The Court and Camp of Buonaparte

By Anon Anon

Produced initially as an appendix to Sir Walter Scott’s Life of Napoleon Bonaparte as published in editions of Murray’s Family Library, this anonymous tome provides for an interesting collection of portraits of the inner circle of the Bonaparte family and the ministers, marshals and generals that supported Bonaparte’s reign.

Clearly, from the date of publication and the title which uses the Corsican spelling of the Napoleon’s surname, it is written from and Anglo-centric viewpoint. Some caution should be used in the literal acceptance of all the facts that are alleged.

A jaunty and interesting read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Friedland Books
• Release date: Apr 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9781789121599

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Text originally published in 1829 under the same title.

© Friedland Books 2017, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

The Court and Camp of Bounaparte

By Anon

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

FOREWORD 7

Napoleon’s Brothers: Joseph 9

King of Naples 1806 —King of Spain 1808 —Count Survilliers 1815 9

Napoleon’s Brothers: Lucien 12

Prince of Canino—1816 12

Napoleon’s Brothers: Louis 16

Constable of France 1804 — King of Holland 1807 — Count of St. Leu 1810 16

Napoleon’s Brothers: Jerome 18

King of Westphalia 1807 —Prince of Montifort – 1816 18

Napoleon’s Sisters: Eliza 21

Princess of Lucca and Piombino 1805 —Grand Duchess of Tuscany 1806 21

Napoleon’s Sisters: Pauline 23

Princess Borghese 1803 23

Napoleon’s Sisters: Caroline 25

Grand Duchess of Berg and Cleves 1806 — Queen of Naples 1808 —Countess of Lipano 1829 25

