Names

@tairin asked me about the Marshals' names: did they have a meaning ? For most of them, it's not obvious. So I did a quick research and here's what I found.

Two notes: I'm not a linguist, and all I have to go on is the Internet, so I may very well be wrong. And, I only looked for the French names, which means no Poniatowski or Macdonald (I included Masséna though).

Here we go!

Augereau: the name comes from Western France, and is from germanic roots "adal" meaning noble, and "gari" meaning lance. He very likely owes his names to a warrior ancestor :)

Bernadotte: diminutive of Bernard, this variation of the name is mostly found in the South West. Bernard comes from germanic roots and means "bear warrior".

Berthier: possibly "famous/renowned army" which is pretty fitting too!

Bessières: mostly found in the Massif Central and neighboring regions, from gaulish word "betu" meaning birch trees, probably describes a man living near a plantation of birch trees :)

Brune: means "brown".

Davout: he was born d'Avout, or d'Avoust. A noble family, the name might come from the seigneurie d'Avot, near Dijon. I do not know the meaning.

Gouvion: the name comes from the North East, and might be a deformation of "goujon", meaning "gudgeon".

Grouchy: yet another name of noble family originating from the name of the land. Possibly: land of Grossius ? From Normandy.

Jourdan: it was a first name (Jourdain) before it became a name, like many others. Obviously refers to the Jordan River.

Kellermann: old Saxon origin. The family settled in Alsace in the XVIth. Ennobled under Louis XV. Meaning: man of the cellar: sommelier.

Lannes: likely, from the gascon word for landes, meaning: "moorlands", "heathlands".

Lefebvre: means "smith". One of the many variations, in the North.

Marmont: he was born Viesse de Marmont, but I couldn't find an origin or meaning for "Viesse". Marmont, however, might mean "bad mount(ain)/hill"

Massena: a name found in Nice. Often used by Jewish people apparently. Might be a metathesis of "Manassé" (?), from a Hebrew verb meaning "forget".

Moncey: he was actually born Jeannot or Jannot, wich means "Little John". Moncey is the name of the land he purchased. "Moncey" itself is a toponym from latin "monticellum": hill, little mont.

Mortier: mostly from the North. From latin "mortarium", describes someone coming from or living in marshlands.

Murat: pretty common in the Massif Central and neighboring regions. It's a toponym describing a fortified place, a place with walls (mur: wall).

Ney: old variant of "neu" , new.

Oudinot: diminutive of Oudin, formed on "Odo" (germ. root: aud, meaning "wealth").

Pérignon: a deformation of Pierre/Petrus; meaning: rock.

Serurier: "locksmith".

Soult: in the South, past participle of solver, meaning "unbind, untie". So Soult is the free one :)

Suchet: from the region of Lyon. A diminutive of "Suc", meaning "hill", "height".

Victor: actually "Perrin", which also comes from Pierre/Petrus: rock. And Victor means winner.

If you have more information, I'll be glad to hear about it!

Part 5 of That Time Lejeune Got Himself Into a Duel

When you spend a whole hour calling dueling stupid but are still perky about it. 

My brain’s kneejerk mental connection to the phrase “it’s time to duel” is still fuckin’ Yugioh. >_>

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Montmartre, Paris | Olivier Wong

Louis-Nicolas Davout - 10 May 1770–1 June 1823

Caroline Murat, by Jean-Louis Ducis (1810).

The only thing that’s missing is a zoo exhibit plaque. And maybe a “do not taunt” sign.

“Napoleonii buonaparticus, 1769.

Native to Corsica, this invasive species migrated to France and is adept at colonizing other habitats, especially those of Western Europe. Does poorly in snowy conditions of Russia. Captured at length by the British and imported to the island in 1815. Seen here in his summer coat. 

This restless specimen is in somewhat poor health and suffers from gastrointestinal maladies, so please refrain from feeding. He will engage in lengthy discussions upon military matters when prompted but please do not taunt him with mentions of Wellington, Waterloo, Spain, or Russia.”

Perfection.

Bringing this back.

Omg, this is gold!!! You have no idea!!! 🤣🤣☺️

Napoleon's Marshals.

KELLERMAN - who began as a regular soldier with the rank of ensign.

LEFÈBVRE - who began as a hussar.

PÉRIGNON - who began as a grenadier.

SÉRURIER - who began as a sub-lieutenant.

BERTHIER - who was an engineer turned professional soldier.

MURAT - an innkeeper's son originally destined for the church.

MONCEY - who set out to become a lawyer.

