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MARCHING INTO 2009
Thanks to you, our much cherished readers and site visitors, napoleon.org continues to go from strength to strength: 8,100 readers receive our information bulletins each week, and the site received 3 million hits in 2007 (with a similar number expected for 2008). All this spurs us on (as if we needed it!) to continue to offer you the very best information and material on Napoleonic history and news, available to everyone. Your support, encouragement and indeed your requests are greatly appreciated. In 2009, version III of napoleon.org will continue to add new articles and close-ups concerning the most important dates in the history of the two empires (Wagram, Magenta, Solferino...), as well as maintain the vibrant and constantly-updated Magazine section. There will even be a few surprises...
On behalf of the entire napoleon.org team, we wish you and your loved ones all the best for 2009.
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THIS MONTH'S OBJET D'ART
Preliminary statue of Bichat by David d'Angers
As a son of the Enlightenment, Pierre-Jean David, also known as David d'Angers, was inspired by the idea of progress and accorded as much importance in his Panthéon relief to men of science as to statesmen or artists. Medicine underwent unprecedented development during the period, and David was fascinated by Ambroise Paré, one of the 'fathers of surgery', and Baron Larrey, Napoleon I's surgeon, to name merely the most famous.
Click here for more information.
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NAPOLEON.ORG III
With the Christmas break nearly upon us, now is the perfect time to take another wander around version III of napoleon.org, which was launched in September, and get reacquainted with everything that is on offer. As well as giving the site a facelift, we also added some interesting new features, including:
- "a close-up on...": our section that brings together in one location articles, timelines, documents and images for a specific topic. It's the perfect place to start for information on a particular Napoleonic event.
- Kid's Corner: the area of the website reserved for our younger visitors. With games, factfiles and timelines, it's great for youngsters who want to enrich their understanding of the period.
- the Collection Masterpieces is our interactive presentation of ten of the finest works in the Fondation Napoléon's collection.
- Napoleonica Digital Resources, the digital resources directory, allows you to quickly and easily search through the various document and written text webpages available on the internet, just by inputting a few search terms.
Nor have we stopped adding new articles, interviews, recipes, résumés, publications and images. Why not have a look at The Code d'Instruction criminelle, 1808 by Clémence Zacharie, the Egyptian tea-set, or our interview with Emmanuel de Waresquiel, just a selection of the recent arrivals on our website?
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CHRISTMAS REMINDER
With less than a week to go before Christmas, why not have a look at our festive-themed articles that we've recently added? Need some last-minute gift ideas? Then head over to our Christmas Selection 2008. Fancy some Napoleonic festive treats? Then take a look at our Bon Appetit! section, which includes recipes for Plum Pudding and Mince Pies.
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200 YEARS AGO
The British in Spain
Following the capture of Madrid on 4 December, Napoleon remained in the area until 22 December, residing at the Duke of Infantado's country house in Chamartin, reviewing his troops, and receiving deputations. The period between October and December should be noted for the confused intelligence of both sides, French and British. Napoleon's communication lines between Burgos and Madrid were disrupted by British intervention, which lead him to believe that the entire British army was at first headed for Lisbon, then for Valladolid, as is evident in the letter dated 22 December from State secretary Maret on behalf of the Emperor: "The English are finally stirring; it appears that they are abandoning Portugal and that they are taking up another line of operation. They have marched on Valladolid. For the last three days we have moved to outmanoeuvre them and take them from the rear. Important events may soon take place. If the English do not make for the sea or beat us for speed, they will find it difficult to escape, and they will pay dearly for this venture that they have dared to undertake on the continent. [Letter from Maret to Prince Cambacérès dated 22 December 1808]
Yet Napoleon noted five days later in a letter to his brother Joseph that the only British presence in Valladolid had been a small 100-man advance party which had hit the city on 19 December and made off with 300,000 reals and the intendent of the province. Instead, British troops had actually converged on Mayorga on 20 December. A day later, on 21 December, British hussars, under the command of Henry Paget, defeated two of Soult's regiments which were deployed at Sahagún, taking 157 prisoners. Following this success, Sir John Moore, commander of the British forces, gave his troops 48-hours rest, with the intention that they would attack the main body of Soult's men on 23 December. However, Moore received a dispatch on the morning of 23 that would change his plans: Napoleon and the main body of French troops were marching north from Madrid across the Sierra de Guadarrama, having finally learned the whereabouts of the British army. Sahagún marked the end of the British advance in Spain, and Moore gave the order to retreat. Napoleon's advance was hampered by appalling weather conditions at the aforementioned mountains but his advance guard, coupled with a number of Soult's regiments, made the British retreat rather uncomfortable for Paget's cavalry rearguard that was acting as a screen. The British cavalry nevertheless held its own and indeed inflicted a defeat on General Lefebvre-Desnouettes and four squadrons of the chasseurs of the Guard on 29 December, just outside Benavente. Lefebvre-Desnouettes was taken prisoner and troops under Robert Crawfurd blew the bridge at Castro Gonzalo, preventing any French crossing before 30 December.
