Louisiana State Museum:
New Play About Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleonic Newsdesk

by Paul Chamberlain

The Louisiana State Museum in Shreveport, Louisiana, will present a new play about Napoleon Bonaparte as part of their year-long celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. “The Emperor’s Last Battle”, by attorney and Napoleonic scholar, Charles Osinski; will run from September 26th, to September 28th, 2003.

The date of the purchase was April 30, 1803, but since the Spanish had never given up physical possession of Louisiana to the French in compliance with the secret treaty at San Ildefonso which was signed on October 1, 1800, they did so in a ceremony at New Orleans on November 30, 1803. In a second ceremony, on December 20, 1803, the French turned Louisiana over to the United States.

“This was the greatest real estate deal in history – one that doubled the size of the our country and put the United States in a position to become a world power. Over 900,000 square miles – nearly 600 million acres – were purchased for 15 million dollars, an average of only 4 cents an acre!” Charles Osinski explained.

Although the Constitution did not specifically empower the federal government to acquire new territory by treaty, Jefferson concluded that the practical benefits to the nation far outweighed the possible violation of the Constitution. The Senate concurred with this decision and voted ratification on October 20, 1803.

“Wow! We are thrilled to have the opportunity of presenting “The Emperor’s Last Battle” to the public of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi!” wrote Forrest Dunn, Administrator of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum. The play reads beautifully and very factually. What an entertaining way to present a history lesson…” Dunn noted. “Let the Land rejoice, for you have bought Louisiana for a Song,” General Horatio Gates said to President Thomas Jefferson on July 18, 1803. Henry Adams wrote “The annexation of Louisiana was an event so portentous as to defy measurement.”

Napoleon Bonaparte, who regarded himself as a founder of American greatness, had this sentence added to the terms of the agreement: “Let them know that we separate from them with regret. Let them always remember that they were French. May our common origin, kinship, language, and customs perpetuate our friendship.” In the light of recent world events, Napoleon’s message to Americans have a special meaning. Most American’s probably remember from their American History classes that it was Thomas Jefferson, as the third President of the United States, who purchased the huge tract of land known as the Louisiana Territory.

Few, however, know that it was Napoleon Bonaparte; as First Consul of the French Republic who offered to sell the ‘vast domain’. Playwright Osinski hopes to introduce the genius of Napoleon through his new play and to show how Napoleon Bonaparte forever changed the destiny of America! Fifteen states or parts of states have been carved from The Louisiana Purchase Territory. They include: Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Colorado and Montana.

The two-act, three character play takes place on the Island of St. Helena during Napoleon’s final exile at the hands of the British. A reporter for the New York Herald has won the ‘Story of the Century’ - the right to interview “The Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte” despite the major reservations of his British jailer, Sir Hudson Lowe. One theatre critic wrote that the play was “... written absorbingly, seamlessly and brilliantly.” The author/producer is seeking other cultural institutions, schools and colleges in America that might be interested in a production of the play. While the premise of a reporter from the New York Herald having an interview with the exiled Emperor is fictional, the text of the play is taken from the pages of history.

“I’ve been studying the Emperor for 30 years,” says Mr. Osinski, a prominent business attorney from Allentown, Pennsylvania. The interview format of the play allows Hampton to ask the Emperor how the Louisiana Purchase actually came about.

“Theatre and spectacle were close to Napoleon’s heart,” wrote Peter Hicks, the editor of The Napoleon.org Bulletin. “In the Consulate and Empire periods, he actually made a total of 682 visits to the theatre, in other words nearly once a week religiously for 15 years. His first love was Cornellie, and he was known as an intelligent critic of the theatre. And there were the actresses…” Hicks added.

“President Thomas Jefferson was interested in securing the ‘rights of deposit’ at the mouth of the Mississippi River and perhaps even purchase New Orleans. Imagine his absolute delight when he found that Napoleon of-fered to sell the entire territory! This one single act of Napoleon’s should insure the eternal gratitude of all American’s, for imagine what would have happened if someone else was the head of the French people at that time,” Charles said.

The play was recently produced as the centerpiece of the 18th Annual Conference of the Napoleonic Society of America in conjunction with The Theatre Outlet in Allentown, Pa and starred popular local actors Bob Weick as Sir Hudson Lowe, Pat Kelly as the reporter, Edward Hampton and Peter Sanchez in the role of Napoleon. Both Weick and Sanchez performed in the original production in Montreal in 1999. At that time, “The Emperor’s Last Battle” was a one-act play. Mr. Osinski has been a student of Napoleon since he was 15, when he saw an oil painting in his grandmother’s Edison, New Jersey home. The painting was of his six-generation removed grandfather, Stanislas Osinski, dressed in the full regalia of an officer of the Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon. He has more than 2,000 books in his personal library about the French Emperor (1769-1821) and is a “Fellow” of the Napoleonic Society of America.

“Osinski brings something that every great author should have. He has passion for his work and knows his subject well,” said Bob Weick.

For information on this play about Napoleon Bonaparte, contact Charles Osinski at (610) 439-1451.

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