ (Translation: " You will receive, citizen Minister, an order which forms a 3rd battalion to the 3rd light infantry half-brigade. The battalion is only attached to this half-brigade to enter into the framework of the army. Its advancement will only take place within the battalion. An instruction will be created to create deposits in Ajaccio and Bastia and funds will be granted for the commitments. But the officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of this battalion must all be Corsican.") Further, Napoleon states ` Le principal but de cette formation étant d´engager les habitants des montagnes à prendre du service et comme les deux départements de l´île fournissent une grande quantité de bons soldats, il est essentiel de leur offrir un débouché en France afin qu´ils ne prennent pas du service ailleurs ou ne troublent pas le pays.´ (Translation: " The main purpose of this new battalion being to encourage the inhabitants of the mountains to take up service and as the two departments of the island provide a large quantity of good soldiers, it is essential to offer them an outlet in France so that they do not serve elsewhere or disturb the country.") With blank integral leaf. VG Napoleon was aware of the combative value of his compatriots, and bewaring precisely this value, he decided to raise light infantry units on the island of Corsica. The aim, as we see in this letter, was twofold: on the one hand it was a matter of clearly recalling the attachment of Corsica to France, and on the other hand he was trying to avoid any recruitment for the benefit of the English. Hudson-Lowe had created a corps of volunteers which served in Egypt under the name of "Corsican Rangers".