On the same day, the British and Spanish troops massed at Astorga, where the possibility of making a stand was mooted. Moore eventually dismissed this, deciding that they should fall back on the coast as quickly as possible. Napoleon realised that he could no longer halt the British retreat, but merely harass it: Soult was given the task of continuing the pursuit, whilst Napoleon slowed up and returned to Valladolid. The British forces, with morale rapidly deteriorating, marched for Coruña.
150 YEARS AGO
Italian affairs
Preparations continued apace in Napoleon III's plans to 'liberate' the Italian states from Austrian domination (see Bulletin n° 472). After the secret meeting at Plombières and the negotiations (also secret) with Russia, it remained to draw up a written document detailing the financial and military arrangements between France and Piedmont in the event of 'complications' arising in the Italian states. The secret convention confirmed that a defensive and offensive alliance between Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel II, king of Piedmont, Savoy, and Sardinia, would come into being in the case of Austria declaring war on the Piedmontese king. The convention, which also stated that Savoy and Nice would be reunited with France, was dated 16 December 1858, although the possibility exists that it was actually signed later on, in January, but ante-dated, as argued by Ernest d'Hauterive. French intervention was dependent on Austrian aggression, however, and so Napoleon III was careful to remain discrete in his preparations and in his interaction with Austria. Le comte de Viel Castel's entry for 3 January 1859 nevertheless indicates that Paris sensed that war was on the cards: 'At the diplomatic reception an incident occurred which has kept the whole of Paris preoccupied. The Emperor said to the Austrian ambassador: "I am delighted to see you, Monsieur l'ambassadeur. Please convey my wishes for the new year to your sovereign, and assure him of my special regards, even though relations between our cabinets are not as they should be."' The comte continues: 'Italy is troubled, Piedmont is overwhelmed by revolutionary elements and has run out of options; if a war were to break out between France and Austria, it would become widespread quickly, and political parties would take advantage of this war to instigate upheaval. Despite his fine words "l'Empire c'est la paix", the Emperor desires a war [...]' (Mémoires du comte Horace de Viel Castel, 3 January 1859)
Sources:
Roland Conilleau, L'Entrevue de Plombières
Ernest d'Hauterive, The Second Empire and Its Downfall, The Correspondence of the Emperor Napoleon III and his Cousin Prince Napoleon (tr. Herbert Wilson)
Horace de Viel Castel, Mémoires sur le règne de Napoléon III
Wishing you a very "Napoleonic" end-of-year break and all the best for the new year,
Peter Hicks and Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 479, 19 December 2008 - 8 January 2009
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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THE BIBLIOTHEQUE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
The library will be closed from Monday 22 December, until Friday 2 January 2009, re-opening on Monday 5 January 2009.
THE MAGAZINE
Book of the month
- Michel Kerautret and Gabriel Madec (eds.), La Correspondance générale de Napoléon Bonaparte: Volume 5, Boulogne, Trafalgar, Austerlitz 1805
Just published
- Carlos Díaz Capmany, Robin Pedler, Justin Reay, El setge de Roses de 1808: Tres visions de la Guerra del Francès
- Francesco Frasca, Les Italiens dans l'armée française: Recrutement et incorporation (1796-1814)
- Francesco Frasca, Reclutamento e guerra nell'Italia napoleonica
Fondation Napoléon History Prizes 2008
- Francis and Madeleine Ambrière, Talma, ou l'histoire du théâtre
- Alain Decaux, Coup d'état à l'Elysée
- Edgardo Donati, La Toscana nell'impero napoleonico
News
Fondation Napoléon Research Grants 2008 announced.
WHAT'S ON
Exhibitions
- "The Crinoline Empire (1852-1870)", Paris, France [29/11/2008 - 26/04/2009]
Full details
- "The Eagle and the quill: the 'retour des manuscrits'", Paris, France [03/12/2008 - 01/03/2009]
Full details
- "Napoleon III and the Romanian principalities", Bucharest, Romania [23/10/2008 - 01/02/2009]
Full details
- "Ben Weider Collection at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts", Montreal, Canada [Permanent]
Full details
- "Bonaparte and Egypt", Paris, France [14/10/2008 - 29/03/2009]
Full details
- "Between the dagger and the cross", Paris, France [21/10/2008 - 11/01/2009]
Full details
- "From Pompei to Malmaison", Rueil-Malmaison, France [22/10/2008 - 26/01/2009]
Full details
- "Jerome Napoleon, king of Westphalia", Fontainebleau, France [10/10/2008 - 08/01/2009]
Full details
- "Paper Landscapes, a celebration of Napoleonic cartography", La Spezia, Italy [04/10/2008 - 11/01/2009]
Full details
- "Fine people. Luxury and Fashion at the Time of the Empire", Erfurt, Germany [14/09/2008 - 11/01/2009]
Full details
- "Spectacle of Power. Rituals in Old Europe 800-1800", Magdeburg, Germany [23/09/2008 - 04/01/2009]
Full details
- "Napoleonic side-arms of the Rocca d'Acquaviva", Acquaviva Picena, Italy [04/10/2008 - 31/12/2008]
Full details
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