Letter 019 — XIX
Original French
Montebello, 10 septembre 1796.
L’ennemi a perdu, ma chère amie, dix-huit mille hommes prisonniers; le reste est tué ou blessé. Wurmser avec une colonne de cinq cents chevaux et cinq mille hommes d’infanterie, n’a plus d’autre ressource qu’à se jeter dans Mantoue. Jamais nous n’avons eu de succès aussi constants et aussi grands. L’Italie, le Frioul, le Tyrol, sont assurés à la République. Il faut que l’empereur crée une seconde armée: artillerie, équipages de pont, bagages, tout est pris.
Sous peu de jours, nous nous verrons; c’est la plus douce récompense de mes fatigues et de mes peines.
Mille baisers ardents et bien amoureux.
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.
Montebello, September 10, 1796.
The enemy has lost eighteen thousand men taken prisoner, my dear friend; the rest are killed or wounded. Wurmser, with a column of five hundred horse and five thousand infantry, has no resource left but to throw himself into Mantua. Never have we had such constant and such great successes. Italy, Friuli, and the Tyrol are secured for the Republic. The emperor must create a second army: artillery, bridge trains, baggage, everything has been captured.
In a few days we shall see each other; that is the sweetest reward for my fatigue and troubles.
A thousand ardent and deeply loving kisses.
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.
Montebello, September 10, 1796.
The enemy has lost eighteen thousand men as prisoners, my dear; the others have been killed or hurt. Wurmser, with a column of five hundred horsemen and five thousand infantry, has no choice but to throw himself into Mantua. Never have our successes been so consistent and so great. Italy, Friuli and Tyrol are secured for the Republic. The Emperor will have to raise another army: we have captured everything—guns, bridge trains and baggage.
In a few days we shall meet again; that is the sweetest reward for my fatigue and my troubles.
A thousand passionate, loving kisses.
About this section
Letter 019 — XIX 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 19 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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