DAVOUT LOUIS NICOLAS: (1770-1823)

DAVOUT LOUIS NICOLAS: (1770-1823) Marshal of France, Duc d´Auerstaedt and Prince of Eckmuhl. Known as the Iron Marshal, Davout was the only Napoleonic Marshal not to have been defeated in battle by 1815. Unusual A.L.S., ` Davout´ to the address leaf, two pages, 4to, Skierniewice (between Lodz and Warsaw), in Poland, 2rd February 1808, to his wife Aimée Leclerc, in French. Davout explains only what he can at this stage to his wife regarding the decision of postponing her trip, stating in part ` Je suis obligé d'ajourner ma promesse de te donner dans le plus grand détail connaissance des motifs qui m'ont déterminés à ne plus écouter mes désirs de t'engager à faire le voyage... ces explications seront longues et je te les donnerai au 1er moment que j'aurai à moi; mais en attendant, si mon séjour ici devait se prolonger et que tu ne puisses obtenir pour moi la permission d'aller à Paris, il n'y aurait plus de motifs...´ (Translation: " I am obliged to postpone my promise to give you in the greatest detail knowledge of the reasons which determined me to no longer listen to my desires to encourage you to make the trip... these explanations will be long and I will give them to you at the first moment that I will have for myself; but in the meantime, if my stay here were to be prolonged and you could not obtain permission for me to go to Paris, there would no longer be any reasons...") With blank address leaf, addressed to ` La Maréchale Davout´, bearing a red ink stamp and large remnants of a red wax seal showing Davout´s monogram with his initials. Small overall minor age wear and creasing, otherwise G