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an old document with a drawing of a man in uniform
Ader

486 - LETTER FROM A CANTEEN WORKER. Original letter from Private A…
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Estimate €500 - €700
Sale commission
Description
LETTER FROM A CANTEEN WORKER. Original letter from Private Aimé Enguehard, ‘Visbourg’ [Würzburg] 4 May 1812, to his parents in Caen; two and a half pages, quarto size, on Imperial Guard Chasseurs Voltigeurs letterhead with coloured vignettes, address bearing a postmark from Würzburg (creases and minor damage, repaired). Decorated soldier’s letter. The vignettes, enhanced with watercolour, depict a voltigeur flanked by portraits of Napoleon and Marie-Louise. Enguehard, of the 6th Regiment of Chasseurs Voltigeurs of the Imperial Guard, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Company, writes to his parents; his father is a hardware merchant (‘guigallier’) in Bayeux. The beginning of the letter was dictated, after which the soldier took up the pen himself. He had to go to hospital to have his hand treated: ‘I am beginning to recover’. Since he has been on active duty, he has been receiving 40 sous: ‘You must realise that there hasn’t been enough to make any major expenditures. I’ll tell you that since we passed Mainz, we’ve been fed by the landlady, and before leaving Mainz they began loading us up with ammunition […] I’ll tell you that during the first few days of our march, I didn’t think we’d get that far […] we covered nine or ten leagues every day without stopping. It’s hailing and snowing every day; we do our drills and stand guard”… Attached to the letter is a small receipt from his comrade Gravelle, to whom Enguehard lent 12 francs whilst on the march.
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About the sale Letters and Autograph Manuscripts – Part II
Auction location
Auction time 10/14/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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