SOLDIER'S LETTER. - Lot 137

SOLDIER'S LETTER. L.A.S. Verdun, May 6, 1813. 3 pp. bifeuillet in-4, engraved letterhead of chasseur in the 25th Regiment of Light Infantry, address on verso, small holes in folds. Letter from young soldier Joseph Gravelin, conscripted into the 25th Infantry Regiment prior to the 1813 German campaign. "My dear Mother, I'm writing you these words to let you know that I'm in Verdun in the Cartiés Saint Paule and that my health is good (...). I'm still getting over how happy I would have been if I'd stayed at home. We left Epinal in April (...)". He details the stages and indicates that he received 55 sous. "Appresant nous allons à l'exersis tous les jours deux heures le matin, autant le soir: vous croyez apprésent que je suis parti d'Epinal tout seul; non, mais point de ma connessance. There were ten of us, one from each canton of the Vosge department, to compete for the sinquième Bataillon du viengt-sinq(me) Régiment, because there are so few who are ready for reform (...). I don't know anyone other than Lembert's son, the Pairie du haut des Charmes (...)". He sends his greetings to all his family.