Napoleon, session ii, empire

Napoléon
session ii
Empire

Saturday, April 2, 2011

My power depends on my glory,
and my glory on my victories.

--Napoleon


major topics for this session

! Sea Power

! The Second Coalition

! Le Premier Consul

! Marengo, 1800

! War or Peace?

! Code Civil

! Vive l’Empereur!


but before we look at the land battles...


Sea Power


Pitt
the
Younger

Sea Power


Remember the three-legged stool?

British Foreign Policy

Maintenance of the
balance of power on Keeping the mouth of
the Continent the Scheldt River in
weak and/or friendly
hands

Sea Power

Pitt’s Plan, 2nd rev. ed.

! 1758-during the Seven Years War,
William Pitt the Elder devised the plan
which led to victory:

! using British sea power, he would take the
war to France’s colonies while keeping the
French navy bottled up in port (leg #3)

! using the wealth of this sea-borne commerce,
while denying it to the enemy, Britain would
ﬁnance coalition allies, especially among the
Germanies, to ﬁght on land (leg #1)

! thus she would expand her empire while
sparing her limited manpower

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC
1708 – 1778


Pitt’s Plan, 2nd rev. ed.

! 1758-during the Seven Years War,
William Pitt the Elder devised the plan
which led to victory:

! using British sea power, he would take the
war to France’s colonies while keeping the
French navy bottled up in port (leg #3)

! using the wealth of this sea-borne commerce,
while denying it to the enemy, Britain would
ﬁnance coalition allies, especially among the
Germanies, to ﬁght on land (leg #1)

! thus she would expand her empire while
sparing her limited manpower

! 1792-William Pitt the Younger, his son
(Prime Minister, 1783-1801 & 1804-06)
followed a similar strategy
William Pitt the Younger
1759 – 1806


LEGHORN
ROME

NAPLES

ABOUKIR
ALEXANDRIA


A Naval Star is Born
! 1758-the sixth of eleven children to Rev
Edmund and Catherine Nelson

! 1769-his mother died. She was the grandniece of
Sir Robt Walpole and sister to Captain Maurice
Suckling, RN

! 1771-age 13, a midshipman aboard his uncle’s
ship, HMS Raisonnable

! prior to the American war he sailed as a junior
ofﬁcer aboard British merchant and warships

! 1776-1783--fought mainly in the Caribbean
taking prizes and engaging Spanish, French and
American warships and privateers

! 1787-at the end of his peacetime duty in the
Captain Horatio Nelson, painted by John Francis Rigaud in 1781, West Indies he met and married a young widow
with Fort San Juan—the scene of his most notable achievement to
date—in the background. The painting itself was begun and nearly
ﬁnished prior to the battle, when Nelson held the rank of ! 1792-at war with France again, Nelson served
lieutenant; when Nelson returned, the artist added the new under Admiral Jervis in the Mediterranean
captain's gold-braided sleeves.


BATTLE OF
CAPE ST
VINCENT
-----
14 FEBRUARY
1797


NELSON’S THREE GREAT VICTORIES
“I had the happiness to command a Band of Brothers.”

! The Nile

1August 1798

! Copenhagen

2 April 1801

! Trafalgar

21 October 1805


More signiﬁcant than [the Nile’s] tactical implications were the
strategic results of the battle. Like all decisive naval victories, it
exercised a powerful inﬂuence far beyond the scene of action. It
had an impact in three major theaters of war.

Nelson’s victory reignited the war in Europe. Heartened by the
isolation of Bonaparte and his army, France’s enemies were soon
once more on the march. William Pitt the Younger was at last able
to achieve his Second Coalition. Yet in spite of all the hopes with
which it began, the coalition fell apart under the follies and
jealousies of its members until once again England stood alone.

Potter, E.B. and Chester W. Nimitz, eds. Sea Power; A Naval History. 1960, p. 135.


That Hamilton Woman

Back at Naples, Nelson, exhilarated by the adulation
he was everywhere accorded, and his judgement
possibly clouded by his head wound, fell into two
major errors. Accepting the hospitality of Ambassador
Sir William Hamilton, he soon succumbed to the
charms of Emma, Lady Hamilton. This passionate
liason lasted until the end of Nelson’s life, to the
scandal of his friends, the wreck of his marriage, and
the near-ruin of his career.

ibid.

George Romney Emma Hart [later, Lady Hamilton]
in a straw hat. unknown date


Nelson’s Other Error
Emma Hamilton, a close friend of [Neapolitan] Queen Maria Carolina,
soon enlisted Nelson in Her Majesty’s cause. This remarkable woman
was the real ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, her husband,
King Ferdinand IV, being little more than a ﬁgurehead. Sister of the
unhappy Marie Antoinette of France, Maria Carolina intensely hated
everything republican and longed to strike out with all her strength,
now that, as she fancied, France’s head was in the dust. In seeking to
please Her Majesty, Nelson urged an attack on the Papal States
[recently conquered by France], which he would support from the sea
with his ships. Command of this operation fell to the Austrian General
Mack, whose incompetence was exceeded only by his zeal. In
November 1798 Mack’s force entered the Papal States with Nelson
landing troops at Leghorn on the enemy rear. But on land France’s head
was by no means in the dust, and she retaliated swiftly. Mack’s army
came streaming back. “The Neapolitans have not lost much honour,”
wrote Nelson ruefully, “for God knows they have but little to lose; but
they lost all they had.”

ibid.

