Bon Bon

Henri de La Rochejaquelein fighting at the Battle of Cholet (1793)

Napolèon and Pope Pius VII

Submission of the Mameluks to Napolèon

Engraving by Henry Wolf , After a painting by Gustave Bourgain

In Louis Garros’s biography of Ney, there is a passage stating that “the memoirs left by his staff officers (unfortunately few in number) unanimously praise their commander (Ney) for his kindness and frankness.”

I have so far been able to confirm the memoirs of Levavasseur, Fezensac, and Béchet. Among them, Levavasseur’s memoirs have been noted for a tendency to gloss over Ney’s (military) failures due to his excessive admiration for his superior.

As for Fezensac, it is a second-hand citation from Horricks, but there is the following passage:

“He (Ney), he says:could sometimes be aloof and even brusque, but only in the cause of military discipline or to command obedience. Otherwise he was familiar, generous, warm-hearted and loved by everyone. He liked to dine separately; either with his close friend General Colbert, but more often than not talking war with Colonel Jomini, the Swiss who was allowed to wear his own uniform and appeared to us cold, very much the intellectual. Afterwards though the Marshal could be relied on to join in our mess-amusements. It was his natural instinct when relaxing to laugh, and he enjoyed our songs and jokes.”

Fezensac also writes as follows:

“He was incapable of delivering a calm rebuke; he would either remain utterly silent or explode into an unrestrained rage. Yet, his heart was inherently good, his judgment sound, and his spirit balanced. These are qualities of the utmost importance in a military man”

Béchet spent 16 years by Ney's side and, in his later years, wrote his memoirs for his children. However, these memoirs conclude with the Peninsular War. It seems Béchet was also deeply devoted to Ney, as he provides no detailed account of Ney’s military failures. He describes Ney’s character as follows:

“When making arrangements in his office, he was sometimes anxious and indecisive; yet, the moment he found himself on the battlefield in the presence of the enemy, he regained all his self-assurance and felt relieved of a heavy burden. He was truly admirable in those difficult circumstances where, forced to conduct a retreat against a superior enemy and caught in a precarious position, he had great obstacles to overcome. Sure of himself and of the confidence he inspired in his troops, he maneuvered with as much composure as if he were on a training exercise; his presence alone electrified his soldiers, who relied on him just as he relied on them, and thus he was as loved as he was esteemed. Although he sometimes had abrupt manners and was prone to sudden outbursts that were not easy to foresee or avoid, he was genuinely kind; a word of apology or the admission of a fault or mistake would disarm him. I have often put this to the test. Occasionally, he had reason to complain about officers attached to him, yet he never took revenge on them except by doing them good; he never dismissed them from his service without having first secured a higher rank for them.”

Béchet appears to have been critical of Jomini's presence within the staff.

“We will see him, on several occasions, give proof of that easy-going nature which led him to welcome people around him who were poorly suited to him.”

According to the editor, this refers to Jomini.

The objective of the Champ de Mai was to gather public support behind Napoleon's Charter of 1815, a constitutional reform that promised a more liberal government than under his earlier rule. The Charter was put to the citizens in a constitutional referendum and the results of this would be announced during the ceremony by representatives of the electoral college.

Several temporary structures were constructed including a semi-amphitheatre, housing 9-10,000 military and civic dignitaries; a throne platform for Napolèon and his brothers; and a religious altar and a platform from which Napolèon was to distribute imperial eagles, the French standards, to his troops. Around 200,000 spectators attended the event which included a parade of 25,000 soldiers and 25,000 National Guardsmen.

After a Catholic mass, the results of the referendum, a landslide in favour, were announced. Napolèon afterwards signed the Charter and swore, on a copy of the New Testament, that he would uphold it. Napolèon then advanced to a separate platform, decorated with trophies of French victories, from which he distributed new eagles to his regiments.

“General Bonaparte presides over the divan (governing Council) of Cairo”

By Julien Peytard