1798 AN EXTREMELY RARE LETTER FROM A FRENCH SOLDIER CAPTURED DURING THE INVASION AT KILLALA, CO.MAYO, manuscript, , 30 by 18cm., 12 by 7in. Letter from Joseph Séugér, cannonier, of the 11th Land Artillery Brigade, Napoleonic Forces, captured during the abortive French invasion of August 1798 under General Humbert, and incarcerated at Liverpool. Written from "Liverpool le premier fructidor au 7me de la Republique Francaise" (French revolutionary calendar, equivalent to 18 August 1799) and addressed to the Minister of Marine Forces in Paris. The letter chronicles the writer's battle history, to his falling ill, and his corps' embarking with "Bonaparte" for the campaign in Egypt without him, whereupon he was obliged to join the 5th Marine Artillery Brigade at Rochefort. He then describes how he went with the 5th on the "Expedition d'Irlande" where he was made prisoner. Letter carried free under reciprocal arrangement for prisoners of war. Contents censored by the British with the rare crowned oval TRANSPORT OFFICE / PRISONERS OF WAR on flap to validate POW mail. Little documentary material of French origin has survived from this famous invasion making this piece extremely desirable.
Medium: manuscript