Pitt’s Plan, Pinpricks on the Perimeter
! 1798-Nelson had destroyed the Toulon fleet at The
Nile. Britain controlled the Mediterranean and
would isolate the French Army of the East

! 1799-now Pitt planned to capture or destroy the
Dutch fleet. The Batavian Republic had been allied
with France since 1795

! the amphibious landing at Helder under General
Abercromby began well but soon bogged down and
had to be evacuated. The anticipated Russian
reinforcements were too little, too late

! 19 November-under a favorable capitulation the
last British troops were withdrawn

! but the “cutting-out” expedition under Admiral Mitchell was a great success. The Dutch
fleet surrendered and its many ships were added to the Royal Navy

! this allowed Britain to end her long blockade of Holland and to assign the ships, her own
and the captured Dutch, to other operations


From Eccentricity to Madness
! 1788-when George III began to exhibit
signs of madness, Britain, at least, had a
functioning constitutional monarchy to
address the problem

! although Paul’s mother, Catherine the
Great, had dabbled in constitutionalism, he
was “Autocrat of All the Russias”

! so to the problem of coalitions was added
the problem of “unenlightened despotism”

! 1799-as the Helder expedition mis-ﬁred as
a result of his leadership, he ordered
Paul I !"#$%& I !%'()#$*+;
Suvorov’s brilliant Italian campaign to take (Pavel Petrovich) 1754 – 1801
a new direction with equally poor results Reign 1796 – 1801

! 1801-his murder would bring even more
problems to Pitt’s coalition

Britain Strikes Back in the South--Aboukir

Once more virtually without an ally, Britain was again driven to exploit
her seapower…. Because Spain seemed the weakest link in the defense
of Europe, the British Cabinet to attempt the capture of Cadiz. [a
combination of weather and divided leadership caused Abercromby to
call off this attack and propose another]
Underestimating the number of French troops in Egypt, the War
Ministry provided Abercromby with only 16,000 men. As usual, the
British troops were poorly equipped…. The little army, carried in 28
transports and escorted by seven of the line and twelve smaller vessels,
proceeded [to Turkey].
The six weeks it took to assemble the animal transports proved the most
fruitful of the campaign, for during the period the British soldiers and
sailors engaged in intensive and realistic rehearsals, something that had
been lacking in all previous amphibious assaults.

Potter & Nimitz, pp.140-141.


PERMAC

! Preparation

! Embarkation

! Rehearsal

! Movement to the objective

! Assault

! Consolidation of the beachhead


2nd battle of Aboukir
22 March 1801

Landing at Aboukir with 16,000 men, Britain's Sir Ralph Abercromby tried to push through
the French positions sealing the narrow isthmus that led to Alexandria.

Strong defence, however, foiled the move and so the British withdrew and set up defensive
works of their own.

A strong body of French reinforcements arrived and so General Jacques-Francois Menou
decided to throw the British off with a daring night attack.

A local spy tipped off the British, but Menou's plan was sufﬁciently clever to render the early
warning almost useless.

His men began an expected attack against the weaker British left wing but this was only a
feint and the true target - the strong British right protected by Roman ruins and a redoubt -
soon came under massive pressure.

Fortunately, for the redcoats, the troops there were led by the brilliant General Sir John
Moore, who stemmed the assault and then ordered a bayonet-led counterattack by the 42nd
Highlanders that sent the French into retreat - but advanced too far and was cut down by
enemy horsemen.

The situation was still dangerous for the British but reinforcements arrived just in time and
overwhelmed the exhausted French.

Menou lost 3000 men while the British suffered 1300 casualties, including the mortally
wounded Abercromby who died a week later.

!

DURING THE BATTLE AT ABOUKIR, French troops launched a night attack against the British.
The British line was hard pressed by French infantry and cavalry. Here, the 42nd Regiment, the Black
Watch, launches a bayonet attack on the ﬂank of one of the French columns. In the event, they pursued too
far and were themselves attacked and badly mauled by French cavalry later in the battle.


The Battle of Copenhagen
2 April 1801


n Nelson's plan was for the British ships to approach the
weaker, southern end of the Danish defenses in a line
parallel to the Danish one.

n As the foremost ship drew alongside a Danish ship, it
would anchor and engage that ship.

n The remainder of the line would pass outside until the next
ship drew alongside the next Danish ship, and so on.

n Glatton, the ship after Nelson’s flag on Elephant, was
commanded by William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame
(1789)

n Troops would assault the Tre Kroner fortress once the fleet
had subdued the Danish line of ships.

n Bomb vessels would sit outside the British line and
bombard the Danes by firing over it.


A Napoleonic Bomb Ketch


n Nelson's plan was for the British ships to approach the
weaker, southern end of the Danish defenses in a line
parallel to the Danish one.

n As the foremost ship drew alongside a Danish ship, it
would anchor and engage that ship.

n The remainder of the line would pass outside until the next
ship drew alongside the next Danish ship, and so on.

n Glatton, the ship after Nelson’s flag on Elephant, was
commanded by William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame
(1789)

n Troops would assault the Tre Kroner fortress once the fleet
had subdued the Danish line of ships.

n Bomb vessels would sit outside the British line and
bombard the Danes by firing over it.

n Should the British be unable to subdue the stronger,
northern defenses, the destruction of the southern ships
would be enough to allow the bomb vessels to approach
within range of the city and force negotiations to prevent
the bombardment of the city.


! 1005-the Danish floating batteries
began firing

! Nelson’s plan was effected despite
the grounding of three of his ships of
the line

! firing was heavy and the Danes
resisted determinedly

! 1330-Nelson’s famous “blind eye”
ploy

! 1400-finally, British gunnery
prevailed

The official report by Olfert Fischer estimated the Danish-Norwegian casualties to be between
1,600 and 1,800 captured, killed or wounded. According to the official returns recorded by each
British ship, and repeated in dispatches from Nelson and forwarded by Parker to the Admiralty,
British casualties were 264 killed and 689 wounded


‘Lord Nelson has directions to spare
Denmark when no longer resisting, but
if firing is continued on the part of
Denmark, Lord Nelson will be obliged to
set on fire the floating batteries he has
taken, without having the power of
saving the brave Danes who have
defended them.’ Dated on board His

Britainnick Majesty’s Ship Elephant

Copenhagen Roads April 2nd: 1801

Nelson ??????? Vice

Admiral under the Command of

admiral Sir Hugh Parker

To the Brothers of Englishmen
The Danes


The Second
Coalition


Russian Troops under Suvorov
Crossing the Alps in 1799.
Vasily Surikov, 1899

The Second
Coalition


Russia invades Italy?