Napoleon’s Wives: Josephine 27

Viscountess de Beauharnais — Empress of France 1804 27

Napoleon’s Wives: Maria Louisa 32

Archduchess of Austria 1791 —Empress of France 1810 —Duchess of Parma 1814 32

The Ministers: Cambacérès 34

Second Consul 1799 —Prince of Parma 1804 34

The Ministers: Caulaincourt 38

Duke of Vicenza 38

The Ministers: Champagny 40

Duke of Cadore 40

The Ministers: Clarke 41

Duke of Feltre 41

The Ministers: Fouché 44

Duke of Otranto 44

The Ministers: Lebrun 55

Duke of Placentia — Governor General of Holland 55

The Ministers: Maret 57

Duke of Bassano 57

The Ministers: Savary 61

Duke of Rovigo 61

The Ministers: Talleyrand 66

Prince of Benevento 1804 —Vice Grand Elector 1807 —Prince de Talleyrand 1814 66

The Generals: Augereau 75

Marshal —Duke of Castiglione 75

The Generals: Bernadotte 80

Marshal —Prince of Ponto-Corvo —Crown Prince of Sweden 80

The Generals: Berthier 89

Marshal — Duke [Prince] of Neufchatel — Prince of Wagram 89

The Generals: Bessières 91

Marshal — Duke of Istria 91

The Generals: Davout 94

Marshal —Duke of Auerstädt — Prince of Eckmühl 94

The Generals: Dessaix 98

General 98

The Generals: Eugene Beauharnais 100

Marshal [General] —Viceroy of Italy —Prince [of the Empire and] of Venice 100

The Generals: Gouvion St. Cyr 105

Marshal 105

The Generals: Grouchy 106

Marshal — Count of the Empire 106

The Generals: Jourdan 109

Marshal 109

The Generals: Junot 111

Marshal [General] —Duke of Abrantes 111

The Generals: Kléber 115

General 115

The Generals: Loison 117

Governor of St. Cloud 117

The Generals: Lannes 119

Marshal —Duke de Montebello 119

The Generals: Lefebvre 121

Marshal — Duke of Danzig 121

The Generals: Macdonald 123

Marshal —Duke of Tarentum 123

The Generals: Marmont 126

Marshal — Duke of Ragusa 126

The Generals: Masséna 129

Duke of Rivoli —Prince of Essling 129

The Generals: Moncey 136

Marshal —Duke of Conegliano 136

The Generals: Moreau 138

General 138

The Generals: Mortier 145

Marshal —Duke of Treviso 145

The Generals: Murat 146

Marshal — Grand Duke of Berg and Cleves — King of Naples 146

The Generals: Ney 162

Marshal — Duke of Elchingen — Prince of Moskowa 162

The Generals: Oudinot 170

Marshal — Duke of Reggio 170

The Generals: Pichegru 172

General 172

The Generals: Soult 175

Marshal — Duke of Dalmatia 175

The Generals: Suchet 181

Duke of Albufera 181

The Generals: Victor 183

Marshal — Duke of Belluno 183

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 186

FOREWORD

IN the following compilation, drawn up by way of Appendix to the Life of Buonaparte contained in the first two Numbers of the Family Library, the reader will find a few incidents, and perhaps characters, treated in a spirit somewhat different from that of the above-named Biography. The present writer might be content to observe, that probably no two minds will ever arrive at the very same conclusions upon every point embraced in the stormy career of Napoleon and his Lieutenants; but he believes that, in most of the instances alluded to, his statements will be found in accordance with the very able, interesting, and trustworthy memoirs of M. de Bourrienne — of which only one volume had appeared, when the publication of the Family Library commenced. The second volume of Colonel Napier’s masterly History of the Peninsular War, and the clear and spirited Annals of those campaigns, by the Author of Cyril Thornton, have also appeared since that time; and both have, of course, furnished new details of many important transactions.

Chelsea, Nov. 1829.

Napoleon’s Brothers: Joseph

King of Naples 1806 —King of Spain 1808 —Count Survilliers 1815

IF the immediate relatives of Napoleon possessed no other claim to our notice than that of their talents or services, they should have no place in the present collection. In ordinary circumstances not one of them would have risen above the sphere of mediocrity, and most of them would have remained below it. It is only as the instruments—though the weak and inefficient instruments—of their brother, that history will deign to grant them a niche in her temple.

JOSEPH, the eldest of the brothers, was born at Ajaccio, January 7th, 1768. He studied at the university of Pisa, and was designed for the law; but the invasion of Corsica by the English, in 1793, compelled the whole family to seek refuge in France. At that time their fortunes were at a low ebb, and their prospects not much better. The all-decisive success of Napoleon, however, was at hand.

When the Child of Destiny seized the imperial sceptre, Joseph was laden with honours both military and civil. He seems, indeed, to have been sincerely devoted to his brother, and to have been esteemed in return. When Napoleon entered on the campaign of 1805, he was entrusted with the presidency of the Senate, and with the direction of government. These marks of confidence were but the precursors of a much higher dignity. An imperial decree announced that the king of Naples had ceased to reign, and Joseph was placed at the head of the army destined to invade that kingdom. Though little resistance could be expected from perhaps the most cowardly people in Europe, he was accompanied by two able lieutenants, Masséna and Gouvion St. Cyr. The weak Ferdinand fled, the worthless soldiery disbanded themselves, and the rabble, delighted with a change—no matter of what sort—welcomed the approach of the French with every demonstration of joy. The country was conquered with scarcely any loss of blood, and the vacant crown conferred upon Joseph.

If he had little ability, he had probably also little taste, for the duties of royalty. Plain in his attire, and still plainer in his manners, he was strongly attached to the enjoyments of domestic life—the only sphere for which nature had qualified him. Whether he accepted the glittering gift with much satisfaction, is doubtful. He clearly saw, that, without the constant aid of his brother, he should be unable to maintain himself on the throne; and he knew enough of that brother’s character to feel assured that he should never be more than the vassal of France.

The government of the new king—or let us rather say of Napoleon’s creatures who governed him—was a compound of good and evil. He made some important alterations in the constitution, and introduced as many elements of that of France as the people could bear. He suppressed the monastic orders, appropriated the revenues to his own use, abolished feudal rights, and made many other changes injurious to the higher and favourable to the lower classes. He would, perhaps, have become popular—indeed, any government, after that of the contemptible dynasty which had fled, was likely to be hailed as a blessing—had not his own necessities, and still more the exactions of the emperor, compelled him to levy oppressive contributions on his subjects; while some defects in his personal character exposed him to their ridicule. Too feeble to exert any moral force, he was the passive instrument of Napoleon’s most unpopular measures; too idle to trouble himself with the affairs of his kingdom, he abandoned the reins to a set of needy and profligate ministers. The only occasions in which he shewed anything like activity, were in upholding the pageantry of royalty, and in swelling the notes of revelry.

