# Jonathan North

> Jonathan North's Writing


## Pages

- [What if Napoleon had not surrendered to the British in July 1815?](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/what-if-napoleon-had-not-surrendered-to-the-british-in-july-1815/): As is well known, Napoleon handed himself over to Captain Maitland of the Bellerophon on 15 July 1815. He hoped, as stated in his famous letter to the Prince Regent, that he would be offered asylum in Britain but, to his surprise, was soon shipped off to St Helena, exile and death. Napoleon’s surrender also seems to have come as something of a surprise to those officers of the British navy then blockading France’s western ports, men who included Captain Maitland and his superior, Admiral Hotham, as they had assumed he would make a desperate effort to escape to the […]
- [A description of the Duke of Wellington](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/a-description-of-the-duke-of-wellington/): Napoleon had been defeated, the Allies were about to enter Paris. Count Molé accompanied Fouché to a meeting with Wellington on 5 July designed to arrange the surrender of the capital and the likely restoration of King Louis XVIII. Count Molé gives this unusual, and surprising, description of Wellington: “Before seeing the Duke of Wellington I tried to imagine him. I thought of the deliverer of Portugal, the restorer of the Spanish monarchy and finally of Napoleon himself. I thought of the man who never abused victory and always showed himself so sparing of his soldier’s blood, of the illustrious […]
- [The Fall of Napoleon](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/the-fall-of-napoleon/): My current project relates to the surrender of Napoleon. I am gathering material, mostly eyewitness accounts, on the period between Napoleon’s return to Paris in June 1815 and his surrender to the British off Rochefort three weeks later. It isn’t discussed much in polite society, but had he not surrendered to the British in July 1815 the British were quite prepared to sink the vessel he was on and to kill him. It is only slightly related, but here is an account of the man who beat Napoleon, the Duke of Wellington, by a French official, the Count Molé. It […]
- [Research](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/): In these pages I’m grouping ongoing work on various themes that interest me. I’ve tried to give them chronologically below. Under each heading I’ve gathered source material (such as translations of letters or memoirs), and will later add fragments of writing and reference materila (such as bibliographies or biographies) which are relevant to the theme. At present the areas of research are: 1797 to 1800 Nelson and the Revolution at Naples, primarily the events of June and July 1799 1798 to 1801 Rebellion in Ireland Napoleon and Egypt 1800 to 1805 Napoleon’s secret police and the plots to assassinate Napoleon 1801 […]
- [General Humbert's account of his expedition to Ireland](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/ireland-in-the-1790s/general-humberts-account-of-his-expedition-to-ireland/): This is from the Eyre Coote Papers, Rapport de l’expedition d’Irlande aux ordres de Général Humbert. Archived as the Private report of General Humbert. 17 pp.  6912/14/90. The original is in the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan. My thanks to them for supplying me with the original text in French. This translation is my own. Upon my arrival at Rochefort where I was to take charge of this expedition I had expected to find that good troops had been assigned to me. My surprise was great when I found a battalion that had never seen battle and a […]
- [1798 and the French Invasion of Ireland](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/an-account-by-louis-octave-fontaine/): An Eyewitness Account by Louis Octave Fontaine The French invaded Ireland in 1798. General Humbert landed just over a thousand men in County Mayo in August, coming ashore in a land that was still reeling from an abortive rebellion against British rule. Deprived of reinforcements, and always struggling for supplies, Humbert nevertheless launched his little expeditionary force into the fray, defeating the British at Killala, Ballina and then Castlebar before succumbing to superior forces at Ballinamuck that September. His French troops surrendered and were eventually shipped back to France but those Irish who had joined him in this last great […]
- [The French in Killala](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/ireland-in-the-1790s/the-french-in-killala/): An odd eyewitness account This is a series of letters by Mrs Thompson, wife of Thomas Thompson, Dean of Killala, to her aunt. They were written in October 1798 and describe in detail Mrs Thompson’s tribulations, for she was amongst those who had become trapped when General Humbert landed in August 1798. Her confinement had not been too unpleasant, for she formed part of the group caught in Bishop Stock’s castle. “Tom [her son, Thomas] wished to give a take-leave entertainment to all our neighbours and on the 22nd had a number of them to dine with us – three […]
- [The Death of Joachim Murat: 1815 and the Unfortunate Fate of One of Napoleon's Marshals](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/the-death-of-joachim-murat/): Joachim Murat, son of an innkeeper, had won his spurs as Napoleon’s finest cavalry general and then won his throne when, in 1808, Napoleon appointed him king of Naples. He loyally ran this strategic Italian kingdom with his wife, Napoleon’s sister Caroline, until, in 1814, with Napoleon beaten and in retreat towards ruin and exile, the royal couple chose to betray their imperial relation and dramatically switched sides. This notorious betrayal won them temporary respite, but just a year later Murat engineered his own dramatic fall. A series of blunders took the cavalier king from thinking he had secured his […]
- [When Wolfe Tone met Napoleon](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/ireland-in-the-1790s/when-wolfe-tones-meetings-with-napoleon/): It was in the wintery month of December 1797. Theobald Wolfe Tone, a force of nature in the revolutionary United Irishmen, was kicking his heels in Paris, hoping the French Government would once again mount an expedition to liberate Ireland. There had been one the year before but it had gone badly wrong at Bantry Bay when the French fleet had struggled through the December storms only to flounder on the Irish shore, losing men, warships and confidence in the process. Now, fresh from Holland, where he had been badgering Admiral Dewinter to send his fleet against the English, he […]
- [Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt: An Eyewitness History](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/napoleons-invasion-of-egypt/): In July 1798 Napoleon invaded Egypt, landing an army in the stifling heat of a North African summer. His invasion came as a shock to the Egyptians but also as a surprise to the soldiers onboard his armada, for they had not been briefed on a mission designed to win glory for their general and, or so it appeared, untold riches for their government. For these soldiers who followed in Napoleon’s wake, trailing along through a sense of duty, or running to new adventures, the campaign which followed promised neither fame nor wealth. What it did offer was forced marches, […]
- [Napper Tandy's Expedition](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/ireland-in-the-1790s/napper-tandys-expedition/): James Napper Tandy was made famous by the song The Wearing of the Green but when he boarded the French 16-gun corvette, the Anacréon, in September 1798 he was resplendent in the dark blue and gold of a French general’s uniform. This was quite an achievement for a man who had so little experience of war but the French revolutionary government hoped that Tandy might act as a political weapon in the conflict then being waged against England. For Ireland had risen up in revolt and although the rebellion itself was brutally repressed in that summer of 1798 it was […]
- [With Napoleon in Egypt: The Recollections of Józef Szumlański](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/with-napoleon-in-egypt/): A short memoir by a Polish cavalryman who took part in Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798. It sets out (briefly) his own adventures, and adds some observations on Egypt, its people and its culture. Our Polish hussar took part in the capture of Malta, the landing near Alexandria and the battle of the Pyramids. After witnessing the fall of Cairo he fell ill and was being evacuated back to France when he was captured off a Greek island and held by the Turks. Only when a ransom was paid for him was he freed from Constantinople so he could […]
