Description

DERIOT (Albert-François). Autograph letter signed to future Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières. Cairo, 30 fructidor an VII [September 16, 1799]. 3 pp. 1/2 in-4, trace of tab in margin of last page. Very fine letter illustrating the disarray of the men left behind in Egypt after Bonaparte's departure accompanied by officers like Bessières on August 22, 1799. "My dear commander, I have received your letter dated current 6th, which informs me of your departure for France; this news came as a surprise to me, as I had not expected it. You told me that you didn't know where you were going; however, you told me one day, when I told you that I was doing well and that I felt strong enough to make the journey, that I should stay in Cairo to gain strength, and that I would go to Upper Egypt with you. All this must lead me to believe that you had decided that I should stay with the rest of the corps. However, you were aware of the state of my affairs in France and my desire to see my family again, which can only subsist on the fruits of my savings. But I must no longer complain, since I think you have done it for the good of those who are with me, and this will not diminish the friendship... I have devoted to you forever, and I hope you will not forget the good people you have left behind. They are all counting on you to speed up our return to France. [Deriot goes on to give details of the changes in the composition of the Guides corps since Bessières' departure...]. General Kléber had first said that he would be obliged to incorporate us, as all the saddles of the horses you had left when you embarked had been stolen, but fortunately some were found at the Gizeh workshop. Which means that we are preserved. We've set up the music and these young people don't seem happy that you've left them here; but they have to do as the others do, which is to take their side. You know that when you left, you took everything that was left in the till, and we haven't been able to get a penny, and I don't even know when we'll be paid. [He goes on to give guarantees about the maintenance of accounting, record-keeping and troop discipline...]. We sold all the officers' effects, and the q[uarti]er-m[a]re was in charge of everything that each sale produced. He made duplicates, inventories, and packets of the money due to each. As for the debts you have left, you can rest easy; they will be paid, but you haven't told me about them all. Caillet is asking for much more, Laroche ditto, Gasquet is asking for a hundred francs for a horse. And others whose names are not in my memory. Adieu, mon cher command[an]t, je vous prie de ne nous oublier pas auprès du général en chef [Napoléon Bonaparte] affin que nous puissions bientôt rejoindre vous. I send you my love... If you go to Paris, I beg you to stop by my wife's house... and if she needs anything, please let her have it. I will keep you informed when I arrive... All the officers have asked me to tell you many things on their behalf... All is very quiet here..." Battalion commander and later brigade commander in the Guides of the General-in-Chief of the Army of the East, Albert-François Deriot distinguished himself in several important engagements, was wounded at the siege of Saint-Jean-d'Acre (1799) and at the battle of Heliopolis (1800), and remained in Egypt until the end of the campaign. He initially served under Jean-Baptiste Bessières, commander of the Guides until his departure. On his return to France at the end of the campaign, he held various positions, notably in the Guard. He was made Brigadier General in 1811, Major General in 1812, Chamberlain to the Emperor in 1813, and Chief of Staff of the Imperial Guard during the Hundred Days.

Automatically translated by DeepL. The original version is the only legally valid version.
To see the original version, click here.

21 
Go to lot
<
>

DERIOT (Albert-François). Autograph letter signed to future Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières. Cairo, 30 fructidor an VII [September 16, 1799]. 3 pp. 1/2 in-4, trace of tab in margin of last page. Very fine letter illustrating the disarray of the men left behind in Egypt after Bonaparte's departure accompanied by officers like Bessières on August 22, 1799. "My dear commander, I have received your letter dated current 6th, which informs me of your departure for France; this news came as a surprise to me, as I had not expected it. You told me that you didn't know where you were going; however, you told me one day, when I told you that I was doing well and that I felt strong enough to make the journey, that I should stay in Cairo to gain strength, and that I would go to Upper Egypt with you. All this must lead me to believe that you had decided that I should stay with the rest of the corps. However, you were aware of the state of my affairs in France and my desire to see my family again, which can only subsist on the fruits of my savings. But I must no longer complain, since I think you have done it for the good of those who are with me, and this will not diminish the friendship... I have devoted to you forever, and I hope you will not forget the good people you have left behind. They are all counting on you to speed up our return to France. [Deriot goes on to give details of the changes in the composition of the Guides corps since Bessières' departure...]. General Kléber had first said that he would be obliged to incorporate us, as all the saddles of the horses you had left when you embarked had been stolen, but fortunately some were found at the Gizeh workshop. Which means that we are preserved. We've set up the music and these young people don't seem happy that you've left them here; but they have to do as the others do, which is to take their side. You know that when you left, you took everything that was left in the till, and we haven't been able to get a penny, and I don't even know when we'll be paid. [He goes on to give guarantees about the maintenance of accounting, record-keeping and troop discipline...]. We sold all the officers' effects, and the q[uarti]er-m[a]re was in charge of everything that each sale produced. He made duplicates, inventories, and packets of the money due to each. As for the debts you have left, you can rest easy; they will be paid, but you haven't told me about them all. Caillet is asking for much more, Laroche ditto, Gasquet is asking for a hundred francs for a horse. And others whose names are not in my memory. Adieu, mon cher command[an]t, je vous prie de ne nous oublier pas auprès du général en chef [Napoléon Bonaparte] affin que nous puissions bientôt rejoindre vous. I send you my love... If you go to Paris, I beg you to stop by my wife's house... and if she needs anything, please let her have it. I will keep you informed when I arrive... All the officers have asked me to tell you many things on their behalf... All is very quiet here..." Battalion commander and later brigade commander in the Guides of the General-in-Chief of the Army of the East, Albert-François Deriot distinguished himself in several important engagements, was wounded at the siege of Saint-Jean-d'Acre (1799) and at the battle of Heliopolis (1800), and remained in Egypt until the end of the campaign. He initially served under Jean-Baptiste Bessières, commander of the Guides until his departure. On his return to France at the end of the campaign, he held various positions, notably in the Guard. He was made Brigadier General in 1811, Major General in 1812, Chamberlain to the Emperor in 1813, and Chief of Staff of the Imperial Guard during the Hundred Days.

