** NAPOLEONIC WARS - LETTERS FROM P.O.W.s REGARDING RELEASE,...

Hammer

£650

** NAPOLEONIC WARS - LETTERS FROM P.O.W.s REGARDING RELEASE, BACK-PAY & 4-MONTH LEAVE: Very fine 17 Sept. 1804 EL to Paris with fine "74/LE HAVRE" and "4" charge on the front, from a POW's wife asking for help her obtain her husband's exchange; very fine 8 June 1806 EL from POW on parole in "Tours" to "The Minister of War, Paris" with mainly fine "36/TOURS" on the front and initially wrongly charged "5" but that was cancelled when the addressee was noticed and a red Paris "Service" mark applied on the front, while the flap was endorsed "Bureau de Prisonniers de Guerre Anglais". He asks that "...having received my passport to return to England, I thought proper to apply to General Lynch for the money due to an Officer of my Rank since my being Prisoner of War in France, which demand he has done me the honor to comply with...". Scarce POW cover from this town.; very fine 15 May 1809 EL from POW merchant ship Captain in "Verdun" to the Minister of War in Paris with v. fine "P.53.P/VERDUN/SUR-MEUSE" on the front and "18c" on the flap asking to be returned to his home in Danzig after his ship had been taken by a French privateer; fine 20 Mar. 1811 EL from "Brest" to POW at "Rue Deserte No.2, Verdun" (on parole) with fine "28/BREST" and "10" rate on the front. The letter assures the POW that the writer would happily attest to the need for Burn to return to England (on his honour to return) to "settle your affairs". Rare evidence that there were circumstances under which POWs could be allowed to return home for a fixed period on compassionate grounds as long as they promised to return at the end of that time; Also, 2 letters showing that trade continued despite war - 12 Aug. 1800 EL (some staining) from a French emigre in London to a firm in Cognac smuggled across the Channel and so with a fair red "74/DIEPPE" and ms "11" rate on the front; plus 12 Dec. 1809 EL posted on arrival in London with Local Post hs "2" on the front and 13/15 Jan. ds on reverse. The letter was then turned and readdressed to London. The letter bemoans the current problems of trade for ongoing Spanish merchant contacts with Britain after Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808. (6) Cross Reference: FRANCE, MILITARY - P.O.W. MAIL, SPAIN