by Mark Braude
26: THE VULGAR DETAILS OF MARRIED LIVES
Napoleon had Corsicans: Pons, Souvenirs, 340.
The Corsican Santini: Chautard, Santini, 17; Branda, La guerre secrète, IX, XX.
Years later, Santini: Branda, La guerre secrète, 149–50.
She passed out candies: Campbell, Napoleon, 317.
At her welcome ball: Pons, Souvenirs, 239–40. For more details on the song, see Weckerlin, Chansons populaires, 283.
Pons wandered over: Pons, Souvenirs, 239–40.
Pons found Pauline: Pons, Souvenirs, 238. In Pauline’s defense, though she did often complain about ill health, she had good reason to, suffering from anemia, jaundice, and some lingering effects of yellow fever from her time in Saint-Domingue, and likely gonorrhea as well. Fraser, Pauline Bonaparte, 213–14.
Pons wrote that: Pons, Souvenirs, 238.
With Pauline’s arrival: Marchand, Mémoires, IV.
“always dressed . . . di Medici”: “Ali,” Napoleon, 76–81.
Citing her fragile health: Fraser, Pauline Bonaparte, 213; Branda, La guerre secrète, 180–81; Pons, Souvenirs, 242.
“always found some way”: “Ali,” Napoleon, 78.
Once, when her: Fraser, Pauline Bonaparte, 213.
A Spanish woman: Branda, La guerre secrète, 182–83; Fraser, Pauline Bonaparte, 213; Las Cases, Memorial, 165. Branda, La guerre secrète, XI, has done the most diligent archival work here and I base my respective claims concerning incest and procurement on his research and arguments.
“seized any chance”: Pons, Souvenirs, 240, 242.
“presence was a source”: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 176.
“I would . . . left France”: Fraser, Pauline Bonaparte, 212.
“There are great winds”: Fraser, Pauline Bonaparte, 215; Branda, La guerre secrète, 181.
Having his sister and mother nearby: Englund, Napoleon, 13.
“Elsewhere they see you”: Englund, Napoleon, 34.
“bent . . . undo breeches”: Fraser, Pauline Bonaparte, 4.
She sold her place: Fraser, Pauline Bonaparte, 211. It still houses the British embassy in Paris today.
She’d been a regular: Christophe, Napoleon on Elba, 101; Boigne, Memoirs, 74; Marchand, Mémoires, IV; Pons, Souvenirs, 214.
Afternoons Napoleon and Fanny: Branda, La guerre secrète, 87, 242; Pons, Souvenirs, 216.
She sometimes brought: Broughton (Hobhouse), The Substance of Some Letters, 268.
During the final exile: Kauffmann, The Black Room at Longwood, 44.
“Give her . . . interest her”: Kauffmann, The Black Room at Longwood, 258.
“What love!”: Kauffmann, The Black Room at Longwood, 217.
“held it against”: Kauffmann, The Black Room at Longwood, 275.
“he was always”: Branda, La guerre secrète, 84.
The grand marshal: Pons, Souvenirs, 75.
“too great a liking”: Pons, Souvenirs, 189.
27: DON GIOVANNI, CINDERELLA, AND UNDINE
“it would suit us”: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 133.
When she crossed: Méneval, Memoirs of Napoleon, 1086–92; MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 133; Palmer, Napoleon and Marie Louise, 187.
“sang with a voice”: Méneval, Memoirs of Napoleon, 1091. For details on this duet, see Palmer, Napoleon and Marie Louise, 188.
“I can no longer”: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 134; Palmer, Napoleon and Marie Louise, 188.
She reached Vienna: Several sources, including Palmer, list her arrival as October 4, but King, drawing on contemporary Viennese sources, makes a much stronger case for October 7. See King, Vienna, 359. Concerning Marie Louise’s life in Vienna in the fall and winter of 1814, I have drawn on Bright, Travels, 45; King, Vienna, 44, 102; Méneval, Memoirs of Napoleon, 1092–1100; MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 134, 179–81; Palmer, Napoleon and Marie Louise, 189–90; Palmstierna, My Dearest Louise, 189, 223–24; Zamoyski, Rites, 256.
Although political in its: My main sources concerning the Congress of Vienna are: King, Vienna; Kissinger, A World Restored; Nicolson, Congress; Lentz, Nouvelle histoire, III; Webster, Congress; Gabriëls, “Cutting the Cake”; Zamoyski, Rites. The conference had been originally slated for the summer but was pushed back until October at the request of Tsar Alexander, who explained that he needed to return to Petersburg after so many months away, though orchestrating the delay also served to remind everyone of his top rank among sovereigns.
