HABERT PIERRE-JOSEPH: (1773-1825) French General during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Habert was posted to ...

HABERT PIERRE-JOSEPH: (1773-1825) French General during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Habert was posted to Spain under Marshal Suchet, where he became known as the Ajax of the Army of Catalonia for his prolonged defense of Barcelona in 1814. An excellent D.S., `Habert´, one page, folio, Barcelona, 5th April, 1814, in French. The partially printed document bears the heading of the Imperial Armies in Spain, and is a payment approval signed by the Commissar of war for the supply of wheat to be delivered at the military warehouses at the Plaza de Barcelona. Signed to the lower left corner by Habert in his capacity as General Governor of Barcelona. Paper with water mark. With blank integral leaf. Very small overall creasing. VG £120-200 Louis Gabriel Suchet (1770-1826) Marshal of France. Duc d´Albufera. One of the most brilliant of Napoleon´s Generals. A late 1813 order of battle placed Habert in command of Suchet's 4th Division, counting 3,975 men in four battalions. As Napoleon drained Suchet's strength away in order to defend eastern France, the marshal was left with only 17,000 soldiers. Forced to abandon most of Catalonia, he installed Habert as governor of Barcelona. For his tenacious defense of that city in the face of a besieging army of 30,000 and a British naval squadron, Habert earned the sobriquet the Ajax of the Army of Catalonia. He surrendered Barcelona on 25th April, long after Napoleon's abdication, and only with ''great reluctance''. The present letter was signed only twenty days before the surrender.