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EN ROUTE IN POLAND - RED "No.14/GRANDE-ARMEE" MARK ON LETTER EX STETTIN TO PARIS; 2 July 1812 EL (overall light toning; full typed transcript & translations into English and German) from a French soldier ("G. Malavois") in "Stettin" (Poland) to his brother in Paris with a very fine red "No.14/GRANDE-ARMEE" mark nicely placed on the front, charged "8" with a fine red 3-ring Paris arrival cds (14 July) on the flap. The contents seek confirmation of the invasion, and the writer is clearly heading for the Russian border; "It has been a long time, my dear brother, since I had any news from home. I think that this delay is only caused by the slowness with which the Postal Service operates in Germany. We have been here for 19 days and there is talk of us leaving to make way for the 13th Division which is arriving from Berlin in 2 or 3 days... All our battalions have assembled in Stettin where we are continually reviewing and inspecting. Every day we carry out major manoeuvres and line developments. Our brigade already has 10,000 men, both line and light infantry... We have just seen the declaration of war and the proclamation of the Emperor Napoleon against the Russians, who have already begun to attack....". Cross Reference: FRANCE, POLAND
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