! August 1797-mad Tsar Paul (1754-1796-1801), son of Catherine the Great, through the
irony of fate, had just been made the protector of the Knights of Malta

! June 1798-Bonaparte, on his way to Egypt, occupied Malta as a convenient base for
his Oriental ambitions

! this proved the last straw convincing Paul to abandon his neutrality and join the
Second Coalition. He promised 60,000 troops to Austria to reconquer northern Italy
and another 45,000 to help Britain in North Germany and the Netherlands, the Helder
expedition

! although the Peace of Campo Formio (October 1797) had left Britain alone, Nelson’s
victory at the Nile (August 1798) had emboldened Austria’s prime minister, Baron von
Thugut to tear up the peace treaty and join Pitt and Russia

! January 1799-Russia, Turkey, Portugal, Austria, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and
the Papal States had joined Britain in the Second Coalition


Austria’s Vengeful Diplomat

! of humble origins, Empress Maria Theresa gave him a
scholarship to the School of Oriental Languages in Vienna

! he served ably in Turkey as an Austrian diplomat

! 1792-his advancement by Joseph II was resented by the
aristocrats at court. He took every opportunity to seek extra
territory for Austria, as in the Polish partitions

! “His hatred of France, and of the Revolution, was no doubt
sincere. But while prepared to defend Europe from French
aggression, it was with the implied intention that Austria should
be rewarded for her exertions by increases of territory, and
should be made the absolute mistress of Germany.” Wikipedia

! “hehas to answer for the perverse policy of Austria in 1799 when
Johann Amadeus Franz de Paula Thugut Suvorov and the Russians were recalled from northern Italy for
1736 –1818 no visible reason except that Austria should be left in sole
possession of the dominions of the king of Sardinia [Piedmont],
with a good excuse for keeping them.” Ibid.


Russia’s Brilliant General
! this general’s son was, like Teddy Roosevelt, a sickly child.
Like him, he deliberately “toughened up” by enlisting as a
common soldier at age 17

! he served against the Swedes and the Prussians in the
Seven Years War

! 1762-by the age of 33, he had risen to the rank of colonel

! 1768-he next served in Poland, dispersed the Polish forces
under Pu!aski, captured Kraków paving the way for the
ﬁrst partition of Poland and reached the rank of major-
general

! 1773–1774-The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 saw his
ﬁrst campaigns against the Turks, and particularly in the
Battle of Kozluca, he laid the foundations of his reputation

! 1775-he was dispatched to suppress the Pugachev rebellion

! 1777-1783--he served in the Crimea and in the Caucasus, Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov
becoming a lieutenant-general in 1780, and general of Count Suvorov of Rymnik, Prince in Italy,
infantry in 1783, upon completion of his tour of duty there
Count of the Holy Roman Empire
1729 – 1800

Russia’s Brilliant General
! 1787-1791-- he again fought the Turks during the Russo-
Turkish War of 1787–1792 and won many victories; he was
wounded twice at Kinburn (1787), took part in the siege of
Ochakov, and in 1788 won two great victories at Foc"ani and
by the river Rimnik

! 1792-Suvorov was again transferred to Poland, where he took
part in the Battle of Maciejowice, in which he captured the
Polish commander-in-chief Tadeusz Ko!ciuszko.

! 1794-Suvorov's forces stormed Warsaw. He sent a report to
his sovereign consisting of only three words: "Hurrah, Warsaw's
ours!" (!"#, $#"%#&# '#%#!). Catherine replied in two words:
"Hurrah, Fieldmarshall!" (rus. !"#, ()*+,-#"%#*!—that is,
awarding him this title)

! 1796-at first, the new tsar Paul, retired him in disgrace. His
goal was to overturn all of his mother’s policies

! February 1799-his tremendous skill was needed. At Austria’s
specific request, Paul sent him to Italy to fight the French
armies in the satellite republics


Suvorov Reverses Napoleon’s Victories
! 1799-although he was nearly seventy years old, Suvorov was one of
the great soldiers of the age. He had won no fewer than sixty-three
battles in the course of his long military career

! 19 April-he moved his army westwards in a rapid march towards the
Adda River; covering over 300 miles in just eighteen days

! 27 April-he defeated Jean Victor Moreau at the Battle of Cassano

! 29 April-he entered Milan. Two weeks later, he moved on to Turin,
having defeated Moreau yet again

! June-From Naples, General MacDonald moved north to assist
Moreau. Trapped between two armies, Suvorov took the bold
decision to concentrate his whole force against MacDonald, beating
the French at the Trebbia River, close to the spot of Hannibal's great
victory in 218 BC. Marching back to the north, the indomitable
soldier chased the whole French Army of Italy back towards the
shown here in a painting by George
Riviera, taking the powerful fortress of Mantua on 28 July
Dawe. Suvorov is depicted in his
uniform of the Preobrazhensky
Regiment worn during the reign of ! Moreau was relieved of command, to be replaced by Joubert.
Paul I of Russia Joubert was defeated and killed in battle with Suvorov at Novi to the
north of Genoa.


Suvorov in Italy

Adda


Suvorov in Italy

Trebbia


Suvorov in Italy

Novi

One of the few great generals in history who never lost a battle along
with the likes of Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan, he was famed
for his military manual The Science of Victory and noted for the sayings
"What is difﬁcult in training will become easy in a battle", "The bullet is
a fool, the bayonet is a ﬁne chap", "Perish yourself but rescue your
comrade!". He taught his soldiers to attack instantly and decisively:
"attack with the cold steel–push hard with the bayonet!" His soldiers
adored him. He joked with the men, called the common soldiers
'brother', and shrewdly presented the results of detailed planning and
careful strategy as the work of inspiration.

Wikipedia

Years later when Moreau, who was also present at Novi, was asked
about Suvorov, he replied "What can you say of a general so resolute to a
superhuman degree, and who would perish himself and let his army perish to the
last man rather than retreat a single pace."
Ibid.


As so often, the successful soldier was defeated not in battle, but by the
intrigues of politicians. The Austrians and British, made distrustful by
the success of the Russians in Italy, frustrated Suvorov's plan for an
advance into France. Instead the emphasis switched to the campaign in
the Low Countries. Despite all of his protests, Suvorov was ordered by
Emperor Paul to transfer his troops to Switzerland, where they came
under the command of the incompetent Alexander Korsakov, who was
defeated by Andre Massena at the Second Battle of Zürich[25 Sept
1799]. Massena, with 80,000 men at his disposal, then advanced on
Suvorov's remaining force of 18,000 regulars and 5000 Cossacks and
Kalmyks. Suvorov could either retreat or be destroyed.

