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EDITORIAL
Napoleon never met Father Christmas. No surprises there, since the 'man in red' is simply a modern stand-in for the older figure of Saint Nicolas (Santa Claus) celebrated during the First Empire on the 6th December (as still happens in Eastern France and in the Netherlands today). Nor did the emperor hang up his stockings beside the fire. It is true that he always had a fire blazing but he rarely took off his boots (and Christmas wasn't the consumerist excess it is today).
There was no Christmas tree under which to place presents for the King of Rome: such trees only gradually became popular in France in the 1830s, gradually replacing the crib during the Third Republic... although cribs did come back later, but then underneath the tree.
At Christmas, during Napoleon's reign, people would go to church at midnight (and it really took place at midnight and not earlier in the evening, because there was no feast of turkey and oysters to eat afterwards). The most fashionable midnight mass during the empire was at the church of Saint-Roch. Christmas was still a religious festival.
Partying however took place at New Year. But it was not a question of dancing and getting drunk. People would visit their friends and exchange presents such as books or almanachs (known as "Etrennes impériales"), a sort of calendar which included the names of the departments and other parts of the empire. Family groups or friends would take walks, not to walk off the excessive eating and drinking but to chat, have fun or just simply spend time together. In Paris, people would go to see the shop windows of the sweet sellers in the Rue des Lombards and at the Palais-Royal. Here shops called "A la renommée" or "Au fidèle berger" would have tableaux made in sweets (sometimes they were battle or military scenes; in 1803, for example, they did the crossing of the Grand Saint-Bernard).
Whether you are a believer or atheist, Christian or other, Christmas remains time for reflection and introspection (and not just indigestion driven). And while New Year is a less serious festival, it is nevertheless one which includes good resolutions. Ours is to continue to interest and entertain you with the history of the two empires.
The Fondation Napoléon team wishes you an excellent Christmas and an enjoyable New Year.
Thierry Lentz (with Chantal Lheureux-Prévot, tr. P.H.)
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THIS MONTH'S OBJECT
Clock: "Diogenes looking for a man" by Claude GALLE (1759-1815)
The government-sponsored exhibitions of the produce of French industry provided a showcase for best objects produced by each department and played a key role in the relaunching of the French economy. This sumptuous clock by Claude Galle (1759-1815) is entitled: 'Diogenes looking for a man'. The theme was derived from the famous anecdote from the life of Diogenes of Sinope 'the Cynic', a cynic philosopher of the 4th Century B.C., famed for his dislike of riches and convention, and his existence completely devoid of superfluity. Walking around Athens at midday with a lantern in his hand, Diogenes replied to those who asked him what he was doing: 'I am looking for a man'. In this composition, it seems that he has found one, in the form of Napoleon!
© napoleon.org
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A NAPOLEON.ORG CHRISTMAS FLORILEGIUM
Spend some time over Christmas looking back on a busy year on napoleon.org. We bring you here a Christmas florilegium to delve into.
Special dossiers:
- The Creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, 12 July, 1806
- The Prussian Campaign, the twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt, 14 October, 1806
- Napoleon's entry into Berlin, 27 October, 1806
- The "Continental system or Blockade" 21 November, 1806
Not to mention, the Napoleonic Pages, the articles, paintings, and objects which we have presented thought the year.
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NAPOLEONIC RECIPES FOR CHRISTMAS
Tired of Turkey, bored with bread sauce, fed up with foie gras...
Why not delight your Christmas guests with some First Empire recipes? The choice is huge, running from Crow soup to chocolate pudding. The perfect Napoleonic way to celebrate Christmas.
At table
(Lacroix, Directoire, Consulat et Empire, Paris, 1884)
© Fondation Napoléon
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CHRISTMAS SELECTION
Running out of time, don't know what to buy for the ‘Napoleon' in you midst (or you are the Napoleon in your midst and want to ‘annex' yourself something), just scan our Christmas selection and see what takes your fancy…
(c) Fondation Napoléon
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200 YEARS AGO
Continuation of the Polish Campaign 1806
On 23 December, 1806, Davout won a victory against the Russians under General Ostermann-Tolstoi at the village Czarnowo after having established a bridgehead on an island at the confluence of the rivers Wkra and Narew. According to Rapp, Davout's attack was directed by the Emperor. Though losing about 1,600 men, the Russians were able to retreat to join other Russian forces at Pultusk.
On 25 December, 1806, according to Capitaine Coignet, Napoleon used for the first time the affectionate nickname 'grognard' or 'grumbler' for the soldiers of the elite, Garde impériale, the 1st Regiment of Grenadiers à Pied. Not surprisingly, given the poor conditions on campaign and the infrequent payment of wages, the soldiers of the Grande Armée very often expressed their unhappiness with conditions.
On 26 December, 1806, the Grande armée saw relative success at three engagements in the most atrocious meteorological conditions: one to the north, where Ney's troops dislodged Lestoc's Prussians from Soldau and kept them separated from their Russian allies; another at Golymin (south east of Soldau), where the advance guard of Buxhöwden's Second Army under Prince Gallitzin was dislodged from its strong position before the village of Golymin (Gallitzin was however able to secure his retreat to the north east largely unscathed); and the major encounter at Pultusk where Lannes' unsupported Second Corps faced Benningsen's Russian troops sited to the north of Pultusk. After a bitter struggle knee-deep in mud and driving snow, Lannes (supported just in time by General d'Aultane) managed to dislodge the enemy and force them into retreat. Sources put French losses at about 4,000 (some of which lost to 'friendly fire', as recounted by Thomas Bugeaud of the 64th regiment under Soult, other having committed suicide) against 5,OOO on the Russian side. The general strategic result was inconclusive since Napoleon's attempted encircling and destruction of the enemy had failed.
