Historical Dictionary of the Napoleonic Era
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On 16 November 1793 Villaret was promoted to the rank of rear admiral and charged with escorting a convoy of grain to France from the United States. Villaret was engaged by Admiral Howe on 28 and 29 May 1795 and was defeated, losing eight ships. He was defeated by English Admiral Bridport at the battle of Grois on 23 June 1795. On 11 April 1797 Villaret was elected to the Council of Five Hundred. On 14 December 1801 he was given command of the fleet destined for the expedition to Santo-Domingo. On 3 April 1802 Villaret was named captain-general of Martinique and Saint Lucia. He served there until the English captured the islands on 24 February 1809. He was returned to France aboard an English ship and debarked at Quiberon on 27 April 1809. Villaret stood before an inquest into his conduct and was acquitted of any wrongdoing. He was returned to duty on 10 April 1811 and made governor-general of Venice on 29 August 1808. He was elevated to the dignity of comte d’Empire in 1808. Villaret died in Venice on 24 July 1812.
VILLENEUVE, PIERRE CHARLES JEAN BAPTISTE SILVESTRE (1764–1806). Villeneuve was born on 31 December 1763 in Valensole, France. He joined the navy on 9 December 1778. Villeneuve was promoted to ensign on 9 May 1781. He served at the capture of Tobago in 1781, was promoted to lieutenant on 1 June, distinguished himself in combat on 5 September, and served in the combat in January 1782 before Saint-Christopher and at the battle of the Saints on 12 April. He was promoted to naval captain (capitaine de vaisseau) on 5 February 1793, but was stripped of his rank because of his noble birth on 30 November 1793. Villeneuve was restored to his grade on 24 May 1795 and promoted to major general of the navy on 23 September. He commanded the right wing of the French fleet at the battle of Aboukir on 1 April 1799 and succeeded in escaping with two ships and two frigates. Villeneuve took his tiny fleet to Malta where he was taken prisoner on 3 September 1800. On 30 May 1804 Villeneuve was promoted to vice admiral.
Napoleon selected Villeneuve to succeed Latouche Tréville at Toulon upon his death in August 1804. He was ordered to draw Nelson to the West Indies and return rapidly, so as to combine with other French and Spanish vessels, enter the Channel with overwhelming force, and allow the French army to land in England. Villeneuve was not confident of success and had to be forced from port by Napoleon. He left port, heading west, but soon returned to Europe, engaging British admiral Calder off Ferrol on 22 July 1805 in an inconclusive action. He turned south and entered port in Cadiz.
Despite his belief that leaving port would lead to disaster Villeneuve departed Cadiz in late October 1805. He encountered Nelson at Trafalgar and his fleet was crushed, losing 18 ships on 21 October. He was taken prisoner and released on parole, returning to France on 11 April 1806. Shamed by his defeat, he stabbed himself six times in the heart with a knife in Rennes on 22 April 1806.
VIMIERO, BATTLE OF. The battle of Vimiero occurred on 21 August 1808. After defeating Delaborde at Rolica, Wellington led his 17,000-man army south toward Lisbon. Another French force, some 13,050 men under Junot, marched rapidly in an effort to cut Wellington off from the sea and further reinforcements. He hoped to outflank the allied positions, but his forces were spotted and Wellington deployed and prepared for battle.
Junot’s attack was poorly coordinated and driven back with heavy losses, some 2,000 men and 13 guns, and he withdrew. Wellington had lost only around 700 casualties and prepared to pursue him. However, Wellington’s superior, General Burrard, arrived and forbade such action, ending the battle.
The battle was a tactical victory, but had little strategic impact. What impact it did have would be thrown away by Burrard and Dalrymple in the Convention of Cintra.
VITORIA, BATTLE OF. The battle of Vitoria, the last great battle of the Peninsular War, occurred on 21 June 1813. Wellington’s 1813 campaign had been very successful and had forced the French to withdraw toward the French border, abandoning Madrid and taking King Joseph Bonaparte, his court and his treasury with them. The French army, under King Joseph, contained 46,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry and 2,300 artillerists and engineers. When Wellington caught up with the French, he deployed a force of 88,276 men and 90 guns against them. Wellington attacked along the length of the road to Bayonne where it was occupied by the French army moving toward Bayonne. He attacked with overwhelming force, which was enhanced by being concentrated on the head and van of the French column.
