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

Letter Signed (“Ml Berthier”) to the Inspector in Chief of Revenues for the Grande Armée, informing him which servicemen will or will not be eligible for bonuses paid at the end of the Austerlitz campaign.

1 page folio in French, Munich, 14 March 1806.       

Trans: “. . . regarding the payments of campaign bonuses. 1. All officers who rejoined the army since the 1st of January, that is to say after the ratification of the peace treaty, should not receive any bonuses for the campaign; this decision is based on the fact that an officer only has a right to his appointment and his campaign bonus from the time he joins his corps, he only acquires his equipment after he has joined . . . 2. All the officers who were promoted in the army after the Battle of Austerlitz equally have no right to the campaign bonus, nor to the supplement, because they were aware of the preliminaries to the peace, and will certainly not have incurred any costs to increase their equipment for the campaign.”

The bonuses in question were paid to help defer the costs of the various items officers would have had to purchase before rejoining their regiments. The Treaty of Pressburg, signed at the end of 1805 after the French victory at Austerlitz, marked the zenith of the French Empire.

Very slightly frayed at the top, and a little browned at the edges, but otherwise in sound condition.

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