Saxony Campaign. AUTOGRAPH LETTER FROM SOLDIER PILLON, rifle shooter in the 1st Battalion, 1st Company, 1st Regiment, TO HIS PARENTS in St Germer de Fly, Saxe Gotha on April 25, 1813. 18856-22

Saxony Campaign. AUTOGRAPH LETTER FROM SOLDIER PILLON, rifleman-hunter in the 1st Battalion, 1st Company, 1st Regiment, TO HIS PARENTS in St Germer de Fly, Saxe Gotha on April 25, 1813. 18856-22

Letter with address "To Monsieur / Monsieur Pillon Teacher / in St Germer near Gournay Embray / general delivery at Gournay / Seine inférieure Department / At Gournay / France" *. Black ink postal mark "ALLEMAGNE MAYENCE" (Germany Mainz).

He informs his parents about the regiment's progress, his daily life is acceptable, he is not lacking in food, and he has met people from the Gournay region.

"My dear Papa, my dear Mama,
The last letter I wrote you from Chalons mentioned that I asked you for money thinking I would receive it in Mainz where I believed it would be very urgent, but the need is not as dire as I thought because since we left France, we have not lacked anything so far, we have food with the townsfolk or the peasants. The food is as much as one could desire without any delicacies. We crossed the Rhine on April 1st where we went to Frankfurt where I stayed until the 17th of the month, from there we moved to Saxony where we arrived yesterday and where we will stay until further notice.
I met Rotté by chance in Frankfurt which brought great joy to both of us as well as to a certain Rapière, a watchmaker from Gournay who is his bunkmate. I also saw, by a stroke of luck, a certain Guérin who was at my cousin Lecomte's place, who is currently in the 7th Riflemen 1st battalion, 4th Company. They are also in Gotha. Rotté is in the 6th Riflemen battalion, 1st company, they are doing well except for Rotté who caught scabies on the way, but despite that instead of losing weight, he is gaining weight. 'Ah,' he said jokingly, 'I am so well that if they gave me my discharge, I wouldn't want it.' For my part, I have had some luck, I slept with people with scabies, I slept in beds where one could catch scabies, but I only got a sore eye that I have had since becoming a soldier, always; for the past five months, but it is not dangerous. So far I have rejoined the company and the battalion [...]
Signed Pillon Rifleman-hunter 1st Bllon 1st Company 1st Rgt".

Double sheet. 2 pages.
Height 24 cm x 19.5 cm.
Good condition, fold marks, one tear with missing part on page 4 (outside of the text).

* Gournay-en-Bray, Saint Germer de Fly (pays de Bray).

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: Saxony Campaign 1813
April 16 - Emperor Napoleon I arrives in Mainz after a 40-hour journey from Saint-Cloud.
April 17 to 23 - He stays in Mainz, lodging at the Deutschhaus, with the rank of an imperial palace.
April 24 - He leaves Mainz at 8 p.m. for Frankfurt where he arrives late at night at the Thurn und Taxis Palace, the residence of the prince primate and grand duke of Frankfurt, Karl Theodor von Dalberg. He then continues to Hanau.
April 25 - Napoleon arrives in Erfurt in the evening. He stays there until the 28th.
April 28 - He leaves Erfurt at 11 a.m. for Weimar, where he spends two hours at the Weimarer Stadtschloss, then continues to Eckartsberg where he dines with the Duke of Weimar (Carl August von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) and lodges in an inn.
April 29 - He arrives in Naumburg in the late afternoon, during heavy rain.
April 30 - He continues, heading east-northeast, until Weißenfels.