Letter 130 — CXXX
Original French
Ebersdorf, le 7 juillet 1809: cinq heures du matin.
Je t’expédie un page pour te donner la bonne nouvelle de la victoire d’Ebersdorf, que j’ai remportée le 5 et celle de Wagram, que j’ai remportée le 6. L’armée ennemie fuit en désordre, et tout marche selon mes vœux. Eugène se porte bien. Le prince Aldobrandini est blessé, mais légèrement. Bessières a eu un boulet qui lui a touché le gras de la cuisse; la blessure est très légère. Lasalle a été tué; mes pertes sont assez fortes; mais la victoire est décisive et complète. Nous avons plus de cent pièces de canon, douze drapeaux, beaucoup de prisonniers. Je suis brûlé par le soleil. Adieu, mon amie, je t’embrasse. Bien des choses à Hortense.
Musean translation
Machine-assisted Musean English translated from the French of the 172 Napoleon letters selected from Tancrède Martel, ed., Œuvres littéraires de Napoléon Bonaparte, tome 1 (Albert Savine, Paris, 1888). French Wikisource contributors supplied the scan-backed transcription: https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Livre:Bonaparte_-_Œuvres_littéraires,_tome_1,_1888.djvu (page histories credit contributors). The transcription is CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/; this adapted text and translations are shared under the same license. Extraction removes markup and editorial notes; selected transcription repairs were checked against print images.
Ebersdorf, July 7, 1809: five in the morning.
I am sending you a page to bring you the good news of the victory of Ebersdorf, which I won on the 5th, and that of Wagram, which I won on the 6th. The enemy army is fleeing in disorder, and everything is going as I wish. Eugène is well. Prince Aldobrandini is wounded, but only slightly. A cannonball grazed the flesh of Bessières's thigh; the wound is very slight. Lasalle was killed; my losses are rather heavy, but the victory is decisive and complete. We have more than a hundred cannon, twelve flags, and many prisoners. I am burned by the sun. Farewell, my friend, I embrace you. Give my warm regards to Hortense.
Plain English translation
Independent machine-assisted Plain English translation from the 1888 Martel French edition, not a historical English translation. French Wikisource contributors supplied the scan-backed transcription: https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Livre:Bonaparte_-_Œuvres_littéraires,_tome_1,_1888.djvu (page histories credit contributors). The adapted transcription and translation are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Extraction removes markup and editorial notes and makes documented transcription repairs. French-source model review is not human specialist certification or a complete scan collation.
Ebersdorf, July 7, 1809, five in the morning.
I am sending a page to bring you the good news: I won at Ebersdorf on the 5th and at Wagram on the 6th. The enemy army is running away in disorder, and everything is going as I hoped. Eugène is well. Prince Aldobrandini has been wounded, but not seriously. A cannonball struck the fleshy part of Bessières's thigh; his wound is very slight. Lasalle was killed. My losses are fairly heavy, but the victory is complete and decisive. We have taken more than a hundred guns, twelve flags, and many prisoners. The sun has burned me. Goodbye, my dear, I embrace you. Give Hortense my best.
About this section
Letter 130 — CXXX is part of Letters to Josephine by Napoléon Bonaparte. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is part 130 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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