Louis Alexandre BERTHIER, Prince of Wagram and Neuchatel (1753-1815)

Letter Signed (“alexandre”) to the Duc de Bellune [Marshal Victor], expressing his pleasure at a show of harmony between French soldiers and the Spanish population celebrating Napoleon’s birthday.
1 page 4to in French, Fontainebleau, 2 October 1810.        
Trans: “I received . . . the letter which you sent me on 17 August recounting the festivities of the 15th by the first Corps of the army. I read the details with pleasure: the unity which reigned in this instance between the French troops and the Spanish people can only have produced the best impression.”
The celebrations in question were evidently in honour of Napoleon’s birthday on 15 August.
Marshal Victor had been in the Peninsula for well over a year, seeing action at several battles before being repulsed by British forces at Talavera in 1809. Although there was some support for the French from certain segments of the Spanish population, this was far from universal, and one can only speculate as to how much of this “unity” was genuine, and how much was cleverly staged.

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