Napoléon Bonaparte

Napoléon Bonaparte

Volume 1

Fahed Aslan Agha Al Barazi


USD 35,99

Format: 13.5 x 21.5 cm
Number of Pages: 498
ISBN: 978-3-99064-885-8
Release Date: 11.02.2021

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CHAPTER 1
NAPOLÉON BONAPARTE

“Napoleon’s presence on the battlefield
made the difference of 40,000 men”
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

Born in Ajaccio, the capitol of Corsica, August 15, 1769, Napoléon Bonaparte was the second surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Latizia Ramolino. The Buonapartes (di Buonaparte being their original Italian name) belonged to the aristocracy of Florence, and as such the first patriarch of the family was member of the municipal council. The surname Buonaparte came about when the nephew of an army officer by the name of Ugo, who was a member of the Governing Council of Florence, changed the clan name to Buonaparte, meaning the good side. Ugo, the uncle, was listed in 1122 in an act of fighting beside the Duke of Swabia, Frederick the One-eyed, to subdue Tuscany.
The Buonapartes fought the Papal influence under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire; but the party with knightly values of chivalry lost to the Papal Party, who were propped up by new influential businessmen and other members of the clergy and aristocracy. The fight was between two sets of different values and principles. The Emperor’s men were the steadfast defenders of the unity of Italy under the Holy Roman empire, while the Papal supporters, mainly the influential business class, were for the independent Papal states driven by their commercial values, rather than the united national interest which the knightly chivalrous upheld and fought for. But, with the family’s loss of power, Hugo Bonaparte left Florence and settled on the coast of Sarzana. Members of the aristocracy of the various states of the Italian peninsula fled for Provenance, and Florence was no different.
With this change of fortunes, Guillermo, the Patriarch, found himself under pressure to leave with his family to San Miniato c.1275-1280. The family settled in this region of Italy for the following two centuries, and by the end of the 1600s or thereabouts the first Bonaparte ancestor, a Franco Bonaparte, set sail to Corsica and established his Bonaparte dynasty on the island. Debate on whether the Bonapartes were of noble extract or simply a prominent Corsican family of villagers flared. There are several facts to consider here, and we deal with them only to establish the truth, for without this truth Napoléon would have never been able to attend the Royal Ecole Militaire, given the fact that only members of the nobility were entitled to join the officers’ corps under the Bourbon reign in France. First of all, the European annals and documented archives of the origin of European nobility clearly list the “Di Buonaparte” as members of the Florence nobility of the thirteenth century. In Corsica, they were highly educated by the local standards. Carlo acquired a Law degree from Pisa and became Royal Assessor for the capital, Ajaccio. Because of his family connections and prominence in Corsica, as well as his Law degree and consequently granted title of Equerry, Carlo was elected a member of the ruling Municipal Council of Ajaccio of 12.
That being established, as a member of the Corsican nobility, with some added help from the French Governor, Carlo was able to enrol his sons; Joseph the eldest would enter College de Autun for a seminary career, and Napoléon would enter Brienne, with a full scholarship at the Royal Military School.
Fourteen years prior to Napoléon’s birth, in 1755, Corsica was a possession of Genoa. The Bonapartes lived in a large house bequeathed to Carlo by his father, who died four years prior to his son’s marriage to Letizia. The family home was situated on the Via Malerba; on the ground floor lived Carlos’ mother, with Uncle Luciano, Archdeacon of Ajaccio, and now Letizia joined the family, living on the top floor with her husband.
Several references describe Letizia as a beautiful, slender, brown eyed lady with white teeth, a fine nose and slender white hands. Letizia descended from a pedigree lineage, the Ramolinos having been the counts of Collalto in Lombardy. They had settled in Corsica for the past 250 years. These noble families married into the same line of pedigree, a custom which holds in the Mediterranean bastion even now. In fact, in later years, this concept would cause Napoléon great chagrin when his brothers Luis and Jerome married commoners, driven by love rather than status.
Letizia’s father, a professional soldier, reached the rank Commander of the Ajaccio garrison and was later to hold less ceremonious positions, such as Inspector General of roads and bridges, something that hardly existed in Corsica. Upon his death when Letizia was four her mother married a Swiss officer named Franz Fesch, who was serving in the Genoese navy; Corsica was still a possession of Genoa, and so the marriage between Carlo Bonaparte and Letizia Ramolina, both of Corsican birth, was consummated.