JOURDAN - a doctor's son who walked the roads with a peddler's pack on his back.

MASSÉNA - who had been cabin-boy, smuggler and fruit-seller before he became an officer.

AUGEREAU - whose first wages were earned as a footman.

BERNADOTTE - a lawyer's son turned professional soldier who rose to be a sergeant major.

SOULT - who set his heart on becoming a village baker.

BRUNE - who began studying law but always wanted to be a writer.

LANNES - who began life as an apprentice dyer.

MORTIER - the half-English son of a small farmer.

NEY - who was set to work as a barrel cooper but ran away to become a hussar.

DAVOUT - who entered the Royal army as a sub-lieutenant.

BESSIÈRES - whose first job was that of a barber.

VICTOR - a revolutionary sergeant in the Royal army.

MACDONALD - the son of an exiled Scots clansman, who became an officer cadet at the age of twenty-two.

MARMONT - who began as an artillery cadet.

OUDINOT - who thought of following his father in the brewery trade but joined the army when the Revolution broke out.

SUCHET - whose father was a silk manufacturer.

ST. CYR - who began life as a student of engineering and gave lessons in drawing to earn extra money.

PONIATOWSKI - who was the nephew of a Polish prince and followed the trade of arms all his life.

GROUCHY - the son of a marquis, who enlisted as a volunteer on the side of the people when the Revolution began.

(Napoleon's Marshals, by R. F. Delderfield)

A Note:

Poniatowski was actually the nephew of the King, not just a prince. (and was himself a prince)

Thank you @sollannaart for pointing this out. :)

So for Napoleon’s anniversary I decided to make a post with links to a limited selection of books about him. I’m not discovering nothing new, since all of them are on the public domain, but I think a post were they are reunited can be useful for those interested on the napoleonic era. There is much more out there, you only have to search for them, either at the Internet Archive, Google books or Gallica.

- Correspondence

Napoleon’s own writings and letters are, of course, the first source if you are interested in his personality. Under the Second Empire, an attempt was made to publish Napoleon’s entire correspondence. This edition is available online, but it’s a censored one. A complete correspondence, including the letters which weren’t considered appropiate for the first one, is currently going under publication. The same goes for his letters to Josephine,submitted to censorship since 1833, when Hortense reunited a limited number of them in two volumes, of course without the too intimate bits (there is an integral, uncensored edition published in 1981, but not available online).

- The Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène:

-More about Saint-Helena

- Childhood and youth

- Memoirs.

Certain fictional doctor said it for me: Everyone lies. Yes, you’ll have to remember this when reading memoirs from the napoleonic era. Frequently ghostwritten or published decades after the events, they must not be relied blindly. Some of them are apologetic, some of them pathologically hostile, and a bunch of their authors created myths that seem impossible to debunk. This is a selection:

(Also feel free to add your own links!)

Aaand a good day to reblog this.

I know this was posted to celebrate Napoleon’s birthday a while ago and that I have been reblogging it now and then. Still, have a little list of readings about him today. It’s not yet my Congratulations for being dead during 200 years today post, but for the moment it will serve as such. Happy reading and beware of this topic because it’s a big black hole sucking all of the stars (I’m quoting an Eurovision interval song, yes); in other words, you’ll probably get addicted and may your imaginary sky friend have mercy on you then.

Édouard Detaille: Napoleon Bonaparte, membre de l'Institut. c. 1890.

A panel from a mini comic i’ll never finish 

200 years ago today, Napoléon Bonaparte died: May 5th, 1821, shortly before 6pm.

Here is an extremely brief overview of his person: Living in a turbulent time of change, Napoléon rose from obscurity as a Corsican nationalist into one of the most prominent figures of all time.  A meteoric rise as both a political and military figure saw him influence Europe for around 20 years and permanently change the political climate.  He was an outsider to the long established monarchs of the time and represented a new mode of thinking, thusly appearing as a natural enemy to the leading  Powers of Europe - Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia to name a few.  Having a powerful grasp on the concepts of warfare made him a force to be feared and recognized.

Although extremely talented and knowledgeable, Napoléon never quite trusted his subordinates with too much control.  Paradoxically he put his faith into political allies that were potentially dangerous under anyone’s rule.  As his Empire grew, it became unwieldy, and his ambitions threw his world out of balance.

