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PACKING OUR BAGS...
We're into July now and the summer season is well and truly underway here in Paris. Temperatures are rising and thoughts are turning to beaches, mountains, seas or whatever else you think of when the word "holiday" is mentioned. And joining those people lucky enough to be taking some time off will be the Fondation Napoléon bulletin, which will be taking a well-deserved break until 3 September. In anticipation of the upcoming two month hiatus, this week's letter is particularly loaded with Napoleonic news, reading material ("Wellington's Mules" is a notable highlight) and diversions that should keep you occupied until we return, refreshed and raring to go, in September. Until then, we here at the Fondation Napoléon wish you the very best for the forthcoming months and, if you are heading off on holiday, a relaxing and enjoyable break.
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ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
"Wellington's Mules", by R. J. Tennant
Mules 'without pride of ancestry or hope of posterity' have served the fighting soldier for almost as long as the horse. R. J. Tennant, using contemporary accounts, letters and diary entries as well as later historical works, explores the role of the Equus mulus, otherwise known as the humble mule, in the Peninsular War. The article discusses their work, the prices paid for them, their muleteers and their role in the British, Portuguese and Spanish artillery and the commissariat. The article originally appeared in First Empire, issue n° 113.
And on the French side, why not take a look at Thierry Lentz's article "Les Domaines français de Sainte-Hélène : L'achat de la maison de Longwood et du domaine de la Tombe"?
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NAPOLEON.ORG
Digital Library: Hortense de Beauharnais' Romances
This collection received a very small print run as it was only given to close friends and relatives as a mark of Hortense's friendship and respect. Daughter of Josephine de Beauharnais and schooled at the institution run by Mme Campan, Hortense was a highly gifted student of the arts and from an early age developed a taste for music and singing. The twelve music plates are richly illustrated with prints in the Troubadour style, based on drawings by Lancelot-Théodore Comte Turpin de Crissé (1782-1859), not only a genre and history painter but a writer too, who began his career during the Empire period.
Further reading: Summer Selection 2010
As you will have seen from last week's letter, our new Summer Selection 2010 is now available, with suggestions of the latest Napoleonic books, digital resources, exhibitions and diversions to keep you occupied during the break.
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FONDATION NAPOLEON HISTORY RESEARCH GRANTS
Studying Napoleonic history?
Since 1993, the Fondation Napoléon has awarded over seventy research grants to Masters and doctorate students of Napoleonic history. The grants are open to both French and non-French students in their first year of their PhD (or MPhil with the intention of continuing on to PhD) who are studying a First or Second Empire subject. The deadline for applications for this year's grants is 30 September: further information, including the application form and application requirements, can be downloaded from napoleon.org.
Digital Library: research grant theses
As part of the Fondation Napoléon's digital library project, a number of theses from our study grant awardees are available in full online. Dating from 2004 to 2009, these four theses take in diverse subjects, including the nobility of the First Empire, the gendarmerie maritime in France between 1804 and 1870, officers serving in the Consular and Imperial armies, and the Senate during the Consulate and Empire periods.
Napoleonica Digital Archives
And for students with research to complete during these summer months, why not take a look at the digital archives available on Napoleonica.org? Within the site you will find five original collections, all entirely digitised, including the totality of Vivant Denon's administrative correspondence, a large body of documents (many previously unavailable to the public) covering the administrative reforms during the empire, and documents relating to the proclamation of the empire.
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SEEN ON THE WEB
"The view from France"
The Fitzwilliam Museum website (Cambridge, UK) features a number of online exhibitions, one of which, "The view from France", takes a look at French impressions of what it was to be English. The online exhibition includes a number of caricatures, the majority of which dates from the period 1814-1815, a time when the English were seen in a particularly bad light, due in no small part to their status as an 'occupying power' in Paris. The images on display include cartoons from Alphonse Roehn, Georges Jacques Gatine and the publisher Aaron Martinet.
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NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE
Now freely available on Cairn.info
Don't forget that as well as the most recent issue of Napoleonica. La Revue, Cairn.info also has all the back issues of the academic review: that's forty-five articles (including the monumental two-part study on the "comptoirs d'escompte de la Banque de France"), plus eighteen book and exhibition reviews, all available in PDF and HTML formats.
200 YEARS AGO
Trouble in the Indian Ocean
Between 20 and 26 August, the first battle of Grand Port, pitching the French and British navies against each other, took place. The battle, which came as part of the British seizure of French colonies in the Indian Ocean, is significant for being the only French naval victory against Britain during the entire Napoleonic period.