- [Antoine Félix Lanfranchi: A Companion of Murat](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/the-death-of-murat/antoine-felix-lanfranchi-a-companion-of-murat/): Antoine Félix Lanfranchi was one of the soldiers who accompanied Joachim Murat on his final, and fatal, campaign: the landing at Pizzo, Calabria, in October 1815. It was a rash and desperate attempt by Murat to regain his kingdom, lost to him that May, and it involved him landing on the Calabrian coast with just a handful of supporters. Murat had hoped this would trigger a general uprising in his favour, but it dd not. His band of officers and soldiers were overpowered and captured and, after four days of captivity n Pizzo’s prison, Murat himself was executed by firing […]
- [Murat escapes from Naples, May 1815](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/the-death-of-murat/murat-escapes-from-naples-may-1815/): This account is from General Rossetti’s unpublished diary. Murat has just lost his war against the Austrians in the spring of 1815. he had rashly attacked before Napoleon, who had just escaped from Elba, could support him and, by May, had seen his army dissolve and his kingdom placed at the mercy of the advancing Austrians. He had resolved to leave Naples, either going to Gaeta, a coastal fortress which still held out, or to France to seek support from his imperial brother-in-law. Here is Rossetti’s text: 19 May At six that morning I was summoned to the palace where […]
- [Polish Eyewitnesses to Napoleon's Campaigns, 1814-1815](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/polish-eyewitnesses-to-napoleons-campaigns-1814-1815/): These eyewitness accounts by Polish soldiers tells their story of the campaign in France in Spring 1814 when Napoleon once again revealed his true genius for waging war. Napoleon finally had to accept defeat and was exiled to Elba with a small contingent of his Imperial Guard including a squadron of the famous Polish Lancers. This handful of loyal Poles returned with him when he escaped from Elba in 1815 and fought during the 100 Days and at Waterloo. They describe vividly the battles, sieges, the agonies of their final surrender and the uncertainties surrounding their return home to a […]
- [An Account of the Execution of Murat](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/the-death-of-murat/an-account-of-the-execution-of-murat/): This unpublished account of the final days of Joachim Murat, former king of Naples, but captured in Calabria following a reckless attempt to regain his throne, comes from the British vice-consul at Pizzo, a certain Antonio Perri. The British, and many other European powers, had a network of representatives in the ports of Italy and Perri was resident in Pizzo, a little port in Calabria. It was there, in October 1815, that Murat landed with a paltry expeditionary force, was overwhelmed by a band of armed locals, and was executed following the sentence of a hastily convened court martial. Perri’s […]
- [1813: Polish Eyewitness Accounts of Napoleon's Campaign in Germany](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/1813-polish-eyewitness-accounts-of-napoleons-campaign-in-germany/): Marek Tadeusz Łałowskiand Jonathan North In the early weeks of January, the full scale of Napoleon’s disaster in Russia began to become apparent. An army of half a million had been swallowed up in the snow and any survivors, desperate for shelter, tormented by hunger and prey to the ravages of disease, were in no condition to fight. Napoleon’s empire would be shaken to its core, and its enemies sensed that their time had come. This book charts the experiences, in their own words, of Polish soldiers in Napoleon’s armies, tracking them from the frosty chaos of January 1813 to […]
- [The Death of Murat](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/the-death-of-murat/): I am currently researching the last six months of Joachim Murat’s life. The result of this work will be this book, published in 2023, on the dramatic and unfortunate fall of this colourful character. You can also see more about the book here. In 1815, as Napoleon escaped from Elba, King Joachim of Naples (former Jacobin, French marshal, king of Naples) launched an ambitious campaign to conquer and unite Italy. It was rather too ambitious and ended not only in failure but Murat’s death. The Austrian military machine, professional, solid, reliable and deployed to ensure that northern Italy remained a […]
- [Polish Eyewitnesses to Napoleon's 1812 Campaign](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/polish-eyewitnesses-to-napoleons-1812-campaign/): This is a collection of Polish accounts of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia and is another collaboration between myself and Marek Tadeusz Łałowski. Marek has unrivalled expertise on the Poles of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon’s invasion of Russia cost the lives of hundreds of thousands and changed the course of history. Europe had never seen an army quite like the one gathering in Poland in 1812 – half a million men in brilliant uniforms, plumed shakoes and shimmering helmets. Six months later, it was the ghost of an army, frozen and miserable, that limped back to their horrified homes. While the […]
- [Somosierra, 1808](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/somosierra-1808/): The Legendary Charge of Napoleon’s Polish Guard Cavalry By Marek Tadeusz Łałowski and Jonathan North This is the compelling account of one of the most famous cavalry charges in history. In November 1808, Napoleon was marching on Madrid when he found his path blocked by an army of 12,000 Spaniards entrenched across the Somosierra pass. Impatient to take the Spanish capital, he launched his small escort of Guard cavalry against the enemy position. That cavalry, consisting of a squadron from the newly formed Polish light cavalry regiment, astonished everyone by storming the pass, seizing the guns and riding on to […]
- [Prisoner of the Arabs](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-egypt/prisoner-of-the-arabs/): An account by Second Lieutenant [Joseph] Augustin Delesalle of the 3rd Dragoons, who was taken prisoner by the Arabs on Wednesday 13 March 1799. A translation of the short text Cent heures d’agonie, ou Relation des aventures d’Augustin Delesalle, published in Paris in Paris in 1800. On 13 March 1799 a detachment of 25 men of the 3rd Dragoons, part of General Murat’s division of cavalry, was sent out to reconnoitre the area between Jaffa and Saint Jean d’Acre. Terrand and I lead them out and some five miles further on we encountered a column of around 200 Arabs on […]
- [Revolution before the revolution](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/revolution-before-the-revolution/): 1794 in Naples The French Revolution came as a shock to the kingdom of Naples. The queen, Maria Carolina, was, after all, Marie Antoinette’s sister, but the king, Ferdinand, always a little paranoid, was also profoundly disturbed. So too was their chief minister, the archly conservative Giovanni Acton. Whilst the events of 1789 were bad enough, the Terror positively shook the Bourbons of Naples to their core, even more so when France signaled that she would work to export revolution across Europe. Italy, which had spent a century in decline and longer in an abusive relationship with its rulers, boasted […]
- [3rd Guard Lancers in 1812](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/poles-during-the-napoleonic-era/3rd-guard-lancers-in-1812/): The Destruction of the 3rd (Polish-Lithuanian) Lancers of the Imperial Guard in 1812 Józef Gorayski’sMilitary Recollections The 3rd Chevau-légers of the Guard, known as the 3rd (Polish-Lithuanian) Light Horse Regiment of the Imperial Guard (but more properly the 3e régiment de chevau-légers lanciers de la Garde Impériale), was created by imperial decree issued at Vilnius on 5 July 1812. These lancers were to form part of the Young Guard, along with the established 1st (Polish) Regiment and 2nd (Dutch) Regiment of Light Horse. The man nominated to command the unit was General Jan Konopka, a veteran of the Polish Legions […]
- [Killing Napoleon](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/killing-napoleon/): Killing Napoleon The Plot to Blow up Bonaparte It was Christmas Eve. The streets of central Paris were crowded with citizens. Some were shopping, some were eating and some were drinking. Others were plotting murder. Between the Tuileries and the Louvre a group of extremists were preparing to set off a bomb. They had wheeled their improvised device into town earlier that day, parking it opposite a wine bar, and were now nervously checking their watches. Then, amongst the milling crowd, they saw their target appear then approach. Despite knowing that their bomb would kill indiscriminately, there was little hesitation […]
