CHITCHAGOV (Pavel Vasilyevich). Autograph letter... Lot 22

CHITCHAGOV (Pavel Vasilyevich). Autograph letter signed at the top, addressed to Armand-Louis-Augustin de Caulaincourt, marked "secret". [St. Petersburg], "aboard the yacht Goloubka", July 16, 1808. 3/4 p. in-4. "Admiral de Tchitchagoff hastens to communicate to Mr. the Duke of Vicenza the letter for Mr. comodore Saltanoff [head of the Russian squadron detached in the Adriatic in front of Trieste] on the contents of which the admiral had the honor to warn Mr. the ambassador. He takes this opportunity to reiterate to His Excellency the assurance of his high consideration... The Admiral is leaving immediately for Kronstadt, otherwise he would have tried to see the Duke at home...". After the Treaties of Tilsit (July 1807), Russia returned to France the Ionian Islands (including Corfu) and the Mouths of the Cattaro (around Kotor in present-day Montenegro), which it had occupied since 1800, and the Black Sea Fleet, under the command of Captain Ivan Ossipovitch Saltanov, evacuated the Russian troops to Trieste. The English then organized a blockade around the Ionian islands and the mouths of Cattaro. Meanwhile, the bombardment of Copenhagen by a British fleet led Tsar Alexander I to declare war on England in September 1807. Admiral Collingwood extended his blockade across the Adriatic to French-held Venice and the Russian fleet's free port of Trieste. Napoleon I finally bought Saltanov's ships in 1809, when his own troops took possession of Trieste. AMIRAL PAVEL VASSILIEVITCH CHITCHAGOV (1767-1849) first made a career in the Navy, like his father, taking part in the Mediterranean campaign (1782-1784), the war against Sweden (1789-1790), and was Minister of the Navy, first as a delegate (1802) and then in his own right with the rank of admiral (1807). After a long leave of absence, he returned to service in 1812, and was placed in command of the Black Sea fleet and the Danube army. An attack on France from the south was first considered, then abandoned, and Napoleon I's offensive in Russia forced him to move north to assist Kutuzov and Wittgenstein. He reached Borissov, where he destroyed the bridges over the Berezina to cut off Napoleon's retreat, but was unable to prevent him from crossing the Berezina. He fought in Poland again in 1813, but was forced to leave the army because of criticism he had received over the battle of the Berezina. He went into exile, eventually settling in Paris, where he lived out his remaining years. LE GENERAL DE CAULAINCOURT, DUC DE VICENCE since June 1807, held the key position of AMBASSADOR OF FRANCE TO RUSSIA from November 1807 to May 1811.