Month: March 2006

30 Mar 2006
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#3 – Thermidor and A Whiff of Grapeshot!

Sticky Post By On March 30, 2006 With 14 Comments

Napoleon #003 (mp3 – 18Mb – 50mins)

 

In Episode #3 of Napoleon 101, we pick up where we left last time – Napoleon has just won the Battle of Toulon and is made a Brigadier General. He is 24.

This brings us to 1794 and the events of the month of Thermidor (July in the revolutionary calendar).

  • Napoleon’s relationship with Augustin Robespierre, and his older brother Maximillian, sees him thrown into prison.
  • He is released but still has his name struck off the list of artillery officers and transferred to infantry.
  • He takes two months sick leave and goes to Paris. Eventually he ends up working in the Topography Department of the Army.
  • Then we move to 1795 – Vendemaire. Paris is under attack and Napoleon meets Paul Barras.
  • Napoleon saves the day with a “whiff of grapeshot”.
  • As we finish this episode, Napoleon is made commander of the Army of the Interior, the largest army in France. He is only 26 years old.

In Episode #4, Napoleon will meet Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie (aka Josephine) and will take up the command of The Army of Italy!

If you are a Napoleon neophite, then you really must buy a copy of David’s recent book:

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06 Mar 2006
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Visit Napoleon Bonaparte ‘s house

Sticky Post By On March 6, 2006 With 4 Comments

I’m going to set up links to Google Maps of Napoleonic sites as we journey through this show. For those of you not familiar with Europe, it might help to put some tales into context.

So, in order to start the beginning, here’s a link to Napoleon’s house in Ajaccio.

If you have Google Earth installed, you can double-click on the above link and it will fly you to a location. If not, you will need to install Google Earth first (available at http://earth.google.com).

I’ve set up a page dedicated to Napoleonic site maps here.

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