- [Egyptian propaganda](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-egypt/egyptian-propaganda/): Napoleon brings printing to Egypt The most influential power in a modern state, equal only to armed force and a supine judiciary, is the power of the written word. Napoleon, more than most, was aware of this. He knew how to deploy the media as an auxiliary to conquest and understood the importance of amplifying his word for the record of his glories. His maxim was, after all, “persuasion and force: with the former I make friends, with the latter I crush enemies”. Once Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor he was able to establish what was, for the time, a rather […]
- [Glory and Despair](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/glory-and-despair/): Glory and Despair: Polish Accounts of the Sieges of Saragossa, 1808 and 1809 The twin sieges of Saragossa became a symbol of the determination of the Spanish people to resist Napoleon’s invasion. The French would launch two attempts to capture the capital of Aragon and whilst the first, launched in the summer of 1808, would fail, the second triumphed at great cost in early 1809. Both were hard, heroic struggles. And both sides showed equal heroism. The stubborn resolve of the inhabitants, only weakened by disease and starvation by degrees, was pitted against the determination of Napoleon’s soldiers in a […]
- [Who discovered the Rosetta Stone?](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-egypt/who-discovered-the-rosetta-stone/): The Man who Discovered the Rosetta Stone In July 1799 a party of French soldiers was toiling away in the sweltering heat of the Egyptian sun. They were strengthening the defences of a small Saracen fort on the left bank of the Nile in anticipation of a Turkish landing somewhere on that great river’s delta. As the soldiers, overseen by a young officer from the engineers, buttressed the walls of what the French called Fort Julien and enlarged the ditches, a pickaxe struck a large slab of black rock. The watchful officer of engineers, Lieutenant Pierre François Xavier Bouchard, ordered […]
- [Joseph Haydn in Egypt](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-egypt/joseph-haydn-in-egypt/): Well, one of his overture. Shortly after Napoleon’s army conquered Cairo a number of establishments were opened to entertain the troops. A Citizen Chay opened the rather grand Café de l’ Armée victorieuse in Ibrahim Bey’s house. However, citizens Hannig and Audiffret went one better and opened a concert hall. We know that a concert was held there on Boxing Day 1800, the orchestra drawn from military bandsmen playing two symphonies by Pleyel, a Cimarosa overture and one by Devienne. Such was its success that they followed it with a more ambitious programme on 5 January 1800. This was described […]
- [Soldiers of Misfortune](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/poles-during-the-napoleonic-era/soldiers-of-misfortune/):   Soldiers of Misfortune: Napoleon’s Polish Deserters in the West Indies A new republic was born on 1 January 1804.The French colony of Saint Domingue had thrown off a hundred years of French rule and proclaimed its independence as Haiti. That fight for independence had lasted a decade, but had culminated in the defeat of an army Napoleon had sent to subdue the colony. The new state was created by the rebels who had fought Napoleon and who, for the most part, started their lives as slaves on France’s sugar plantations. It had been a heroic fight but independence was […]
- [What is New](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/what-is-new/): I am currently researching Napoleon’s surrender at Rochefort in the summer of 1815. That means I am gathering all manner of eyewitness accounts, all in the hope of telling the story through the eyes of those who were actually present during those startling events. Hopefully more on that later. Meanwhile, here are my recent publications: 1798 and the French Invasion of Ireland: An Eyewitness Account A short eyewitness account by Louis Octave Fontaine, one of the French officers who accompanied General Humbert’s expedition to Ireland in August 1798. It provides a great overview of this short but dramatic episode commencing […]
- [Nelson at Naples](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/nelson-at-naples/): Nelson at Naples: Revolution and Retribution in 1799 Did Nelson commit a war crime at Naples in the summer of 1799? I think he did. And I hope this study of the revolution in Naples, and Nelson’s involvement with its destruction, proves it. During the wars which followed the French Revolution, France’s armies turned on Britain’s last ally in Italy, the kingdom of Naples. The French chased out the Bourbon royal family and established a republic, governed by scholars and philosophers. It lasted six months before an Army of the Holy Faith, under Cardinal Ruffo, counter-attacked and reduced the republic […]
- [Napoleon flees Egypt](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-egypt/napoleon-flees-egypt/): This is Roustam Raza’s account of Napoleon’s flight from Egypt: We camped in the desert that night, lying on the sand.  That evening Monsieur Elias arrived from Cairo via Boulak with a despatch for the general. He also brought with him two watermelons and these did me much good because it was truly very hot. He told me “There isn’t a Turkish army, nor an English one, as they said to you, you are going on a different sort of journey”. He did not say anything else and returned to Cairo. The following day, at some point in the morning, […]
- [Napoleon's Mamelukes](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-egypt/napoleons-mamelukes/): This page present biographies of those who fled Egypt and Syria when the French quit the Middle East and who ended up serving in the Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard. The list of Mamelukes which follows gives biographical details for personnel who returned with the French from Egypt or were drafted into the Mamelukes from foreign units of the French Army. It isn’t always easy to pinpoint a precise place of birth as the French military clerks jumbled names and the Mamelukes themselves made use of different geographical expressions for different places, or gave their ethnic group rather than the […]
- [War of Lost Hope](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/war-of-lost-hope/): War of Lost Hope Polish Accounts of the Napoleonic Expedition to Saint Domingue, 1801 to 1804 The recollections of Piotr Bazyli Wierzbicki, Kazimierz Małachowski, Jakub Filip Kierzkowski and Ludwik Mateusz Dembowski This collection of four Polish memoirs about the expedition to Saint Domingue has now been published on Amazon. It presents the recollections of four officers who survived the destruction of Napoleon’s expeditionary force, setting the accounts in context and outlining the fate of the Polish contingent sent to the West Indies. This has been published in Kindle format but a paperback will be made available shortly. I recently gave […]
- [Two lancers at Albuera](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/poles-during-the-napoleonic-era/two-lancers-at-albuera/): The Poles at Albuera Here are two accounts of the battle of Albuera by officers in the Vistula Legion lancers. Both accounts were translated by Mark Tadeusz Łałowski  and edited by Jonathan North. The first account is by Kajetan Wojciechowski, 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Lancer Regiment of the Vistula Legion, and it describes the participation of his regiment in the battle of Albuera. It is an extract from Pamiętniki moje w Hiszpanii; first printed in 1845 (Warsaw), and reprinted in 1978 (Warsaw). On the afternoon of 15 May 1811 we came across a huge, dense forest, through which the […]
- [Fuengirola](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/poles-during-the-napoleonic-era/fuengirola/): The Polish Victory at Fuengirola By Jonathan North. The account by Młokosiewicz was translated into English by Marek Tadeusz Łałowski and edited by Jonathan North.  This article looks at the remarkable victory of a small Polish garrison over an Anglo-Spanish expeditionary force. It compares and contrasts British and Polish accounts in an attempt to determine what actually happened during the siege and ensuing battle. In June 1808 Colonel Feliks Potocki’s 4th Regiment of Infantry of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw had, along with the 7th and 9th regiments, been selected to be transferred to serve under French command. Marshal Davout […]
