After 265 years, intimate letters from captured French sailors were read in Britain (3 photos)

Letters that never reached their recipients lay in piles, still sealed with red wax. Wives wrote to their husbands, and mothers complained about their sons.





In 1758, sailors from the French warship Galatea were captured while sailing from Bordeaux to Quebec during the Seven Years' War. During the Seven Years' War, British troops captured and imprisoned 64,373 French sailors. Some prisoners of war died from malnutrition or disease, but many were later released.

Letters that almost reached their recipients were confiscated and handed over to the Admiralty of the British Royal Family. Officials then opened and read the contents of the two letters to see if they contained any useful information. It turned out that the letters did not contain any military secrets, but only personal experiences and revelations of women. In the hope of finding their husband, women then wrote several copies of letters to different ports. There is hope that some copies of the letters still reached their recipients.

Lead author Renaud Maurier, professor of European history and fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge, opened the letters and read them two centuries later.



Marie Dubosc wrote to her husband Louis Chambreland, the ship's first lieutenant.

“I could write to you all night... I am your forever faithful wife. Good night, my dear friend. Midnight. I think it's time for me to rest."

Unfortunately, the letter never reached its recipient, and Louis did not meet his wife. Marie died in 1759, before her husband's release. Chambrelant returned to France and married again in 1761.

The stack also contained a series of letters that revealed family drama. A mother wrote to her son Nicolas Quesnel, complaining that he wrote more often to his fiancée than to her.

On the first day of the year (that is, January 1st), you wrote to your fiancée. I think about you more than you think about me. In any case, I wish you a happy new year filled with the blessings of the Lord. I think I’m going to die soon; I’ve been sick for three weeks now. Convey my compliments to Varin (shipmate), only his wife tells me your news,” his 61-year-old mother Margarita wrote in her letter.

Quesnel's fiancée, Marianne, wrote to her fiancé and sided with her mother-in-law.

The black cloud has cleared, the letter your mother received from you lightens the atmosphere.

But at the same time, Marianne mentions Father Nicolas, to whom the son also does not write.

You never mention your father in your letters. This really hurts me. Next time you write to me, please don't forget your father.

The scientist noted that some letters were written by scribes. Not all women at that time could write correctly, so they turned to assistants. Some letters began like this: “the scribe greets you.”

Anna Le Cerf wrote intimate letters to her husband, the ship's officer. The woman mentioned specifically an intimate relationship in them, telling how much she missed her man.

“I can’t wait to have you,” she wrote, which could mean “making love.”



Renaud Maurier is very interested in these letters. He plans to continue to “pull strings” and find the letters from the sailors themselves, CNN reports.