Letter 041 — XLI
Original French
Ulm, le 21 octobre 1805.
Je me porte assez bien, ma bonne amie. Je pars à l’instant pour Augsbourg. J’ai fait mettre bas les armes à 33 000 hommes. J’ai de 60 à 70 000 prisonniers, plus de 90 drapeaux et de 200 pièces de canon. Jamais catastrophe pareille dans les annales militaires! Porte-toi bien. Je suis un peu harassé. Le temps est beau depuis trois jours. La première colonne de prisonniers file aujourd’hui sur la France. Chaque colonne est de 6 000 hommes.
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.
Ulm, October 21, 1805.
I am fairly well, my dear friend. I leave this instant for Augsburg. I have made 33,000 men lay down their arms. I have 60,000 to 70,000 prisoners, more than 90 flags and more than 200 cannon. Never has there been such a catastrophe in the annals of war! Keep well. I am a little worn out. The weather has been fine for three days. The first column of prisoners sets off for France today. Each column consists of 6,000 men.
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.
Ulm, October 21, 1805.
I am fairly well, my dear. I am setting off for Augsburg immediately. I have compelled 33,000 men to surrender their weapons. I have 60,000 to 70,000 prisoners, over 90 flags and over 200 guns. The annals of war have never seen such a disaster! Keep well. I am somewhat exhausted. For three days we have had good weather. The first column of prisoners is heading for France today; each column consists of 6,000 men.
About this section
Letter 041 — XLI 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 41 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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