Although he succeeded in rescuing his army and did not lose a single
battle, Suvorov's spectacular manoeuvring in Italy and Switzerland
proved altogether useless. He was promoted to the rank of
Generalissimo, the fourth in all of Russian history, and was recalled to
Saint Petersburg by the jealous tsar Paul.
Op.Cit.


Suvorov in Switzerland


The severe military threat of the Second Coalition during the
summer of 1799 had provided Bonaparte with his justiﬁcation for
abandoning the Army of the Orient in Egypt and returning to save
the Republic. Although the crisis had passed with the Second
Battle of Zürich (September) and the evacuation of the Helder
expedition (November), France was still at war with all her
enemies except Russia. Paul had withdrawn from the alliance with
Austria in October, 1899. His relations with Britain soured over the
next year, beginning with the failure of their joint expedition
against the Batavian Republic. Events in Italy would begin the end
of the Second Coalition (1798-1802)


Le Premier Consul


First, Second and Third Consuls
! November 1799-after the coup of 18 Brumaire,
Napoleon succeeded in sidelining Sieyès &
Ducos, his provisional fellow consuls

! now, his challenge was to walk the “tightrope”
between the extreme Right of the royalists and
the extreme Left of the Jacobin Republicans

! he chose the crypto-royalist Lebrun and the
former jacobin Cambacérès as his consuls

Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès, Napoleon
Bonaparte and Charles-François Lebrun (left to right).


First, Second and Third Consuls
! November 1799-after the coup of 18 Brumaire,
Napoleon succeeded in sidelining Sieyès &
Ducos, his provisional fellow consuls

! now, his challenge was to walk the “tightrope”
between the extreme Right of the royalists and
the extreme Left of the Jacobin Republicans

! he chose the crypto-royalist Lebrun and the
former jacobin Cambacérès as his consuls

! 8 December-the Constitution of the Year VIII
created the position of Premier Consul (First
Consul) among the three

! needless to say, Bonaparte assumed that more
powerful post. He took up residence in the
Tuileries

! 7 February 1800-a popular referendum
conﬁrmed him with 99.9% of the vote


Taking over as First Consul, Napoleon found France gone wormy with
deserters, draft dodgers, Royalist gangs, assorted fugitives from justice
and ordinary bandits, often tolerated or even protected by local
authorities. Meanwhile too many gendarmes were engaged in such
boyish pranks as robbing the stagecoaches they had been told off to
guard. Napoleon’s boot heel came down on this squirming mess. The
semi-autonomous local ofﬁcials were replaced by prefects, appointed by
the central government and directly responsible to it. The gendarmerie was
purged and then rebuilt with picked ex-soldiers who had made at least
four campaigns and were twenty-ﬁve or older and literate.

Esposito, Swords Around a Throne, p. 412.


La Vendée; the ﬁnal act

! 1796- after the defeat of the Vendéean armies by Hoche, the royalists in
western France no longer controlled territories

! the cities were largely republican

! but royalist guerilla warfare, along with ordinary brigandage, continued to tie
down military forces

! the term Chouan (from the nickname of Jean Cottereau) was given to these
rebels. Their recognition signal was the owl’s cry

! 1800-Napoleon applied a successful counter-insurgency strategy from the
beginning of the First Consulate

! December-the last attempt by the royalist Chouans was the assassination
attempt de la rue Saint-Nicaise


Napoleon’s close call with terrorism
! 10 October 1800- the “conspiracy of daggers” was an earlier “plot” which
police chief Fouché created with an agent provocateur and then used to discredit
the Jacobin opposition

! four of those arrested were condemned to death and executed (30 Jan 1801)

! 24 December 1800-a real bomb plot by the royalist Chouans kills and wounds
only innocents as it detonates prematurely

! a so-called machine infernal, a wagon with a barrel ﬁlled with gunpowder and
bullets, was to explode as Napoleon’s carriage passed on its way to the opera


Napoleon’s close call with terrorism
! 10 October 1800- the “conspiracy of daggers” was an earlier “plot” which
police chief Fouché created with an agent provocateur and then used to discredit
the Jacobin opposition

! four of those arrested were condemned to death and executed (30 Jan 1801)

! 24 December 1800-a real bomb plot by the royalist Chouans kills and wounds
only innocents as it detonates prematurely

! a so-called machine infernal, a wagon with a barrel ﬁlled with gunpowder and
bullets, was to explode as Napoleon’s carriage passed on its way to the opera

! despite Fouché’s accurate assessment that the plotters were royalists,
Napoleon used the event to ﬁnish accounts with the Jacobin left

! 4 January 1801-130 citizens whose names are indicated, suspect of carrying partial responsibility for
the terrorist attempt of 3 Nivôse, the explosion of the machine infernale, shall be placed under special
surveillance outside the European territory of the Republic. The 130 unfortunate suspects were
deported from France to Guiana without trial and without the right of appeal


Bonaparte’s chief of police
! 1792-elected a deputy in the Convention

! 1793-with Collot d’Herbois, brutally
repressed the rebellion at Lyon

! 1794-99--sided with both the
Thermidorians and Sieyes in their coups

! served Napoleon throughout the
Consulate and the Empire as his ruthless
chief of police

! 1802-04--brieﬂy removed from ofﬁce in a
restructuring of the police, Napoleon
made him a senator and continued to use
his talents Joseph Fouché
1st Duc d'Otrante (Duke of Otranto)
1759 - 1820


Bonaparte’s chief of police
! 1792-elected a deputy in the Convention

! 1793-with Collot d’Herbois, brutally
repressed the rebellion at Lyon

! 1794-99--sided with both the
Thermidorians and Sieyes in their coups

! served Napoleon throughout the
Consulate and the Empire as his ruthless
chief of police