Just as fiery as Napoléon’s rise was, such was the fall of his Empire.  He was eventually imprisoned on the extremely remote island of St. Helena, where he was kept under constant watch by the British government under Sir Hudson Lowe.  Concern for control over the Emperor rather than his comfort and well-being lead to a very constricting and bleak confinement of 6 years.  During his final years, his health began to falter in response to many undefined factors.  So enigmatic were his final years that debates today still clash over the reasons and situations of his death, one hot day in May.

Napoléon was born on a homely island in 1769 on August 15th.  In the end he died 1821 May 5th, on an distant island, removed from the world.  Having led a dramatic life, he was just 51 years old at the time of his death.  We may only ponder how many more years he could have lived under different circumstances.

(In time I hope to write out a long and involved overview of his life and all the paradoxical facets of his being.)

—–

May 5th, 2021 - Oil Painting  - Le prisonnier

I began this oil painting in honor of Napoléon, to finish by the time of the 200 year anniversary of his death.  Although I had planned an initial concept and perspective, I changed it right at the start which made following up on the new details a bit difficult.  I ended up going for a straight on shot since it was different than most portraits of Napoléon, and I wanted it to reflect the notion that people had stated he had a habit of facing people directly and straight on when talking to them.  His outfit is also to reflect his actual apparel on St. Helena, which was that of a civilian.  I like that it makes him more casual, as he often was with many guests that he liked.  It does not rely or focus on the iconography as the distant Emperor, but rather that of a casual personable stranger.  I want viewers to see him as both a gifted and flawed natural human being, rather than to focus on him solely as a cold calculating political leader.  His apparel is disheavled, and he has some stubble on his face.  He is heavy in weight as time passed into his later years.  A green cloth wraps his neck simply as a personal touch regarding his purported liking of the color green.  Lastly, I have the intention that he is gazing across the ocean towards France and his son; the mountainous landscape of St. Helena making a symbolic cage around him.

I feel Americans see him as a distant vague figure.  In perspective, George Washington was mourned in France in 1799, and Abraham Lincoln was 12 years old in 1821.

History is complicated, and we can’t put an easy title on something as good or evil.  In the end, for better or for worse, we are all human.

Château de Fontainebleau

Spanish newspaper El Censor Madrileño on Napoleon’s death, 1821.

Would anyone other than me care to describe what you know or what you think about Jean-Boy’s personality?  Not quite the towering figure as Murat–who is, after all?–but close.

I’ll go ahead and answer, though I will be the first to admit that I’m not as well acquainted with him as with the other marshals.

Lannes strikes me as the soldier’s soldier, similar to Marshal Oudinot. He didn’t really have any grand personal ambitions or vanity like Murat (which is something I will touch on when I get to writing my story). He never tried to be a king like Murat for example, and he didn’t let his success go to his head. He strikes me more as a dutiful, loyal man who wanted the best for France and never forgot his friends. It’s worth noting that Lannes was one of the marshals Napoleon trusted the most, and I think that may have spurred some of the rivalry between him and Murat.

That being said, the man could sure hold a grudge. His biggest flaw was easily his quickness to take an insult. He was a notorious guilt-collector; he never let anything go and that stoked some pretty fierce rivalries, most notably with Marshals Bessieres, Soult, and Murat.

Lannes was courageous to the point of recklessness, always at the head of any advance. He was similar to Marshal Ney in that he could basically shame soldiers into action through superhuman feats. The best example is at the Battle of Regensburg, when his corps hesitated to launch another attack to recapture a village, Lannes took a scaling ladder and called out, “I will show all of you that before I was a Marshal I was a grenadier…and I still am!” He tried to scale the ladder himself, and that was enough to get his men to follow him.

I think if Lannes had survived Aspern-Essling, the Russian campaign may have gone differently. He was reckless and aggressive, but had a strong tactical mind. He could have had significant sway over Napoleon’s conduct in Russia. He might have recognized the state the army was in and convinced the emperor to change his strategy.

Next to Davout, Lannes was undoubtedly Napoleon’s best marshal and one of the Grande Armee’s best combat leaders. Napoleon clearly trusted him enough to lead the way in four of his greatest campaigns. It’s hard not to wonder what would have become of Napoleon’s empire if Lannes had lived a little longer.

I don’t really feel competent to answer either. Won’t stop me from doing it. Plus, I got most of what I know about Lannes from Maggie’s book, so it’s probably pointless.