Giddy at the prospect: Zamoyski, Rites, 254.
They went through: On the Vienna congress as social event (including the detail about coffee kettles), see King, Vienna, 12–15, and Palmer, Napoleon and Marie Louise, 190.
“a new way to wage”: King, Vienna, 157.
The treasury was: King, Vienna, 19.
But Francis recognized: Palmer, Napoleon and Marie Louise, 189.
And all the socializing: Palmer, Napoleon and Marie Louise, 190–91. As Lefebvre wrote, “The congress never really came together. Everything took place in committee, and the important questions were decided by the four [main allied powers].” Lefebvre, Napoléon, 576.
“Each day there was”: King, Vienna, 141; MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 180–81.
Her husband’s exile was: Branda, La guerre secrète, 201; King, Vienna, 105; MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 156–57, 182.
Talleyrand wrote to: “Talleyrand to Louis, October 13, 1814,” Talleyrand-Périgord, The Correspondence of Prince Talleyrand and King Louis XVIII, 24–29.
“the excellent idea”: “Louis to Talleyrand, October 21, 1814,” Talleyrand-Périgord, The Correspondence of Prince Talleyrand and King Louis XVIII, 42–43.
“the silence of the budget”: “Talleyrand to Louis, October 13, 1814,” Talleyrand-Périgord, The Correspondence of Prince Talleyrand and King Louis XVIII, 24–29; MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 171.
“the treaty . . . with him?”: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 181; Roberts, Napoleon, 729.
That much of this: Lentz, Nouvelle histoire, Avant-Propos.
One night’s salon: King, Vienna, 115, 183; Pocock, Thirst for Glory, 130.
Some delegates even: King, Vienna, 115.
Europe’s rulers, however: Zamoyski, Rites, 449.
Napoleon did send: Branda, La guerre secrète, 153.
28: I THINK HE IS CAPABLE OF CROSSING OVER
“finally determine the”: Lean, The Napoleonists, 145; MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 157.
In his will: See records of Bonhams auction 22277, lot 66, “Napoleonic French Gold, Enameled and Cameo-set Snuff Box.”
“If pecuniary difficulties”: Campbell, Napoleon, 318–19.
On November 16: “Orders to Drouot, November 16, 1814,” Napoleon, Le registre, 198.
All outstanding taxes: Campbell, Napoleon, 316–19, 344.
“highly distinguished . . . Russian army”: London Gazette, October 15, 1814.
None of Campbell’s: Campbell, Napoleon, 320.
In the meantime: Campbell, Napoleon, 320.
“I showed him”: Campbell, Napoleon, 323.
“the English will”: Concerning Hyde de Neuville’s advice and this quotation, see MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 168–70.
29: THE OIL MERCHANT AND OTHER VISITORS
He was likely: Pellet, Napoléon à l’île d’Elbe, is the main source on the Oil Merchant. Pellet had reproduced much of this agent’s correspondence with the Chevalier Mariotti, the French consulate at Livorno, based on his work in the archives of said consulate. Additional information about the Oil Merchant can be gleaned from Mariotti’s reports to Talleyrand, cited below, some of which relay intelligence originally reported by the Oil Merchant. MacKenzie posits that the Oil Merchant had likely served in the Italian army somewhere in the region, meaning that there were sev
eral people on Elba who could vouch for his good standing. MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 150–51. See also Branda, La guerre secrète, 245.
He never breached: Pellet, Napoléon à l’île d’Elbe, 118.
In one report: Pellet, Napoléon à l’île d’Elbe, 127.
But there were enough: Pellet, Napoléon à l’île d’Elbe, 56.
Women provided him: Pellet, Napoléon à l’île d’Elbe, 120.
“What do you think?”: Pellet, Napoléon à l’île d’Elbe, 129.
Nor did he panic: “Mariotti to Talleyrand, November 15, 1814,” Talleyrand-Périgord, The Correspondence of Prince Talleyrand and King Louis XVIII, 104–5.
The Oil Merchant’s reports: Concerning Mariotti, see the correspondence housed in the French Diplomatic Archives: Mémoires et Documents (France), 1800: “Mémoires, lettres et documents divers relatifs au traité du 11 avril 1814 et au séjour de Napoléon à l’île d’Elbe”; as well as MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 163; Hyde de Neuville, Mémoires, 28–29. Branda, La guerre secrète, 237–43, has also been very useful.