Pasquale Paoli, who served the king of Naples in the rank of ensign in a special unit of the Corsican guard returned to Corsica in 1755; he was twenty-nine years old. At the time, Corsica was a hotbed of insurgents rising against Genoa and demanding independence. Paoli joined the rebels and became the head of the guerrilla movement. He consequently become the head of the Junta, introducing a democratic constitution to the island, something previously unheard of. He was popular amongst his countrymen and took effective measures to stamp out brigands. The island hardly had roads to speak of, so he embarked on building them, establishing schools and engendering the spirit of independence amongst his countrymen.
Paoli, by then a 41-year-old bachelor, indulged himself in reading the works of the classics; Plutarch, Aristotle and others. He was a tall, blue-eyed man with red hair and a well-built figure. He lived for liberating Corsica from the Genoese, who taxed the island heavily and monopolised the high-ranking jobs for their Genoese noble countrymen.
Paoli, with whom Carlo and Letizia had become quite close, informed Carlo that he intended to send him to Rome as his envoy to present the Corsican case to the Pontiff. Paoli did not wish to anger the Pope, who had granted Corsica and Capraia to the Genoese. So off sailed Carlo to Rome, leaving his wife with his mother.
Carlo’s amiable nature and convincing dialogue left a favourable impression on the Pope, despite the reports on Paoli that he received from the Genoese-appointed Bishop on Corsica. The Pope, in view of Carlo’s convincing arguments, refrained from reprisals.
On returning to Ajaccio, Paoli received Carlo, who had successfully presented his side to the Pontiff, avoiding reprisals and ingratiating himself to Paoli to such a degree that the latter thought seriously of making him second in command.
The Genoese, feeling that their days in Corsica were numbered, decided on selling off the island. They approached King Louis XVI and he gladly purchased the island. The deed was handed over at a ceremony at Versailles on May 17, 1768, a year before Napoléon’s birth. Meanwhile, after two miscarriages, Letizia gave birth to a baby boy, Giuseppe (Joseph).
The Corsicans were thunderstruck by the transfer of the island from one master to another. This time they faced the formidable force of France, who, by the purchase of the island, was augmenting its presence in the Mediterranean, especially after the loss of Minorca. But the Corsicans, a closely-knit fabric of family ties austere in their way of life, making good of whatever they had of olive groves, fig trees, chestnuts, wheat and other staple products, would take up arms against the French. They were proud, and honour meant everything to them. Their tradition of revenge for the slightest insult still holds today. In many ways they are not different from the Sicilians; their temper is volatile, and they were proud of their traditional dress with musket slung over their shoulder.
Paoli called the islanders for a meeting to decide the next step of the island’s destiny. Flanked on his right by Carlo Bonaparte, they delivered impassioned speeches to the crowd exhorting them to fight for their freedom. Carlo the lawyer took the podium and harangued the crowd, urging them to rise against the French and to defend their sacred freedom, for Corsica was their homeland and no one had the right to buy it or sell it like a piece of furniture. Freedom is not negotiable, and proud Corsicans will not stand by, squandering the very essence of their honour and pride; for freedom is an intangible force, and just like honour those who do not have it, do not know what it means.
At the outbreak of hostilities the French had landed 10,000 troops at Bastia, on the opposite side of the island, facing Ajaccio. Carlo made his way to the mountains to join Paoli. The Corsican insurgents, led by Paoli, defeated the French and captured a sizeable number of prisoners. However, the French had no plans to give up the island and a year later they returned, this time with a force for which the Corsicans were no match. Paoli was defeated at Ponte Nuovo on May 9, while Carlo was still resisting at Monte Rondo. The news of Paoli’s defeat and that Corte had fallen to French reached Carlo. He was informed that Paoli decided to go into exile in England, and that he (Carlo) and his comrades would be given general amnesty should they return home. Carlo, a family man, decided to do just that, and Paoli, accompanied by few hundred of his countrymen, boarded the English warship at the port of Bastia, where Carlo was present to wave his friend goodbye.
On August 15, 1769, Letizia was in labour again, and on that day, she gave birth to a baby boy. They named him Napoléon.
The Bonapartes, like all Corsicans, lived off their local produce. Olive oil, a staple of their diet, was provided by their olive groves; Letizia baked their own bread; Uncle Luciano’s goats provided milk and cheese. Other plantations provided black cherry, which Napoléon enjoyed the most, twigs, orange and other typical Mediterranean produce, such as grapes and wine from their vineyards. While Joseph was a quiet boy, Napoléon was very sensitive and proud. He liked winning at games.