- [Rudnicki's Peninsular War](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/poles-during-the-napoleonic-era/rudnickis-peninsular-war/): This account is an extract from the memoirs of Józef Rudnicki, published in Vilnius; 1862 (Pamiętniki Józefa Rudnickiego, which appeared in “Pismo Zbiorowe Wileńskie na rok 1862”). Rudnicki (1782-1849) was a captain who served in Peninsular War between 1809 and 1812, initially as an adjutant-major but later promoted to captain. His unit was the the 4th Regiment of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and he fought at Mora, Consuegra, Ciudad Real, Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Almonacid, Ocaña, Malaga, Ronda and Jerez de la Frontera. He later took part in the invasion of Russia in 1812, the German campaign of […]
- [Nelson at Naples excerpt](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/nelson-at-naples-excerpt/): This is the opening section of the book I am writing on Nelson at Naples: On the afternoon of Thursday 29 August 1799 Nicola Fiani sat listening to the crowd roar as four of his fellow prisoners were put to death beneath his cell windows. After last rites, administered by Father Eustachio Dentice of the white-cloaked clergy of the Confraternity of the Bianchi della Giustizia, he too was then blindfolded and escorted out of the gates of the medieval Carmine fort. Surrounded by a troop of cavalrymen he was dragged along to the city’s main market place, the Mercato, jostled […]
- [Suchet at Tarragona](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/articles-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/suchet-at-tarragona/): On the sweltering afternoon of Friday, June 28, 1811, French engineers surveyed the 10-meter–wide breach in the wall surrounding Tarragona’s upper town. After two months of sapping siegework and brutal assaults, whilst surrounded by implacable enemies, it now seemed that General Louis Gabriel Suchet and his troops could finally deliver the coup de grace and storm this outpost of such persistent resistance. The taking of Tarragona, a formidable Spanish fortress and port sited on rocky hills and cliffs and a thorn in the flesh of Napoleon’s armies, was critical to Napoleon’s pacification of Spain. But the stakes were high. Few […]
- [Law of the Trouser](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleons-police/law-of-the-trouser/): The Napoleonic police was kept busy managing the security of the state. In the capital they were tasked with the mundane duties of law enforcement such as curbing crime, issuing permits, running prisons, regulating markets and brothels, crowd control, monitoring suspicious persons. Then there was the excitement of the unusual: solving murders, foiling plots, monitoring suspicious persons, running agents and informers, chasing deserters. But they were also involved in policing minds. The French Revolution, as with any enormous movement of social upheaval, had engendered a kind of moral panic in France in the early 1800s. Britain would develop Cant and […]
- [Dubois of the Police](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleons-police/dubois-of-the-police/): The man in charge of preventing the conspiracy to blow up Napleon in 1800 was Louis-Nicolas Dubois, the prefect of police in Paris. He proved more successful in rounding up the suspects and those deemed suspicious. He wasn’t really a policeman as such, but he had legal training and was an effective administrator. So, as he will play such an important role in the drama, here’s a biography of the man: Louis-Nicolas Dubois was born in Lille on 20 January 1758. Son of a lawyer, and minor landowner, he seemed destined for some kind of life in administration. Fate had […]
- [A critique of Poles](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/poles-during-the-napoleonic-era/a-critique-of-poles/): Colonel A. Girardon was attempting to put down a revolt around Rome in mid-1798. He could not be everywhere at once (a problem when confronted by insurgents) and so those troops he had were required to march hard, and often. Girardon found his Polish contingent to be unsuited to this exhausting style of warfare (letter of 5 August 1798): “The Poles have bare feet and plead for shoes. I forgot to mention something about them. After Frosinone was taken I marched on Alatry with 400 men. Half way there the Poles lay down and refused to budge. I asked the […]
- [Poles during the Napoleonic era](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/poles-during-the-napoleonic-era/): I have a longstanding interest in Poland and the fate of Poles during the revolutionary and Napoleonic era. In addition to translating In the Legions of Napoleon, the memoirs of an articulate Pole in French service, some of my other research touches upon Polish themes. There’s the article on the gallant Captain Mrozinski, for example, and three books containing Polish accounts of events in the Napoleonic Wars (the invasion of Haiti, the sieges of Saragossa during the Peninsular War) and the remarkable charge of Napoleon’s Polish Guard cavalry at Somosierra in 1808. These three are available on kindle in the […]
- [Captain Peruset's War](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/articles-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/captain-perusets-war/): We are perhaps used to considering Napoleon’s regimental officers as being young heroes, who fought their way to glory on the battlefields of central Europe. Men who, in their twenties, led their men forward, shako on the tips of their swords, on such historic and glorious occasions as Austerlitz, Jena, Borodino or Waterloo. But, in many cases, the truth was more prosaic, the glory elusive. Napoleon’s officers were a mixed lot. Some, indeed, were comparatively young, but others had begun their careers in the decade of conflict which followed the French revolution. They had been unsuccessful in their attempts to […]
- [The Capitulation as seen by the French](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/the-capitulation-as-seen-by-the-french/): Cardinal Ruffo’s army entered Naples on 13 June. A week later and the republican garrisons were treating for surrender. A rather generous capitulation was agreed by all parties, and all parties were happy to have the treaty of surrender ratified by the French. The French commandant, Colonel Méjan, then reported to his superior, General Girardon at Capua, that all was well. He made it clear that the republicans would be evacuated to Toulon and that the terms were favourable. This is his report: “The army of Cardinal Ruffo, consisting of the allies of the king of Sicily, and composed of […]
- [End of Empire (1814)](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/articles-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/end-of-empire-1814/): In January 1814 massive Allied armies invaded France. Napoleon, fighting for the survival of his empire, resisted and conducted one of his most brilliant campaigns. He inflicted defeat after defeat on the Allied columns but still they pressed on, converging on Paris. Eventually sheer weight of numbers would prevail and Napoleon was forced to abdicate in April 1814.             A key reason for the defeat was that France was tired of war. The 1813 campaign in Germany had been a disaster. Many of Napoleon’s line regiments were reduced to handfuls of exhausted conscripts, he lacked cavalry and effective artillery. But […]
- [End of the Peninsular War](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/articles-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/end-of-the-peninsular-war/): In 1811 Marc Desboeufs, a lieutenant in the 81st Line, crossed the Spanish border and began his Peninsular War career. His regiment, which had been withdrawn from an easy posting in Illyria, in the Balkans, to support Marshal Massena’s invasion of Portugal, quickly found itself side-tracked to the dirty war against the guerrillas – holding down provinces, garrisoning remote forts, escorting convoys and taking part in anti-guerrilla sweeps. It was a pitiless war which sapped the strength of Desboeufs’ regiment and the manpower of Napoleon’s empire. General Reille, who governed the province of Navarre, wanted to profit from our arrival […]
- [England's Boy King](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-other/englands-boy-king/):  England’s Boy King: The Diary of Edward VI, 1547-1553 Evgenia and I once ran a publishing company called Ravenhall Books (more about that another time). We published some 10 books in all before the paperwork drowned our enthusiasm and the dried up. One of the most interesting books we published was, I think, the journal of King Edward VI. We produced this as a diary, added illustrations and adjusted the text for the modern eye (without losing its original character, I hope). Edward began the journal as something of a school exercise, it was autobiographical to begin with but, by […]
