It's a house located in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It has retained all its period charm. Transformed into a typical Louisiana restaurant since then, few people know that within these walls, a plot orchestrated by the Bonapartist mayor of this famous city in the United States was hatched: the attempt to free Napoleon held prisoner on Saint Helena.
Frédéric de Natal / Historian and Journalist
After his second abdication on June 22, 1815, Napoleon wishes to negotiate and makes it known that he intends to leave for the United States to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. "My political career is over," he confides to those around him. In reality, France has a new Emperor, his son Napoleon II, who is four years old. But the Eaglet is in Austria, and the Congress of Vienna does not intend to let him ascend the throne of a monarchy it does not recognize.
Heading to America
Deposed Napoleon now has other plans that he intends to carry out across the Atlantic. He arranges his affairs, furniture, books in preparation for departure to the United States, while awaiting safe conducts that will allow him to leave France. Fouché claims to be working hard to obtain them but at the same time warns the delegates of the Congress. For the Minister of Police, it is more about securing his own future than actually betraying Napoleon. He has blood on his hands, and his excesses during the French Revolution are well-known.
Particularly in Lyon where he earned the nickname "the gunner." His enemies are numerous, and his revelations will allow him to escape the guillotine, which he was one of those who sent the unfortunate Louis XVI to the scaffold in 1793.
Nevertheless, Napoleon has false identity papers made. He will go by the name Colonel Muiron. He chafes at the bit, spends his days consulting maps while waiting for the Congress to decide his fate, and converses with Gaspard Monge. The Count of Peluse is a renowned scientist whose work, especially in geometry, is considerable, the favorite subject of the scholar. The two men met in 1796, during the Italian campaign, and have not parted since. Despite his republican convictions, Monge remains close to Napoleon when he crowns himself emperor in December 1804. It's an unbroken friendship that remains steadfast even after Waterloo. "Idleness would be the cruelest torture for me. Henceforth, without armies and without an empire, I see only the sciences that can strongly impress my soul. But learning what others have done would not suffice for me. I want to embark on a new career, leaving works, discoveries worthy of me. I need a companion who will first and quickly bring me up to date on the current state of science. Then, together, we will travel across the New Continent from Canada to Cape Horn, and in this immense journey, we will study all the phenomena of physics and the globe," explains the hero of Arcole.
However, his plan to depart divides the officers who remain around him. The most enthusiastic is General Lallemand, who sees a new destiny for Napoleon. Why not carve out another kingdom, a colony of which the former Emperor would be the sovereign? Like Texas, which offers all the promises a man could dream of.
Napoleon departs on June 29 for Rochefort, where two frigates await him, the Saale and the Medusa. The latter will remain in the annals of maritime history for its shipwreck in 1816, immortalized by the genius of the painter Géricault. In London, orders are given to prevent Napoleon from leaving the country, and they pretend to negotiate with him for a temporary stay in the United Kingdom before promising him that he will later join his final destination. On July 15, 1815, he is asked to board the HMS Bellerophon, which is anchored nearby. Once aboard, he is surprised to learn that he is the guest of Captain Maitland. The Emperor realizes that he has been duped by his minister and by Albion, which "confirms its reputation for perfidy." In lieu of North America, it will be a rock off the coast of South Africa, the island of Saint Helena. Louis XVIII, back in power, has also made sure that the "General Buonaparte" will be far from France. Peace and reconciliation come at this price.
A Longstanding Relationship
Between Napoleon and the young Republic of the United States, it is a story of passion and misunderstanding. Early on, the son of Charles Napoleon and Letizia Ramolino became enthusiastic about the American colonies' war of independence against the United Kingdom. Of General George Washington, here's what he said at fifteen: "We share the labors of Washington; we rejoice in his triumphs; we follow him from a distance. His cause is that of humanity." He was then a young man dreaming of giving Corsica, his native island, its own independence. At the Paris Military School where he studied (1784-1785), he listened with interest to the accounts of an officer, Louis Silvestre de Valfort, who accompanied the Marquis de Lafayette to the Americas. Napoleon, who devoured books about the great heroes of antiquity, let his imagination wander without knowing what destiny history had in store for him. He even wrote notes, sometimes cheerful, sometimes critical, about certain events linking France to the Americas. For example, there is one about Benjamin Franklin's reception at Versailles, the recognition of American independence by the French monarchy (which played a significant role in the war between insurgents and the English), the departure of the royal fleet under the command of Admiral Count Jean-Baptiste d'Estaing (whose "particulated" head will promptly be guillotined in 1794), or the naval battles between France and England near the Antillean coasts.
It is not surprising, then, that it was Bonaparte, First Consul, who decided to restore the broken ties between France and the United States in 1800. A few days after the Brumaire coup d'état, he learned of George Washington's death and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast for ten days. At the same time, he negotiated for the return of Louisiana and Florida to French control. While the Spaniards agreed to retrocede Louisiana (which they had held since 1762), they did not really spare American interests (Treaty of San Idelfonso). Subsequently, Bonaparte would reinstate slavery to appease the colonists of Saint-Domingue. In the Caribbean, the First Consul now had a military force that allowed him to set foot in the Americas, prevent Louisiana from being conquered by England, and try to expand the French Empire across the Atlantic. The slave revolt in Haiti and Saint-Domingue (1802), which soon became a struggle for independence, slowed Bonaparte's plans as he feared that the English would take advantage of the situation to return to war.
