"LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR! DAVOUT (Louis-Nicolas). Piece signed "P Deckmuhl" as Minister of War (one p. in-4), with autograph apostille signed by the Minister Secretary of State Hugues-Bernard Maret (3 words), addressed to General Joseph-Marie Dessaix in Lyon. Paris, 27th March 1815. "The Emperor was proclaimed in Rennes, Nantes and Brest with the greatest enthusiasm, as well as in all the departments of the West. The national cockade was displayed in Metz. The imperial government was recognised everywhere, to cries of long live the emperor...". Returning from Elba in an extraordinarily bold move, Napoleon I had just moved back into the Tuileries on 20 March 1815. The Hundred Days were beginning.