In 1808, from the peaceful enjoyment of the Neapolitan crown, Joseph was called to a more brilliant, but also more thorny destiny in Spain. He knew that the fierce Spaniard was somewhat more difficult to manage than the slavish Neapolitan, and he had the good sense to refuse the proffered dignity; but his inclinations were not thought worth consulting, and he was forced to pass the Pyrenees. His reign at Madrid was not, as far as depended on himself, much unlike what it had been at Naples; the passive agent of his brother’s will, he was neither oppressive nor cruel in his own character: the same idleness, the same incapacity, the same habits of dissipation, the same nullity, in short, rendered him with his new and high-minded subjects an object rather of ridicule than of hatred. The military defence of his kingdom was entrusted to lieutenants who oftener despised than obeyed his commands. He was, indeed, the most shadowy of monarchs. One portion of the country was in everlasting insurrection; another was possessed by a powerful foreign enemy, so that his authority extended no farther than the space actually occupied by the French legions. Even there it was merely nominal; the real power was invested first with the emperor, next with the marshals. Finding the sceptre too heavy for his feeble hands, Joseph more than once prayed to be relieved from the unwelcome load. Even the little authority he had was of all things the most insecure. Twice was he compelled to abandon the capital; and twice he returned, not so much to inflict, as to witness the infliction of, a severe vengeance on the partisans of Ferdinand: the third time he fled never to return. He was closely pursued by the enemy, against whom he made a stand at Vittoria; but there he sustained a most decisive defeat; his treasures, sceptre, crown remained in possession of the victors,—a fate which was near happening to himself. He reached Bayonne in a state of utter destitution—a just reward for his retention of an usurped crown, which he had worn in opposition to the will of the nation.

1814.] While the emperor was engaged in this campaign, the ex-king remained at Paris as lieutenant-general of the realm, and commandant of the national guards, both to relieve the empress in the cares of government, and to defend the capital in case it should be assailed. He reviewed the troops, and protested he would remain with them to the last. But no sooner did the allies reach Paris, than the love of his own person prevailed over his duty to his brother: he fled, leaving Marmont to arrange the terms of capitulation. He proceeded first to Orléans, next to Blois, and after the emperor’s abdication, to Switzerland. There he bought a valuable estate,—a proof that, however he had neglected public concerns, he had not been altogether unmindful of his own.

1815.] The return of Napoleon to Paris brought with it that of the ex-king, who was again laden with dignities, but dignities soon to be laid aside. After Waterloo, Joseph, like his brother, hastened to Rochefort, with the hope of escaping to the United States. In September, he landed at New York; and soon established himself in the vicinity of Philadelphia, where he still remains under the name of Count Survilliers. He lives surrounded by a considerable number of French emigrants, owns a fine estate, and is believed to be very rich. The plunder which he carried away in his second flight from Paris was certainly great.

The private character of Joseph is said to be no less amiable than his talents are weak. His manners are doubtless mild and unassuming, and his disposition somewhat kind; he is stated to be an indulgent husband and father, and to Napoleon he was ever a faithful brother. But he was rapacious and dissipated,—a plunderer, and a reveller. By the exile of St. Helena, however, he was said to possess a philosophic taste, and considerable stores of knowledge. In 1799 he published a little novel, entitled Moina, of which a second edition appeared fifteen years afterwards; but as we do not remember to have seen it praised, even by the most enthusiastic worshippers of the Buonapartes, we suppose it is a production of which they are not proud. His character may be summed up in one sentence: he was a weak, voluptuous, easy-tempered man, without elevation of mind, dignity of manners, or generosity of sentiment.

NEXT after Napoleon in years, and after him too the ablest and most ambitious of the Buonapartes, is Lucien, who was born at Ajaccio, in 1775.

Napoleon’s Brothers: Lucien

Prince of Canino—1816

At an early age Lucien imbibed the revolutionary doctrines with enthusiasm; and the elevation of his brother prepared his way to honours and riches. For some time he was employed in the Commissariat. In 1797 he launched into the sea of politics, and was returned to the Council of Five Hundred. In the tribune he exhibited both fluency of language, and occasionally, at least, sound and even elevated views; but what most distinguished him was the energy of his manner, and his apparent devotion to the existing government. In 1798 his zeal induced him to propose that every deputy should swear to die rather than suffer the constitution of the year Three to be overturned. But this was sheer hypocrisy; for at that very time he was privy to his brother’s views, which he not only approved, but had engaged to support.

During Napoleon’s absence in Egypt, Lucien acted the useful part of a spy on the proceedings of the directors. Powerless in ability, and still more so in public opinion—despised by the bold for their weakness, and by the good for their undisguised rapacity—he saw that the moment was arrived when a daring hand might hurl them from the seat they so ill filled, and seize on the supreme authority. He probably hastened the return of Napoleon, and was certainly the chief instrument of the revolution which followed. It was he who, when the general entered unarmed into the Council, firmly opposed the sentence of outlawry about to be pronounced against him. It was he who, when he perceived that remonstrances were of no avail, threw down the ensigns of his dignity as president, mounted a horse, harangued the troops, and prevailed on them to clear the hall of its members. It was he, in short, who not only secured the consular authority for his brother, but in all probability saved him from the guillotine. The portfolio of the interior was the reward of his successful exertion; and in its administration he was not unpopular.