Estimate 2 000 - 3 000 EUR

* Not including buyer’s premium.
Please read the conditions of sale for more information.

Sale fees: 30 %
Leave bid
Register

For sale on Saturday 06 Jul : 14:01 (CEST)
fontainebleau, France
Osenat
+33164222762

Exhibition of lots
jeudi 04 juillet - 14:00/18:00, Fontainebleau
vendredi 05 juillet - 10:00/13:00, Fontainebleau
vendredi 05 juillet - 14:00/17:00, Fontainebleau
samedi 06 juillet - 10:00/13:00, Fontainebleau
Browse the catalogue Sales terms Sale info

Delivery to
Change delivery address
Delivery is not mandatory.
You may use the carrier of your choice.
The indicated price does not include the price of the lot or the auction house's fees.

You may also like

DODE DE LA BRUNERIE (Guillaume and family). Important collection of approximately 850 letters and documents. 18th-19th centuries. A very important collection, rich in information about the marshal and his family, as well as the history of the Dauphiné region, where the marshal was a prominent figure. - Dode de la Brunerie (Guillaume). Set of around 130 letters to his family, including 2 from Egypt, 3 from the Marseilles lazaretto on his return from the Egyptian expedition, 2 from the Austrian campaign (October 1805 and January 1806), one from the Prussian campaign (November 1806, "... since the battle, there has been no more resistance from the Prussians... we have taken almost all the corps of the Prussian army, wholesale or retail.... it's a real hunt, we're hunting them down on all sides like wild beasts, and they're surrendering like sheep"), one from the Polish campaign (1807), 3 from Spain (1809-1810, "those enraged men from Saragossa who gave us so much trouble for two months have finally tired of a war whose relentlessness is unparalleled; they've surrendered... I do not regret this circumstance, because I took an active part in it, and I believe I contributed something to the success..."), 2 from the Russian campaign (Königsberg and Elbing, December 1812), one from Italy (March 1814, "You would like to see this Italian army in France, but it is much more useful here. It contains two enemy armies twice as numerous..."), one from Spain (1823, "We continue our triumphal march amid acclamations, dances, songs and demonstrations of all kinds of joy carried to the last degree of exaltation..."). I thought that seven years of war and occupation of Spain by the Franks and the English... had greatly changed the ideas of the Spanish people and considerably reduced the influence of the clergy on their opinion... Cities are rare in this country, and enlightened people are even rarer in cities. So the influence of the clergy had no difficulty in making this ignorant and stupefied people cry 'Long live the absolute king'..."). With a few autograph notes and drawings concerning private affairs. - Correspondence received, mainly by Guillaume Dode de La Brunerie, some 230 letters from French and foreign personalities: Grand Marshal Henri-Gatien Bertrand (1841), Minister of the Interior Lazare Carnot (1815, secretary's signature, concerning the dispatch of a copy of the Description de l'Égypte), General François Joseph Kirgener de Planta (1809-1810), Minister of the Interior Camille de Montalivet (1837), General Nicolas Oudinot (1849, thanks for congratulations on the expedition to Rome which he commanded in chief), general Joseph Rogniat (1823), general duke Ignacio Jaime de Sotomayor (1811, chamberlain and grand master of ceremonies to King Joseph Bonaparte), politician and historian Adolphe Thiers (1841, concerning the loan of documents relating to the history of the Revolution and Empire), future marshal Jean-Baptiste Philibert Vaillant (1849), and so on. Around a hundred of these letters congratulate Guillaume Dode de La Brunerie on his elevation to the rank of Marshal (1847). They are addressed to him by the future Marshal de Castellane, Baron Pierre-Paul Denniée, Charles Auguste Frossard (future general, future aide-de-camp to Napoleon III and future governor of the Prince Impérial), General Gaspard Gourgaud (Napoleon I's former companion in exile on St. Helena), General d'Empire Jean-Gabriel Marchand, General Auguste Moreau, future Marshal Adolphe Niel, Admiral Albin Roussin, future Marshal Jean-Baptiste-Philibert Vaillant, and more. Some of these letters concern the dispatch of his lithographed portrait or the writing of biographical notes. - Family correspondence: around 300 letters, including almost 110 from the marshal and a few from Count Guéheneuc, marshal Lannes' father-in-law; correspondence concerning the marshal's nephew, Guzman Dode, etc. - Miscellaneous papers, 18th-19th centuries, approx. 120 items: livre de raison et de comptes of Jean Dode, the marshal's ancestor (first half of the 18th century, bound in an in-folio parchment volume, completed by other hands), the marshal's will, the maréchale's will and inventory of her possessions, notarized documents, business letters, etc. - Printed matter, nineteenth century, approx. 70 stapled booklets: Guillaume Dode de La Brunerie, rapports et opinions à la Chambre des pairs de 1826 à 1836 (several duplicates); Auguste Moreau, Notice sur le vicomte Dode de La Brunerie, maréchal de France, 1852, 2 stapled copies, each with handwritten dispatch; a few booklets by other authors, mainly on the subjects ab