Letter 085 — LXXXV
Original French
Eylau, 9 février 1807, six heures du soir.
Je t’écris un mot, mon amie, afin que tu ne sois pas inquiète. L’ennemi a perdu la bataille, 40 pièces de canon, 10 drapeaux, 12 000 prisonniers; il a horriblement souffert. J’ai perdu du monde, 1 600 tués, 3 à 4 000 blessés. Ton cousin Tascher se porte bien; je l’ai appelé près de moi avec le titre d’officier d’ordonnance. Corbineau a été tué d’un obus.; je m’étais singulièrement attaché à cet officier, qui avait beaucoup de mérite; cela me fait de la peine Ma garde à cheval s’est couverte de gloire. D’Allemagne est blessé dangereusement. Adieu, mon amie.
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.
Eylau, February 9, 1807, six in the evening.
I write you a word, my friend, so that you will not be anxious. The enemy has lost the battle, 40 cannon, 10 flags, and 12,000 men taken prisoner; he has suffered terribly. I have lost men, 1,600 killed, 3,000 to 4,000 wounded. Your cousin Tascher is well; I have called him to my side with the title of orderly officer. Corbineau was killed by a shell; I had grown especially attached to this officer, who had great merit; it grieves me. My mounted Guard covered itself with glory. D’Allemagne is dangerously wounded. Goodbye, my friend.
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.
Eylau, February 9, 1807, six in the evening.
A quick note, my friend, so that you will not worry. The enemy has lost the battle, 40 cannon and 10 flags, and 12,000 of his men have been taken prisoner; his losses have been terrible. I too have lost men: 1,600 killed and 3,000 to 4,000 wounded. Your cousin Tascher is well. I have called him to my side as an orderly officer. Corbineau was killed by a shell. I had become particularly attached to this very capable officer, and his death pains me. My mounted guard has won great glory. D’Allemagne is dangerously wounded. Goodbye, my friend.
About this section
Letter 085 — LXXXV 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 85 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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