The French lost 8,000 casualties and prisoners, but still succeeded in bringing out around 55,000 men and much equipment. However, they abandoned the loot of their occupation of Spain on the road and this was a temptation that the British and Spanish armies could not resist. Though they lost their loot, the loot caused the British to stop their pursuit and saved the French army. Among the abandoned baggage was 25,000,000 francs in gold coins, Marshal Jourdan’s marshal’s baton and 151 cannon.
Wellington lost around 5,000 casualties and was unable to totally defeat the French army. His victory won for him the rank of field marshal. It was also during this battle that, as Wellington watched his troops loot the abandoned carriages and wagons, he called his troops “the scum of the earth.”
The battle had strategic implications because it drove the French out of Spain decisively, but it was not, in itself, conclusive in that the French were still able to rebuild and reequip their forces and take up positions along the Pyrenees Mountains and continue the war for another 10 months.
VÖLKERBEFREIUNGSKRIEG. This is the German term for “People’s War of Liberation” and refers specificially to the German wars against Napoleon from 1806 to 1814.
VOLTA, ALESSANDRO (1745–1827). Volta was born in Como, Italy, on 18 February 1745. He was a pioneer in the study of electricity. The electrical term “volt” is named after him. Volta served as a professor of physics in the gymnasium of Como in 1774 and held the newly founded chair of physics at Pavia in 1779. Volta traveled extensively in 1777 and 1782 visiting Switzerland, France, Germany, England and Holland. Volta’s trip was to meet with the scientific minds of his day. In 1791 Volta was awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London. In 1801 Napoleon, wishing to see his experiments, called him to Paris. Volta was rewarded by having a medal struck in his honor. Napoleon also made him a senator in the Kingdom of Northern Italy. In 1815, when Austria occupied Lombardy, the Emperor of Austria made him the director of the philosophy faculty of Padua. Volta retired to Como in 1819 and died there on 5 March 1827.
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WAGRAM, BATTLE OF. The battle of Wagram was fought from 5 to 6 July 1809 across the Danube from Vienna. Napoleon had chased the Austrian army across the Danube in May, pursued them, attempted to push his own army across the Danube near Vienna where he fought and lost the battle of Aspern-Essling.
Napoleon’s experience in that effort showed him that attacking across the Danube without careful preparations was a prescription for disaster. As a result, he spent all of June preparing a series of mobile bridges to allow him to rapidly cross the Danube and engage the Austrians.
Having built up his forces, some 188,900 men and 488 guns, on the morning of 5 July, Napoleon’s cannons roared to life and the bridges swung into place, quickly filled with the thunder of hooves and marching feet. Deployed some two miles, along a low ridge, stood the Austrian army under Archduke Charles, some 138,200 men and 446 guns.
Bernadotte had been critical of Napoleon’s conduct of the battle early in the day, and according to Marbot, had hidden his failure to take Aderklaa, by saying that “had he been in command, he would have forced Charles—by means of a ‘telling maneuver’—to lay down his arms, almost without combat.” Of course, Bernadotte’s remark reached Napoleon’s ears. The next day of the battle, after Bernadotte’s Saxon division broke and fled to the rear, Bernadotte rode ahead of the cloud of fugitives and attempted to rally them. Napoleon rode up to him and said, “Is this the type of ‘telling maneuver’ with which you will force Archduke Charles to lay down his arms?” Bernadotte struggled for a response, only to be cut off by Napoleon stating, “Leave my presence immediately and quit the Grande Armée
within twenty-four hours.”
Overall the battle was hard fought and ebbed and flowed back and forth, but with the superior numbers of the French and their allies, plus the skill of Napoleon, the battle was never really in doubt. The Austrian army was broken by the fire of a grand battery of 112 guns and forced to withdraw. The Austrians lost between 40,000 and 43,000 men and the French lost 34,000 to 39,000. Too exhausted to continue, the French launched no pursuit.
Marshal Macdonald won his marshal’s baton in this battle and Marshal Berthier was raised to the dignity of prince for his actions. Though there would be a few more minor skirmishes and one battle of size, Znaim, the battle of Wagram effectively ended the war.
