Letter 048 — XLVIII
Original French
Austerlitz, le 3 décembre 1805.
Je t’ai expédié Lebrun du champ de bataille. J’ai battu l’armée russe et autrichienne commandées par les deux empereurs. Je me suis un peu fatigué: j’ai bivouaqué huit jours en plein air, par des nuits assez fraîches. Je couche ce soir dans le château du prince de Kaunitz, où je vais dormir deux ou trois heures. L’armée russe est non seulement battue mais détruite. Je 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.
Austerlitz, December 3, 1805.
I sent Lebrun to you from the battlefield. I have defeated the Russian and Austrian armies commanded by the two emperors. I am a little tired: I bivouacked for eight days in the open air, on rather cold nights. Tonight I am sleeping in Prince Kaunitz's castle, where I shall sleep for two or three hours. The Russian army is not merely defeated but destroyed. I 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.
Austerlitz, December 3, 1805.
From the battlefield I dispatched Lebrun to you. I have beaten the Austrian and Russian armies under the command of their two emperors. I am somewhat tired, having bivouacked in the open for eight days, with rather chilly nights. This evening I shall stay at Prince Kaunitz's château and sleep there for two or three hours. The Russian army has not just been defeated; it has been destroyed. I embrace you.
About this section
Letter 048 — XLVIII 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 48 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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