LOUIS XIV. MARINE. Extract from the Lettre du Roi LOUIS XIV, - Lot 93

LOUIS XIV. MARINE. Extract from the Lettre du Roi LOUIS XIV, au Duc de NOAILLES, du 24 Juin 1694, sur la Guerre sur mer avec les espagnols. Period copy 1 page folio, some defects; "You will see by the attached extract of the letter I am writing to the Marshal de TOURVILLE the orders I am giving him on the notice I have had that RUSSEL (RUSSELL, British Naval Officer) has left to enter the Mediterranean with 45 Vessels.You will know from the said letter that you must no longer rely on my naval army for the rest of this campaign, which is why I wish at this time that you had gone to Gironne rather than Barcelona, and that my letters had not made you change your mind, which I do not believe you have, having all the reasons you have given me for starting at Gironne. If you are in front of this place, you only have to do your best to take it, and then think only of living with my army in the enemy country and preserving the conquests you have made; if you are in Barcelona, you must press the attack to make yourself master of it before the enemy fleet arrives, in which case Marshal de TOURVILLE will stay there and wait for the enemies. This is all I can say about the present state of affairs, and as uncertain as I am about the party you have taken."