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THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN N° 688, 1-7 NOVEMBER, 2013
EDITORIAL
For a long time, the study of the military was the back bone of Napoleonic studies. So much work has indeed been done, that it was hard to imagine anything new emerging from such study. And yet, our Book of the month by Alexander Mikaberidze proves that military history is still worth the candle. Firstly, his book brings to an English-language audience new material, and secondly it is exemplary of the new angles that are taken these days with respect to traditional sources. Soldiers' memoirs are particularly fertile ground for new analysis. Not only do they provide us with the unrivalled accounts of experience of battle and campaign, they also shed key light on thematic questions regarding concepts such as fear, honour, masculinity, nationality etc. Alexander Mikaberidze's book thus teaches us a great deal about the Russian campaign of 1814 from sources previously inaccessible in English, whilst at the same time being a brilliant demonstration of the way modern military historians proceed - an intellectual double-whammy, if you will. Enjoy!
Irène Delage, Head of Documentation, IT and Public Relations
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BOOK OF THE MONTH > MIKABERIDZE Alexander, Russian Eyewitness Accounts of the Campaign of 1814
One of the notable features of the bicentenaries of the Russian Campaign and the Battle of Leipzig is that they have spurred the publication of new works related to the Russian point view. No bad thing, given the over-reliance on French, English and German sources of earlier histories. With this book, Alexander Mikaberidze continues his project of bringing little-known Russian-language sources to the attention of Anglophone scholars and readers. Last time it was Russian memoirs for 1812. Now it is the same for 1814, namely, eight chapters containing a selection of excerpts from memoirs and diaries, army orders and proclamations.
Also read our interview of Alexander Mikaberidze: “Alexander Mikaberidze on Russian Voices of the Napoleonic Wars”
The book of the month on the French side is: DRÉVILLON Hervé (dir.), FONCK Bertrand (dir.), ROUCAUD Michel (dir.), Guerres et armées napoléoniennes. Nouveaux regards (Proceedings of the Symposium of 30 November -1 December 2012).
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WHAT'S ON
- This week is the last talk in the Maritime Lecture Series: "Nelson, Navy, Nation", on 7 November: "Death and Transfiguration" by Prof. Andrew Lambert.
- Reservations open on the 4th of November for the next talk of the Fondation Napoléon Cercle d'Etudes taking place on 14 November at 5:30pm, on “Jean-Baptiste Say: a Liberal Economist”, by Jean-Marc Daniel, Professor at ESCP Europe (in French).
- "Ghosts of 1812" is a new play (world premiere) by David Tysdale: "While on a cemetery ghost tour, a young man is haunted by real phantoms from the past, giving him an unexpected insight into the War of 1812." In Dundas, Ontario (Canada), until 9 November, 2013.
- The War of 1812 - An Exhibition has just opened at St Catharines Museum, with Brock University, until 31 December, 2014.
- David Hildebrand will give two concerts of the Music of the War of 1812, dressed in period costume, first at Christ Church, I.U., Worton, MD, on 3 November, and on 5 November at the Washington County Free Library.
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WEB EXHIBITION > THE WAR OF 1812: A BICENTENNIAL EXHIBITION
It is sometimes difficult to cross an ocean just for an exhibition. All the more reasons to rejoice when one finds a quality online one, such as this electronic version of the Great Room exhibit The War of 1812: a Bicentennial Exhibition, which was on display at the William L. Clements Library (University of Michigan, USA) from 27 February, 2012 to 1 June, 2012 - curated by Brian Leigh Dunnigan.
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NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE > Zoe Viney: “The empress Eugénie and the imperial vestments at St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough”
This paper aims to substantiate the oral history tradition of the monks of Farnborough Abbey that links the ‘Imperial Vestments' in their care with Empress Eugénie of France (1826-1920). Eugénie settled in England after the Fall of the Second Empire in 1870, making Farnborough her home between 1884 and 1920. During this time she constructed St Michael's Abbey. Elements of the Imperial Vestment collection that are stored at St Michael's are said to be composed of fabrics gifted by Eugénie during the course of her residency at Farnborough. At least two of these sets can be definitively linked to the Empress.
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150 YEARS AGO > ‘All abord'! at Napoléonville station…
On 31 October, 1863, Napoleon III approved by decree the constitution of a limited company called the Vendée Railway Company, as part of his territorial planning policy (see Bulletin n° 672). In accordance with a project voted in 1861, this company was to build two railway lines, one going from Napoléonville (today La-Roche-sur-Yon) towards the coast and the other from the same town heading in the opposite direction towards the East. Indeed, the construction of this line should be seen in the wider picture of the general building and consolidation movement of the European railway networks catalysed by the industrial revolution. The building of the Adriatic line, soon to become part of Italy's main transport axis linking Milan and Bologna, was begun that same year of 1863.
> See on the picture above the Bridge at Napoléonville (La Roche-sur-Yon), between 1865 and 1887, in this photograph from the Compagnie des chemins de fer d'Orléans. Lignes de Bretagne et de Vendée by J. Duclos, held at the École nationale des ponts et chaussées. (source: gallica.bnf.fr)
> Also this 1874 bond issued by the Vendée Railway Company.
> And steam trains still today occasionally chuff up and down those very same railway lines in the Vendée.
200 YEARS AGO > The end of the campaign
Reaching the fortress at Mainz on the river Rhine on 2 November in the morning, Napoleon remained there for six days trying to reconstitute what remained of the army (70,000 men, of which thousands were sick with typhus and only 30,000 were properly under orders). As he noted in a letter Cambaceres written that very day, “I'm attempting to rally, rest and reorganize the army” (meaning, “the army is dispersed, exhausted and disorganised”). With the Confederation of the Rhine collapsing (Duke Louis of Darmstadt and Frederick of Wurtemburg joined the allies on the same day), Napoleon headed for Paris incognito on 7 November to begin preparations for the continuation of the fight.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Lucie Louvrier
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 688, 1-7 NOVEMBER, 2013
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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 the prolongation of its 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.
You can still donate online to the project via the Friends of the Fondation de France in the US here.
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MAGAZINE
JUST PUBLISHED
- MUIR Rory, Wellington v. 1; The Path to Victory 1769-1814, London and New Haven: Yale University Press, October 2013.
- KNIGHT Roger, Britain Against Napoleon - The Organization of Victory, 1793–1815, London: Penguin Press, Allen Lane, October 2013.
- BYRNE Dennis, Madness - The War of 1812 - a novel, Mustang: Tate Publishing, November 2012.
EVENTS
On now and coming up: see our selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
PRESS REVIEW
- "How Britain helped win the nineteenth century's 'the most important' battle"
- "Brum's hero from when Britannia ruled the waves"
- "Is there a common European sense of history?"
- "New History Group will meet to prepare for their Waterloo"
- "Distant war of 1812 helped create B.C."
- War of 1812 (USA) – Counties named for Veterans of the War of 1812
SEEN ON THE WEB
- “3D laser imaging brings Victory back to high seas”
And a video of the actual restoration work on HMS Victory by the Gloucester shipwrights.
- Fascinating article and photographs related to the time of the Napoleonic Illyrian Provinces
- War of 1812 (USA) – “HYTREK: Forgotten war remembered by Wayne State professor”
- War of 1812 (USA) – “Brookeville steps back in time”
- New War of 1812 exhibit in Virginia Museum (USA)
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