Napoleon's letters from Russian campaign on sale, hat sets recordA letter sent by Napoleon during the Russian campaign. NEW YORK - Eleven letters sent by Napoleon Bonaparte, including dispatches from the Kremlin, have gone on sale following the blockbuster auction of the diminutive French emperor's hat for $2.1 million. That note does not feature in the latest sale, having been sold for 187,500 euros at a French auction in 2012. A hat belonging to Napoleon sold for a record of nearly two million euros at a French auction on Sunday. It broke the previous record for a Napoleonic hat, held by the same auction house, of 1.88 million euros in 2014, shelled out by a South Korean businessman.