On 1 January, 1807, at the coaching inn at Blonie, on the road to Warsaw, Napleon saw Countess Marie Walewska for the first time. She had come with other Poles to cheer the emperor. On seeing her later in Warsaw, Napoleon took Marie as his lover which was to last long after the Polish campaign and to lead to the birth of a son, the proof of Napoleon's fertility and the divorce with Josephine. Alexandre Walewski, the son from their union, was to play a significant role in French public affairs during the Second Empire. Marie Walewska was to remain loyal to the emperor, even going to visit him on the island of Elba.
International
On 31 December, 1806, Monroe, the successful organiser of the Louisiana Purchase, and minister William Pinckney, joint American commissioners who had been sent to Britain to negotiate advantages for the US, concluded a commercial treaty with Britain. Despite the fact that the treaty failed in its principal aim - that of preventing the hated British practice of the impressment of 'US' (though British-born) sailors-, it nevertheless gave the U.S. a restoration of the carrying trade and accepted the doctrine of the broken journey,* giving explicit rejection of the Rule of 1756.** In return Britain scored a point against the recently established Contintental system in that the U.S. agreed firstly not to cut off trade with England for ten years, and secondly not to submit to the Berlin Decree. However, because the treaty contained no explicit British commitment on impressment (though there had been a tacit agreement to reduce it to a minimum), President Jefferson later refused to ratify it.
For full details on the Continental System, see our special dossier.
* Broken Voyage/Continuous Voyage
The idea of the Broken Voyage was an American bargaining ploy. American vessels would pick up French goods in French colonies, unload them at American ports, then reload them as American cargoes headed for France, following long-standing American-french trade routes. The British argued that since it was still one cargo, it was still a continuous voyage between French ports (1805). Unless American merchants could prove that this was not a French cargo, any cargo headed for France would be seized.
** The Rule of 1756
The rule of 1756 stated that trade routes not open in times of peace may not be opened in times of war. The aim was to stop the US from shipping supplies between French colonies and the French mainland during this period of war. The implementation of this rule gave the British the right to capture American ships that were transporting French goods or travelling to French ports,
Daily life
December 1806, the Paris mint struck a new 10 centime coin. «They [the new coins] are the size of a one franc piece. In the centre, there is a silver spot about two lines in diameter, and on one side there is the imperial eagle and on the other the mark '10 centimes', and it bears the legend: République française.» (Gazette de France, 23 December, 1806)
150 YEARS AGO
On 23 December, 1856, the fourth volume of Marshal Marmont, Duc de Raguse's memoirs was published by Perrotin, Paris publishers. Since he was considered as one of Napoleon's most useless Marshals, Marmont's aim in writing his memoirs was to leave a positive vision of his deeds, although he was to die before they were published.
On 27 December, 1856, Eugénie Smet (later beatified) professed her first vows as founder of the society of "Soeurs auxiliatrices" (Society of Helpers of the Holy Souls) in Paris. The aim of the sisters was to pray for souls in purgatory and to bring help to the poor and needy. As Eugénie herself put it, she proposed «to use this small institution as an intermediary, turning the heart of the rich towards the poor, thus acting as small point of contact between these two extremes of the social scale».
Christmas 1856, Hachette published a new collection entitled Bibliothèque rose. Included in the first publications were some books of fairytales (Nouveaux Contes de fées pour les petits enfants by Sophie Rostopchine, Comtesse de Ségur, five «modern» fairytales written in the pure French classic style: Histoire de Blondine, de Bonne-Biche et de Beau-Minon; Le bon petit Henri; Histoire de la princesse Rosette; La Petite souris grise; Ourson.
The illustrations for the books were done by the famous engraver Gustave Doré, but the Comtesse de Ségur thought that they were too sombre and fantastic (i.e., excessively and perhaps frighteningly imaginative).
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, Christmas.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 396, 22 December, 2006 - January 2007
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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 in the MAGAZINE
The BIBLIOTHEQUE MARTIAL LAPEYRE-FONDATION NAPOLEON will be closed between Christmas and New Year
JOURNAL NEWS
- French History, vol. 20, Number 4, December 2006
JUST PUBLISHED
- TOLL, Ian W., Six Frigates: the epic History of the Foundign of the US Navy
WHAT'S ON
Conferences:
- Napoleon at the Zenith: a bi-centennial seminar, Liverpool, UK
Exhibitions:
- Manet and the Execution of Maximilian, MoMA, New York, USA
- Champignon Bonaparte - illustrations by Gilles Bachelet
- Dagoty in Paris - the Empress Josephine's porcelain manufactory, Reuil-Malmaison, France
- Napoleon III and Europe - 1856, Paris, France
- Napoleon, an intimate portrait, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
- Public Portraits, Private Portraits 1770-1830, Grand Palais, Paris, France
- Louis Napoleon: at the court of the first King of Holland, 1806-1810, Apeldoorn, Netherlands
Got a problem with the letter? Try the home page: http://www.napoleon.org
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