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THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN n° 705, 14-20 MARCH, 2014
HEROES FOR HISTORY
The blockbuster movie Monuments Men was released this week in France, and unexpectedly this story is intimately connected to our publication of Napoleon's Correspondance.
In May 2005, copies of 180 of Napoleon's letters to Kellerman dated from 1806 to 1814 were sent to the Fondation Napoléon. Nothing surprising about that, you'd have thought, given that the worldwide search and collection of letters as part of the editing process for the Correspondance générale was then in full swing; each day brought us a new delivery of documents signed by the Emperor. However, this package was different. On opening it we discovered, in addition to the imperial documents, two letters from the Commission for the Restitution of Goods taken by the Nazis, which recounted the extraordinary journey these documents had taken.
In 1945, these Napoleon letters to Kellerman were discovered in Germany amongst hundreds of works of art and archives looted by the Nazis. Captain Doubinsky, French representative of the Commission of Restitution (based in Bavaria), then started an inquest and contacted the French National Archives in December 1947. Charles Samaran, then director of the Archives Nationales, asked for the letters to be sent to Paris to be examined, whilst specifying they did not belong to France. In the meantime, the ‘Monuments Men' had made some progress in their inquest and had established with certainty that these archives belonged to Kellerman's Italian descendants, the Caracciollo family, namely, the Prince of Avellino and of Ginetti. Henriette, only daughter of Edmond III, the last Duke of Valmy, had married Francesco Caracciollo in 1859 and she had inherited from her father in 1868. It was she who sent the letters to our Second Empire predecessors and then left them to her son, Francesco Caracciollo Ginetti, after her death. Precisely how these letters travelled from Mussolini's Italy to Nazi Germany we are not quite sure. They were however eventually sent back to Italy in 1948.
The story of Napoleon's letters to Kellerman therefore, extraordinarily, intersects with the immense and admirable work which the Monuments Men accomplished at the end of the last worldwide conflict - a project which could not be completed in their lifetime and which is still going on today.
François Houdecek,
Project Manager for the Publication of the Correspondance of Napoleon Bonaparte
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PAINTING OF THE MONTH > THE CLICHY GATE, THE DEFENCE OF PARIS, 30 MARCH, 1814, by Horace VERNET (1820)
Horace Vernet was a Bonapartist and profoundly patriotic, and he sought to evoke the Napoleonic era in his numerous works, which often have Napoleon as their central figure. In The Clichy Gate, the Defence of Paris, 30 March, 1814, he not only celebrates the will and the courage of Marshal Moncey (1754-1842), a famous military figure, but also anonymous Parisians who rallied to the defence of their city when the allied forces of the 6th Coalition attacked on 14 March, 1814.
FONDATION NAPOLÉON DIGITAL LIBRARY > NEW ADDITIONS!
There are 25 new entries in the Fondation Napoléon Digital Library, and two of them are in English. The first one concerns Napoleon's exile in Elba by Norwood Young and A.M. Broadley and contains 54 prints and detailed description of the geography of the island. The second addition to the Fondation's Digital Library is the History of the captivity of Napoleon at St Helena from the letters and journals of the late Lieut.-Gen. Sir Hudson Lowe and official documents, published in London in 1853 (3 volumes). Click here to view these documents digitised by the Fondation Napoleon.
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THEATRE > NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ON STAGE
> La Conversation at the Théâtre Montansier in Versailles
The play by Jean d'Ormesson dramatises an imaginary conversation between Bonaparte and Cambacérès. From 26 to 30 mars at the Théâtre Montansier in Versailles. Dates, times, bookings available here (the play is in French).
> Show and dramatised visits at the Château of Fontainebleau
This "Napoleon" show, inspired by Alexandre Dumas, will be on 15 and 16 March at the Château of Fontainebleau in the Ballroom (in French).
The Château is also organising dramatised visits to the "petits appartements" of Napoleon I on Wednesday 16, Thursday 17 and Friday 18 April, Napoleon's entourage in April 1814 being performed by three actors. Details and bookings here (in French).
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EXHIBITION > THE ORIGINS OF THE ALBERTINA - FROM DÜRER TO NAPOLEON in VIENNA
Today, 14 March, is the opening of the exhibition at the Albertina Museum called "The Origins of the Albertina - From Dürer to Napoleon" (runs till 29 June, 2014). It presents more than 100 masterpieces from the Albertina Museum, together with loans from some of the most prestigious museums from all over the world, including the Paris, Musée de l'Armée, which loaned the hat Napoleon wore at the Battle of Eylau in 1808.
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CONCERT OF NAPOLEONIC MUSIC IN LUCCA (ITALY) by FONDATION NAPOLÉON MEMBERS
As part of the commemoration of the bicentenary of Napoleon's arrival on the island of Elba, the choir of the Anglican church of St George's, Paris (conducted by Peter Hicks, Manager of International Relations at the Fondation Napoléon) will be giving a concert of music related to, inspired by and liked by, Napoleon. On Friday 2 May, 5:30pm, Palazzo Ducale in Lucca (Italy).