But great as were the services which Lucien had performed for the First Consul, the two brothers were not long on brotherly terms. Both were, perhaps, equally ambitious. Lucien’s aim was to share with the other the supreme power of the state—an aim which Napoleon easily penetrated and thwarted. The one could bear no superior, the other no equal. Coolness followed; and the breach was carefully widened by the Beauharnais, whose interest it was to support their relative, and who always regarded with distrust the artful proceedings and daring character of Lucien. His mission to Madrid was no better than a brilliant disgrace.

In his capacity of ambassador, he zealously promoted the all-grasping designs of his brother. His conduct was firm, haughty, and corrupt. He doubtless despised the contemptible court of Charles IV.—a court equally remarkable for imbecility and profligacy. That traitor and fool, the Prince of the Peace, he flattered or bullied as best suited the purpose of the day, and thereby gained whatever he wanted. Of those wants money was not the least important: he drew immense sums from his mission; and is said to have compelled the Portuguese government to pay five millions of francs to preserve that country from a French invasion. He insisted on the creation of the kingdom of Etruria, and on the cession to France of the duchies of Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla. In 1802 he returned to Paris, and was outwardly reconciled with the First Consul.

Lucien was soon invested with the senatorship of Treves, and endowed with the estates of Soppelsdorf, which had belonged to the ancient electors. He was next employed on a mission to the Belgic and Rhenish provinces; but on his return he took a step which highly displeased the First Consul. He married one Madame Jouberton, a woman distinguished for her gallantries, with whom, if common report be true, he had previously cohabited. This was a blow to the system of Napoleon, who had long contemplated royal alliances for his relatives. A quarrel ensued, and he was ordered to quit the French territory. It was in April 1804, one month previous to the change of government from consular to imperial, that he hastened to Italy. The conjuncture was in one respect fortunate for him. It gave rise to an impression, which he was not backward to confirm, that the cause of his disgrace was his opposition to the ambitious policy of his brother. Nothing, however, is more certain than that he was as indifferent to popular liberty as the other, and that like him he was on nearly all occasions guided by views of personal interest.

Lucien was received with open arms by the Pope, whose gratitude he had merited by zealously supporting the Concordat. He remained at Rome until the peace of Tilsit, when he and his brother were persuaded to meet at Mantua. A reconciliation was expected, but none took place, He was willing enough to comply with certain conditions proposed by the emperor, among which was the marriage of his elder daughter with the prince of the Asturias; but to his honour, it must be added, that he refused to sacrifice his wife; he would not consent to the dissolution of his marriage, the only condition on which he could hope to enjoy the favour of the imperial despot. For that favour, indeed, he was not very solicitous; he had no wish to be again subjected to the galling fetters from which he had escaped; he found his condition in Rome—adorned as it was by a splendid fortune, and ennobled by the friendship of the pontiff—far happier than any he could expect to enjoy under the iron rule of the emperor. That the crown of Spain was held out to tempt him, there can be little doubt; but he scorned to reign as the vassal of France; and he was unwilling to take on himself the odium of the measures about to be executed in relation to the royal family of the country. Besides, he knew too much of the Spanish nation, to expect that an usurped throne would either be a happy or a secure one. Angry words passed between the two; Napoleon upbraided him with contumacy; he complained of the persecutions sustained by the Pope; so that both separated more incensed than before they met.

Lucien being no longer permitted to remain in the Eternal City, retired to an estate which he had purchased at Canino. The Pope raised it into a principality, and the Prince of Canino was inscribed among the Roman nobles. But he soon learned enough to be convinced that Italy would not long remain a very safe asylum for him. He fled secretly to Civita Vecchia, and, in a vessel furnished him by his brother-in-law Murat, embarked in August 1810, with the intention of proceeding to the United States. A storm threw him on the coast of Cagliari; but the King of Sardinia refused him permission to land; nor could he obtain a safe-conduct from the British naval commander on that station. He was forced to put out to sea, was captured by two English frigates, and conveyed to Malta, to await the orders of our government respecting him. In conformity with these orders, he was transferred to England. He landed at Plymouth, Dec. 18th, and was soon conveyed to Ludlow in Shropshire.

The three years which the prince passed in England were among the happiest of his life. He was permitted to purchase a beautiful estate about fifteen miles from Ludlow, and to settle on it with his family. His time was chiefly passed in the composition of an epic poem, by which he hoped to gain as much immortality as his imperial brother: it is entitled Charlemagne, or the Church Delivered. His style of living was most frugal—a circumstance that, considering his immense riches, occasioned some surprise. A friend one day ventured to ask him the cause, and his answer is remarkable for its prophetic spirit: How do you know that I may not ere long have four or five kings to support? The peace of 1814 having opened his way to the Continent, he returned to his old friend and protector, Pius VII.