Spain and Portugal: The Armée de Portugal arrives on the scene
On 24 July, 1810, a small pitched battle took place on the River Côa, where British troops under the command of Robert Craufurd were camped. This minor event is notable primarily because it was the first engagement for Maréchal Masséna's new army, the Armée de Portugal. The vastly outnumbered British troops were obliged to retreat, and the French and German troops under Ney advanced to Almeida on 25 July. Siege works were finally begun on 15 August and by 26 August, the French batteries were installed. Opening fire on the same day, the evening of 26 August saw a freak accident beset the Portuguese defenders: a French bomb exploded in the courtyard of the town, igniting a line of gunpowder left by a leaking barrel which set off a chain reaction that saw the entire magazine destroyed and half the town centre, including the cathedral, reduced to ruins. On 28 August, Almeida surrendered and the garrison marched out.
Elsewhere in Europe
On 9 July, Napoleon officially annexed the Kingdom of Holland to the French Empire, bringing to an end Louis' short-lived reign. A few weeks later, on 25 July, Napoleon wrote to Francis I, in which he mentioned the couple's pregnancy hopes (which Marie-Louise had actually announced to her father in a letter dated 2 July).
"I do not know if the Empress has informed you that our hopes for her pregnancy become more and more probable every day, and that we are being as careful as can be at two and a half months." (Letter from Napoleon to Francis I dated 25 July, 1810, Correspondance de Napoléon Ier, Second Empire edition, n° 16,725)
And in Sweden on 21 July, following the unfortunate death of the Swedish Crown Prince, the Swedish Diet reconvened to discuss the election of a new crown prince. Bernadotte had already been approached, unofficially, by a member of the Swedish court, Baron Karl Otto Mörner, regarding the role, and after failing to find a more pleasing alternative, Napoleon accepted this proposal. On 20 August, the Diet decided in favour of the French general, and on 21 August, Bernadotte was proclaimed the crown prince of Sweden.
150 YEARS AGO
Expedition of the Thousand: crossing the strait
Having captured Palermo (see bulletin n° 545), Garibaldi proceeded on towards Messina. Forty kilometres further north, the Battle of Milazzo took place. From 17 to 24 July, the battle raged between the Garibaldini and troops fighting for the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. The citadel fell on 24 July and the expedition made its way to Messina. On 20 August, the volunteers crossed the Strait of Messina onto the Italian mainland and as the surrounding populace hailed Garibaldi as a hero and military opposition melted away, the city of Naples prepared for a siege.
The Chinese expedition
On 19 July, on the other side of the world (see bulletin n° 536), a joint Franco-British council of war was held on the Zhifu islet where it was unanimously decided to attack the coastline of the Bohai Gulf. On 1 August, the combined forces landed at the village of Beitang. Between 12 and 22 August, the river mouth of the Pei Ho (today the Hai river) was cleared of Chinese ships, opening up the route to Tientsin (Tianjin), which was evacuated by the Chinese emperor, constituting a huge loss of face for the Qing Dynasty. Chinese troops fell back on Peking (Beijing). The expedition continued up the Pei Ho and the occupation of Tientsin on 2 September passed uneventfully.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" summer,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 550, 9 July – 2 September, 2010
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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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FONDATION NAPOLEON ON THE WEB
Each week we offer you a "mystery" link to somewhere on napoleon.org. Click on the link to discover a part of the website you might not have visited before...
Statistic of the week:
425 bronze plates cover the Vendôme Column in Paris. This year, 15 August marks the bicentenary of the column's inauguration, which was erected in honour of the Grande Armée and to commemorate the 1805 campaign. 42 metres high, the structure is built from stone and bronze, and features a frieze of bas-reliefs depicting the campaign's key moments, from the Camp de Boulogne to the return of the Emperor and his Guard in 1806.
MAGAZINE
Just published
- San Martin, by John Lynch
- Garibaldi: Invention of a Hero, by Lucy Riall
Press review
- French History, vol. 24, n° 2 June 2010
- French History: Malcolm Crook steps down
- CAM: "Take Three" section discusses the 100 days concept in politics
- First Empire, issue n° 113, July/August 2010
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.
Presentation
Presentation of the new “Marengo Museum” 14 July, 2010
[14/07/2010]
Exhibitions
Napoleon and the Empire of Fashion
[16/06/2010 - 12/09/2010]
Visits
- Souvenir Napoléonien Louis Bonaparte trip to the Netherlands, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [20/09/2010 - 24/09/2010]
- Souvenir Napoléonien St Helena trip, Jamestown, St Helena [30/05/2011 - 19/06/2011]
NAPOLEON.ORG
The best of the month:
- Book of the month
- Painting of the month
- Objet d'Art of the month
- Article of the month
NAPOLEONICA.LA REVUE
Available free on Cairn.info
NAPOLEONICA ARCHIVES ONLINE
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
Summer opening times (5 July – 2 August):
Situated at 148 boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris, the library is open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 10am – 3pm.
Online catalogue
Digital Library
Contact
ACCOUNT DETAILS
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