- [Captain Mrozinski](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/articles-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/captain-mrozinski/): AMBUSHED BY SPANISH GUERRILLAS, MAY 1810 An Account by Captain Mrozinski of the 1st Regiment of the Vistula Legion We had hardly left Gratallops when we came under musketery fire. Soon, bands of armed men could be seen gathering on the slopes to our right and their fire enfiladed the road along which we would have to pass. It became apparent that we would have to flush them out of their position and to this effect we clambered up the slope and charged the enemy. However, when we reached the plateau, we realised that these troops had been but the […]
- [Borodino 1812](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/articles-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/borodino-1812/): This article looks at the battle of Borodino, fought as Napoleon’s Grandy Army drew close to the goal of Moscow in September 1812: Napoleon’s lumbering and once-grand army was approaching Moscow in September 1812. Brought a thousand miles by imperial ambition, the dust-covered, multinational host raised its hopes in the belief that at Moscow it would deliver the blow that would end the campaign. Worn by constant marching, and unable to fight a Russian army that withdrew neatly and efficiently, the French and their allies longed for battle. A battle for Moscow.             And, sure enough, the Russians were preparing […]
- [Siege of Saragossa](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/articles-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/siege-of-saragossa/): This is an account of the epic siege of Saragossa in early 1809: The 27th January 1809 dawned drab and dismal. There was a light mist but the cold of the Spanish winter was intense. French troops gathered in the trenches before Saragossa, chatting nervously and shaking themselves ‘like dogs’ to keep warm. Napoleon’s soldiers had been encamped before the Spanish city for two months, enduring the wearisome monotony of siege warfare, fervently hoping for a breakthrough this winter day which might finish the ordeal. But the Spanish defenders were in no mood to capitulate. The silence of the early […]
- [Soviet PoW in Germany](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/articles-other/soviet-pow-in-germany/): Some ten years ago I began the enormous task of researching the treatment of Soviet prisoners of war in the hands of the Axis in World War II. I worked through masses of material in various languages, and grew familiar with the fate of Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians, etc, in Germany, Italy, Finland and Bulgaria. It was horrible. I’d never read about such suffering. World War II was total war. Few were spared some misfortune, many were the war’s victims. Some of those victims have been forgotten, but few have been more forgotten than those members of the Red Army who […]
- [Sergeant Beaudoin in Haiti](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-saint-domingue/sergeant-beaudoin-in-haiti/): Sergeant Philippe Beaudoin was born in Burgundy, France, on 20 June 1775.When he was sixteen he volunteered to serve in the armies of  the French Revolution and he saw service in Germany and in Italy. In April 1800 his unit, the 31st Demi-Brigade, was despatched to Brittany where it was to embark for a major expedition. The troops first thought that this would be directed against the British Isles but, to their dismay, news leaked out that they were being sent to Haiti in the West Indies. The French colony of Haiti had experienced revolt after revolt in the 1790s […]
- [The Barbary Corsairs](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-other/the-barbary-corsairs/): The Barbary Corsairs Warfare in the Mediterranean, 1480-1580 This book was a translation of the text by Jacques Heers. It appealed to me because there is a lot in it that is obscure, but which deserves to be better known. Christian slaves, the ordeal of Cervantes, the sack at Cyprus, renegade admirals. Very colourful, and written with considerable elan by a highly regard French historian (many of his other books are worth reading, too).          
- [Württemberg in 1812](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-in-russia/wurttemberg-in-1812/): Letters from the Crown Prince of Württemberg to his father, June–August 1812 Poland was overflowing with troops in June 1812. For more than a year French and allied troops had been gathering along the Vistula and the Baltic coast in preparation for Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. An impressive force, drawn from every corner of Europe, had been assembled for this vast undertaking. Nearly half a million men – one of the most imposing military hosts ever to take the field – was about to embark upon one of the greatest campaigns in the history of the world. Although the majority […]
- [Portrait](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/reviews/portrait/): This portrait of Field Marshal Suvorov was painted in 1800 by Johann Heinrich Schmidt. I came across it because Schmidt also painted miniature portraits of Nelson and Lady Hamilton when they visited Dresden. The Nelson and Hamilton pastel portraits are, of course, delightful, but Suvorov’s portrait is brilliant and very impish.
- [From Paris to Rennes in 1802](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/travel-in-napoleonic-europe/from-paris-to-rennes-in-1802/): Dr André Guilmot, a 24-year-old doctor from northern France was amongst those drawn to the supposed riches of the West Indies and so volunteered to take part in Napoleon’s ill-fated expedition to recapture Saint Domingue. Unaware of the horrors of Yellow Fever and vengeful armies of former slaves, he set off in good spirits in the summer of 1802, heading for the ports of Brittany where the massive invasion fleet was gathering. This is his account of how to get from Paris to Rennes at an affordable price. There are adventures, blisters and an encounter with a polar bear: “The […]
- [Travel in Napoleonic Europe](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/travel-in-napoleonic-europe/): Here I hope to present various accounts of travel in Europe between 1792 and 1815. It sounds easy enough, but the travellers of the time had to be tough, stubborn and prepared for all kinds of disasters. There were bandits in the hills, and bandits running inns. Travellers and their purses were vulnerable evry step of the way. Given Royal Navy dominance of the seas, most Europeans made their way from A to B on horseback, by stagecoach or, if needs be, on foot. Yet some seemed to enjoy the adventure, if their diaires and letters home can be believed. […]
- [Dr Cirillo's letter to Nelson](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/dr-cirillos-letter-to-nelson/): Dr Domenico Cirillo was a noted botanist and Enlightenment thinker, a man who befriended many a grand tourist and corresponded with Joseph Banks. That eminent musicologist, Dr Burney, would note that he spoke English better than any Italian he knew, and “as such had been the physician to much of the English community … his politics were reformist, his education enlightened”. He must have been well known to Sir William and Lady Hamilton, and a frequent visitor at court. In 1799, when the Neapolitan republic was declared following the flight of the royal family, Cirillo took up office in the […]
- [Louis Bro in the West Indies](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-saint-domingue/louis-bro-in-the-west-indies/): Louis Bro sailed to Saint Domingue as part of the expedition to help recapture the colony for France. A soldier in the cavalry, serving in a theatre quite unsuited to mounted troops, he left a colourful account of his adventures in the West Indies. As with all memoirs, it should be treated with some caution. Nevertheless, it doesn’t appear to be overly fabricated and the dates and timing seem to align with those from other accounts. He survives the voyage, survives his first battle (at Le Cap) and ends up guarding Pauline Bonaparte (wife of his commanding officer) before disaster […]
- [Swiss at the Beresina](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-in-russia/swiss-at-the-beresina/): This is the account of Louis Begos, a Swiss soldier who marched into Russia in 1812. He didn’t make it as far as the rest of Napoleon’s army, avoiding Borodino, but he and his fellow Swiss were caught up in the bitter retreat from Moscow. This translation of his memoirs looks in particular at the Swiss role in defending the Beresina crossings as the remnants of Napoleon’s exhausted army tries to make its escape: On the 17th October the Russians advanced against our positions and firing broke out all along the line. The cossacks were everywhere and I remember a […]
