France, Napoleon I Bonaparte. Bronze medal commemorating Napoleon's presence in Osterode, 1807
- KOD: 4609031RMA
France, Napoleon I Bonaparte. Bronze medal commemorating Napoleon's presence in Osterode, 1807, by Andrieu, Denon, Bramsen 631, Julius 1735, Zeitz 82, Bronze 40 mm, weight 38,43 g., Condition aUNC, nice brown patina with luster. A medal that is sure to catch the attention of any collector of Napoleonic medals.
After Napoléon suffered great losses at the Battle of Eylau in Prussia, he stayed for several months in Osterode (now Ostróda in Poland) to await reinforcements from France and the recovery of battered soldiers. Napoléon compares his approach to the evasive tactics used by the Roman general Fabius Maximus in fighting Hannibal and the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War (218-201 BC). Evasion earned him the nickname "cunctator," or procrastinator, and was frowned upon until, after a major Roman defeat, procrastination proved to be a wiser tactic. Napoleon also wanted his approach to be understood in this sense. Source: Fritz Rudolf Kunker GmbH & Co.