When I think about Lannes, the first thing that comes to my mind is one of his spelling mistakes. I think it was in a letter to his second wife. He meant to write “I’m in Paris” - “je suis à Paris”. Instead he wrote the words like he heard them: “appari”. Which I, as my French sucks raw eggs, on first glance thought to mean “apparu” - “I appeared.” - Voilà, in my head I got the image of one Jean Lannes, having read one of those army bulletins he tended to be unhappy with, popping up in Napoleon’s throne room in a huff of smoke, eyes blazing black fire, exclaiming “What kind of bullshit is this now?” and shoving the offending papers right into Napoleon’s face.

So, that would be Jean Lannes for me.

As I can say precious little about his military talents - which he would doubtlessly hate me for -, I mostly admire him for having worked his way up from way down the ladder. I understand plenty of Napoleon’s marshals came from bourgeois families, but few from such humble origins as him. He must have learned and improved himself throughout his (too short) life. It shows (among other things) in his spelling, on comparing early letters and those he wrote later in his life.

I feel (without being able to tell why) like he was more convinced and more genuine in his republican beliefs than, for example, Murat, and that this may have been one source of conflict with Napoleon. I also suspect him of having felt very vulnerable to “those up there” and of distrust towards all kind of government and superiors in general. He was somebody who had to claw his way up, fighting for every step, while those in power did their best to put obstacles in his way. Some more speculation: That’s why he was so grateful to everybody who gave him a chance to prove himself (Napoleon). That’s also why he felt entitled to all his “gasconades”, the trickeries, and the financial shenanigans: If the whole world is out to get you, you must and you have the right to fight back by all means, legal or not. Maybe this was another source of conflict, with Bessières and others who, at some point, pretended that all the ugly stuff during the First Italian Campaign, the lootings and extortions, had not happened, and became all “honourable gentlemen” (while secretely continuing as they had before). For such pretensions, I think Lannes was too proud. He was what he was, and that was above all: honest.

Of course, there’s also the other Lannes. The cruel and merciless one, the Lannes of Binasco and Saragossa, the one whom Napoleon handpicked whenever he wanted to deal some particularly harsh punishment to someone. I feel like this young and embittered guy slowly faded into the background and gave way to somebody who was much more good-natured and generous, and wished to be so, and that by the time Napoleon ordered Lannes to take over command at Saragossa, he was doing him a huge disservice. I also often feel that Napoleon did not treat Lannes as you would treat a friend (particularly during the time in Spain, after Lannes’ accident), but that is not particular to Lannes.

From youtube, 1805 La Bataille d'Austerlitz. It’s in French with no subtitles. The actor who plays Napoleon is very good but he’s about 20 years too old.

A cushion / poster design I’ve been working on for the past 2 months (took so long OTL)

It’ll be available soon on Napoleonic Impressions shop ^^ 

Everyone looks pale comparing to murat hhh!! 

The Gothic Cathedral Sainte-Cécile d'Albi (Tarn, France).

(The photographs show, in order: the cathedral seen from the city of Albi ; detail of the sculptures overlooking the access to the ambulatory ; the vault from the nave ; the choir and the rood screen ; another detail of the frescoes ; detail of the replica of the statue of Maderno, dating from 1599, supposed to represent the body od Saint Cecilia as it was found in the coffin ; the organ ; the nave and the organ; the gothic rood screen; and the choir. The original photographs are not mine and are under free license)

Junot and Marmont attempt to stage a jailbreak.

Napoleon runs into trouble post-Thermidor. Some handle it better than others. From the new Junot bio by Sylvain Dubief : JUNOT, Premier aide de camp de Napoléon (1771-1813). French and my translation under the cut.

Keep reading

Years later he would have written, have you gone insane? I am terrified at the recklessness of your plan. Withdraw immediately and wait for my orders.

The unassailable logic of Mme Lefebvre

Another banger from the bible of probably-apocryphal Napoleonic anecdotes (Napoleonic Anecdotes, by Louis Cohen) : 

« Lefebvre once fell ill of fever, and his attendant, an old soldier, contracted the illness at the same time. The servant got well quickly, but the malady clung to the marshal till it occurred to the wife of his bosom that the doctor had made a mistake — ‘comme un âne’ — by prescribing for the Duke the same doses as for a private soldier. Cheered by this happy thought, she rapidly enumerated on her fingers the different rungs of the military ladder. ‘Tiens, bois! en voilà Pour ton grade,’ she observed decisively, holding a full tumbler to her resigned husband’s lips. The marshal, having gulped down a dozen doses at one effort, was soon, strange to say, on his legs again. ’T’as beaucoup à apprendre, mon garçon,’ she remarked triumphantly to the mystified medico, who felt that science had suffered a severe shock. »