A letter written by Napoleon Bonaparte in which he vows to "blow up the Kremlin" has sold at auction for 10 times its estimated price.
A Paris museum purchased the October 20, 1812, document for $243,000 at an auction house near the French capital on December 2.
The coded letter to the emperor's foreign minister was sold with the original transcript.
In the missive, Napoleon laments his army's plight, asking for assistance in replenishing his forces.
Napoleon's Grand Army entered Russia in June 1812 to compel Emperor Alexander I to remain in the Continental Blockade of Britain.
When the army entered Moscow, the Russian tsar and most residents had already evacuated.
Napoleon ordered the destruction of the Kremlin as a disastrous retreat began.
Several of the complex's towers were wrecked along with sections of its walls.
A Paris museum purchased the October 20, 1812, document for $243,000 at an auction house near the French capital on December 2.
The coded letter to the emperor's foreign minister was sold with the original transcript.
In the missive, Napoleon laments his army's plight, asking for assistance in replenishing his forces.
Napoleon's Grand Army entered Russia in June 1812 to compel Emperor Alexander I to remain in the Continental Blockade of Britain.
When the army entered Moscow, the Russian tsar and most residents had already evacuated.
Napoleon ordered the destruction of the Kremlin as a disastrous retreat began.
Several of the complex's towers were wrecked along with sections of its walls.
