« Année de malheur en effet combien de catastrophes ne sont-elles pas déjà arrivées. »

Autograph letter signed by Dominique-Jean Larrey, surgeon-in-chief of the Grande Armée, addressed to his wife Marie-Élisabeth Laville-Leroux. Three pages written in black ink in a fine hand, with erasures and corrections. Folds inherent to posting. Traces of a wax seal - probably that of the postal services of the Grande Armée - which appears to have been removed and whose hole has been repaired, causing the loss of a few letters but not impeding reading.
Fine and lengthy letter by Larrey, shortly before his departure for the Russian Campaign and only a few weeks after his appointment as surgeon-in-chief of the Grande Armée.
Provenance: from the Bibliotheca Lindesiana with its red stamp in the lower left margin of the first leaf. This is a celebrated collection of books and manuscripts assembled by Alexander William, Earl of Crawford and Balcarres (1812-1880), called Lord Lindsay for almost his entire life, completed by his son James Ludovic (1847-1913). This important collection included numerous Napoleonic documents.
Larrey recounts an important event that occurred a few weeks earlier: « Quel triste et épouvantable événement que celui de la mine Beaujonc : quelles vertus dans l'âme de ces braves et malheureux ouvriers, quel courage, quelle persévérance n'ont-ils pas montrés ! quels tourments et quelles privations n'ont-ils pas éprouvés ! La lecture de ce journal chère amie m'a déchiré l'âme et mes yeux sont encore baignés de larmes. » ["What a sad and dreadful event was that of the Beaujonc mine: what virtues in the souls of these brave and unfortunate workers, what courage, what perseverance they showed! what torments and what privations they suffered! Reading this journal, dear friend, has torn my soul and my eyes are still bathed in tears."] On February 28, 1812, an exceptional flood occurred in this mine near Liège: the water reached a height of 78 meters and for five days and five nights the miners and their master, Hubert Goffin, worked to escape from the colliery. This catastrophe is far from being an isolated event, this beginning of 1812 having been marked by several earthquakes: « Année de malheur en effet combien de catastrophes ne sont-elles pas déjà arrivées. » ["A year of misfortune indeed, how many catastrophes have already occurred."] The surgeon also shares with his wife the hardships of life on the march: « Nous partons chère amie pour Posen d'où je t'écrirai mais tu ne pourras recevoir de mes nouvelles avant parce que les courriers ne peuvent être expédiés pendant la marche qui d'ici à cette ville sera au moins de 10 jours. [...] Ainsi prends patience et ne t'inquiètes pas. Il me tardait beaucoup de sortir de cette ville ma chère amie. J'y suis fort mal sous tous les rapports. J'ai eu le malheur d'être logé chez un baron qui du lendemain de mon arrivée s'en est allé et m'a largué dans son appartement meublé à la prussienne avec une vieille servante qui me fournit à peine de l'eau et de la lumière. » ["We are leaving, dear friend, for Posen from where I will write to you but you will not be able to receive news from me before then because couriers cannot be dispatched during the march which from here to that city will be at least 10 days. [...] So be patient and do not worry. I was very eager to leave this city, my dear friend. I am very badly off in all respects. I had the misfortune to be lodged with a baron who left the day after my arrival and abandoned me in his Prussian-furnished apartment with an old servant who barely provides me with water and light."] He continues, describing the extent of his work with the Grande Armée: « La grande quantité de papiers qui va former mon bureau m'oblige à avoir un petit fourgon que l'armée doit me fournir. » ["The great quantity of papers that will form my office obliges me to have a small wagon that the army must provide me."]