lennart

Not sure if many people will be interested in this, but it’s been on my mind for a while now. I find evaluating and fact-checking sources both tricky and intriguing, maybe somebody else will feel the same.

Some background information: I understand Laure’s memoirs were originally published in 18 volumes, from 1831 on, by a renowned book trader and publisher named Pierre-François Camille Ladvocat, in Paris. They were edited by equally renowned editors, one of them a certain Honoré de Balzac (who would at some point become Laure’s lover). The books had an enormous success and became true bestsellers, resulting in plenty of translations, abridged versions etc. They also earned their author the famous sobriquet "Duchesse d’Abracadabrantès", due to their unreliability.

First of all: Have I read Laure’s memoirs? A world of no. Eighteen volumes? Come on. I had enough trouble focusing while skimming through the one volume 14 so far. There isn’t much of a clear line in these memoirs; they do tell the main events chronologically, but the narrative is constantly interrupted with seemingly random anecdotes or flashbacks. At one point Laure (or probably rather her editors) put in several chapters summing up another book!

I guess to some degree, this is due to the very mixed audience supposed to read these memoirs. The royalists and former émigrés should also have a reason to buy them. But so some degree, the rather confusing interruptions may have happened on purpose, to muddy the waters and to distract from various topics Laure did not want to talk about in too much detail. Her attitude towards her husband in 1812/3 may be one of them.

That is the time frame, 1812 and 1813, for which I have looked at Laure memoirs somewhat more closely, because Eugène gets mentioned in those volumes. It also happens to be a particularly interesting time, because we actually have several other sources for Laure’s life for this period: mostly her letters to her new lover Balincourt, but also a letter from September 1812 that had been intercepted by the Russians and that shows that the marriage was troubled enough at the time for Laure to call Junot "vous" thoughout the missive, and several intercepted letters from Junot, showing that Laure wrote very rarely. Finally, for 1813 there’s the correspondence between Eugène and Napoleon about Junot that quite often makes me doubt Laure’s narrative.

To start, here’s a rather random occasion where Laure’s story seems to be contradicted by a more credible source. I only stumbled across it because I wanted to know exactly when Junot, who had been in Portugal and Spain under the command of Masséna since early 1810, did return to France. Laure mentions it in volume 14, chapter 1 of her memoirs:

Masséna returned to France and left command of the army of Portugal on 15 May of the same year, 1811, and Marshal Marmont took his place. A letter from the emperor himself had announced to Junot that he had another command in the north, and that the 8th corps was going to be merged into a new organisation of the army of Portugal; he could therefore leave Spain and return to France.

Emphasis in the original. In Napoleon’s correspondence, no such letter from Napoleon to Junot seems to be in existence in the archives (as a matter of fact, as I mentioned before, there is not a single letter from Napoleon to Junot after autumn 1809). Instead, we have the following letter from Napoleon to Berthier:

Alençon, 1 June 1811 My cousin, write to the Duke of Raguse that it is necessary that his artillery be well reassembled and well supplied before making any important movement, [… several more instructions ...] that he is master of giving the order to the Duke of Abrantès and to all the generals who do not suit him, to return to France [...]

So, if anything, Junot owed the opportunity to return to Paris to his old buddy Marmont. Junot must have left for France pretty quickly, because on 26 June there is already another brief note from Napoleon to Berthier, to grant Junot entrance to next morning’s lever. Presumably, Junot had asked for an audience through Berthier, and then was allowed to take part in the emperor’s official morning reception (together with all other courtiers).

Since I have exceeded the limit of links I can put in the history post catalogue in my pinned post, I'm making a separate post to catalogue everything I've translated and uploaded on Junot!

I will put a flower next to the most important posts 🌷

general information:

Junot's head injuries 🌷

was Junot bisexual?

my refutation of the theory that Junot had syphilis

British caricatures of Junot

early life:

Junot's birth and baptism 🌸

Junot's ancestry

schoolboy memories 🌸

Junot's older brother

Junot in 1789 🌸

relationship with Napoleon:

a note from Napoleon to Junot, 1794

Junot on his attachment to Napoleon 🌹

'Orestes and Pylades'

an anecdote on young Napoleon, Junot and Marmont 🌹

Napoleon and Junot in Italy

Napoleon insults Junot's scars 🌹

a letter from Junot to Napoleon, 1812 🌹

a letter from Junot to Napoleon on his denouncement + Laure's letter on the denouncement 🌹

military and diplomatic career:

Junot's heroic deed in 1794

Junot gets injured at the battle of Lonato, 1796 🌺

Junot meets the Directory

Junot's friend gets assassinated

The battle of Nazareth

a poem on the battle of Nazareth

Junot's helps an Englishman to evade arrest 🌺

Junot as ambassador to Lisbon

Austerlitz 🌺

Napoleon and Wellington's opinions on Junot's actions at the Convention of Cintra 🌺

Junot's 1811 facial injury 🌺

a letter from Wellington to Junot 🌺

an Englishman's opinion of Junot

Junot's defence of his actions at Smolensk 🌺

personal life and interests:

Junot's art collection 🌸

Junot's rare books collection

Junot's talent with a pistol

romance with an Englishwoman 🌸

Junot, Josephine and Hippolyte Charles in Italy

Junot's ghostly encounter

a murder attempt on Junot

Junot stands up for his friend 🌸

Junot's love affair with Xraxarane 🌸

Junot's duel in Egypt 🌸

Junot and Laure's wedding 🌸

an anecdote on pregnancy and pineapple

Junot's friendship with Hippolyte Charles

a letter from Junot to Hippolyte Charles 🌸

Junot's affair with "Mlle V"

Junot takes an acting class 🌸

Junot, Pauline and Caroline

the Chateau du Raincy

Junot's affair with Caroline 🌸

Junot’s famous handwriting

signature as Duc d'Abrantès

a luxury pocket watch

later life and death:

a letter from Junot to Laure on his hopes for a peaceful retirement 🥀

a letter from Junot to his daughter Constance, 1812 🥀

a letter from Junot to Napoleon on his denouncement + Laure's letter on the denouncement

a contemporary impression on Junot in Illyria - 'Achilles' 🥀

Illyria, Icepit, insanity 🥀

the house where Junot died

Laure’s letters on Junot’s death

Junot's original death notice

Street scene in Sissonne, Picardy region of France

Nothing new here. Only Duroc almost drowned yesterday.

Eugène de Beauharnais giving a rather condensed report of events during the Second Italian campaign to his sister (from Novara, 7 June 1800).

(Source)