Berthier was an officer in the French army (1770–1814); fought in the American Revolution with Lafayette; was chief of staff under Napoleon Bonaparte (1795–1814); and Ambassador Extraordinary to Spain, responsible for negotiating the retrocession of Louisiana from Spain to France (1800).
The collection consists of Berthier's papers relating to his negotiations with Spain for the return of Louisiana to France (August–October 1800). Included are retained copies of Berthier's letters to Napoleon, Prince Talleyrand, General Menou, and the Spanish Secretary of State, the Chevalier Urquijo; Berthier's copies of his instructions from Talleyrand; copy of a letter sent to Urquijo by French ambassador Alquier outlining the French argument for retrocession; preliminary drafts of a treaty written by Berthier and Urquijo; and letters of Urquijo explaining the Spanish position.
1 bound volume (26 items).
Description taken from Eric Pumroy and Paul Brockman, A Guide to the Manuscript Collections of the Indiana Historical Society and Indiana State Library. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1986 (entry A-32).
Apart from this description, no collection guide is available for this collection. Please consult a reference librarian for help in using it. If you are viewing this page on our website, you may go to http://www.indianahistory.org/library/reference.html and click on “Ask a Reference Question” to ask for more information about the collection.
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
8 July 2004