Title: Order from Louis XVI to award Sieur Francois Jacques Dalmas the Order of Saint Louis. Manuscript on Paper with secretarial signature of Louis XVI and signature of his Minister of War, Louis Lebègue Duportail, February 23 1791
Condition: Good
A late 18th century document, being an order to award one Sieur Francois Jacques Dalmas the Order of Saint Louis, a reward for exceptional officers, awarded by the King of France himself.
This manuscript bears the secretarial signature of Louis XVI and is also notably countersigned by his Minister of War, Louis Lebègue Duportail.
The last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution, Louis XVI inherited a weakened France which was already disillusioned with the monarchy owing to the failures of his father Louis XV. His attempts to reform the nation, combined with a financial crisis, lead to the eventual French Revolution, cumulating in his execution in 1793, and the abolition of the Ancien Régime.
Born in Pithiviers, France, on May 14, 1743 and passing away in 1801, Louis Antoine Jean Le Bègue de Presle Du Portail was a French officer and politician, serving as France’s Minister of War during the French Revolution. Prior to that, he was secretly sent to North America in 1777 to serve in George Washington’s Continental Army, becoming tactical advisor, being made Chief Engineer, and helping to found the American Corps of Engineers, becoming its first commander. He participated in fortification plans from Boston, Massachusetts to Charleston, and South Carolina, helping to develop the military strategy that would wear down the British Army. He also directed siege works at the Bottle of Yorktown, which was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in the North American region, leading to the surrender of General Charles Cornwallis. and the capture of both him and his army, cumulating the British government to negotiate an end to the war.
One manuscript on paper, 36.5 x 24 cm
This manuscript is in good shape, with old fold marks to the paper, as well as several tears and crumpling to the top of the letter, without any loss of text.