The Corsicans were now subjected to the estates system; nobility, clergy and commoners. Carlo was able to produce the necessary documents attesting to their noble birth. The Bonapartes had maintained a relationship with their Tuscan Branch, and Carlo provided the French authorities with eleven quartiers of nobility, exceeding the four required by seven. When the Corsican states general met in 1772 May, Carlo took his seat among the nobility.
Some time before, Carlo had travelled to Pisa and acquired his law degree, for which he was preparing for some time. His salary of 900 Livres enabled him to add a nurse and two servants to help Letizia. His law practice climaxed in the estate of Mirelli, which belonged to Paolo Odone, the brother of Carlo’s great-grandmother, who died without issue; but Carlo lacked the supporting documents, and the case did not come to fruition. However, Carlo kept a registration of accounts and important dates, that one day his son, Joseph, could pursue this matter and put it to justice.
Carlo’s cultural inclination as well as his law degree induced him to buy hundreds of books and fashion a library with a wealth of knowledge, besides being raised in a house adumbrated with books of Luminaries that were to be found only amongst a select few.
By 1777 Carlo was a father of four, a son born in 1775 named Louis (Luciano) and a daughter in 1777, Maria Anna. This was a financial burden that the noble Carlo was hard pressed to keep up with.
The Viceroy, the Conte de Marbeuf Louis Charles Rene, was a Breton born into a noble family in 1712. He was a gallant officer who rose to Brigadier and became an officer of King Stanislaw I, the Polish father-in-law of Louis XV. This amiable noble gentleman was selected to rule Corsica in the name of Louis XV French government. His ingratiating qualities would pacify the Corsicans and even make some of them love France.
The high tax system coupled with venality under the Genoese was replaced by reduced taxes. His high salary of livres enabled him to throw large parties to the locals and endear himself to the local peasants. His house at Corte became the cynosure of all Corsicans, who came to like this uncle figure.
Carlo and Marbeuf became friends, as they both as noblemen shared the same values and both wanted to improve the general state of the island. This amicable relationship developed into family visits and the old man lavished great adulation on Letizia, who demurely accepted it.
Marbeuf’s friendship with Carlo was the instrumental factor made him able to take advantage of the free education system offered to the scions of impoverished French nobility. The dynamic Napoléon would go to the Ecole Militaire, while the obedient, quiet churchgoing Giuseppe went to priesthood.
So, Napoléon was accepted at Brienne Military Academy with the support of Marbeuf, who had personally sent the necessary documents attending to the scant financial means of the Bonapartes. As for Joseph, he would not be accepted at AIX until he reached the age of sixteen; for this Marbeuf arranged for Joseph to attend the Seminary College of Autun, where his nephew was the head of Bishop. Marbeuf, who had no children of his own, would foot the bill.
Marbeuf’s attachment to the Bonapartes, who warmly welcomed him into their household, was a God sent for the family. Not only did he help with enrolling the two boys; Giuseppe then aged sixteen, would later rise to a prominent position in the church hierarchy, certainly with Napoléon’s help, as can be seen later.
At Bastia Porte it was an emotional goodbye; Napoléon aged nine, his elder brother Joseph and Letizia’s half-brother Giuseppe Fesch were bid farewell, escorted by Carlo.
The party arrived at Marseille on December 23, 1778 and proceeded to AIX, where Giuseppe Fesch remained. Carlo and his two sons proceeded to Autun. The town was small but beautifully embellished by the Baroque buildings and the Romanesque Cathedral. There they met the headmaster of Autumn Seminary College, Bishop de Marbeuf, who was expecting their arrival. The boys and their father were duly welcomed and Comte de Marbeuf’s words to his nephew went a long way to comfort the two boys.
Off to Paris went Carlo to secure the certificates of noble birth, leaving the two boys in the custody of Marbeuf to learn French before each entering his destined school. Napoléon, although he learned to speak the language, found it extremely difficult to rid himself of his heavy Italian accent.
Four months later, Carlo returned with the certificate of noble birth issued by the Royal heraldist and the two brothers parted ways. It was very emotional for the two children, who had lived all their lives together under the same roof, loved by their parents and inundated with warmth and emotion typical of the Mediterranean folk customs, to suddenly realize that they were now parting, each to his own destination. Carlo, a loving father and a man of great emotions, was hard pressed to hold back his own tears seeing Joseph, his older son, crying, tears rolling down his face while little Napoléon quietly and even more evocatively choked his own tears, while his little heart and face were saying it all.
By mid May 1779 little Napoléon accompanied by the Vicar of Autun, Marbeuf’s assistant arrived at the small town of Brienne. The school of Brienne was created to improve the Martial aptitude of the army future cadets. In fact, several such schools were created in France to improve the French officers’ military careers, especially in view of the fact that over the past couple of decades France was beset by a lack-lustre performance of its troops on the battlefield.
