Napoleon must have dispatched his strongest horses and riders to carry the news: It only took three days to reach France's interior ministry -- 2,480 kilometers across Europe.
"This letter is unique. Not only is it all in code, but it's the first time we see this different Napoleon. He went into Moscow in 1812 at the height of his power. He returned profoundly weakened. In Moscow, the Russians had fled days before and burnt down the city. There was no victory for Napoleon, nor were there any provisions for his starving, dying army," says Jean-Christophe Chataignier of the auction house.
The only thing left for the weakened leader was to give the order to burn Russia's government buildings -- coded in the letter as "449, 514, 451, 1365..."
It's evidence of what historians call the beginning of the end of Napoleon's glorious empire, which started in Russia and ended at Waterloo three years later.
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