'Aussie Rick'’s Comments (group member since Jun 13, 2009)

'Aussie Rick'’s comments from the THE NAPOLEONIC WARS group.

Betsy wrote: "Rose was sent to school from the age of 10 to 14 in Fort Royal. It sounds like she received a fairly decent education with extra instruction paid for by her parents. BTW, there's no question Joseph..."

Great post Besty! What an age to get married and what a family to marry into!

Betsy wrote: "Frankly, honor doesn't seem to be a word understood by many in the early days of the Revolution and even after. That book I read about the 'Chouans' emphasized the fear felt by many in their own co..."

In many civil wars, honour does not seem to last long among the combatants.

"In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793–1815" - The author mentioned the British support of the French uprising in the Vendee:

"In June French emigre troops and three British regiments landed at Quiberon in Brittany to support the chouans (their name taken from a Breton screech-owl) who were fighting alongside the Vendee rebels. In July Harness joined the 80th, due to reinforce this campaign. But while they waited at Plymouth, held up by contrary winds, news came that the Quiberon troops had already been driven back to the sea. As people scrambled to get on to the British transports and gunboats, six thousand men, women and children were captured; and although they were promised that they would be treated as prisoners of war, General Hoche's troops shot over 750 royalist rebels, on orders from Paris. When Pitt declared defensively in the Commons that no English blood had been shed, Sheridan retorted, 'That is true but English honour has been shed from every pore'."

The Brits and the War in the Vendée:
https://rodama1789.blogspot.com/2021/...

"In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793–1815" - The birth of the French Corps d'Aerostation:

"But then came a French counter-offensive. In May and June 1794 the French pushed north again, overcoming the allies at the battles of Tourcoing near Lille and Fleurus in Flanders. (This was the first battle in which a gas-filled aerial reconnaissance balloon was used, prompting Napoleon to set up a Corps d'Aerostation and ballooning school)."

The Corps d'Aerostation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_...

https://fly.historicwings.com/2013/04...

https://www.3af.fr/fr/news/les-aerost...

I cannot find any evidence of Napoleon having ordered the establishment of a ballooning school.

Have a nice break Scott, let us know if you manage to sneak any good books back home!

Betsy wrote: "Josephine (known as Rose in childhood) once declared, "I was always always careful to cover with a favourable veil those faults [in the slave] which did not affect me personally." ' Her own compass..."

Very interesting post Betsy, that skill did indeed serve her greatly in later life.

"In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793–1815" - During a court trial for sedition in Scotland during 1794:

"At his trial, Muir conducted his own defence before Scotland's 'hanging judge'. Robert McQueen, Lord Braxfield, whom the Scottish lawyer Henry Cockburn described as 'a little, dark creature, dressed in black, with silk stockings and white metal buttons, something like one's idea of a puny Frenchman, a most impudent and provoking body'."

In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793–1815 by Jenny Uglow

Betsy wrote: "I'm sure they regretted their generosity as the years went by."

I'm sure many of them did Betsy!

"In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793–1815" - Something interesting:

"It seemed that the inspiring energy of 1789 was metamorphosing into darker passions and factions. But still, sympathetic British delegations took addresses to the Convention celebrating French victories. The Society for Constitutional Information offered more than words, donating a thousand pairs of shoes for the 'soldiers of Liberty', saying that they intended to send a thousand pairs a week for the next six weeks. Whether or not those shoes ever reached the French armies, they caused horror in Westminster."

In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793–1815 by Jenny Uglow

Some very good books being mentioned for this theme read!

I've decided to read a book on the home front in Britian during the Napoleonic period; "In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793–1815" by Jenny Uglow.

In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793–1815 by Jenny Uglow

For anyone eager for a head start on the April theme read, Napoleon's family or the Homefront, the page is now open and ready for discussion:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The April 2024 theme read is any book or books of your choice that covers Napoleon's family or the Homefront during the Napoleonic Wars.

Thanks, Jonas. I'm currently reading your "account on the battle of the Gebora and the siege of Badajoz, February-March 1811"

https://napoleonchronicles.wordpress....

John G. Gallaher's book on Davout is excellent, in the top 10 of my all-time favourite Napoleonic books!


Also, John Gill has published a book on the final battle of the 1809 campaign that is pretty good reading; "The Battle of Znaim: Napoleon, The Habsburgs and the End of the 1809 War".

The Battle of Znaim: Napoleon, The Habsburgs and the End of the 1809 War by John H. Gill

Scott wrote: "Hopefully AR, it didn't get lost in the Great Migration."

I found it, an old HB edition published in 1909!

You do have to feel sorry for poor old Berthier in those circumstances. I think I have a copy of R. P. Dunn-Pattison's book, I better have a search around and see if I can find it :)

Betsy wrote: "I agree with that phrase 'own worst enemy'. He had a fighting ability, but like Bernadotte sometimes you have to wonder if he was worth it?"

I think so, he was a major pain-in-the-arse but he brough home the victories! Maybe a Napoleonic version of Patton :)

The book's description is a pretty neat summary of the man:

"A dedicated career soldier and excellent division and corps commander, Dominique Vandamme was a thorn in the side of practically every officer he served. Outspoken to a fault, he even criticized Napoleon, whom he never forgave for not appointing him marshal. His military prowess so impressed the emperor, however, that he returned Vandamme to command time and again.

In this first book-length study of Vandamme in English, John G. Gallaher traces the career of one of Napoleon’s most successful midrank officers. He describes Vandamme’s rise from a provincial youth with neither fortune nor influence to an officer of the highest rank in the French army. Gallaher thus offers a rare look at a Napoleonic general who served for twenty-five years during the wars of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire.

This was a time when a general could lose his head if he lost a battle. Despite Vandamme’s contentious nature, Gallaher shows, Napoleon needed his skills as a commander, and Vandamme needed Napoleon to further his career. Gallaher draws on a wealth of archival sources in France—notably the Vandamme Papers in Lille—to draw a full portrait of the general. He also reveals new information on such military events as the Silesian campaign of 1807 and the disaster at Kulm in 1813.

Gallaher presents Vandamme in the context of the Napoleonic command system, revealing how he related to both subordinates and superiors. Napoleon’s Enfant Terrible depicts an officer who was his own worst enemy but who was instrumental in winning an empire."

I quite enjoyed this book on General Vandamme; "Napoleon's Enfant Terrible: General Dominique Vandamme" by John G. Gallaher.

Napoleon's Enfant Terrible: General Dominique Vandamme by John G. Gallaher