A Rare Letter Written In English By Napoleon Bonaparte Goes To Auction

A letter written in the English language by the French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, will be going on sale at auction. It is a rare letter and even more so as it was written in English by Napoleon himself.

Napoleon had wanted to understand the language of his British enemy when he was captured by the Brits in 1815. Unfortunately, he had not quite mastered the English language as noted in the letter going to auction.

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica in 1769 and later trained as an artillery officer in mainland France. He rose in prominance as a military man during several conflicts, the most prolific of which were the Napoleonic Wars in the first decade of the 19th Century. He became Emperor of the French between 1804 and 1814 but his reign ended at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815.

It was then when he was captured by the British and held in confinement on the island of Saint Helena (located in the Atlantic Ocean) for the last six years of his life. He wanted to understand the language of his captors by learning English. His aide, Emmanuel the Comte de las Cases, taught him the English language during his confinement. The auction where the letter will be sold, will be held in the South of Paris, France.

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