The Brienne school was run by an ex-Grenadier, who became Father Jean Baptiste Berton, and his brother, Father Louis Berton, both in their early thirties and both of the orders of St. Francis. The frocks or habits resembled those of sixteen century Cofradías of Spain, with sandals for footwear and monks’ habits. They were austere, and Brienne was recognised as one of the better military schools (Carlo’s original plan for Joseph was that he was destined to be a priest, but this was changed later).
Napoléon’s persistent obsession was to liberate Corsica from the French yoke. He was to be taunted by his class cadets for his heavy Corsican accent; this was not to deter him from threatening them, shaking his clenched fist at them. He was only nine years of age when separated from his father Carlo and brother Joseph, whom he loved dearly. Despite Carlo’s oddly timed and ostensibly busy schedule, young Napoléon had a very warm attachment to his father. The boy observed his father’s care and felt his importance as the provider to a family of eight children. Their journey together from Corsica to France and the intensely emotional moments when his father had to bid little Napolean farewell who choked his tears in a gesture of pride while his brother Joseph let his tears roll profusely. Later, in his dormitory assigned room, he would confide to his only close mate Alexander de Mazis how much he loved his father.
Napoléon indulged in history; he would frequently remark that novels are for chamber maids; men must learn history. Classical history, history of the Arabs and the Abaseen Khulafaa, the Quran and many contemporary books. On his long journeys during his campaigns his Berlina (coach driven by four horses) would be filled with books; he was an impatient and avid reader, and books would be thrown out from his coach, practically littering the road, as soon as he was finished with them. His favourite classic writers included Plutarch, Caesar, Cicero and many others. At the military academy he excelled in mathematics; history and geography were his favourite.
The Royal academy inspectors in their reports would remark that the boy was peremptory and domineering. In an incident when an officer disciplined him for his recalcitrant attitude in class and ordered him to eat his dinner kneeling on the floor, the boy vehemently refused, snapping back that his family will kneel only before God. On the inspector’s insistence, Napoléon was seized epileptically shaking feverishly causing the school master to rescind the order and send the boy to the school infirmary for recovery.
Carlo Bonaparte had a chronic illness of undetermined nature, and after a visit to Napoléon at the academy in June 1784, whom he had not seen for the past three years, the boy reserved as he was, yet overwhelmed with emotions for he had not seen his family and beloved Corsica for the past three years in view of his very limited financial abilities, at the faculty of Medicine at Montpellier Carlo was diagnosed with terminal cancer and had only a few months to live. On his death bed, he would call the only name that lifted his spirit briefly while he was suffering his death throes … “Napoléon!” Hallucinating, he called Napoléon’s name and repeated that his beloved son Napoléon would always come to his rescue, and exclaim “Napoléon … Napoléon … Napoléon always comes when called and he saves me from my enemies.” He died at the young, unfulfilled age of 39 on February 24, 1785, at the home of his Corsican friends, the Permonts.
On receiving the news of his father’s death, Napoléon was struck with grief, for he loved his father dearly and even at the age of 16 his emotion and sentiments dwelled on his love which emanated from a truly filial son; his feelings went beyond words to esteem, appreciate and value his father, whose love to his children and utter devotion Napoléon felt deep in the recesses of his heart; for Carlo, despite his ill health, would endeavour to ensure a better future for his sons Napoléon, Joseph, Lucien and Louis and sister Elisa (Maria Anna).
Elisa went to Saint-Cyr and Lucien was at Brienne. There were two younger sisters, Carolina and Pauline, and Jerome, the youngest of the brothers. These siblings would be cared for by Napoléon, who ultimately became the Patriarch of the family.
Napoléon, at the Ecole Militaire in Paris, was recommended for the artillery; unsurprising, for he excelled in mathematics, and in years to come he would prove to be an outstanding artillery officer. On September 28, 1785, at the age of sixteen, at the Ecole Militaire, Napoléon became an artillery officer; second lieutenant Bonaparte was posted with La Fere artillery regiment alongside his friend, de Mazis.
The meagre financial state of his family, especially after his father’s death preoccupied Napoléon. His deep sense of responsibility towards his family was and remained a perennial issue in Napoléon’s life. Always thinking of his mother’s pecuniary financial and domestic affairs, his younger brothers Jerome, Lucien, Louis, and even his older brother Joseph were a constant worry burden on his shoulders, not to mention his sisters Caroline, Elisa and Pauline. Despite of all of this, he was bent on becoming the best artillery officer that the French gunnery ever produced. The near future would prove his presage to be true; it was the precursor to becoming the most formidable field commander since Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar.