! 1802-04--brieﬂy removed from ofﬁce in a
restructuring of the police, Napoleon
made him a senator and continued to use
his talents Joseph Fouché
1st Duc d'Otrante (Duke of Otranto)
! Feb-Mar 1804--the Cadoudal-Pichegru 1759 - 1820

conspiracy restored him to power


"Marked at the outset by fanaticism, which, though cruel, was at least conscientious,
Fouché's character deteriorated in and after the year 1794 into one of calculating
cunning. The transition represented all that was worst in the life of France during the
period of the Revolution and Empire. In Fouché the enthusiasm of the earlier period
appeared as a cold, selﬁsh and remorseless fanaticism; in him the bureaucracy of the
period 1795-1799 and the autocracy of Napoleon found their ablest instrument.
Yet his intellectual pride prevented him sinking to the level of a mere tool.
His relations to Napoleon were marked by a certain aloofness. He multiplied
the means of resistance even to that irresistible autocrat, so that though
removed from ofﬁce, he was never wholly disgraced. Despised by all for his
tergiversations, he nevertheless was sought by all on account of his
cleverness. He repaid the contempt of his superiors and the adulation of his
inferiors by a mask of impenetrable reserve or scorn. He sought for power
and neglected no means to make himself serviceable to the party whose
success appeared to be imminent.
Yet, while appearing to be the servant of the victors, present or prospective,
he never gave himself to any one party. In this versatility he resembles
Talleyrand, of whom he was a coarse replica. Both professed, under all their
shifts and turns, to be desirous of serving France. Talleyrand certainly did so
in the sphere of diplomacy; Fouché may occasionally have done so in the
sphere of intrigue."
The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica


Assassination of the Duke of Enghien
! a descendent of Louis XIV and the nephew of Philippe Égalité, a
Prince du Sang

! July 1789-emigrating with his father and grandfather a few days
after after the fall of the Bastille, he was an ofﬁcer in the corps
commanded by his grandfather the Prince of Condé

! February 1801-after the Peace of Lunéville, he took up residence
with his new bride in Ettenheim in Baden near the Rhine

! 1804-hearing that d’Enghien was connected to the Cadudal-
Pichegru plot, Bonaparte ordered him kidnapped and brought to
France

! 15 March-French dragoons crossed the Rhine secretly, surrounded
his house and brought him to the Chateau de Vincennes near Paris
Louis Antoine de Bourbon
(Duke of Enghien, "duc
d'Enghien" pronounced
[dɑ,ɡɛ,]; the i is silent)
1772 – 21 March 1804


Assassination of the Duke of Enghien
! a descendent of Louis XIV and the nephew of Philippe Égalité, a
Prince du Sang

! July 1789-emigrating with his father and grandfather a few days
after after the fall of the Bastille, he was an ofﬁcer in the corps
commanded by his grandfather the Prince of Condé

! February 1801-after the Peace of Lunéville, he took up residence
with his new bride in Ettenheim in Baden near the Rhine

! 1804-hearing that d’Enghien was connected to the Cadudal-
Pichegru plot, Bonaparte ordered him kidnapped and brought to
France

! 15 March-French dragoons crossed the Rhine secretly, surrounded
his house and brought him to the Chateau de Vincennes near Paris
Louis Antoine de Bourbon
(Duke of Enghien, "duc
! 21 March-secretly tried, found guilty, he was taken to the moat and
d'Enghien" pronounced
shot before a prepared grave
[dɑ,ɡɛ,]; the i is silent)
1772 – 21 March 1804
! "C'est pire qu'un crime, c'est une faute"--Meurthe (?) Fouché (?) Talleyrand (?)


...the news was heard with horror within France as well as in the rest
of Europe. The Marquise of Nadaillac described the “universal
revulsion” and set down a subversive ballad being hawked around the
very streets of Paris in 1804:

“ I lived very long on borrowing and charity,
Of Barras, vile ﬂatterer, I married the whore;
I strangled Pichegru, assassinated Enghien,
And for such noble efforts obtained me a crown.”

Chandler, pp. 309-310


Marengo, 1800


As the year 1800 opened, France’s position, both politically and militarily,
was grim indeed. Bonaparte’s offer of peace to the Second Coalition had
been rebuffed, and the English and the Royalists had again sparked the
Vendée into revolt. France could count as allies only unenthusiastic Spain,
Holland (Batavian Republic), and Switzerland (Helvetian Republic).
Vaubois was blockaded on Malta and Kleber isolated in Egypt. French
armies on the Continent supposedly numbered 280,000, but desertion had
drained this total to a possible 150,000. Because of the semicollapse of local
government, only one-third of the conscripts levied ever reported….

On 25 January, Bonaparte secretly ordered Berthier, his minister of war,
to organize a Reserve Army of 60,000 around Dijon.

Esposito & Elting, West Point Atlas, commentary on MAP 35


St Gothard " Bonaparte had chosen Massena to
head the starving Army of Italy
Simplon Brenner-->

" April 1800-his remaining 36,000 men
Great St Bernard had been on half-rations for 2 months

Little St Bernard his mission was to hold Genoa, both to
"
delay the invasion of southern France
and to draw the Austrians away from
the Alpine passes

" 13 May-the Reserve Army began its
advance through the Great St Bernard

" four other forces would make feints
through the other passes

" Melas destruction was his primary
objective; the rescue of Massena was
secondary


# 17 May-Lannes seized Aosta driving
Haddick’s Croats ahead of him

# 19 May-Fort Bard, built on a crag,
could not be taken by assault


# 17 May-Lannes seized Aosta driving
Haddick’s Croats ahead of him

# 19 May-Fort Bard, built on a crag,
could not be taken by assault

# however, mountain trails allowed
infantry and cavalry to bypass the
Austrian fort. The artillery couldn’t

# 22 May-Lannes took the fortiﬁed
town of Ivrea and its guns!

# 20 May-Massena learned of the
approaching relief. The Genoese
were eating rats and grass,
threatening revolt

# 24 May-Melas, enroute to Turin,
learns that thousands of French
were passing Fort Bard, orders
Elsnitz to fall back toward Genoa


๏ 26 May-the Reserve Army
(32,000 men and 8 cannon)
assembled around Ivrea

๏ Bonaparte now ordered an
advance on Milan, stuffed
with supplies

31 May-Melas orders a MILAN
๏
concentration on Alessandria

๏ 4 June-Ott, anxiously accepts
Massena’s surrender terms. ALESSANDRIA
The French abandoned the
city but not as prisoners,could
continue to ﬁght

