9. Bonaparte, Napoleon. Letter signed (“NP”) as Emperor, 4 pages (7.25 x 9 in.; 184 x 229 mm.), St. Cloud, 30 April 1812, in French, written to Minister of War Jean-Girard Lacuée, Compte de Cessac, replying to a report concerning requirements for cavalry horses destined for the Army of Spain, forcefully rejecting the proposed transfer of 2,400 horses which must not be moved because it would be impossible to replace them in Poland. Lightly toned at margins with usual folds. 

Six weeks before he would invade Russia, Napoleon refuses the transfer of 2,400 horses to Spain fearing they would not be easily replaceable in Poland.

An important letter concerning Napoleon’s preparations for his ill-fated invasion of Russia. Here, he forcefully rejects Cessac’s proposal to transfer 2,400 horses, including 144 destined for the cuirassiers, because he feared it would be impossible to gather that many in Poland. He demanded more information and ordered that the surplus horses be used for 
“la Grande Armée dont la consommation en chevaux ne peut être qu’ extrement considerable” and preferring to leave the horses where they are, “dans une guerre active, il n’y à plan, ni complet ni effectif pour la force du Regimen puisque du soir au matin cette force peut charger” and providing further instructions and reminders. 

Napoleon crossed the Neman River on 24 June 1812 commencing his ambitious campaign against Tsar Alexander I, which involved over 600,000 soldiers (including nearly 60,000 cavalrymen). Although the vastly outnumbered Russian army essentially melted before Napoleon’s vastly superior forces, the Russians conducted a scorched-earth policy that left nothing for the French army to eat as it marched eastward. After Napoleon captured Moscow in September, he was soon forced to retreat due to a lack of supplies. His slow westward retreat was further hampered by Russian flank attacks. By the time he crossed back into Poland, his army had been reduced by nearly two-thirds. The specular defeat spelled the beginning of the end of the French Empire.
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