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AS THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE...
...tentatively steps out of winter and looks forward to more pleasant weather, now is the time to start planning your summer excursions. With its finger ever on the pulse, this week's newsletter comes complete with plenty of Napoleonic event information to help you plan your time-off over the next few months. Those in the Paris area will find the new exhibition at the Château de Fontainebleau a fascinating glimpse of high-society living in Napoleon III's summer retreat, whilst those in Switzerland can visit the new exhibition on at the Historisches Museum Luzern, which looks back at Swiss troop involvement during the 1812 campaign. Both of these events run into the summer. A little bit closer on the horizon is the London National Army Museum's "Enemy Commanders" speaker event, which will see the merits of Napoleon Bonaparte debated alongside those of four other historical figures who fought against Britain. Straying a little further afield than the letter is perhaps accustomed to, we also have a link to the Helsinki 200 website, which features a wealth of information on the events being organised this year to mark Helsinki's two hundred years as the capital city of Finland. And to get you in the mood for the (hopefully) sunnier times ahead, our new painting of the month is a delightfully bucolic landscape by the French painter Théodore Rousseau. To finish off - 200 and 150 years aside - we can also announce today that the latest volume of the General Correspondence of Napoleon Bonaparte - which covers the year 1812 - will be available in bookshops and online from next week (Wednesday 11 April to be precise). Find out more in next week's special Correspondence edition of the napoleon.org bulletin, set to land in your inboxes on 13 April.
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PAINTING OF THE MONTH
Les chênes d'Apremont, by Théodore Rousseau
The "eternally rejected" Théodore Rousseau, whose work remained ignored throughout the July Monarchy period, finally achieved the official recognition he so craved during the Second Empire. The artist, one of the founders of the Ecole de Barbizon, later came to be regarded as one of the great landscape artists of the nineteenth-century. Nature, and particularly trees, played a central role in the artist's work and this painting, a scene featuring multiple oaks in the area known as the Gorges d'Apremont, is a beautiful example of his observant and naturalistic style.
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SEEN ON THE WEB
Helsinki celebrates two hundreds years as the nation's capital
Helsinki, the capital city of Finland is celebrating two hundred years as its nation's capital. On 8 April 1812 (see here), the Russian emperor Alexander I signed a decree replacing Åbo (today Turku) with Helsinki as capital of the Grand Principality of Finland. The city of Helsinki is this year celebrating its bicentenary with a number of events that looks back at the history of the city that would become the nation's cultural, economic and administrative centre. The bicentenary website features huge amounts of historical information, detailing, amongst other things, the transferral and reaction to Alexander's decision. The website is available in English, Finnish, Russian and Finland Swedish.
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"Napoléon III et Eugénie reçoivent à Fontainebleau: l'art de vivre sous le Second Empire", Fontainebleau, France
Throughout history, Fontainebleau has served the French kings and emperors as a residence and a place to receive guests. Napoleon III and Eugenie were no different, and during the Second Empire they used the château as their summer retreat. Between 1852 and 1869, during the spring months from May to July, the emperor and empress would host, for a week at a time, on average forty to fifty guests. This exhibition, which runs until 2 July, takes a look at this luxurious lifestyle, the logistical preparations that made it possible, the rules and etiquette that surrounded these visits, and the convivial moments that were shared.
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"Beresina – Swiss soldiers in Napoleon's Russian campaign 1812", Lucerne, Switzerland
A new exhibition taking place at the Historisches Museum Luzern in Switzerland retells the history of the Russian campaign of 1812 through the eyes of the four Swiss regiments that set off as part the Grande Armée. Of the eight thousand Swiss troops that left, about four hundred made it back. The exhibition includes a documentary film made on location on the Berezina river that retraces the course of the campaign, and there are also military uniforms, instruments used in battlefield surgery, and objects evoking the soldiers' daily routine. The exhibition runs until 19 August.