๏ Suchet drives Elsnitz back in
disarray

๏ Ott garrisons Genoa, then
moves to join Melas


๏ As his cavalry units bring in
intelligence, Bonaparte realizes
he has been hasty in dispersing
his forces

๏ he begins his own concentration
to oppose Melas in Alessandria

๏ Massena orders Suchet to hold
up at Acqui

๏ Bonaparte reorganizes his
forces to give a corps to Desaix

๏ he underestimates Melas’
strength and prepares to attack


๏ As his cavalry units bring in
intelligence, Bonaparte realizes
he has been hasty in dispersing
his forces

๏ he begins his own concentration
to oppose Melas in Alessandria

๏ Massena orders Suchet to hold
up at Acqui

๏ Bonaparte reorganizes his
forces to give a corps to Desaix

๏ he underestimates Melas’
strength and prepares to attack

๏ he wants to prevent his enemy
from entering Genoa, where the
British navy could make a
successful siege almost
impossible


Battle of Marengo, morning of 14 June 1800

A Desperate Plea

By this time aides-de-camp were spurring furiously after Lapoype and
Desaix [whom Bonaparte had detached eastward to cut Melas’ line of
communication] with orders of urgent recall; Bonaparte’s message to the
latter allegedly ran:
I had thought to attack Melas. He has attacked me ﬁrst. For God’s sake come up if you can
Fortunately Desaix, held up by a swollen river, was not beyond recall and
received the message at one p.m., but Lapoype was reached only at six in
the evening and proved unable to intervene, even in the last stages of the
battle.
Chandler, p. 291


Battle of Marengo, afternoon of 14 June 1800

The Austrians had lost heavily in the 12 hours of ﬁghting: 15
colours, 40 guns, almost 3,000 taken prisoner, and 6,500 dead
or wounded. French casualties (killed and wounded) were on
the order of 4,700 and 900 missing or captured, but they
retained the battleﬁeld and the strategic initiative. Desaix's
body was found among the slain.


Consequences
Bonaparte needed to depart for Paris urgently and the next morning sent
Berthier on a surprise visit to Austrian headquarters. Within 24 hours of
the battle, Melas entered into negotiations (the Convention of Alessandria)
which led to the Austrians evacuating northwestern Italy west of the Ticino
river, and suspending military operations in Italy.
Bonaparte's position as First Consul was strengthened by the successful
outcome of the battle and the preceding campaign. After this victory,
Napoleon could breathe a sigh of relief. The generals who had been hostile
to him could see that his luck had not abandoned him. Thus, he had
surpassed Schérer, Joubert, Championnet, and even Moreau, neither of
whom had been able to inﬂict a decisive blow to the Coalition. Moreau's
victory at Hohenlinden, which was the one that in reality had put an end to
the war, was minimised by Bonaparte who, from then on, would pose as a
saviour of the fatherland, and even of the Republic. He rejected offers from
Louis XVIII, who had considered the Consulate to be a mere transition
towards the restoration of the king. Thanks to the victory at Marengo,
Napoleon could ﬁnally set about reforming France according to his own
vision.
Wikipedia


Consequences


War or Peace?


War or Peace?

The Peace of Amiens, 1802 by Dominique (Guillaume Dominique Jacques)Doncre

A typical Gillray
irreverent
caricature

The ﬁrst Kiss this Ten Years! __or__the meeting of Britannia & Citoyen Francois

Prince of Peace?

God of War?

or somehow, both?


From the ﬁeld of Marengo [Bonaparte] had dispatched an appeal to the
Emperor [of Austria],
The cunning of the English has neutralized the effect which my simple and frank
advances must otherwise had on Your Majesty’s heart. War has become actual.
Thousands of Frenchmen and Austrians are no more…. The prospect of a
continuance of such horrors is so great a distress to me, that I have decided to make
another personal appeal to you…. Let us give our generation Peace and tranquility

The Emperor continued to resist the growing pressures to accept peace.
Negotiations dragged on … through most of the summer, but then a new
subsidy treaty signed with Pitt induced Austria to continue the struggle….
The First Consul was induced by political considerations to remain in Paris,
and so the coup de grâce had to be delegated to others. On December 3,
Moreau defeated the Archduke John … at the great victory of Hohenlinden,
and the war with Austria was practically over. The negotiators met again at
Leoben, while Murat drove the Neapolitan army out of the Papal States and
French troops reoccupied Tuscany. On February 8, operations were ﬁnally
brought to a close with the signing of the Peace of Luneville.

Chandler, p. 302


Terms of the Peace of Lunéville, 9 February 1801
! "there shall be, henceforth and forever, peace, amity, and good understanding"
among the parties

! Austria was required to enforce the conditions of the earlier Treaty of Campo
Formio, 1797

! certain Austrian holdings in Germany were relinquished and Austria recognized
French control of the left bank of the Rhine “in complete sovereignty.” France
renounced any claim to territories east of the Rhine

! contested boundaries in Italy were set, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (ruled by a
Habsburg) was awarded to the French. The duke was compensated with lands in
Germany

! both agreed to respect the independence of the Batavian, Cisalpine, Helvetic and
Ligurian republics

! in northern Italy, the two semi-independent bishoprics of Trento (Trent) and
Bressanone (Brixen) were secularized and annexed to Austria


Brixen

Trent


New World Ambitions

! December 1801-preliminary peace negotiations with Britain opened the sea lanes to France, the
troops were idle and the ofﬁcers eager for a chance for glory, merchants for proﬁts

! Bonaparte sent his brother-in-law, Pauline’s husband, General Charles Leclerc, and 31,000
men, regulars and “disciplinary,” to Saint-Domingue (Haiti)


New World Ambitions



! his plan was to reestablish French sovereignty, using the rebel leader, Toussaint L’Overture, as
his capitaine general


New World Ambitions




! promising that the former slaves would remain free under French rule, and that Toussaint’s
ofﬁcers would keep their rank,Leclerc hoped to succeed by a divide-and-rule strategy