CHAPTER 1
NAPOLÉON BONAPARTE

“Napoleon’s presence on the battlefield
made the difference of 40,000 men”
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

Born in Ajaccio, the capitol of Corsica, August 15, 1769, Napoléon Bonaparte was the second surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Latizia Ramolino. The Buonapartes (di Buonaparte being their original Italian name) belonged to the aristocracy of Florence, and as such the first patriarch of the family was member of the municipal council. The surname Buonaparte came about when the nephew of an army officer by the name of Ugo, who was a member of the Governing Council of Florence, changed the clan name to Buonaparte, meaning the good side. Ugo, the uncle, was listed in 1122 in an act of fighting beside the Duke of Swabia, Frederick the One-eyed, to subdue Tuscany.
The Buonapartes fought the Papal influence under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire; but the party with knightly values of chivalry lost to the Papal Party, who were propped up by new influential businessmen and other members of the clergy and aristocracy. The fight was between two sets of different values and principles. The Emperor’s men were the steadfast defenders of the unity of Italy under the Holy Roman empire, while the Papal supporters, mainly the influential business class, were for the independent Papal states driven by their commercial values, rather than the united national interest which the knightly chivalrous upheld and fought for. But, with the family’s loss of power, Hugo Bonaparte left Florence and settled on the coast of Sarzana. Members of the aristocracy of the various states of the Italian peninsula fled for Provenance, and Florence was no different.
With this change of fortunes, Guillermo, the Patriarch, found himself under pressure to leave with his family to San Miniato c.1275-1280. The family settled in this region of Italy for the following two centuries, and by the end of the 1600s or thereabouts the first Bonaparte ancestor, a Franco Bonaparte, set sail to Corsica and established his Bonaparte dynasty on the island. Debate on whether the Bonapartes were of noble extract or simply a prominent Corsican family of villagers flared. There are several facts to consider here, and we deal with them only to establish the truth, for without this truth Napoléon would have never been able to attend the Royal Ecole Militaire, given the fact that only members of the nobility were entitled to join the officers’ corps under the Bourbon reign in France. First of all, the European annals and documented archives of the origin of European nobility clearly list the “Di Buonaparte” as members of the Florence nobility of the thirteenth century. In Corsica, they were highly educated by the local standards. Carlo acquired a Law degree from Pisa and became Royal Assessor for the capital, Ajaccio. Because of his family connections and prominence in Corsica, as well as his Law degree and consequently granted title of Equerry, Carlo was elected a member of the ruling Municipal Council of Ajaccio of 12.
That being established, as a member of the Corsican nobility, with some added help from the French Governor, Carlo was able to enrol his sons; Joseph the eldest would enter College de Autun for a seminary career, and Napoléon would enter Brienne, with a full scholarship at the Royal Military School.
Fourteen years prior to Napoléon’s birth, in 1755, Corsica was a possession of Genoa. The Bonapartes lived in a large house bequeathed to Carlo by his father, who died four years prior to his son’s marriage to Letizia. The family home was situated on the Via Malerba; on the ground floor lived Carlos’ mother, with Uncle Luciano, Archdeacon of Ajaccio, and now Letizia joined the family, living on the top floor with her husband.
Several references describe Letizia as a beautiful, slender, brown eyed lady with white teeth, a fine nose and slender white hands. Letizia descended from a pedigree lineage, the Ramolinos having been the counts of Collalto in Lombardy. They had settled in Corsica for the past 250 years. These noble families married into the same line of pedigree, a custom which holds in the Mediterranean bastion even now. In fact, in later years, this concept would cause Napoléon great chagrin when his brothers Luis and Jerome married commoners, driven by love rather than status.
Letizia’s father, a professional soldier, reached the rank Commander of the Ajaccio garrison and was later to hold less ceremonious positions, such as Inspector General of roads and bridges, something that hardly existed in Corsica. Upon his death when Letizia was four her mother married a Swiss officer named Franz Fesch, who was serving in the Genoese navy; Corsica was still a possession of Genoa, and so the marriage between Carlo Bonaparte and Letizia Ramolina, both of Corsican birth, was consummated.
Pasquale Paoli, who served the king of Naples in the rank of ensign in a special unit of the Corsican guard returned to Corsica in 1755; he was twenty-nine years old. At the time, Corsica was a hotbed of insurgents rising against Genoa and demanding independence. Paoli joined the rebels and became the head of the guerrilla movement. He consequently become the head of the Junta, introducing a democratic constitution to the island, something previously unheard of. He was popular amongst his countrymen and took effective measures to stamp out brigands. The island hardly had roads to speak of, so he embarked on building them, establishing schools and engendering the spirit of independence amongst his countrymen.
