PARIS: Napoleon Bonaparte's account of his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, dictated during his exile on the island of Saint Helena, went on sale Wednesday in Paris for one million euros ($1.2 million).
The account of the 1805 "three-emperors clash" with Russo-Austrian forces, which is considered Napoleon's greatest military victory, takes readers through preparations for battle, the fighting itself and is completed by a battle plan drawn by his loyal aide-de-camp General Henri-Gatien on tracing paper.
The densely packed 74-page manuscript, dictated to Bertrand, contains several corrections by the exiled emperor, who crossed out words and added remarks in the margins in tiny writing.
Napoleon does not refer to himself in the first person, instead prefacing his remarks with "the emperor says".
The sale comes at the start of a year marking the bicentenary of Napoleon's death.
Gallery owner Jean-Emmanuel Raux, a collector of French imperial memorabilia, found the manuscript in a trove of documents belonging to Bertrand's heirs.
"It's the most fabulous document about French history that you could find in a private collection," he told AFP.
His daughter Alizee, who studied the manuscript in detail, said it was an "embellished account of the battle".
Within around nine hours on December 2, 1805, some 75,000 soldiers of Napoleon's "Grande Armee" outmanoeuvred a larger Russian-Austrian force at Austerlitz, in what was then the Austrian empire.
It helped to end the coalition between Francois I of Austria and Tsar Alexander I of Russia that had been financed by Britain -- and is a battle studied in French military schools to this day.
Napoleon details all the tactics he deployed to dupe his opponents into believing that French forces were weak -- including earlier retreats and negotiations that disguised the fact he had already chosen the site of the battle.
His exalted account trumpets the heroism of the French, from trooper to officer, and claims even wounded soldiers hailed the emperor.
"I will lose a good number of brave men," he said on the eve of the battle. "I feel bad that they really feel like my children, and, in truth, I reproach myself sometimes over this sentiment since I fear that it will leave me unqualified for war."
The manuscript will be exhibited until the end of the month at the Paris gallery Arts et Autographes, as well as online for potential foreign buyers.
The sale is part of the "BRAFA in the Galleries" art fair taking place in 126 galleries in 13 countries from January 27 to 31.
Collectors can arrange to view the manuscript in person or over the internet.
Napoleon's epic life in 10 dates
As his own account of his greatest victory at the Battle of Austerlitz goes under the hammer in Paris, here are 10 key dates in the epic life of Napoleon Bonaparte, the legendary French military and political leader:
- August 15, 1769: Napoleon is born on the island of Corsica to a minor noble Italian-Corsican family.
- December 22, 1793: He is made a general at the age of 24 and scores a series of victories in an Italian campaign three years later that make him famous across Europe.
- November 9, 1799: Engineers a coup and becomes First Consul, progressively extending his control over France.
- March 21, 1804: Pushes through a series of laws known as the Napoleonic Code replacing previous French law.
- December 2, 1804: He is declared Emperor of the French, crowning himself at Notre-Dame cathedral.
- October 21, 1805: His plans to invade Britain are shelved after the Battle of Trafalgar, won by the British fleet under Admiral Nelson.
- December 2: Wins a decisive victory over the Austrian and Russian armies at the Battle of Austerlitz, considered his tactical masterpiece.
- April 11, 1814: After the catastrophic failure of his 1812 invasion of Russia, he is forced to abdicate and is exiled to the island of Elba off Italy.
- February 26, 1815: Escapes and returns to lead the French government. Finds himself up against a British-Prussian coalition.
- June 18, 1815: Abdicates again, three days after being beaten at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium. Is taken to the remote island of St Helena, off the African coast, where he dies on May 5, 1821, aged 51.