WALCHEREN, INVASION OF. The invasion of the Dutch island of Walcheren began on 11 August and ended on 30 September 1809. The British mounted an expedition against the islands in the Scheldt Estuary of Holland in order to create a distraction for Napoleon while he was engaged in the 1809 campaign against Austria. A total of 40,000 troops, under Lord Chatham, landed on the island of Walcheren and part of Zeeland. They besieged and captured the town of Flushing on 13 August, but instead of marching on Antwerp, Chatham stopped to consolidate his position.
The French reacted quickly. Fouché, then Minister of the Interior, appointed Bernadotte, who had been sent back from Austria in disgrace, to command the defense of Antwerp. What regular troops were available were sent north and large portions of the French National Guard were called to active duty. These forces soon established a cordon around the British, and though there were some small engagements, there were no serious battles. Instead the French chose to allow the variety of malaria, known as “Walcheren fever” to ravage the British ranks. By the end of September, having lost 106 men in combat and over 4,000 to the fever, Chatham withdrew to England.
The hopes that such a landing would provoke a popular revolt in Germany had proven forlorn. Canning resigned from the British government and fought his duel with Castlereagh. The Walcheren Enquiry soon proved embarrassing to the royal family when it became apparent that the Duke of York’s mistress had exploited it by selling commissions. For the British the only positive outcome was that it reinforced the sensitivity of the French to the vulnerability of their maritime provinces to British seaborne invasion.
WALDECK. The principality of Waldeck was formed from two smaller territories, Waldeck and Pyrmont. They were separated by about 30 miles. The history of Waldeck was closely tied to that of Hesse. In 1438 the Landgrave of Hesse obtained rights of suzerainty over Waldeck. These claims were not settled until 1847, when it was decided that the Hessian claims had lapsed with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. The two states of Waldeck and Pyrmont were first joined in 1631. For a short period they were divided into Wildungen and Eisenburg, but upon the death of Imperial Field Marshal Georg Friedrich, the last of the Wildungen line, they were reunified under Christain Ludwig of Eisenberg. The state was to remain united except for the period from 1805–12, when they were ruled by two brothers. It was Christian Ludwig’s son, Friedrich Anton Ulrich, who was first to have the title Prince of the Empire. The title was bestowed in 1712. Waldeck joined the Confederation of the Rhine in April 1807 with the other small German principalities.
Waldeck remained with the Confederation of the Rhine, providing a small military contingent that served in Napoleon’s armies, until its lands were overrun by the Allies in 1813. At that time it abandoned the French and joined the allied cause, but made no major military contributions.
WARSAW, GRAND DUCHY OF. The Treaty of Tilsit, which was signed on 7 and 9 July 1807, formed the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. This treaty took former Polish territories back from Prussia (the territories taken in the second and third partitioning of Poland) to form the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. There were three exceptions: Danzig became a free city, the district of Bialystok was given to Russia and the Notec district annexed by Prussia in the first partition was added to the duchy.
Its new constitution was dictated by Napoleon and presented to the Poles on 22 July 1807. It was on the French model and on very advanced lines. Equality before the law, absolute religious tolerance and a highly developed bureaucracy were its principal features.
Instead of a free, independent Poland under a Polish sovereign, it was placed under the guardianship of the King of Saxony, whom Napoleon made its duke. Its formal government was placed in Warsaw with Stanislaw Malachowski as the president of its State Council and Prince Poniatowski as its minister of war, but its administration was practically controlled by the French. In spite of being subjected to the most burdensome financial and military exigencies for the purpose of supporting Napoleon’s continuous warfare, the economy of the duchy is reputed by some sources to have prospered, while others indicate it was constantly on the brink of financial ruin.
On 21 September 1807 Friedrich August, King of Saxony and the new Grand Duke of Warsaw, arrived in Warsaw to personally supervise the organization of the state. As the King of Saxony spoke Polish this was a very wise selection by Napoleon and a questionably popular decision with the Polish people. There were period jokes about the duchy having “a Saxon King, French laws, a Polish army and Prussian currency.” It was under Friedrich August’s direction that the grand duchy was organized along the French model with departments established as the second level of government throughout the country. In addition, it had a state treasury which was heavily financed by France. This was not without compensation to France.