Paoli, by then a 41-year-old bachelor, indulged himself in reading the works of the classics; Plutarch, Aristotle and others. He was a tall, blue-eyed man with red hair and a well-built figure. He lived for liberating Corsica from the Genoese, who taxed the island heavily and monopolised the high-ranking jobs for their Genoese noble countrymen.
Paoli, with whom Carlo and Letizia had become quite close, informed Carlo that he intended to send him to Rome as his envoy to present the Corsican case to the Pontiff. Paoli did not wish to anger the Pope, who had granted Corsica and Capraia to the Genoese. So off sailed Carlo to Rome, leaving his wife with his mother.
Carlo’s amiable nature and convincing dialogue left a favourable impression on the Pope, despite the reports on Paoli that he received from the Genoese-appointed Bishop on Corsica. The Pope, in view of Carlo’s convincing arguments, refrained from reprisals.
On returning to Ajaccio, Paoli received Carlo, who had successfully presented his side to the Pontiff, avoiding reprisals and ingratiating himself to Paoli to such a degree that the latter thought seriously of making him second in command.
The Genoese, feeling that their days in Corsica were numbered, decided on selling off the island. They approached King Louis XVI and he gladly purchased the island. The deed was handed over at a ceremony at Versailles on May 17, 1768, a year before Napoléon’s birth. Meanwhile, after two miscarriages, Letizia gave birth to a baby boy, Giuseppe (Joseph).
The Corsicans were thunderstruck by the transfer of the island from one master to another. This time they faced the formidable force of France, who, by the purchase of the island, was augmenting its presence in the Mediterranean, especially after the loss of Minorca. But the Corsicans, a closely-knit fabric of family ties austere in their way of life, making good of whatever they had of olive groves, fig trees, chestnuts, wheat and other staple products, would take up arms against the French. They were proud, and honour meant everything to them. Their tradition of revenge for the slightest insult still holds today. In many ways they are not different from the Sicilians; their temper is volatile, and they were proud of their traditional dress with musket slung over their shoulder.
Paoli called the islanders for a meeting to decide the next step of the island’s destiny. Flanked on his right by Carlo Bonaparte, they delivered impassioned speeches to the crowd exhorting them to fight for their freedom. Carlo the lawyer took the podium and harangued the crowd, urging them to rise against the French and to defend their sacred freedom, for Corsica was their homeland and no one had the right to buy it or sell it like a piece of furniture. Freedom is not negotiable, and proud Corsicans will not stand by, squandering the very essence of their honour and pride; for freedom is an intangible force, and just like honour those who do not have it, do not know what it means.
At the outbreak of hostilities the French had landed 10,000 troops at Bastia, on the opposite side of the island, facing Ajaccio. Carlo made his way to the mountains to join Paoli. The Corsican insurgents, led by Paoli, defeated the French and captured a sizeable number of prisoners. However, the French had no plans to give up the island and a year later they returned, this time with a force for which the Corsicans were no match. Paoli was defeated at Ponte Nuovo on May 9, while Carlo was still resisting at Monte Rondo. The news of Paoli’s defeat and that Corte had fallen to French reached Carlo. He was informed that Paoli decided to go into exile in England, and that he (Carlo) and his comrades would be given general amnesty should they return home. Carlo, a family man, decided to do just that, and Paoli, accompanied by few hundred of his countrymen, boarded the English warship at the port of Bastia, where Carlo was present to wave his friend goodbye.
On August 15, 1769, Letizia was in labour again, and on that day, she gave birth to a baby boy. They named him Napoléon.
The Bonapartes, like all Corsicans, lived off their local produce. Olive oil, a staple of their diet, was provided by their olive groves; Letizia baked their own bread; Uncle Luciano’s goats provided milk and cheese. Other plantations provided black cherry, which Napoléon enjoyed the most, twigs, orange and other typical Mediterranean produce, such as grapes and wine from their vineyards. While Joseph was a quiet boy, Napoléon was very sensitive and proud. He liked winning at games.
The Corsicans were now subjected to the estates system; nobility, clergy and commoners. Carlo was able to produce the necessary documents attesting to their noble birth. The Bonapartes had maintained a relationship with their Tuscan Branch, and Carlo provided the French authorities with eleven quartiers of nobility, exceeding the four required by seven. When the Corsican states general met in 1772 May, Carlo took his seat among the nobility.
