Letter 039 — XXXIX
Original French
Le 12 octobre 1805.
Mon armée est entrée à Munich. L’ennemi est au delà de l’Inn d’un côté; l’autre armée de 60 000 hommes, je la tiens bloquée sur l’Iller, entre Ulm et Memmingen. L’ennemi est perdu, a perdu la tête, et tout m’annonce la plus heureuse campagne, la plus courte et la plus brillante qui ait été faite. Je pars dans une heure pour Burgon-sur-l’Iller. Je me porte bien; le temps est cependant affreux. Je change d’habit deux fois par jour, tant il pleut. Je t’aime et t’embrasse.
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.
October 12, 1805.
My army has entered Munich. On one side the enemy is beyond the Inn; the other army of 60,000 men I hold blockaded on the Iller, between Ulm and Memmingen. The enemy is lost, has lost its head, and everything points to the most fortunate campaign, the shortest and most brilliant ever fought. In an hour I leave for Burgon-sur-l’Iller. I am well; the weather, however, is dreadful. I change clothes twice a day, so much does it rain. I love and embrace you.
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.
October 12, 1805.
My army has gone into Munich. One part of the enemy is beyond the Inn; the other army, of 60,000 men, I have blocked on the Iller between Ulm and Memmingen. The enemy is lost and has lost its head, and everything promises me the happiest, shortest and most brilliant campaign ever fought. In an hour I set out for Burgon-sur-l’Iller. I am well, though the weather is dreadful; the rain is so heavy that I change clothes twice a day. I love you and embrace you.
About this section
Letter 039 — XXXIX 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 39 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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