! 5 February 1802-as negotiations failed, Leclerc launched an amphibious attack and attempted
to reconquer Haiti by force. Yellow fever and guerilla tactics killed over two-thirds of the force.
Leclerc himself died in November

! As Napoleon despaired of regaining this foothold, he saw little reason to hang on to Louisiana


New World Ambitions




! promising that the former slaves would remain free under French rule, and that Toussaint’s
ofﬁcers would keep their rank,Leclerc hoped to succeed by a divide-and-rule strategy

! 5 February 1802-as negotiations failed, Leclerc launched an amphibious attack and attempted
to reconquer Haiti by force. Yellow fever and guerilla tactics killed over two-thirds of the force.
Leclerc himself died in November

! As Napoleon despaired of regaining this foothold, he saw little reason to hang on to Louisiana

! so he made an offer to US envoy Robert Livingston to sell the whole territory


Reaching Peace with Britain
! Bonaparte ﬁrst made truce proposals to British foreign secretary Lord Grenville as early as 1799

! Because of the hardline stance of Grenville and Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, their
distrust of Bonaparte, they were rejected out of hand

! February 1801-Pitt resigned and was replaced by the more accommodating Henry Addington

! 30 September-a preliminary agreement was reached. British hopes soared: withdrawal of the
income tax imposed by Pitt, a reduction of grain prices and a revival of markets


Reaching Peace with Britain
! Bonaparte first made truce proposals to British foreign secretary Lord Grenville as early as 1799

! Because of the hardline stance of Grenville and Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, their
distrust of Bonaparte, they were rejected out of hand

! February 1801-Pitt resigned and was replaced by the more accommodating Henry Addington

! 30 September-a preliminary agreement was reached. British hopes soared: withdrawal of the
income tax imposed by Pitt, a reduction of grain prices and a revival of markets

! 9 December-this premature enthusiasm played into Talleyrand’s hands.

! The Dutch government in exile joined in negotiations seeking compensation and to determine
the status of Cape Colony

! February 1802-as the Saint-Domingue was approaching Haiti, French ally Spain joined to
negotiate over her lost West Indian islands

! the British negotiators were under pressure to reach “peace at any price”

! 25 March-the final terms were settled following a five hour negotiating session ending at 3 a.m.


Peace at Last
! the treaty, beyond conﬁrming “peace, friendship, and good understanding,”
called for:

! restoration of prisoners and hostages

! the United Kingdom to return Cape Colony and captured Dutch West Indian
islands to the Batavian Republic

! the UK to withdraw its forces from Egypt and restore it to the Turkish sultan

! UK to receive Trinidad and Tobago (from Spain) and Ceylon (from the Dutch)

! France to withdraw its forces from the Papal States

! the island of Minorca to be returned by Britain to Spain

! the House of Orange-Nassau to be compensated for its losses in the Netherlands


Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker is a
colossal heroic nude statue by the Italian
artist Antonio Canova, of Napoleon I of
France in the guise of the Roman god
Mars. He holds a gilded Nike or Victory
standing on an orb in his right hand and a
staff in his left. It was produced between
1802 and 1806 and stands 3.45 metres to
the raised left hand. Once on display in
the Louvre in Paris, it was purchased
from Louis XVIII in 1816 by the British
government, which granted it to the Duke
of Wellington. It is now on display in
Robert Adam's stairwell at the Duke's
London residence, Apsley House.

Wikipedia


Code Civil


As events turned out, the ending of the European struggle in 1802
was destined to afford the major protagonists only a brief breathing
space before the recommencement of hostilities. Nevertheless, the
First Consul utilized the pause to exploit his role as “peacemaker”
so rapidly and successfully as to attain the summit of his political
career….
Military glory is but a transient affair, but the recasting of the
French State proved by far the most lasting monument to
Napoleon’s genius, and as it also provided the sinews for the hard-
fought wars still to come, the subject deserves a passing glance in
these pages.

Chandler, p.307


Was Napoleon a
loyal son of the
Revolution or its
destroyer?

Napoleonic Reforms

! The principal argument for the former view is the series of reforms which he
introduced applying the Revolution’s Declaration of the Rights of Man:

! centralized administration of the departments

! encouragement of economic development


Napoleonic Reforms




He gave government subsidies to the French woolen industry
so that it came to rival the silk. He wanted to displace British imports.

Napoleonic Reforms




! reform of the police and court system. Repeal of the infamous Law of Suspects

! 1801-the Concordat with the Catholic Church and the Organic Articles which regulated
public worship in France and extended religious toleration


Under a vague
symbol representing
the Deity, Bonaparte
grants religious
toleration to every
sort of creed


Main terms of the Concordat:

■ A declaration that "Catholicism was the religion of the great majority of the
French" but not the ofﬁcial state religion, thus maintaining religious freedom,
in particular with respect to Protestants
■ The Papacy had the right to depose bishops, but this made little difference,
because the French government still nominated them
■ The State would pay clerical salaries and the clergy swore an oath of
allegiance to the State


Main terms of the Concordat:

■ A declaration that "Catholicism was the religion of the great majority of the
French" but not the ofﬁcial state religion, thus maintaining religious freedom,
in particular with respect to Protestants
■ The Papacy had the right to depose bishops, but this made little difference,
because the French government still nominated them
■ The State would pay clerical salaries and the clergy swore an oath of
allegiance to the State
■ Catholic clergy would staff the schools and universities, but as government
employees under state regulations
■ The Church gave up all its claims to Church lands that were conﬁscated after
1790
■ The Sabbath was reestablished as a "festival", effective Easter Sunday, 18
April 1802. The rest of the French Republican Calendar, which had been
abolished, was not replaced by the traditional Gregorian Calendar until 1
January 1806


Pope Pius VII
! as bishop of Imola, he cooperated with the
Cisalpine Republic

! "Christian virtue makes men good democrats....
Equality is not an idea of philosophers but of
Christ...and do not believe that the Catholic
religion is against democracy,"

! March 1801-the College of Cardinals chose him as
a compromise candidate after months of stalemate

! 15 July 1801-he had the difﬁcult responsibility of
negotiating the Concordat

! October 1804-Napoleon’s uncle Joseph Cardinal
Fesch negotiated the difﬁcult request to have the
pope come to Paris for Napoleon’s coronation

