LS signed “Nap,” one page, 7 x 8.5, March 19, 1808. Addressed from Paris, Napoleon sends a letter to General Clarke, in part (translated): "Issue orders that a battery established at Coubre Point on the right bank of the Gironde, in order to protect coastal shipping." Signed prominently at the conclusion by the French Emperor. Attractively double-matted and gilt-framed with an oval portrait to an overall size of 18 x 14.25. In fine condition, with scattered spots of foxing.
With one eye on the defense of French coastlines, Napoleon trained his other on the ongoing father-son conflict of the Spanish kingdom. Interestingly, this letter dates to the very day that Charles IV abdicated the throne of Spain after the Tumult of Aranjuez, an uprising that led to his son and heir, Ferdinand VII, supplanting him as king. Ferdinand’s reign, however, was short-lived. In April 1808, Napoleon invited both Charles IV and Ferdinand VII to Bayonne, France, with the father and son both reluctantly accepting these mandatory invitations. Once in Bayonne, Napoleon forced the men to renounce the throne and to grant it to himself. With this accomplished, the Emperor then named his brother Joseph Bonaparte king of Spain on June 6, 1808.
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