BATTLE OF BORODINO - EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT WRITTEN THE DAY AFT...

Estimate

£1,400 - £2,000

BATTLE OF BORODINO - EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT WRITTEN THE DAY AFTER BY A GERMAN SOLDIER WITH FAINT "[Q Trer G A L']ARMEE/WESTPHALIENNE"; Fine 9 Sept. 1812 EL (closed tear just affects bottom right corner of address panel, clear of writing and marks) sent from "Bivouac [Camp] near Mosaick" [Mozhaisk; just 70 miles west of Moscow] to the writer's father in "Zellerfeld, Royaume de Westphalie" by a German soldier of the small Westphalian Contingent in the Grande Armee, charged "40" and "2m 6d" on the front along with a very faint (as so often) strike of the "[Q Trer G A L'ARMEE/WESTPHALIENNE]" mark. The fascinating contents include; "To my great relief, in spite of today's rather difficult postal situation, I am able to send you a message from me personally and at the same time inform you that fortunately two successful battles have taken place; one on August 19th near Smolensk [Valutino/Lubino] and one on September 7th near Mozhaisk [Borodino], 14 leagues from Moscow. The latter lasted from 6 o’clock am to 5 o’clock pm … and in that latter battle, it is said that the Russians had 2,500 wounded, 1,000 dead and 6,000 taken prisoner along with 43 cannons. On our side it was much better…in our regiment only 3 or 4 were killed or wounded. We do not doubt that we will soon be in Moscow, because the Emperor [Napoleon Bonaparte] is only 6 leagues away from there now… As for food, things are difficult for us; on some days we do not have any bread, but no doubt in a few days we will be in Moscow… At Smolensk, I had a small bullet wound in my right leg, but it is not significant…”. Five days later the French took Moscow (already set on fire by the Russians). Important Campaign Letter. [With Soluphil 2012 certificate.] [Ex Soluphil auction, Jan. 2012; lot 159; realised 3,215 euros inc. BP.]Cross Reference: GERMAN STATES, FRANCE, RUSSIA