! 2 December 1804-against the advice of the Curia,
the pope was present for this famous event 1742-born as Count Barnaba Niccolò
Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was Pope,
1800-1823.
painting by Jacques-Louis David, 1807


Pope Pius VII
! as bishop of Imola, he cooperated with the
Cisalpine Republic

! "Christian virtue makes men good democrats....
Equality is not an idea of philosophers but of
Christ...and do not believe that the Catholic
religion is against democracy,"

! March 1801-the College of Cardinals chose him as
a compromise candidate after months of stalemate

! 15 July 1801-he had the difficult responsibility of
negotiating the Concordat

! October 1804-Napoleon’s uncle Joseph Cardinal
Fesch negotiated the difficult request to have the
pope come to Paris for Napoleon’s coronation

! 2 December 1804-against the advice of the Curia,
the pope was present for this famous event 1742-born as Count Barnaba Niccolò
Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was Pope,
! more dramatic conflicts would follow 1800-1823.
painting by Jacques-Louis David, 1807


Patron of Education and the Arts

Here he and Josephine establish a Ministry of Culture


Education Reform under Bonaparte

! 1802-every Commune would have an elementary school and every
Department should contain at least one secondary academy

! the large cities were to open lycées (preparatory schools for the universities)

! state control over the content taught:

! math and science were strongly encouraged

! most liberal arts were either completely banned or severely curtailed. Modern History out,
instead there was a great deal about Charlemagne, whom Napoleon intended to emulate.

! teachers, lay and clerical, were strictly supervised. State examinations were
required for both teachers and students.


Napoleonic Reforms

introduced extending the Revolution’s Declaration of the Rights of Man:




! but,

! 1802-institution of the Legion of Honor as a substitute for the old royalist decorations and
orders of chivalry, to encourage civilian and military achievements


Napoleonic Reforms





! but,

! 1802-institution of the Legion of Honor as a substitute for the old royalist decorations and
orders of chivalry, to encourage civilian and military achievements

! amnesty plus restoration of (unsold) property to émigrés who would return to France. As
many as 40,000 would avail themselves of this adding their abilities to military and civil life


A new aristocracy?
Most of the jacobin left denounced the Legion of Honor and, especially, the
return of the émigrés as a repudiation of égalité, the second of the Revolution’s
Holy Trinity. They saw Bonaparte creating a new unequal social order.

However, another bedrock principle of the Revolution was Article 1 of the Rights
of Man and the Citizen (August 1789): 1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.
Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.

This had led to the principle of les carrières s'ouvrent au talent (careers are open to
talent). Bonaparte argued that the social distinctions which he created were
indeed based on talent, not birth. The titles which he, his family and his marshals
held were rewards based on merit. An arguable point, especially in the case of his
family!

And having social rewards for merit was just such a general good.

jbp


The European Response to Égalité
“We come to give you liberté and égalité,” growled old Marshal Lefebvre in a
Franconian town. “But don’t lose your heads about it---the ﬁrst person who stirs without my
permission will be shot!”
This naive proclamation, of course, illustrates the growing tyranny of Napoleonism.
But it also offers a clue as to why so many thousands of Poles, Germans and Italians
fought for the conqueror of their own free will. They could not forget that Lefebre
himself, beginning as a private in the Royal Army, had taken ﬁfteen years to reach
the rank of sergeant. After the Revolution he needed only half that time to win a
marshal’s baton and a title. His wife, though retaining her hearty mannerisms, had
stepped up meanwhile from battalion washerwoman to Duchess of Danzig.
Frenchmen, in other words, were freemen as compared to European masses whose
serfdom had been tempered only by the whims of benevolent despotism. Already an
uneasy stirring could be felt throughout the Old World, as if these masses vaguely
sensed the approach of some springtime of the human race.

Lynn Montross, War Through the Ages, p. 509


Napoleonic Reforms





! 1083-codiﬁcation of the laws, beginning with the Civil Code (1804), followed by
Commercial (1807), Criminal (1808), and Penal Code (1810)-->equality before the law


Main features of the Civil Code
! a comprehensive rewrite; its structure was much more rational; it had no religious, i.e.
Christian, content; and it was written in the vernacular, French

! a fundamental change in the nature of the civil law system; it made laws much clearer and much
more accessible

! the Revolutionaries had taken a negative view of judges making law to benefit their own
(upper) class

! this is reflected in the Napoleonic Code prohibiting judges from deciding a case by way of
introducing a general rule (Article 5) In theory, there is thus no case law in France

! Laws could be applied only if they had been duly promulgated, and only if they had been
published officially thus no secret laws were authorized

! It prohibited ex post facto laws (i.e., laws that apply to events that occurred before them)

! 1807-the name was changed to the Code Napoléon. It remains the basis of French law today and
has influenced the laws of those countries which fell under French rule or influence during the
Napoleonic era


Today the Code Napoleon is the basis of the legal system of
more than ninety countries besides France.


Vive l’Empereur!


Napoléon Ier sur le trône impérial
Jean Auguste Dominic Ingres
1806
in place of the Bourbon ﬂeur de lys Napoleon
reached back to the Merovingian kings and
chose the symbol of golden bees to decorate
his robe


A contemporary poster depicting
the balloon released from the
cathedral at the time of
Napoleon’s coronation


“I swear to maintain the integrity of the territory of the Republic,
to respect and enforce respect for the Concordat and freedom of
religion, equality of rights, political and civil liberty, the
irrevocability of the sale of national lands; not to raise any tax
except in virtue of the law; to maintain the institution of Legion of
Honor and to govern in the sole interest, happiness and glory of
the French people”


Sacre de l'empereur Napoléon Ier et couronnement de l'impératrice Joséphine dans la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris,
le 2 décembre 1804
Jacques-Louis David, 1805-1808


The thrice glorious and thrice august Emperor Napoleon is
crowned and enthroned. Vive l’Empereur! (Long live the Emperor!)


Napoleon, surrounded by dignitaries, left the cathedral while the
choir sang "Domine salvum fac imperatorem nostrum
Napoleonem" -- "God save our Emperor Napoleon".


Napoleon, session ii, empire

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