The First Consul reluctantly accepted the inevitable: selling Louisiana to the United States despite the staunch opposition of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, his Minister of Foreign Affairs. The idea was proposed to President Thomas Jefferson, who was wary of Bonaparte's intentions. Buying back this part of the American continent would mean recognizing French primacy in the west. He was still intrigued by the project, which would allow him to increase his electoral potential and, above all, develop American commerce and industry. The negotiations would encounter numerous hiccups and tensions, including within the American camp, where the North (especially among the Federalists) already feared that the Southern planters would be favored. This sale marked the prelude to the Civil War. Initially, France considered only selling New Orleans, but now it intends to sell the entire Louisiana territory. But at a high price. In Paris, Lucien and Joseph Bonaparte, his brothers, try to reason with Napoleon. In vain. The future Emperor is subject to strong anger when attempts are made to convince him to abandon this folly for which the Louisianans are not really consulted. For the First Consul, this sale is above all pragmatic.The agreement was finalized on May 8, 1803, and the French territory was ceded "in perpetuity and in full sovereignty" for 60 million francs, in disregard of the agreements made with the Spaniards.
Admiration for Louisiana
Louisianians became Americans but kept their hearts in France. They did not hold Napoleon accountable, who retained plenty of admirers. Among them was Nicolas Girod. He was born in 1747 (or perhaps in 1751) in Savoy. In his twenties, along with his brothers Claude François and Jean-François, he decided to emigrate to North America. They landed in New Orleans. The city was under Spanish rule and hosted a large French community. They had a knack for trade and soon began to prosper, making a name for themselves. In September 1812, Nicolas Girod was elected mayor of New Orleans. He drew inspiration from French ingenuity to improve the city. Cobblestones were laid in the streets of New Orleans, and drainage canals were even created. The city increased its French-speaking population after the independence of Saint-Domingue. Planters came to settle in this part of the United States, adding to the Creoles and Acadians, making Louisiana the most French state in the Union.
In New Orleans, they cheered for every victory of the Emperor and prayed for him in every defeat. During the war against the British, Nicolas Girod organized the city militias and played a significant role in General Andrew Jackson's victory (future President of the United States from 1829 to 1837). The Americans were warned of the British intentions by the pirate Jean Lafitte, who was approached to serve in their army. But what the soldiers of King George IV did not know was that the man was a passionate admirer of Napoleon. Girod was tasked with recruiting contingents to fight against the enemy. On January 8, 1815, the British were defeated. Girod felt a sense of duty fulfilled.
He inherited from his brothers. The mayor of New Orleans built a magnificent Creole-inspired house. The bottom of the mansion would be devoted to his commercial activities, while the top would be his private apartments adorned with portraits and busts of the Emperor. It is from this moment that the persistent legend was born that the mayor had built this residence to accommodate Napoleon. When he learned of the trick played by the English, his French blood boiled. He resigned from his post as mayor on September 4 of the following year and put in place a plan to rescue the Emperor.
The last attempt
This plot is reported by the New York Tribune, which revisited the audacious adventure in 1920. "The news of Napoleon's exile deeply saddened Mr. Girod. Perhaps breathing the air of the land of the free had emboldened his audacious Gallic heart, and perhaps contact with the pioneers of the New World increased his boldness. In any case, he began to stroll in the evening on Chartres Street, and at the corner of Saint-Philippe Street, he stumbled upon the forge run by Jean and Pierre Lafitte, a retired couple of pirates who, although now apparently men of peace, still loved any adventure that promised a reasonable chance of killing or being killed," reads the columns of this renowned, now-defunct newspaper. Lafitte himself had attempted to save Napoleon, but his expedition was swept away by a cyclone. On Saint Helena, Sir Hudson Lowe, tasked with watching over the "Corsican Ogre," is wary of these plots whose content is mentioned to him. He knows Napoleon is very popular in the United States. Girod was informed that the illustrious prisoner was guarded by 4,000 men and 4 warships patrolling Saint Helena. But for the mayor of New Orleans, all it took was to build a fast clipper ship named the "Seraphine," knock out the guards, and abduct the Emperor. Everything was ready very quickly, and the crew recruited was entrusted with the command to a certain Boissière. The plan did not come to fruition. The expedition was ready to start when one fine morning in May 1821, a sailboat languidly emerged from the gulf and sailed up the Mississippi before anchoring in front of the city. It bore terrible news. The captive, Terror of Europe, had just died in his island prison."
With the arrival of this boat, Nicolas Girod sees all his hopes dashed. He dies in September 1840, leaving a substantial legacy to New Orleans.
An indelible mark
While Napoleon could not realize his American dream, he left a memory that still persists across the Atlantic. Two cities, in Ohio and Dakota, bear the name of the Emperor as do two generals during the Civil War. The United States attracted a number of Bonapartes. Joseph sought refuge there in 1816 and stayed for almost two decades in New Jersey.
Napoleon's name would inspire the wars of independence in Latin America, and that of the Emperor's brother would even be proposed for a Mexican throne. Jérôme Bonaparte, a rebel in the family, on his way back from Saint-Domingue in 1803, landed in Baltimore and fell in love with Elizabeth Patterson. He married her in December of the same year without his parents' consent. The announcement of this marriage enraged Napoleon, who ordered Jérôme to return. He refused, and it wasn't until 1804 that the couple complied. The Emperor humiliated "Betsy" repeatedly, who could not disembark in town alongside her husband while pregnant. The marriage was annulled, and Elizabeth gave birth to a son, Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (1805-1870), founder of the American Bonaparte dynasty (which died out in 1945), whose son Charles Joseph (1851-1921) was instrumental in the creation of the FBI.
Then there's General Lallemand. He achieved his American dream. To escape a death sentence passed against him, he landed on the continent in 1816 welcomed by the pirate Laffite. With several Bonapartists, he founded a colony in Texas, the "Champ d'Asile," which had an ephemeral lifespan. Barely two years, before the Spaniards finally decided to intervene and destroy the forts that had been built, putting an end to any dreams of a Napoleonic kingdom in the United States.
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