MORE MUSICAL EVENTS IN ITALY AND FRANCE WITH THE PALAZETTO BRU ZANE
The Centre for French Romantic Music, based in Venice, offers an interesting number of musical events in Europe, focused on the French musical heritage of the 19th century. Lovers of music from the First and Second Empires should definitely check their online diary here (external link).
WAR OF 1812
RE-ENACTMENT at Fort Mims for the Bicentenary of the War of 1812 in the Tensaw County (Alabama, USA) [15/03/2014 - 16/03/2014]
TALK on the War of 1812 by History Professor Garth Swanson, as part of a traveling exhibition on the War of 1812 in Albion, NY (USA) [20/03/2014]
TALK > "1812: Food and Herbs in Maryland's History", by Kate Moose [23/03/2014]
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TWO HEIRS OF THE NAPOLEON DYNASTY BORN IN MARCH
Read more about the Imperial heirs born in March:
> 20 March, 1811: birth of the Roi de Rome, son of Napoleon I
> 16 March, 1856: birth of the Prince Impérial, (his baptism was three months later, on 14 June, 1856)
200 YEARS AGO > THE FALL OF THE KEY CITIES OF LYONS AND BORDEAUX
The costly Battle of Orthez, 27 February, as planned by Wellington, put Marshal Soult in an exceedingly difficult position. Pushed away from Bayonne by Wellington towards Toulouse, Soult was furthermore deprived of half of his cavalry by the Emperor who requisitioned them for service near Paris. The road was now open for Wellington to send General Beresford to the strategic port of Bordeaux. The British general entered the almost unprotected town on 12 March – the inhabitants had already expressed their pro-Bourbon inclinations. Beresford was in fact welcomed by the locals as a liberator.
On another front, Augereau had been trying to counter Austrian troop manoeuvres in the Ain region and the Rhone valley since January. On 18 March, he met his first clear defeat at Saint-Georges-de-Reneins, about forty kilometres north of Lyons. On 20 March, 1814, the battle of Limonest, on the outskirts of Lyons, sounded the death knell for any further hopes he may have had. The 24,000 troops under his command came up against 56,000 Austrians. Overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, Augereau's men were driven back. On 22 March, Austrian troops entered Lyons.
150 YEARS AGO > THE HAUSSMANIAN RESTRUCTURING OF THE CAPITAL CONTINUES
On Tuesday, 15 March, 1864, the Moniteur gave the following report of the final completion of the new Boulevard de Sébastopol, still today a major axis in the French capital (it had been inaugurated by the Imperial couple in 1858, see Bulletin n° 452):
“The opening […] of the Boulevard of Sébastopol, which crosses the city from north to south, was the caused a great deal work in addition to construction work related to cutting of the road itself. Amongst the major projects was: the moving and the elevating of the fountain of the Châtelet; the rebuilding of the Pont au Change and of the Pont St-Michel; the underground canalisation of the road; and the establishment of a monumental square destined to mark the beginning of the boulevard on the left bank of the Seine, where the new St-Michel fountain was built. The architectural lines of this square […] have just been completed on the right side by the building of one last house; this is now built up to the top. The site it now occupies used to be the end of the rue de l'Hirondelle, one of those old streets which gave onto the former narrow Place St Michel and which have been more or less changed or even absorbed by the new Boulevard de Sébastopol.”
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Lucie Louvrier
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 705, 14-20 MARCH, 2014
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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
- Shannon Selin, Napoleon in America, a novel, Dry Wall Publishing, 2014-03-11
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.
WHAT'S ON
- Exhibition "Joséphine" at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris [12/03/2014 - 29/06/2014]
PRESS REVIEW
- "Sex and the Industrial Revolution" by Emma Griffin in History Today, vol. 64, Issue 3, 2014
- Review of the Josephine exhibition at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris: "History avenges France's famous outcast empress Josephine de Beauharnais"
- Another review of the Josephine exhibition at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris: "Exhibit: France celebrates Empress Josephine Bonaparte"
SEEN ON THE WEB
- The Rediscovery of St Helena (in Italian)
- Bolton soldier helped defeat Napoleon
- “Historic Homes, Churches, Bar on This Spring's Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage”: the 2014 tour will explore War of 1812 landmarks
- War re-enactor brings Battle of Tippecanoe to life
- War of 1812 (Canada) - Hundreds gather to re-enact Battle of Longwoods west of London
- War of 1812 (USA, Maryland) - Commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812
- War of 1812 (USA, New York) - Students are Encouraged to Compete with Their Knowledge on War of 1812
and read more about the Oswego Symposium
- War of 1812 - Fort Mims remembers War of 1812
- War of 1812 (Canada) - Plans unveiled for War of 1812 re-enactment
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