When Napoleon’s carriage: Branda, La guerre secrète, 239–42.
“The conclusion which I”: “Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, December 7, 1814,” Talleyrand-Périgord, The Correspondence of Prince Talleyrand and King Louis XVIII, 100–103.
Drifting soldiers on: Houssaye, Retour, 10.
“the larks . . . show themselves”: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 154.
A Welsh copper-master: Vivian, Minutes, especially 31–37.
“since the violent feeling”: Ebrington, Memorandum, 15; MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 141.
By flattering British visitors: Roberts, Napoleon, 725–26.
“received with . . . intriguing characters”: “Burghersh to Castlereagh, December ?, 1814,” Weigall, Correspondence, 72.
She told her interrogators: Branda, La guerre secrète, 217.
“to trouble . . . they could!”: Welvert, Napoléon et la police, 300–301.
30: HE HAD BEEN CALLED COWARD!
He’d just sold: Campbell, Napoleon, 324–25, 344. Campbell had also seen some intercepted correspondence detailing the terms of a sale of munitions and iron ore to two Italian merchants at Civitavecchia, signed by Drouot.
“foreign papers . . . their triumphs”: Concerning this and all following quotations and details from Campbell’s December 4 conversation with Napoleon, see Campbell, Napoleon, 325–38.
“if the means”: Campbell, Napoleon, 343.
“keep a lookout”: Campbell, Napoleon, 343.
“The more I see”: “Campbell to Burghersh, December 6, 1814,” in Weigall, Correspondence, 68.
31: A LAST GOODBYE
“My Darling, it seems”: “Marie Louise to Napoleon, Schönbrunn, January 3, 1815,” Palmstierna, My Dearest Louise, 224–25.
32: THE SADNESS OF MY RETIREMENT
“He has gradually”: Campbell, Napoleon, 349.
“This was intended”: Campbell, Napoleon, 349–50.
“diminish the sadness”: Pellet, Napoléon à l’île d’Elbe, 113.
33: THE (NEAR) WRECK OF THE INCONSTANT
The squall hit: Campbell, Napoleon, 348.
They were brief: Branda, La guerre secrète (Annexe II), provides copies of the two intercepted letters, dated December 26, 1814 (to Pauline), and December 27, 1814 (to Napoleon).
Command of the Inconstant: Details about the near sinking of the Inconstant can be found in Campbell, Napoleon, 353–59; Marchand, Mémoires, VI; Peyrusse, Mémorial, 268–69; MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 190–93.
“some persons say”: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 192.
The narrowly avoided loss: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 192–93.
Campbell missed the drama: Campbell, Napoleon, 351–53; Branda, La guerre secrète, 243.
“with a . . . he stated”: Campbell, Napoleon, 352–53.
Now battle-hardened men: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 184, 198. Castlereagh, busy in Vienna crafting an understanding with Metternich and Talleyrand that would unite them against the threat of Russian dominance, wrote to his prime minister that the end of the American conflict was “a most conspicuous and seasonable event” and told Liverpool that between the new treaty and the emerging alliance with France and Austria, “the alarm of war is over.”
“were few, his evenings”: Peyrusse, Mémorial, 262.
34: BOURBON DIFFICULTIES
“as though they had”: Branda, La guerre secrète, 218.
One agent reported: Branda, La guerre secrète, 228.
Talleyrand read a: “D’Hauterive to Talleyrand, 14th November, 1814,” Talleyrand-Périgord, The Correspondence of Prince Talleyrand and King Louis XVIII, 100.
No single overarching: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 160–63.
Beugnot, for instance: Branda, La guerre secrète, 213–16.
Louis XVIII did, however: Branda, La guerre secrète, 202.
The young Dumoulin: Laborde, Napoleon et sa Garde, 75; Branda, La guerre secrète, XXIV.
“To bind up”: Sauvigny, Bourbon Restoration, 57.
Most often this: See, for example, “Vision de M. de la Jobardiere,” Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF), Vinck, vol. 70, 9220; “M. de la Rotomontade Apprenant le Débarquement de l’Empereur,” BNF, Vinck, vol. 72, 9453. Sauvigny, Bourbon Restoration, 81, was also helpful.
