Tag: Postal service
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The Military Life of Bruno d’Ast … (I)
Dominique-Louis-Guillaume-Bruno d’Ast was born on 9 August 1790, in Brignemont. (1) He was the eldest son of Mr. Guillaume d’Ast and Madame Marie-Germaine-Sophie de Pérignon. (2) His godfather was Dominique Catherine de Pérignon, his uncle, an officer in the royal grenadiers in the Quercy Regiment, the future victor of Rosas and Figueras, ambassador of the…
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Dedicated to the Imperial Cause – Letters of the Dandalle Family (IV) …
Cantonment in Germany – 1810-1811 In February 1810, the regiment left Upper Austria and arrived at Magdeburg on 1 March. It did not return to France, but remained in Germany to ensure public order and to be ready to intervene if necessary to the south against Austria, to the north to enforce the Continental Blockade,…
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A dragoon under Marshal Murat – Letters of the 1806-1807 Campaigns (I)
In the spring of 1806, Amédée Le Nourry, captain-adjutant-major in the 16th Dragoon Regiment, was posted on the banks of the Inn, near Passau, alongside Marshal Soult’s army corps. Adjutant-major Le Nourry was an excellent officer with a keen understanding of his profession. Born on 8 July 1777 in Craconville near Evreux, he volunteered for…
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Correspondence of an artillery officer during the Russian campaign …
On 15 June 1810, young Delaval, the eldest son of a family living in the small town of Tournus in the Department of Saône-et-Loire, received an order to enter the School of Saint-Cyr on 20 July. After completing his studies at the military school on 2 April 1812 with the rank of lieutenant second class…
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More Peninsular War letters of the rank and file …
Jean GOERGEN or GERGEN, born at Troine (community of Wincrange, northern Luxembourg) on 29 May 1788, son of Jean Goergen and Thérèse Fink, conscripted in 1808, was found fit for military service at a first medical examination at Dickirch. A second medical examination revealed wounds on his face that appeared to have been caused by…
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Eyewitness accounts of the campaign in Russia, 1812 (II) …
TO COUNT DE LAVALETTE, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE EMPIRE’S POSTAL SERVICES, IN PARIS. Moscow, 16 October 1812. My dear Count, I have the honour of informing you that the Intendant General has ordered me to bring down the postal service between France and Gumbinnen to one courier every two days, and the one between the…
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A second lieutenant’s letters to his wife, Prussia-Poland 1806-1807 …
We present two letters of an infantry officer who fought in General (future marshal) Suchet’s Division in the years of 1806 and (early) 1807. He provides many interesting details on daily life in the French army, promotion, hardships, money issues and battlefield experiences. Dear Rosalie, I am devoting the first moments of my repose to…