LAFOND. - Lot 220

LAFOND. First Adjutant of the Navy in Brest. Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Flotilla. L.A.S. "Lafond" to "Contre-Amiral Chef militaire". Brest, 6 frimaire an X [27 novembre 1801]. 2 pp. in-4. Header printed with vignette "État-Major Marine" with republican motto "Liberté, Égalité". Interesting health report addressed to the military chief of Brest concerning the condition of soldiers hospitalized at the seminary, which has been transformed into a military hospital. Lafond reports on an inspection carried out "accompanied by Cens Dubreil, physician, and Pierrond, deputy commissioner". After a "scrupulous visit of all the patients", he concludes that most cannot be moved "without compromising their existence". He added, however, that "some fifteen men from the land troops with simple gonorrhea or gall bladder disease could perhaps be safely returned to duty". The letter also mentions the convalescents transferred to the Landerneau and Pontanézen hospices, and recommends that a doctor be sent to inspect them. A precious testimony to military sanitary administration and medical conditions in wartime ports under the Consulate, at a time when Brest was one of the French Navy's main arsenals. Beautiful piece on official Navy letterhead, with large autograph signature "Lafond".