With Napoleon’s defeat in Russia, Poland once again saw herself invaded by a Russian army. The vestiges of the duchy’s army withdrew to the west eventually joining the main French armies and began reforming for the 1813 campaign. Despite the successes in the spring campaign, the duchy remained occupied by the Allies. The disastrous fall campaign sealed the duchy’s fate and though its soldiers continued to fight in the French army through 1815 the independent Polish nation was to vanish until it was restored by Pilsudski after World War I.
WATERLOO, BATTLE OF. The battle of Waterloo was fought on 18 June 1815. Napoleon advanced north after the twin battles of Ligny and Quatre-Bras with the Army of the North, approximately 72,000 men. He encountered Wellington deployed behind some low ridges and prepared for battle. Unfortunately for Napoleon, the fields were wet and would absorb much of the usual destructive force of his artillery, so Napoleon chose to delay the beginning of the battle for several hours, allowing the field to dry.
Napoleon did not command most of the battle. He was suffering from a medical condition that forced him to withdraw, leaving command to Ney. Ney was a brave and competent marshal, but not good enough to defeat Wellington.
Early in the battle the British Union Brigade launched a massive charge that crushed d’Erlon’s division. Unfortunately for the British, the cavalry lost its head and charged directly into a mass of French artillery that shot it down. A counterattack by French cavalry resulted in the destruction of the Union Brigade.
The French efforts to envelop the British right were thwarted by a large farmhouse with a high wall enclosing a large courtyard and occupied by British Guardsmen. The French efforts to advance around the British left were stopped by the arrival of Blücher’s Prussians. The battle became a frontal assault where massive French cavalry charges broke against solid British squares.
As more and more Prussians began to arrive on the easternmost edge of the battlefield, and with all previous attacks having failed, Napoleon ordered forward his last reserve, the Old Guard. These ferocious warriors were rarely committed to battle and this was their greatest moment. They marched forward with parade-ground precision into the muzzles of the waiting British infantry. Even the Old Guard could not survive the massed firepower brought against them and the Old Guard collapsed, and fell back.
When the attack of the Old Guard failed, the heart went out of the French and the Army of the North collapsed, fleeing the battlefield in a near rout. The British and Prussians launched a pursuit that took many prisoners.
WEBER, KARL MARIA FRIEDRICH ERNST VON (1786–1826). Weber was born on 18 December 1786 in Eutin, near Lübeck, Germany. His father was Baron Franz Anton von Weber, an officer and musician. Baron Franz von Weber had abandoned his military career in 1778 when he was appointed director of the Lübeck opera. In 1778 Prince Bishop of Eutin made him his Kapellmeister. In 1783 the family moved to Vienna. The baron remarried Genoveia von Brenner, a singer, in 1785 and Karl Maria was born the next year. The Baron von Weber sought to turn Karl Maria into a child prodigy like his cousin, Mozart. He was taught to sing and play the piano at an incredibly early age. However, because of a congenital disease of the hip joint, he was unable to walk until the age of four.
Weber proved himself able to absorb the musical training pressed on him and in 1798 Michael Hayden accepted him as a student without charge. Weber’s first composition appeared shortly after this arrangement. In 1800 the family moved to Freiburg. While there Weber was given the libretto to the operetta Das Waldmädchen. Though not yet 14, he set it to music and the opera was produced the following November in Freiburg.
In 1801 Weber went with his father to Salzburg where he resumed his studies under Michael Hayden. Weber’s second opera appeared in 1803, but was not a success. The following year Weber went to Vienna and resumed his studies under Abt Volger. This soon led to Weber being appointed conductor of the Breslau opera. Weber began his career independent of his family and launched himself on a career writing opera. In 1812 his father died and in 1813 he was offered the position of Kapellmeister at Prague. Weber would remain in Prague until 1816. The wars in Europe and German nationalism inspired Weber to compose some of the finest patriotic melodies ever written. Among these were the 10 songs from Körner’s Leyer und Schwerdt, which included “Vater, ich rufe dich,” and “Lützow’s wilde verwegene Jagd.” (See Karl Theodor Körner.) The choruses in the cantata “Kampf und Sieg” (Struggle and Victory) were equally splendid and were performed in Prague on 22 December 1815.