Letter 057 — LVII
Original French
Iéna, le 15 octobre 1806, trois heures du matin.
Mon amie, j’ai fait de belles manœuvres contre les Prussiens. J’ai remporté hier une grande victoire. Ils étaient 150 000 hommes; j’ai fait 20 000 prisonniers, pris 100 pièces de canon et des drapeaux. J’étais en présence et près du roi de Prusse; j’ai manqué de le prendre, ainsi que la reine. Je bivouaque depuis deux jours. Je me porte à merveille. Adieu, mon amie, porte-toi bien, et aime-moi. Si Hortense est à Mayence, donne-lui un baiser, ainsi qu’à Napoléon et au petit.
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.
Iéna, October 15, 1806, three in the morning.
My friend, I have made fine maneuvers against the Prussians. Yesterday I won a great victory. They had 150,000 men; I took 20,000 prisoners, 100 cannon, and flags. I was in the presence of and close to the King of Prussia; I nearly captured him, as well as the Queen. I have been bivouacking for two days. I am wonderfully well. Goodbye, my friend, keep well and love me. If Hortense is in Mainz, give her a kiss, and one to Napoléon and the little one too.
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.
Jena, October 15, 1806, three in the morning.
My friend, I have executed fine maneuvers against the Prussians and yesterday won a great victory. They numbered 150,000 men; I have taken 20,000 prisoners, 100 cannon and flags. I was in the presence of the King of Prussia, close to him, and nearly captured him and the queen. For two days I have bivouacked. I am in splendid health. Farewell, my friend; keep well and love me. If Hortense is at Mainz, kiss her, Napoléon and the little one for me.
About this section
Letter 057 — LVII 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 57 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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