Details
NAPOLEON I (1769-1821), Emperor of the French. Letter signed ('Bonaparte'), as First Consul, Paris, 11 ventose, An IX [2 March 1801], to chef de brigade Anne Jean Marie René Savary (later Duke of Rovigo), 2¼ pages, 4to, on paper with printed heading of 'Bonaparte Ir Consul de la Republique' and an engraved female figure, bifolium. Provenance: Bibliotheca Lindesiana (stamp to lower margin of p.1).
Bonaparte dispatches Savary on an intelligence-gathering mission to Lorient: he is to depart for Lorient immediately, and remain there until the Argonaute, the Union and a frigate have left for Rochefort -- 'il verra tous les jours le préfet maritime et le contre amiral Bedout p[ou]r en presser le départ' -- and will then proceed to Rochefort, remaining until the squadron leaves. He is to send constant notes on the state of shipping, of construction, of the principal public officers and of the state of public spirit.
Savary had gained Napoleon's confidence through his distinction in a number of military engagements, and after Marengo (June 1800) was placed at the head of the special body of gendarmes who guarded the First Consul. He was later employed for crucial missions to Tsar Alexander I and Charles IV of Spain, and after the disgrace of Fouché (1810) was appointed Minister of Police.
Bonaparte dispatches Savary on an intelligence-gathering mission to Lorient: he is to depart for Lorient immediately, and remain there until the Argonaute, the Union and a frigate have left for Rochefort -- 'il verra tous les jours le préfet maritime et le contre amiral Bedout p[ou]r en presser le départ' -- and will then proceed to Rochefort, remaining until the squadron leaves. He is to send constant notes on the state of shipping, of construction, of the principal public officers and of the state of public spirit.
Savary had gained Napoleon's confidence through his distinction in a number of military engagements, and after Marengo (June 1800) was placed at the head of the special body of gendarmes who guarded the First Consul. He was later employed for crucial missions to Tsar Alexander I and Charles IV of Spain, and after the disgrace of Fouché (1810) was appointed Minister of Police.
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