Some time before, Carlo had travelled to Pisa and acquired his law degree, for which he was preparing for some time. His salary of 900 Livres enabled him to add a nurse and two servants to help Letizia. His law practice climaxed in the estate of Mirelli, which belonged to Paolo Odone, the brother of Carlo’s great-grandmother, who died without issue; but Carlo lacked the supporting documents, and the case did not come to fruition. However, Carlo kept a registration of accounts and important dates, that one day his son, Joseph, could pursue this matter and put it to justice.
Carlo’s cultural inclination as well as his law degree induced him to buy hundreds of books and fashion a library with a wealth of knowledge, besides being raised in a house adumbrated with books of Luminaries that were to be found only amongst a select few.
By 1777 Carlo was a father of four, a son born in 1775 named Louis (Luciano) and a daughter in 1777, Maria Anna. This was a financial burden that the noble Carlo was hard pressed to keep up with.
The Viceroy, the Conte de Marbeuf Louis Charles Rene, was a Breton born into a noble family in 1712. He was a gallant officer who rose to Brigadier and became an officer of King Stanislaw I, the Polish father-in-law of Louis XV. This amiable noble gentleman was selected to rule Corsica in the name of Louis XV French government. His ingratiating qualities would pacify the Corsicans and even make some of them love France.
The high tax system coupled with venality under the Genoese was replaced by reduced taxes. His high salary of livres enabled him to throw large parties to the locals and endear himself to the local peasants. His house at Corte became the cynosure of all Corsicans, who came to like this uncle figure.
Carlo and Marbeuf became friends, as they both as noblemen shared the same values and both wanted to improve the general state of the island. This amicable relationship developed into family visits and the old man lavished great adulation on Letizia, who demurely accepted it.
Marbeuf’s friendship with Carlo was the instrumental factor made him able to take advantage of the free education system offered to the scions of impoverished French nobility. The dynamic Napoléon would go to the Ecole Militaire, while the obedient, quiet churchgoing Giuseppe went to priesthood.
So, Napoléon was accepted at Brienne Military Academy with the support of Marbeuf, who had personally sent the necessary documents attending to the scant financial means of the Bonapartes. As for Joseph, he would not be accepted at AIX until he reached the age of sixteen; for this Marbeuf arranged for Joseph to attend the Seminary College of Autun, where his nephew was the head of Bishop. Marbeuf, who had no children of his own, would foot the bill.
Marbeuf’s attachment to the Bonapartes, who warmly welcomed him into their household, was a God sent for the family. Not only did he help with enrolling the two boys; Giuseppe then aged sixteen, would later rise to a prominent position in the church hierarchy, certainly with Napoléon’s help, as can be seen later.
At Bastia Porte it was an emotional goodbye; Napoléon aged nine, his elder brother Joseph and Letizia’s half-brother Giuseppe Fesch were bid farewell, escorted by Carlo.
The party arrived at Marseille on December 23, 1778 and proceeded to AIX, where Giuseppe Fesch remained. Carlo and his two sons proceeded to Autun. The town was small but beautifully embellished by the Baroque buildings and the Romanesque Cathedral. There they met the headmaster of Autumn Seminary College, Bishop de Marbeuf, who was expecting their arrival. The boys and their father were duly welcomed and Comte de Marbeuf’s words to his nephew went a long way to comfort the two boys.
Off to Paris went Carlo to secure the certificates of noble birth, leaving the two boys in the custody of Marbeuf to learn French before each entering his destined school. Napoléon, although he learned to speak the language, found it extremely difficult to rid himself of his heavy Italian accent.
Four months later, Carlo returned with the certificate of noble birth issued by the Royal heraldist and the two brothers parted ways. It was very emotional for the two children, who had lived all their lives together under the same roof, loved by their parents and inundated with warmth and emotion typical of the Mediterranean folk customs, to suddenly realize that they were now parting, each to his own destination. Carlo, a loving father and a man of great emotions, was hard pressed to hold back his own tears seeing Joseph, his older son, crying, tears rolling down his face while little Napoléon quietly and even more evocatively choked his own tears, while his little heart and face were saying it all.
By mid May 1779 little Napoléon accompanied by the Vicar of Autun, Marbeuf’s assistant arrived at the small town of Brienne. The school of Brienne was created to improve the Martial aptitude of the army future cadets. In fact, several such schools were created in France to improve the French officers’ military careers, especially in view of the fact that over the past couple of decades France was beset by a lack-lustre performance of its troops on the battlefield.