- [A plea to Nelson](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/a-plea-to-nelson/): Cardinal Ruffo’s forces stormed Naples in June 1799. A thousand republicans sought shelter in the city’s forts. A treaty of surrender was agreed with Cardinal Ruffo, allowing the republicans to return home, unmolested, or to set sail for France and exile. Transports were collected in the harbour for that purpose. Then Nelson and his fleet arrived, and repudiated the treaty. After much discussion, he relented and allowed the embarkation of the rebels. On 26 June 1799 the forts of Naples were evacuated. But Nelson did not allow the transports to sail. The republicans were trapped. Two days later, on the […]
- [General Humbert's invasion](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/ireland-in-the-1790s/general-humberts-invasion/): On the bright morning of Wednesday 22 August 1798 three ships, flying British colours, sailed into Kilcummin Bay and anchored a pistol-shot from the Irish shore. A local amateur scientist, James Little, hearing news of strange ships, scrambled up Lackan Hill, overlooking the bay, and gazed at the nearest of the vessels through his telescope: ‘I could perceive the English flag flying and I counted about twenty port holes on that side and that she was so deeply laden that they were scarcely above water, though the sea was very calm.’ (1) The arrival of the unexpected armada also caused […]
- [Ireland in the 1790s](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/ireland-in-the-1790s/): Some material on attempts to launch a revolution, in imitation of the French example, in Ireland during the 1790s. The Irish revolutionaries were active in Paris before Ireland rose in revolt in the summer of 1798. This interview between one of the emissaries, Theobald Wolfe Tone, and General Napoleon Bonaparte, shows something of the difficulties in getting the French to focus on Ireland, Once the Irish rebellion began, however, some support was forthcoming. The main fleet, sailing out of Brest, and carrying Wolfe Tone and thousands of soldiers, was defeated before it could lands its martial passengers, but a smaller […]
- [Lady Hamilton (II)](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/lady-hamilton-ii/): Sir William was a widower. But not for long. Emma and Greville’s relationship ended as Greville, perhaps thinking “it is a sad thing if a rich man has no heir to his property”, and differences over the treatment of Emma’s infant daughter, but more likely hungry to acquire a substantial marriage settlement, sought escape. So it was that Greville offered Emma to Sir William. Hamilton demurred, concerned he was too old for the youthful model, and, in a passage which can only be seen as ironic given the events of 1799, replied “It would be fine fun for the young […]
- [The Napoleon Options](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/the-napoleon-options/): The Napoleon Options: Alternate Decisions of the Napoleonic Wars Alternate history is wildly popular. Very popular. This was my attempt to look at a few what ifs of the Napoleonic era. We put together a great team and some interesting scenarios. Paddy Griffith looked at a successful French invasion of Ireland. Charles Grant has Napoleon winning in Egypt and Syria. Philip Haythornthwaite, an old fashioned and very erudite gentleman, sees the French humiliate Wellington. Jack Gill looks at an alternative outcome for the Austrians in 1809. Digby Smith has the Russians win at Borodino and inflict even more pain on […]
- [To Befriend an Emperor](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/to-befriend-an-emperor/): To Befriend an Emperor: Betsy Balcombe’s Memoirs of Napoleon on St Helena Every now and again you stumble across something quite remarkable. Betsy Balcombe’s memoirs are just that. She was a teenager on St Helena, living with her parents on that bare rock. Napoleon, forced into exile, came to stay. And she wrote a charming account, well worth reading. Here’s the moment the exiled Napoleon arrives: “Napoleon’s position on horseback, by adding height to his figure, supplied all that was wanting to make me think him the most majestic person I had ever seen. He was dressed in green, and […]
- [Napoleon's Americans](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-saint-domingue/napoleons-americans/): In late 1801 a large expedition quit the shores of France, bound for the Caribbean. It was being sent by Napoleon to reassert French control over the errant colony of Saint Domingue (now Haiti) and command had been entrusted to Napoleon’s brother-in-law, General Leclerc. The expedition was a disaster, the Europeans died in droves from Yellow Fever and the remorseless opposition of the former slaves. Before long the French were reduced to defending a few coastal towns. In their desperation to stave off final defeat they formed a unit called the Compagnie des Marins et Etrangers (the Company of Sailors […]
- [Netherwood the Swede](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-saint-domingue/netherwood-the-swede/): This short article looks at the life and adventures of a Swede, Adam Frederik Netherwood, during the French Revolution and his subsequent role in Napoleon’s attempt to reconquer the West Indies for France. Netherwood would sail out to Saint Domingue in 1802 and would die in the brutal fighting on the island: Adam Frederik Netherwood was born on 1 May 1772 to Captain Magnus Wilhelm Netherwood and Anna Elisabeth Stalhammer. After serving in the Swedish Army he transferred to French service as a volunteer in the 7th [bis] Hussars and served in Italy. During the Egyptian expedition he was a captain […]
- [Napoleon on Elba](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/napoleon-on-elba/): Napoleon on Elba: Diary of an Eyewitness to Exile by Sir Neil Campbell In this extract Campbell, in some agitation following Napoleon’s departure from Elba (it can only reflect badly on him), is teased by the arrival of Napoleon’s sister, the beautiful Pauline. She flirts with him in so outrageous a manner that it quite makes Campbell forget his troubles: “She then came out and made me sit down beside her, drawing her chair gradually still closer, as if she waited for me to make some private communication. I merely told her that as perhaps she might have some commands […]
- [Lady Hamilton (I)](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/lady-hamilton-i/): Envoy Extraordinary William Hamilton kissed King George III’s hand on 13 July 1764 and was sent off to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies as British representative. Hamilton was a fourth son and had been without his own means for much of his life, despite being foster brother to the king. However, his marriage to the asthmatic Catherine Barlow had taken place in 1758 and it landed him an estate in Pembrokeshire and an income of nearly £8,000 per annum. His appointment to the politically undemanding post at Naples allowed him and his musical wife free rein to indulge their […]
- [Hanging Caracciolo](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/hanging-caracciolo/): This is Lord Nelson’s confirmation of the sentence of death against the Neapolitan admiral, Caracciolo. Caracciolo had been hastily tried and found guilty by a court martial of five Neapolitan officers sitting on Nelson’s flagship. This was a controversial action on the part of Nelson. Caracciolo had been discovered hiding in a village close to Naples, and had then been temporarily imprisoned in the Granili prison in the capital before the British had him brought over for trial. The trial was quick and unjust, and Caracciolo was sentenced to be hanged on a Neapolitan ship, La Minerva, that same day. […]
- [About Me](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/about-jonathan-north/): Welcome to my site I hope to use it to post material about one of my main interests, the history of the period between 1789 and 1815. I was drawn early on to this period (that of the French Revolution and the era of Napoleon) because it was a time of tremendous upheaval in which the world seemed to advance at great speed, sometimes in a measured and rational way (the Code Napoleon), sometimes lurching and stumbling (the anarchy and the long wars). It is also an age of enormous historical significance, with the countries of Europe shaped and reshaped, […]
- [Some letters by Giovanni Acton](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/some-letters-by-giovanni-acton/): Below are transcriptions of some letters from Giovanni Acton [Sir John Acton] to Sir William Hamilton. These were written in December 1798 as Nelson was preparing to evacuate the Neapolitan royal family from Naples to Palermo. Naples was dissolving into chaos, the French under Championnet were about to invade, and Maria Carolina and Ferdinand IV were fearful of falling into republican hands. Acton had to liaise with Hamilton on the details of how to embark the royal family, and load onboard the royal treasure, taking care that the departure of the royal family was kept secret from the population: 19th […]