Unfriendly as were the terms on which the two brothers had lived for so many years, there can be no doubt that Lucien opened a correspondence with Napoleon at Elba, through the medium of their sister Pauline. Whether he had any share in the plot which brought about the revolution of March 1815, is not so clear. All that is certainly known is, that he soon hastened to join the emperor at Paris. The ostensible object of his journey, was to procure the evacuation of the Roman States, which were invaded by Murat. It is said, that after the fulfilment of his mission, he prepared to return to Italy, but was prevented from leaving France by Napoleon. However this be, he took his seat in the Chamber of Peers, and exhibited more devotion to the imperial cause, than he had ever done during its most prosperous days. After the disaster of Waterloo, he urged the emperor to make a desperate stand for the throne; but he could not infuse his own energy into one whose spirits were damped by misfortune. The second abdication forced him to retire to Neuilly, where he prepared to leave France. At Turin, however, he was arrested, and detained some time; but at the intercession of the Pope, he was released, on the condition of his being subjected to the surveillance of the Holy Father. Fortunately he had left his family at Rome, which he immediately rejoined. In the Roman States he still remains.

During the sway of Buonaparte, the talents of Lucien were preposterously lauded by the French savans. He was admitted member of the Institute, from which he was excluded by a royal ordinance of March 21st, 1816. His Charlemagne, the greatest of his productions, and dedicated to Pius VII. was first published in London, in 2 vols. 4to. 1814. The year following, a translation in verse appeared, by Messrs. Butler and Hodgson. Its success both in England and France was very indifferent.

Besides this heavy epic, Lucien has published two other works: Stellina, a novel, in 1799; and the Cyrneide, or Corsica Saved, a poem, 2 vols. 8vo. 1819. All these productions are forgotten.

The Prince of Canino has some talents, but more vanity; and considerable moral courage, but more rashness. In private life he is respected, but he is not very accessible to strangers. His fidelity to his wife, and his rejection of the unprincipled offers of Napoleon, greatly redound to his praise. His insatiable desire of wealth, and infamous mode of procuring it, must, however, more than counterbalance any good qualities he can lay claim to.

Napoleon’s Brothers: Louis

Constable of France 1804 — King of Holland 1807 — Count of St. Leu 1810

THIS most amiable of the five brothers drew his first breath at Ajaccio, Sept. 2, 1778. In early life he entered the military career, and accompanied Napoleon in the campaigns of Italy and Egypt. While in the latter country, he wrote several letters which were intercepted by our cruizers, and published here; and, besides showing some little literary talent, they breathed a tone of humanity exceedingly honourable to his heart.

Though Louis had obtained military promotion, he certainly had no talents for the field, so that the duties required from him were chiefly of a civil nature. He was at one time sent to Turin, to preside over the Electoral College of the Po; at another, he was made Constable of France, and Councillor of State. In 1807 he reached his highest elevation,—he was called to the throne of Holland.

Of all the sceptred relations of Napoleon, this king was by far the most popular with his subjects. The dignity was not of his seeking; he would, in fact, much rather have dispensed with it; and he even went so far as to allege the delicacy of his constitution, and the unfavourableness of the climate, as reasons for declining it: It is better to die a king than to live a prince! was the reply, and Louis entered on his regal duties. He administered justice with the strictest impartiality; lived in a frugal style;—relieved the wants of his people;—redressed complaints; and diminished as much as possible the weight of the public taxes. Add to this, his unaffected simplicity and ever-active kindness, and we need not be surprised that the Dutch regarded him with favour. When two boats laden with gunpowder exploded at Leyden, and killed or maimed many of the inhabitants, no one hastened to the spot more promptly than Louis; no one was more liberal of money to the surviving victims, or more ready to testify an affectionate sympathy with their sufferings. When, in 1809, a sudden inundation overspread several districts, laid waste the labours of industry, and deprived numbers of their habitations, he was there exercising the same beneficence.

But his popularity was entirely of a personal nature: he was compelled to be the instrument of measures at which he inwardly grieved. The immense sums drawn by Napoleon from the country, and the continuance of the Continental System, called forth the indignant murmurs of the Dutch. Louis did all he could to relieve them: he connived at their intercourse with the English, for he saw well that the nation depended for its very existence on commerce, the far greater portion of which was carried on with this country. He was thwarted in all these matters by his wife, the beautiful Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter to the Empress Josephine. This unprincipled woman, a great favourite with Napoleon, systematically ridiculed and opposed her