A close-up on: the Polish campaign, Friedland (14 June, 1807)

14 June, 1807, was the day on which Napoleon got his decisive battle in which he drove Alexander to defeat and to the negotiating table. On the evening of the battle at Friedland Napoleon was to write to the Empress Joséphine: “My dear, I will only write a few words because I am exceedingly tired; I’ve been in a bivouac for many days now. My children have worthily celebrated the anniversary of the battle of Marengo. The battle of Friedland will be as celebrated and glorious for my people as those of Austerlitz and Jena. The whole of the Russian army has been routed, I have taken 80 cannon, there are 30,000 men dead or captured, 25 Russian generals killed, wounded or taken, the Russian Guard has been crushed … “.