- [Uniforms of Napoleon's Army](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/uniforms-of-napoleons-army/): Uniforms of Napoleon’s Army           Available on Amazon.co.uk Available on Amazon.com
- [Napoleon's Mameluke](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/napoleons-mameluke/): Napoleon’s Mameluke: The Memoirs of Roustam Raza, Imperial Bodyguard In this extract from Roustam’s memoirs, the young mameluke describes how Napoleon quits Egypt, taking Roustam with him. General Bonaparte and his entourage make for the coast, and then board a small flotilla bound for France: We were not at first told that we were going to France, I really only found that out some time later.  It was a few days after I had entered the general’s service when the valet came at midnight to dress the general and told me “we are to leave for Alexandria, because a Turkish […]
- [Napoleon's Army in Russia](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/napoleons-army-in-russia/): Napoleon’s Army in Russia: The Illustrated Memoirs of Albrecht Adam, 1812   Available on Amazon.co.uk Available on Amazon.com
- [With Napoleon's Guard in Russia](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/with-napoleons-guard-in-russia/): With Napoleon’s Guard in Russia: The Memoirs of Major Vionnet, 1812 by Louis Joseph Vionnet Translated and edited by Jonathan North In this extract from Vionnet’s memoirs, the eponymous survivor and his rapidly dwindling regiment quit Smolensk and head for Poland. On the way they are stopped by Russian attempts to bar their progress. The ensuing battle at Krasnoe that November of 1812 is desperate and horrific: On the 14th of November, with the cold now unbearable, we left Smolensk and camped some 18 miles from the city in some woods.  The snow was six foot deep. The road was […]
- [With Napoleon in Russia](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/with-napoleon-in-russia/): With Napoleon in Russia: The Illustrated Memoirs of Faber Du Faur, 1812 [The image on my homepage comes from Faber du Faur’s sketchbook. It travelled with him all the way to Moscow and back.] In this excerpt Faber du Faur describes the fighting around Smolensk as Napoleon’s Army advances on Moscow, and the tenacity of some of the Russian defenders: On the 18th [August 1812] our efforts to flush the Russians out from the gardens and from out behind the willows on the banks of the Dnepr had been unsuccessful. They maintained a well nourished fire throughout the day, targeting […]
- [In the Legions of Napoleon](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/in-the-legions-of-napoleon/): In the Legions of Napoleon The Memoirs of a Polish Officer in Spain and Russia, 1808-1812 by Heinrich von Brandt Translated by Jonathan North In this excerpt from the book, Brandt, an officer in the Polish Vistula Legion attached to Napoleon’s Imperial Guard, enters Moscow in September 1812. It came after an exhausting advance through Russia and first impressions of the Russian city were decidedly mixed: On 14 September, at one in the afternoon, Claparède’s division formed up outside Moscow’s Drogomilov Gate where the Smolensk road enters the city. The King of Naples had entered the city before us with […]
- [Camillo Elefante’s diary, detailing events in Barletta in 1799](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/camillo-elefantes-diary-detailing-events-in-barletta-in-1799/): These are excerpts from Camillo Elefante’s fascinating diary (Di tutto ciò che accade in questa Fedelissima, Ed Illustrissima Città di Barletta). He details events in Barletta during 1798 and 1799, giving the point of view of a well-off bourgeois in this port on the kingdom of Naples’ Adriatic coast. His comfortable life is turned upside down by the arrival of the troops of the French republic, the proclamation of a Neapolitan republic, and the counter-revolution which follows. It deserves to be better known. There are subtle asides, and a marvellous confusion about the presence of some Turks in the forces […]
- [Reviews](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/reviews/): I will be adding some reviews of Napoleonic-related books, films and websites in the near future. There are so many out there, and more are constantly being added, that my reviews will, inevitably, have to be quite selective. My favourite Napoleonic films are still The Duellists and the Russian version of War and Peace (the less said about the recent BBC adaptation – “shall we have a dance and wear pretty dresses, and just hope nobody is going to invade?” – the better), which made a great impression on me when it was shown on British TV. Claiming to have […]
- [The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of World War I](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-other/the-illustrated-encyclopedia-of-uniforms-of-world-war-i/): The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of World War I   The First World War was horrible, it destroyed everything it touched. It mechanised death. And the uniforms reflected that. They went from being an echo of past centuries (the blue of the French, the pelisse of the hussar) to a drab, practical method of reducing one’s chances of death. Understandable, but another illustration of how industrial practices (killing the most, quickest) began to dominate warfare. This is the introduction from the book, in which I set out the state of Europe in 1914: Europe was a flourishing continent in 1914. […]
- [The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of World War II](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-other/the-illustrated-encyclopedia-of-uniforms-of-world-war-ii/): The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of World War II This is from my introductory text to the book, here looking at the aftermath of this global conflict: The Germans had surrendered to the western allies at Reims on 7 May 1945, and signed a universal surrender the next day in Berlin. Europe lay in ruins. The total number of casualties can never be completely assessed. The Soviet Union lost more than 25 million people out of a June 1941 population of 196 million. Of these 9 million were military personnel, out of a total of 35 million mobilised. China had […]
- [Jean Le Roux at Ashby](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/prisoners-of-war-1792-to-1815/jean-le-roux-at-ashby/): It was Jean Le Roux’s eighteenth birthday when he set sail from Brest, bound for Saint Domingue in the West Indies. It was to be a complicated voyage – his ship was first directed to Genoa to join a convoy of troops and five ships of the line, part of Napoleon’s attempt to reconquer some sugar islands for France. It was December 1802 and he was accompanying his father, an officer in the engineers, and had also been asked to ascertain the condition of some estates belonging to a family friend. Le Roux was violently sick for fourteen days, and […]
- [Prisoners of War (1792 to 1815)](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/prisoners-of-war-1792-to-1815/): Thousands of soldiers were captured during the Napoleonic Wars. All were placed at the mercy of their captors. It was rarely comfortable and, more commonly, prisoners of war were abused by their guards, kept in primitive conditions, and were prone to disease, until peace or exchange. It was a test of endurance. I hope to post accounts by some of the unfortunates who were caught and held over the course of the conflict. Here is one account by an unfortunate dragoon captured by Arab horsemen in Palestine in early 1799. Here is another by Jean Le Roux, prisoner of the […]
- [A Bibliography of Eyewitness Accounts of the Retreat from Moscow (1812)](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-in-russia/eyewitness-accounts-of-1812/): A Bibliography of Eyewitness Accounts of the Retreat from Moscow (1812) I’ve tried to add the unit the eyewitness belonged to. But if anyone wants to add or correct this information, or suggest other accounts, please do get in touch: Anon. Erinnerungen eines Preussischen Offiziers aus den Jahren 1812 bis 1814. Koblenz, 1846. (X Corps.) Anon. Interessante Scenen aus den Feldzugen 1812 u. 1813, in Briefen eines deutschen Offizers. Ludwigsburg, 1813. Anon. Quelques notes par un capitaine au 16e de chasseurs à cheval qui fait la campagne. In G. Bertin’s La Campagne de 1812. Paris, 1895. (16th Chasseurs, I Cavalry […]