The Brienne school was run by an ex-Grenadier, who became Father Jean Baptiste Berton, and his brother, Father Louis Berton, both in their early thirties and both of the orders of St. Francis. The frocks or habits resembled those of sixteen century Cofradías of Spain, with sandals for footwear and monks’ habits. They were austere, and Brienne was recognised as one of the better military schools (Carlo’s original plan for Joseph was that he was destined to be a priest, but this was changed later).
Napoléon’s persistent obsession was to liberate Corsica from the French yoke. He was to be taunted by his class cadets for his heavy Corsican accent; this was not to deter him from threatening them, shaking his clenched fist at them. He was only nine years of age when separated from his father Carlo and brother Joseph, whom he loved dearly. Despite Carlo’s oddly timed and ostensibly busy schedule, young Napoléon had a very warm attachment to his father. The boy observed his father’s care and felt his importance as the provider to a family of eight children. Their journey together from Corsica to France and the intensely emotional moments when his father had to bid little Napolean farewell who choked his tears in a gesture of pride while his brother Joseph let his tears roll profusely. Later, in his dormitory assigned room, he would confide to his only close mate Alexander de Mazis how much he loved his father.
Napoléon indulged in history; he would frequently remark that novels are for chamber maids; men must learn history. Classical history, history of the Arabs and the Abaseen Khulafaa, the Quran and many contemporary books. On his long journeys during his campaigns his Berlina (coach driven by four horses) would be filled with books; he was an impatient and avid reader, and books would be thrown out from his coach, practically littering the road, as soon as he was finished with them. His favourite classic writers included Plutarch, Caesar, Cicero and many others. At the military academy he excelled in mathematics; history and geography were his favourite.
The Royal academy inspectors in their reports would remark that the boy was peremptory and domineering. In an incident when an officer disciplined him for his recalcitrant attitude in class and ordered him to eat his dinner kneeling on the floor, the boy vehemently refused, snapping back that his family will kneel only before God. On the inspector’s insistence, Napoléon was seized epileptically shaking feverishly causing the school master to rescind the order and send the boy to the school infirmary for recovery.
Carlo Bonaparte had a chronic illness of undetermined nature, and after a visit to Napoléon at the academy in June 1784, whom he had not seen for the past three years, the boy reserved as he was, yet overwhelmed with emotions for he had not seen his family and beloved Corsica for the past three years in view of his very limited financial abilities, at the faculty of Medicine at Montpellier Carlo was diagnosed with terminal cancer and had only a few months to live. On his death bed, he would call the only name that lifted his spirit briefly while he was suffering his death throes … “Napoléon!” Hallucinating, he called Napoléon’s name and repeated that his beloved son Napoléon would always come to his rescue, and exclaim “Napoléon … Napoléon … Napoléon always comes when called and he saves me from my enemies.” He died at the young, unfulfilled age of 39 on February 24, 1785, at the home of his Corsican friends, the Permonts.
On receiving the news of his father’s death, Napoléon was struck with grief, for he loved his father dearly and even at the age of 16 his emotion and sentiments dwelled on his love which emanated from a truly filial son; his feelings went beyond words to esteem, appreciate and value his father, whose love to his children and utter devotion Napoléon felt deep in the recesses of his heart; for Carlo, despite his ill health, would endeavour to ensure a better future for his sons Napoléon, Joseph, Lucien and Louis and sister Elisa (Maria Anna).
Elisa went to Saint-Cyr and Lucien was at Brienne. There were two younger sisters, Carolina and Pauline, and Jerome, the youngest of the brothers. These siblings would be cared for by Napoléon, who ultimately became the Patriarch of the family.
Napoléon, at the Ecole Militaire in Paris, was recommended for the artillery; unsurprising, for he excelled in mathematics, and in years to come he would prove to be an outstanding artillery officer. On September 28, 1785, at the age of sixteen, at the Ecole Militaire, Napoléon became an artillery officer; second lieutenant Bonaparte was posted with La Fere artillery regiment alongside his friend, de Mazis.
The meagre financial state of his family, especially after his father’s death preoccupied Napoléon. His deep sense of responsibility towards his family was and remained a perennial issue in Napoléon’s life. Always thinking of his mother’s pecuniary financial and domestic affairs, his younger brothers Jerome, Lucien, Louis, and even his older brother Joseph were a constant worry burden on his shoulders, not to mention his sisters Caroline, Elisa and Pauline. Despite of all of this, he was bent on becoming the best artillery officer that the French gunnery ever produced. The near future would prove his presage to be true; it was the precursor to becoming the most formidable field commander since Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar.

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