December 2012 Auction Ends Tuesday, December 18th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/18/2012
Letter from Oporto, Portugal, dated 29 January 1813, regarding the Peninsular War for control of the Iberian Peninsula. Letter is signed simply ''W.S.'' by General William Stewart, commander of the British 1st Division in Portugal. Napoleon, who invaded Portugal and then Spain, was finally pushed out in 1814 by a coalition of British, Spanish and Portuguese forces led by Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley. Because of his success in this campaign, Wellesley was honored with the title, Duke of Wellington. In the letter, to a Lord Blantyre, Stewart reports on illness in the British army and on French troop movements. It reads in part, ''Sickness in the army increases greatly, particularly in the 1st Division in which we are...63 men of our brigade have died...We know nothing of the movements of the French [French Marshal] Soult is ordered to France with 40,000 men. If so we shall probably not remain long quiet. Lord W. [Wellington] will make a point of following them up & leading them, if possible, out of the Peninsula'' Wellington did force the French back into France where they were defeated. A small piece of the four-page card style letter is separated from the letter and affixed beneath the intact red wax seal. Measures 7'' x 8.75'', in very good condition.
British General William Stewart Reports from Portugal During the Peninsular War Against Napoleon -- ''...We know nothing of the movements of the French. Soult is ordered to France with 40,000 men...''
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