- [Napoleon and Egypt](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-egypt/): I have just published an extensive anthology of accounts by those who accompanied Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt in 1798. It has been published by Amberley as Napoleon’s Invasion of Egypt: An Eyewitness History. On a much more modest scale, I also published a short memoir by a Polish officer who accompanied Napoleon to Egypt. For the book I spent my time reading dozens of accounts (letters and diaries are best) and have extracted the most interesting excerpts from what they have to offer, trying to order the excerpts by chronology, but with some chapters on themes. There is a lot […]
- [Napoleon in Russia](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-in-russia/): Here I intend to place material relating to Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812. Again, it is the experience of those who took part which interests me. The ordeal of the advance in the summer heat, followed by the nightmare in the snows. I have written quite a few books on these horrible six months. For example, the account by Faber du Faur or an anthology of Polish accounts of the disaster. Bibliography of eyewitness accounts of 1812 I have added a bibliography of eyewitness accounts of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812. I’ll update this with corrections and additions […]
- [A Plan to Put Down Slave Revolts using Native Americans](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-saint-domingue/a-plan-to-put-down-slave-revolts-using-native-americans/): The notorious General Turreau submitted a plan to Napoleon, then First Consul, in 1801 which outlined how the former slaves in the colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) could be brought to heal. This was around the time that Toussaint Louverture and his army of liberated slaves were showing increasing signs of autonomy, and just Napoleon sent the expedition under General Leclerc to reconquer the French colony. Turreau advocated sending a large number of European troops to subdue the colony, but also suggested that these be supplemented with some rather deadly auxiliaries. Turreau’s plan was creative, and his suggestion for who these […]
- [Voyage to America by Monsieur J P Bechaud](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-saint-domingue/voyage-to-america-by-monsieur-j-p-bechaud/): A letter from J P Bechaud, a French officer, as he travels through Switzerland to Milan to take up his assignment as commander of a battalion of foreigners being sent to the West Indies. This letter was written to his mother on Wednesday 15 December 1802:   Letter 3, to the same, Milan, the 24 frimaire, Year 11. My dear mother, I arrived at Basle on the 8th and lodged at The Swan. I was a little tired. I was not a little surprised the next day when the innkeeper brought the bill, so I went to the castle to […]
- [Napoleon and Saint Domingue](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/napoleon-and-saint-domingue/): I’m posting some primary source material on the French expedition to Saint Domingue. My interest here is how the ideals of the French Revolution were subverted by France mounting an expedition to reconquer its sugar islands in the West Indies. And in the experiences of those Europeans pitched into this alien and brutal world of war, disease and terror. A plan to put down slave revolts using Native Americans A plan submitted to Napoleon when First Consul, asking him to consider using Florida Indians, rather than dogs, to hunt down escaped slaves once slavery was restored in the French West […]
- [Articles (Other)](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/articles-other/): Some articles I’ve published on other aspects of history: An account by Lieutenant Lukinov, a Soviet lieutenant captured by the Germans, of his life as a slave labourer between 1942 and 1945.
- [Books (Other)](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-other/): Books These are the books I have published on other historical periods. I will add more detail soon. There are some which I produced when I ran Ravenhall Books with Evgenia. These include England’s Boy King: The Diary of Edward VI, 1547-1553 and others which I translated, including The Barbary Corsairs: Warfare in the Mediterranean, 1480-1580 Then there are the two uniform books, which was a bit of an unusual venture for me. These are The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of World War I and The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of World War II    
- [Articles (Napoleonic and French Revolution)](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/articles-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/): Outside of my current interests I’ve published a number of articles on different episodes of the Napoleonic era. I’ll post some of them here. Here’s an early one on the epic siege of Saragossa. And another on how Suchet won his marshal’s baton at Tarragona in 1811. This article looks at Borodino in 1812. An account by Captain Mrozinski of the Vistula Legion, detailing his escape from Spanish guerrillas, whilst not an article as such, can be found here. A similar story, told by a captain in the French 81st Line, also shows what life was like fighting insurgents in […]
- [Books (Napoleonic and French Revolution)](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/jonathan-norths-publications/books-napoleonic-and-french-revolution/): Books Here are the books I have published on the era from 1792 to 1815. You can see a listing in the menu on the right, or at the top of the page. I enjoyed working on each and every one of them. (If I have a favourite it is probably the Faber du Faur book.) I published a major study of Nelson and his war crime at Naples. And enjoyed writing an account of the infernal machine, the attempt to kill Napoleon using a cart bomb in 1800. From that same period, I did an anthology of French accounts from […]
- [The Capitulation of the Neapolitan Republicans](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/the-capitulation-of-the-neapolitan-republicans/): The Neapolitan Republicans capitulated to Cardinal Ruffo in June 1799. When a copy of the draft capitulation was sent to the queen, Maria Carolina, she was horrified. Although the treaty had already been signed and was being implemented, she scawled her angry comments on it and sent it to Lady Hamilton. This insight into the queen’s vindictive nature can now be found in the British Library (Add. MS. 30999, f. 84). This is a transcript with the text of the treaty on the left and the queen’s comments to the right:   Article 1. — The castles Nuovo and Uovo […]
- [Two letters by Charles Lock (1799)](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/a-letter-by-charles-lock/): Charles Lock was in the bay of Naples in July 1799. He was a critic of Nelson’s conduct, had a low opinion of Sir William Hamilton (whom he wished to replace as envoy to the Neapolitan court) and despised Lady Hamilton. His letters to General Graham at Messina list a number of criticisms of Nelson, and make some damning judgements on how Nelson treated the Neapolitan republicans. He was well-connected, but his primary source was John Rushout (who had spent much time in Naples and with the fleet). Rushout was friendly with many naval officers, and with the Russian commander, […]
- [Nelson at Naples in 1799](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/historical-research/nelson-at-naples-in-1799/): I have been working on a book on Nelson’s role in putting down the republic of Naples in 1799 for the last five years or so. I am glad to say that the resulting research will be published by Amberley as Nelson at Naples: Revolution and Retribution in 1799. It will be available in July. See the publications page here. The revolution at Naples was a fascinating but rather bloody episode. Empires collapse, kingdoms fall but republics are not immune from bloody ruin. Such was the case in Naples in 1799. There the armies of the French republic had chased […]
- [Links](https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/links/): Here are a selection of links to some resources I have used, and enjoy using: Discussion Age of Nelson Le Forum Napoléon Forum des Grenadiers Napoleon Online Napoleonic Wars Forum Organisations Emma Hamilton Society Institut Napoleon International Napoleonic Society La Fondation Napoléon Le Souvenir napoléonien Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleonic Historical Society Nelson Museum The Nelson Society Publishers Amberley Casemate Editions Quatuor Editions Tallandier Hurst Ltd Ken Trotman Ltd Pen & Sword Resources Age of Nelson Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection German Soldiers in Russia in 1812 Histoire du Consulat et du Premier Empire Jane Austen’s World L’Estafette (blog on Napoleonic […]


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