“Be careful not”: Carnot, Mémoire, 24. For amount of copies sold, see Sauvigny, Bourbon Restoration, 82.
Louis XVIII ordered: Carpenter, Aesthetics, 73–84. See also Dunn, The Deaths; Ben-Amos, Funerals.
The funeral procession: Castellane, Journal, 274.
“God has . . . disastrous dissensions”: Carpenter, Aesthetics, 74.
Traveling through France: Jones, Paris, 263.
In roadside inns: Sauvigny, Bourbon Restoration, 83.
“Do you believe”: Driault, The True Visage, 303; Fraser, Pauline Bonaparte, 215.
“I no longer take snuff”: Broadley, Napoleon in Caricature, II, 59. It is interesting to note that Walter Scott wrote his island travelogue The Lord of the Isles in 1814, just as Napoleon was making Elba famous.
“There were many”: Thibaudeau, Mémoires, 400.
35: NIGHTS AT THE THEATER
Napoleon spotted the: Details and all quotations concerning this visit come from the diary of John Cam Hobhouse, which records Macnamara’s entire conversation as the latter recounted it to him. See “John Cam Hobhouse, Diary Entry, April 22, 1815,” as reproduced in the late Peter Cochran’s draft for an edited volume on the Hundred Days, which contains the note: “Edited from B.L.Add.Mss. 47232, and Berg Collection Volumes 2, 3 and 4: Broughton Holograph Diaries, Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.” Hobhouse dates the conversation to “the 13th or 14th of last January.” One wonders about the exactitude of either of these potential dates, given that Napoleon would have been dealing with the near sinking of the Inconstant on January 13, which goes unmentioned in the conversation. The manuscript of Cochran’s draft has generously been made available at petercochran.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/17-hundreddays.pdf. Also useful are Cochran, Byron, Napoleon; MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 189.
A smokescreen, monument: Concerning the theater, see Branda, La guerre secrète,99; MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 177; Pons, Souvenirs, 243.
“I’ll explain that”: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 178.
Her parties took place: Houssaye, 1814, 10; Vivian, Minutes, 10.
Pauline’s ladies-in-waiting: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 178.
“adopted a dreamier look”: Pons, Souvenirs, 243; Fraser, Pauline Bonaparte, 215.
In the first months: Branda, La guerre secrète, 86.
Campbell made a: MacKenzie, The Esc
ape from Elba, 177.
With the Inconstant: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 194.
“Shall I listen”: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 194.
Pons answered that: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 194.
“because his cooperation”: MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 194.
It may be possible: Pons, Souvenirs, xi.
“I knew enough”: Peyrusse, Mémorial, 268.
When Peyrusse saw: Peyrusse, Mémorial, 268–69.
36: PIETRO ST. ERNEST, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS FLEURY DU CHABOULON
“This is, I think”: Campbell, Napoleon, 353.
But along with: Campbell, Napoleon, 353–58.
“unusually grave and dull”: “Campbell to Burghersh, February 2, 1815,” Weigall, Correspondence, 96.
He tried to broach: Campbell, Napoleon, 358.
“there could be no treason”: Campbell, Napoleon, 361.
“duty to notify”: Campbell, Napoleon, 362.
“right to interfere”: Campbell, Napoleon, 361–62. Campbell’s journal entry concerning Palmaiola contained a tidbit that would have tickled Alexandre Dumas: “Without attaching too much importance to this rock, or the facts in connection with it, it is worthy of remark that there is another island, without any inhabitants, called Monte Christo, south of Elba, and not double the distance of Pianosa, to which Napoleon’s fancy or projects may also lead him . . . so that his absence from Elba could be less easily known, while any pretext remained for quitting it.”
Campbell wasn’t sure: Campbell, Napoleon, 359.
Fanny Bertrand told him: Campbell, Napoleon, 360.
“Mysterious adventurers and”: Campbell, Napoleon, 359.
He was bothered: Campbell, Napoleon, 360.
“It is scarcely”: Campbell, Napoleon, 362.
“ordered him not”: Campbell, Napoleon, 260.
Pietro St. Ernest was: Concerning Fleury de Chaboulon’s trip to Elba, see Fleury, Mémoires, especially 100–120. Marchand, Mémoires, VI, corroborates the essence of Fleury’s claims about his trip to Elba. See also Branda, La guerre secrète, XXVI; Houssaye, 1815, 181; MacKenzie, The Escape from Elba, 197–98.
