JOSEPH VINOY (1800-1880) Autograph letter signed to General Wimpffen (1811-1884)

Sathonay camp, August 23, 1856. 8 pp. in-8° on bi-sheet. In French. Extraordinary General Vinoy’s war story on the Taking of Malakoff and fight with the Russians. The General Vinoy was under the command of General Mac-Mahon. With all the details of sword fighting and combat against Russian soldiers. The command of the 1st infantry division of the 2nd corps of the army of the East was given to Patrice de Mac-Mahon. The 2nd brigade of the 1st division commanded by General Vinoy supports the English in order to link the 1st brigade. Wimpffen, brigadier general since 17 March 1855, commanding the 1st brigade of the 2nd division of the 2nd corps. The Crimean campaign (1853 to 1856) was one of the most important wars of the 19th century. From the end of 1853, the Crimean War threatened to break out between France and the Russian Empire, due to the latter's claim to resolve the Eastern question to its own benefit. It pitted Imperial Russia against a coalition comprising the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The conflict ended with the defeat of Russia, ratified by the treaty of Paris in 1856. A war that mobilised, at the height of the fighting, up to 230,000 soldiers, which restored France to the position it had lost after Waterloo, and which marked a considerable advance in military technology.