The French don’t have a national museum devoted to Napoleon, but French politician Yves Jégo is proposing to build “Napoleonland,” a theme park based on the legacy of Napoleon and the First Empire. The chosen site is near Disneyland Paris, on the grounds of the 1814 Battle of Montereau, a Napoleonic victory over the Austrians […]
A “Napoleonland” Theme Park to Rival Paris Disneyland? Read More »
In exile on St Helena, Napoleon regretted not enriching Corsica when, as French emperor, he easily could have. Having developed an idyllic memory of his youth, he dictated to his secretary Las Cases that, “the Bonaparte family had retired [from Corsica] to Nice [in mainland France].” Napoleon’s last visit to Corsica was a quick stopover
Bonapartes Branded Corsican Outcasts Read More »
Young Napoleon, growing up in a household in which his mother seemed always to be pregnant, sought out solitary refuges. One was a wooden lean-to on the family porch, another was a grotto on the outskirts of Ajaccio. Legend says he was hiding in this second spot, when his father and the Count de Marbeuf
Napoleon’s Corsican Grotto Read More »
“Destiny urges me to a goal of which I am ignorant. Until that goal is attained I am invulnerable, unassailable. When Destiny has accomplished her purpose in me, a fly may suffice to destroy me.” Napoleon Bonaparte (from Napoleon: In His Own Words, 1916, edited by Jules Bertaut) These words, attributed to Napoleon, reflect the
Coincidence and the Man of Destiny Read More »
In 1778, nine-year-old Napoleon left Ajaccio, Corsica to attend French military academy. In France, his fellow students mocked his foreign accent and chip-on-the-shoulder Corsican patriotism. Eight years later, when he returned home for the first time, the locals thought him “Frenchified.” He struggled to relearn his childhood language and sought out old friends and places,
A Corsican in France, A Frenchman in Corsica Read More »
At the Napoleon birthday celebration at Fort Myer, Napoleon Historical Society member Vince Hawkins displayed his plaster death mask of the Emperor. It’s been authenticated as one of only a hundred struck from the original that the attending doctor, Dr Antommarchi, created two days after Napoleon’s death in 1821. Napoleonic death masks appear in
Napoleon Death Masks Read More »
Yesterday, I celebrated today’s 242nd anniversary of Napoleon Bonaparte’s birth with a group of new friends from the Napoleonic Historical Society. Over a champagne brunch at the Fort Myer officers club, we toasted the Emperor. I’m looking forward to seeing these folks and other Napoleonic enthusiasts at the Historical Society’s annual conference, held this year
Happy Birthday, Napoleon! Read More »
A BOOK REVIEW: To Befriend an Emperor: Betsy Balcombe’s Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte on St Helena, edits and introduction by J. David Markham, Ravenhall Books, 2005. (Originally published in 1844 as Recollections of the Emperor Napoleon on the Island of St Helena, by Lucia Elizabeth Balcombe Abell.) As I covered in my last blog, Napoleon’s
A BOOK REVIEW: To Befriend an Emperor, Betsy Balcombe’s Memoirs Read More »
Theoretically, Napoleon’s toddler son, known as the King of Rome and called François, became Napoleon II on June 22, 1815, when Napoleon abdicated in his favor after the battle of Waterloo. In reality, the boy never ruled. With the help of France’s enemies, Louis XVIII claimed the throne, reestablishing the Bourbon dynasty. Meanwhile, young Napoleon
More about Napoleon’s Son Read More »
In 1796, Napoleon married Josephine Beauharnais, the widow of an aristocrat who had been guillotined. On their wedding day, Napoleon was twenty-six and Josephine thirty-two. His future looked promising; she was bankrupt. He married for love, she for convenience. They had a tumultuous life together until 1809 when it became clear she could never provide
The Boy on the Mantel in Longwood’s Dining Room Read More »
