Napoleonic News Desk
by Paul Chamberlain
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Waterloo/The History Channel Look out for a new series being broadcast on The History Channel in January 2000. Called In The Line of Fire the first episode covers the Waterloo Campaign, with the talking head on the programme being the historian and author Ian Fletcher. The programme will include computer graphics and footage shot on the actual battlefield. The Napoleonic Era and its Impact on Scandinavia Following its highly successful conference on Borders and Communities in the Nordic Region held in September 1998, the Centre for Nordic research at University College London is organising a new conference on the important and understudied theme of the Napoleonic era and its impact on Scandinavia. This will take place on 18/19 June 2000. Speakers will include: Ole Feldbęk - The Destruction of the Danish-Norwegian Union.
If you wish to attend the conference, please write to Ms Rust at the Centre for Nordic Research, Department of Scandinavian Studies, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT.
French Commanders Study Group This Group has been in existence for some years and deals with enquiries about many of the French Generals of the Napoleonic period. Among the enquiries received during 1998 were two that concerned Generals Henri-Francois Delaborde and André-Bruno de Frevol Lacoste. In both cases, I was able to assist. I have numerous contacts around the world including descendants of at least twelve of the Emperor's Generals. My investigations during the year additionally concerned Generals Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes, Michel Letort, Claude-Etienne Guyot, Francois Fournier-Sarloveze, Yreiex Daumesnil and Francois D'Henin. There are areas of these soldiers' lives where I find myself at odds with a number of very eminent historians who state that Guyot was captured at Kulm in August 1813. The General's Etat des Services does not mention his alleged captivity and Guyot himself, I am informed, makes no reference to it in his carnets and diaries. it appears that he has been confused with General Joachim-Jerome Quiot who was taken prisoner there, and the error, I understand, was probably originated by Baron Fain. R.H.Horne in his History of Napoleon published in 1841 says that D'Henin prior to Waterloo was overheard inciting his men to defect to the Allies and that during the battle had his leg carried away by a cannon ball. I have never seen any mention of D'Henin in any orbats relating to Waterloo. Moreover his Etats des Services make no reference either to his presence on the field or the loss of a leg. The same Etat des Services place him as Commandant of the Department de Loire et Cher from 23 May 1815. It is interesting to note that D'Henin was for some years from 1803 a prisoner of war and spent a long period in the Chesterfield are where he in fact married a Scottish girl by the name of Eleanor Dickson. Another who married a British girl was the gifted cavalry commander Michel Letort. Although never in England he did in fact marry Sarah Newton who was born in Stockport but whose family had moved to France in the late 1780s. It is stated by some that Sarah was descended from Sir Isaac Newton having made enquiries, I am reasonably satisfied that there was no such connection. Further investigation will continue concerning these soldiers, plus Montbrun, Senarmont, Travers, Arrighi Di Cassanova, Sebastiani, the Barbanegre brothers, the Corbineau brothers, Eblé and d'Espagne. Anyone wishing to join the Group will be most welcome. Alternatively, if you just wish to receive information on any specific General I will be most happy to assist. Finally, depending on numbers, I would be prepared to produce a periodic newsletter providing information on Generals studied. Study Group co-ordinator: Terry Senior, 4 Parc-Ans-Pons, Green Lane, Marazion, Cornwall TR17 0HQ. Email: terryjsenior@compuserve.com Book News from Chatham Publishing May 2000 sees the publication of Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars by Robert Gardiner (Hardback price £35.00), which will be the first in-depth history of the sailing navy's most popular and charismatic ship type at the height of its development. For every naval officer, in fiction or reality, the frigate was the ideal and much sought-after command. As dashing as a modern destroyer, the frigate offered the excitement of independent service, with the prospect of a glorious single-ship battle or a fortune to be made in prize money. Their actions have been the stuff of history and sea fiction for generations, but the ships themselves are hardly documented at all. This book seeks to redress the balance, to describe the design, construction, armament and fitting of individual classes, to look at the factors that influenced their development, and to analyse the way in which frigates were employed in the many roles they were expected to perform. Backing the main narrative are detailed tabular data on all classes, including the prizes captured from opposing navies - French, Spanish, Dutch, Danish and American - with comparative information on aspects like performance under sail. The book is largely based on new research, and while primarily devoted to frigates has much original material on more general issues, such as the constructional experiments prior to the adoption of Sepping's diagonal system, and the improvements to guns, mountings and powder during the wars of 1793-1815. Illustrated in depth mainly with the original plans, the book also includes photographs of models and contemporary prints. With the information provided here, for the first time readers can discover not only which were the most highly regarded frigates in the fleet, but also why. Chatham produces a series of contemporary accounts of the naval side of the period, under the heading of Sailors Tales. February 2000 will see the inclusion of Above and Under Hatches: The Recollections of James Anthony Gardner, edited by Sir R. Vesey Hamilton and John Knox Laughton (paperback price £9.95). Unlike most of the sailor's memoirs of the Nelsonic navy, Gardener's was not written for publication; it was purely intended for the entertainment of his family and friends, and did not see publication until long after his death. As a result potential problems of libel did not constrain him, to bite his tongue when it came to opinions of individuals, high and low, in the naval service. He himself saw plenty of action and served in some famous ships, including the Victory, but what interests him most is his messmates and their eccentricities. The pranks, scams and amusements that broke up the claustrophobic life of a warship's crew form a large part of his narrative, and some of his stories are almost surreal in their details - a wonderful tale of the mayhem caused aboard his ship by 86 Newfoundland dogs is only one example. Somehow Gardener's vision of the bawdy, drunken and often comic-opera life of the Navy rings more true than the usual Victorian image of the heroic Wooden Walls of Old England. James Anthony Gardner came from a well-connected naval family, yet his own career did not really prosper. He first went to sea in 1782, and made lieutenant in 1795, but there he remained until retirement in 1830. Although he was clearly a competent officer, it may have been his mocking attitude to the service that held back his advancement. But if he became embittered, there is no hint of it in his delightful recollections. These were written in 1836, but not published until the Navy Records Society was given permission by his grandsons to produce this edited version in 1906. Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #50 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |