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THIS MONTH'S OBJECT
Complete works of Monsieur Arnault (3 volumes, bearing Napoleon's great coat of arms)
A handwritten note on the first page of volume one reads as follows: "This copy once formed part of Napoleon's library in exile; I took it from my own library to send it to him when Doctor Antommarchi was preparing to set out for St Helena; it was returned to me by the Count de Montholon, to whom it had been given after the death of the great man. Arnault". Read all about it.
NAPOLEONIC PROPERTY FOR SALE
The estate of general Sébastien Ruby (1755-1818), ex-general of the armies of the Revolution, is currently up for sale. Set near Chateauroux, this property includes several buildings (a two-storey house, a caretaker's house, a guest house and outbuildings) and a wooded park of about 2 hectares.
For further information contact Monsieur Picard, Von, 36000 Chateauroux.
200 YEARS AGO
All hands on deck!
On 11 Ventôse, An XIII (2 March, 1805), Napoleon summoned admiral Ganteaume, governor of the Brest squadron, in order to explain to him his plan for the landing in England: after having taken "7 or 8 British cruising vessels" and having been joined by the Ferrol squadron, Ganteaume was to head for Martinique, to link up with the Toulon and Rochefort squadrons (if they had arrived, that is!), and to take on board about 1,000 men. Then "without losing a moment", he was to return to Europe "as far away as possible from the usual route". On reaching Ouessant, Ganteaume was to attack British shipping and to come up the coast to Boulogne. The emperor's predicted his return to between 10 June and 10 July, in other words, a return journey in less than three/four months, if the departure date was 12 March!
On the same day (2 March), Vice-admiral Villeneuve, commandant of the Toulon squadron, received the order to leave for Martinique, whilst general Lauriston, ADC, received a mission to mislead the British as to the size of the fleet leaving for Martinique: he was in fact to disembark with most of his men and his artillery at Cadiz.
The plan was based on Napoleonic land tactics: the dispersion of the enemy's attention, surprise attack, and rapidity of action. But the sea was not as easily manageable as the land, and the three squadrons proved difficult to get together. Furthermore, as Michèle Battesti has underlined (Trafalgar, Napoléon Ier Editions, p. 116), Napoleon was never alongside his admirals to counter their hesitations. Indeed, the part of the plan relating to the disembarkation of troops in Martinique proved a great difficulty for the fleet, since it meant that the ships were encumbered with a large number of men who were not sailors.
By 24 March, all was ready, but Ganteaume was never to be able to leave Brest. On 30 March, Villeneuve left the port of Toulon. On seeing the French fleet heading south, Nelson was convinced that it was heading for Egypt!
On 13 Ventôse, the official newspaper, Le Moniteur, announced that from 11 Ventôse "no clerk of the Empire would be permitted to record in his registers the deed of celebration of a so-called marriage which Monsieur Jérôme Bonaparte is supposed to have contracted in a foreign land, whilst still a minor, without the consent of his mother and without previous publication of the banns in his place of domicile."
On 24 December, 1803, Jérôme Bonaparte had married Elizabeth Patterson, the daughter of a wealthy Baltimore businessman. When Napoleon learned of the union, he commanded his brother to return to France, but without the young American girl, who did not have the right to enter that country. She on the other hand was pregnant and gave birth to Jérôme-Napoléon Patterson on 7 July, 1805, in Britain. The 'marriage' was to be officially anulled by imperial decrees of 2 and 21 March, 1805, and then by diocesan and metropolitan anulments published in Paris on 6 and 8 October, 1806.
150 YEARS AGO
2 March, 1855, Nicholas I, Czar of Russia, died at the age of 58.
Regarded in Europe as the very epitome of a cold autocrat, Nicholas was obsessed with the idea of Russia and his duty to it. He caught a cold in February 1855 attending a wedding in Saint Petersburg and a military review (the soldiers were heading for the Crimea) the following day. It was not however until 1 March that it was realised that the Czar was suffering from pneumonia. His last words were: "now I shall pray for Russia, and for you [his son, ed.] too. After Russia, I love you above anything else in the world. Serve Russia."
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
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© 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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THIS WEEK
Snippets
- Napoleon.org headlined on historicum.net
Press Review
- Online article: Persia and Napoleon
- Six online essays on the national industrial expositions held in Paris between 1798 and 1849
Websites
- The British Cartoon Prints - Library of Congress
Go to the Napoleonic Directory and select 'Databases' in the 'Websites' scroll bar.
- Heber Mardon Collection of Napoleonic prints
Go to the Napoleonic Directory and select 'Databases' in the 'Websites' scroll bar.
What's on
- For Napoleonic and Nelsonian 2005 bicentenaries, watch our 2005 bicentenaries page
- The man who crowned Napoleon: Cardinal Caprara and his liturgical robes, Museo Civico d'Arte Industriale e Galleria Davia Bargellini, Bologna, Italy
- Talks: 'Nelson's Contemporaries', National Maritime Museum, London, UK
- Fair: The International Napoleonic Fair, St Albans, UK
- Exhibition: Decoration in the Age of Napoleon: Empire Elegance Versus Regency Refinement, New York Public Library, US
Exhibition: The Treasures of the Fondation Napoléon, Paris, France
The monthly titles
- This month's book: Wellington's Lieutenant, Napoleon's Gaoler: the Peninsula Letters & St Helena Diaries of Sir George Ridout Bingham, by Gareth Glover
- This month's painting: Allegorical drawing to the glory of H. M. the Emperor, by Innocent-Louis Goubaud
- This month's article: 'British Strategic Foreign policy, 1806-1815', by Peter Hicks
- In the Collectors Corner, Complete works of Monsieur Arnault (3 volumes, bearing Napoleon's great coat of arms)
Got a problem with a link in the letter? Try the homepage
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