Parisian Newspaper Headlines during Napoleon’s March to Paris in 1815, as noted by Alexandre Dumas. The closer he got, the more favorable they became.

16 comments

  3. This story is mentioned in a novel by Dumas. He claims these titles are from the *Moniteur*, but they are apparently not there. However, Dumas didn’t take the idea entirely out of thin air. For example, before Bonaparte reached Lyon he was referred to as *Buonaparte*, but not after that.

  5. The story is incredibly cool, but it sounds too good to be true. Dumas tells this in his book “One year in Florence”, and he specifically mentions that all of these were headlines from “Le Moniteur”, which is “Le Moniteur Universel”.

    I’m going to fact-check the story

    Edit: Sadly, it is all just a very neat tall tale from Alexandre Dumas, who by 1841 was perfectly sure in cooking up this beautiful story, as nobody would be goin to fact-check it. Nowadays, however, it is extremely easy to do so, thanks to the BNF, [which has digitised every single issue](https://www.retronews.fr/titre-de-presse/gazette-nationale-ou-le-moniteur-universel) of the Moniteur from 1789 to 1901.

    The first news of Napoleon’s arrival is from the [issue of March the 8th](https://www.retronews.fr/journal/gazette-nationale-ou-le-moniteur-universel/8-mars-1815/149/1983011/3), and I am going to translate it for all of you guys enjoyment, as it is historically interesting:

    *We have delayed until today the publication of news on Bonaparte’s landing on the coasts of Provence, for the telegraphic dispatches that brought them had furnished no details yet.*

    *Bonaparte departed from Porto-Ferrajo on February the 26th, at 9 hours in the evening, with extremely calm weather that lasted until March the 1st. He was on a brig, and came escorted by four other ships, pinnaces and feluccas, carrying 1,000 to 1,100 men, composed of a small party of Frenchmen, and the rest Polish, Corsican, Neapolitan, and men from the isle of Elba.*

    *The ships arrived at the bay of Golfe Juan, close to Cannes, on March 1st; the troops set foot on land. Fifty men went to Cannes on the same day, where they pressured the mayor to receive orders from the one they called “the general in chief” in Golfe Juan. But the mayor categorically refused; he was also issued the order to prepare 3,000 rations for the evening.*

    *The same day, 15 men from the expedition arrived at Antibes, asking to be let in in their condition of deserters from Elba. General Baron Corsin, distinguished military man covered in honourable wounds, commander of that place received them and disarmed them. Shortly afterwards, an officer came to join the place in the name of Bonaparte; he was arrested and imprisoned. Finally a third emissary presented himself before the commander asking for the 15 retained men, and to invite him, in the name of general Drouot to go to Golfe Juan with the civil authorities. All response the emissary received was arrest.*

    *The next day, the disembarked men set for Grasse, but they avoided crossing the town, instead following Digne’s road, where we are assured their troupe camped on March 4th.*

    *On the 2nd, general Morangier, in command of the Var department had gathered in Fréjus the garrison of Draguignan, and the national guards of the neighbouring towns. All routes that could have allowed the disembarked men to communicate with the sea or go to back on their tracks are guarded and entirely intercepted.*

    *A dispatch from the marshall Prince of Essling anounces that he has driven a corps under the command of general Miollis to Aix in order to cut the route the troupe has taken.*

    *General Marchand has gathered in Grenoble formidable forces with which he would be able to act on the future circumstances.*

    *The first news of these events arrived in Paris on the 5th, and Monsieur set for Lyon on the following night, where he arrived tonight.*

    Edit 2: Thanks for the awards!

  10. In French, this march is known as “le vol de l’Aigle”, which is to say the flight of the Eagle.

  12. At first I thought it was just an article of the time parodying other newspapers’ attitudes to Napoleon. Then I realized people didn’t have nice-looking computer-made illustrations in 1815 and that this is just a collection of real headlines. Which made it more funny.

  13. Yeah , its funny because in my town Lyon this kind of things happen in one day.

    Basically when Napoléon was about to enter the city , the mayor publish a paper calling to resist the tyrant and monster.

    And tomorrow the same mayor was publishing a paper welcoming his Imperial majesty to his town

Leave a Reply