[NAPOLEON BONAPARTE - THE LITTLE KNOWN FIRST WILL OF THE EMPEROR]: BERTRAND HENRI GATIEN (1773-1844) French ...

[NAPOLEON BONAPARTE - THE LITTLE KNOWN FIRST WILL OF THE EMPEROR]: BERTRAND HENRI GATIEN (1773-1844) French General. Count Bertrand and Grand Marshal of the Palace. Bertrand was aide-de-camp to Napoleon I and the closest officer to the Emperor, who had full confidence in him. He served during the expedition to Egypt and the Battles of Austerlitz, Wagram, Leipzig and Waterloo and accompanied Napoleon I to Elba in 1814 and to St. Helena in 1815. Bertrand was condemned to death in 1816 but did not return to France until Napoleon´s death when King Louis XVIII granted his amnesty. In 1840 Bertrand went to St. Helena to bring Napoleon´s remains to France. An extremely rare and interesting Autograph Manuscript signed `C[om]te Bertrand´, two pages, 4to, Longwood, St. Helena, 2nd August 1819 and 12th December 1820, in French. Bertrand, the closest General to Napoleon in his last years, copies in full the letter he received from Napoleon I in 1819 with the Emperor´s first draft of his Last Will and Testament (predating his ultimate Will of 1821) and his instructions regarding his belongings. The autograph manuscript states, in part, loyally copying Napoleon´s letter, `My dear B[ertran]d, I send to you my codicil written in my hand in order that after my death you could claim everything that belongs to me here at St. Helene. You will dispose of it as follows. You will give half of my diamonds to Madame Bertrand and the other half to Madame de Montholon…´ Napoleon further asks Bertrand to give differing amounts of money to various individuals including Montholon, Marchand, St. Denis, Bertrand (receiving the greatest amount) and a few others, all of them the closest allies to Napoleon in his final years. The Emperor further states `You will keep my silverware, my weapons, my porcelain, my books…..for my son…´ further instructing `I will give you a letter this evening…with my instructions for the fund investment of a sum of 6.000.000, keep all this in order to be able to return them to me if it is convenient to me.´ Bertrand adds `2nd August Signed Nap. Written to the envelope To Count Bertrand, my grand Marshal…. Attached to a parcel stamped with 2 seals with coat of arms of the Emperor with the written text This is my will, written in my hand signed Napoleon…´ Marshal Bertrand adds `The Emperor gave me in the evening a parcel…. on which was written.. Bertrand will keep at my disposal or will open after my death.´ To the second page Bertrand adds an annotation, dated 12th December 1820, giving some more details about the instructions received from the Emperor. An extremely interesting historical document in the hand of Napoleon´s closest General in his last years at St Helena. Very small overall minor age wear with one crease to bottom left corner, otherwise VG The original copy of this first draft of Napoleon's Last Will and Testament was burned, together with other documents, by Bertrand and Marchand in the afternoon of 19th April 1821 following Napoleon´s orders as his final, and more commonly quoted, Last Will and Testament had been completed. Charles Tristan, Marquis de Montholon (1783-1853) French General during the Napoleonic Wars. He chose to go into exile on St. Helena with Napoleon I after the Emperor´s second abdication. Louis Joseph Narcisse Marchand (1791-1876) Count of the first Empire. Marchand was ''Valet de chambre''of the Emperor, also during his captivity in St. Helena. Alongside Bertrand and Montholon, he was one of the three executors of Napoleon's Last Will and Testament. Louis Etienne Saint-Denis (1788-1856) called by Napoleon Mameluke Ali his ''French-born servant''. Napoleon required him to dress in the style of the Mamelukes. Saint-Denis went to Russia with Napoleon, joined Napoleon on Elba, returned to France for the ''Hundred Days,'' and accompanied Napoleon into exile on St. Helena, where he served as second valet and as Napoleon's librarian. Saint-Denis was born at Versailles, where his father served King Louis XVI as an overseer of the royal stables. The Mamelukes were the slave horsemen of the Ottoman Empire. They became the rulers of Egypt. Napoleon was impressed by the Mamelukes' courage and fighting skills. He formed a special Mameluke corps in the French army.