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Auction: 14035 - Postal History, Autographs and Historical Documents
Lot: 3042

Historical Documents
Major-General Henry MacKinnon
1805 (17 December) entire letter from Saxony to Bracknell, rated at "1/11" and with London arrival datestamp on the flap. An original campaign letter, written while serving with his regiment under Lord Cathcart in Germany, from Henry MacKinnon to his wife Kate at Bracknell, Berkshire, with good military content, referring to the Battle of Austerlitz, reporting the entry of the Prussians into Wurtzburg, warning that communication with England might be cut off by the freezing of the Elbe. Endorsed "via Cuxhaven" (a German town situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River). Postage due 1/11d (1/6d Germany to London + 5d London to Bracknell); lightly toned. Photo

The contents of the letter include, "Monday 16th, ... We still remain here, nor do I as yet see any appearance of our moving, there certainly has been a great Battle in which the Three Emperors were present and we have had many contradictory reports."

Major-General Henry MacKinnon (1773-1812) entered the Coldstream Guards, served under the Duke of York in Holland, in the expedition to Egypt, in Germany in 1805, and at the taking of Copenhagen in 1807. Mackinnon commanded the 45th, 74th, and 88th regiments in the Peninsular War under the Duke of Wellington. He was killed by the explosion of an enemy magazine during the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo on January 19, 1812. Prior to the Napoleonic wars, MacKinnon had a cordial acquaintance with Napoleon Bonaparte while the former's father resided in the French Province of Dauphiny when Napoleon was a frequent visitor to the region. The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition. On 2 December 1805 a French army, commanded by Emperor Napoleon I, decisively defeated a Russo-Austrian army, commanded by Tsar Alexander I and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, after nearly nine hours of difficult fighting. "Tuesday 17th. Still in doubt as to the fate of this great battle, which will be of so much consequence to our fate and that of the world."

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Sold for
£300