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"Enemy Commanders: Britain's Greatest Foes", London, UK
Voting has now closed in the National Army Museum's online poll, and the top enemy commanders selected in the National Army Museum's online poll have been announced. The five historical figures that will be discussed and debated at the celebrity speaker event on 14 April are: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Michael Collins, Erwin Rommel, George Washington, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
200 YEARS AGO
Badajoz assaulted
After three weeks spent camped out in front of Badajoz (see bulletin n° 619), three breaches had been blown in the walls. Late on 6 April, it was decided that an assault would be launched. The steepness of the breaches - which were also booby-trapped - coupled with the fierce resistance of the troops stationed within resulted in a bloody struggle and appalling loss of life. Just as the assaults failed - after two hours of fighting and perhaps as many as forty separate attempts (according to Sir Charles Oman) - a secondary attack on the castle of San Vicente, located away from the breaches, succeeded. British troops finally flowed over the walls and the violent sack of Badajoz that followed is considered by many to be the worst of the entire Peninsular campaign. Captain John Patterson picks up the story:
"On all sides drunkenness and tumult appeared amidst the badly lighted streets, while soldiers and followers of the camp, together with hordes of reckless villains, revelling in plunder, were mingled in parties, shouting and hallooing with clamorous tongues. [...] Women and children were huddled together in groups, wildly staring as they crouched into holes and corners and cried loudly in despair for that assistance which it was impossible to render."
It is believed that around 250 Spanish inhabitants were killed during the chaos that followed the assault, which was only brought to an end late on 7 April. Some later argued that a city that refused to surrender and maintained a fierce resistance during the attack "forfeited quarter", in Oman's words. Nevertheless, the outrages committed by the British army remain some of the worst seen during the period.
150 YEARS AGO
The London Underground
On 9 April 1862, the Moniteur Universel reported on the progress being made on the London Underground railway system, commonly accepted as the world's oldest underground railroad. Begun in 1860 with excavations beneath Euston Road, the first line to be installed was the Metropolitan Line.
"The London underground railway, by which it is proposed to link the City with the mainline stations to the north, is at such an advanced state that a train was able to travel down its entire route. The length is about four and a half miles, of which three are entirely subterranean. It will not however be open to the public before June.
In the end, the Metropolitan Line actually opened on 10 January 1863. The first day saw thirty thousand passengers use the service. A fascinating short history of the London Underground can be found on the Time Out website.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 621, 30 MARCH - 5 APRIL 2012
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or in a specific project, by making a donation?
© This Napoleon.org weekly bulletin is published by the Fondation Napoléon. Reproduction or all or part of this bulletin is forbidden, without prior agreement of the Fondation Napoléon.
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OPERATION ST HELENA
The Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien, in association with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have announced an international fund-raising campaign to restore and save Napoleon I's residence on the island of St Helena. All the details regarding the campaign as well as donation forms and advice for donating from outside France, can be found on napoleon.org.
FONDATION NAPOLEON ON THE WEB
Each week we offer you a "mystery link" to somewhere on napoleon.org. Click on the link to discover a part of the website you might not have visited before...
MAGAZINE
Just published
- The British Navy, Rijeka and A.L. Adamić: War and Trade in the Adriatic 1800-1825, by Malcolm Scott Hardy
- In Love and War: The Lives of General Sir Harry & Lady Smith, by David Rooney and Michael Scott
- Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe 1815-1878, by Neil Thomas
- Wellington in the Peninsula, by Jac Weller
PRESS REVIEW
- Silent London: "How to beat the Napoléon blues" (article on Abel Gance's Napoléon)
Seen on the web (external links)
- Helsinki 200
EVENTS
On now and coming up
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
Conferences
- "The transcription, adaptation and translation of plays between France and abroad under the Revolution and Empire", Clermont-Gerrand, France [15/04/2012]
Full details (external link in French)
Exhibitions
- "Napoléon III et Eugénie reçoivent à Fontainebleau: l'art de vivre sous le Second Empire", Fontainebleau, France [31/03/2012 - 30/03/2012]
Full details
- "Beresina – Swiss soldiers in Napoleon's Russian campaign 1812", Lucerne, Switzerland [21/03/2012 - 19/08/2012]
Full details
Talks
- "Enemy Commanders: Britain's Greatest Foes", London, UK [14/04/2012]
Full details
NAPOLEON.ORG
The best of the month:
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- Painting of the month
- Objet d'Art of the month
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