I can't see how someone born in Corsica would be considered a WASP. Napoleon's more like a WFC (White French Catholic), so it'll be harder for him.
The American Bonapartes
- Thread starter Zoidberg12
- Start date
I can't see how someone born in Corsica would be considered a WASP. Napoleon's more like a WFC (White French Catholic), so it'll be harder for him.
"In Egypt I was Muslim, in France I am catholic." - Napoleon. He will probably convert to Protestantism. And English will not be that hard for him since his native language is Corsican.
Whitening
Plus there is the whole "money whitens" things so an educated, powerful person who was an immigrant will be viewed more kindly than a working class immigrant. Especially one who has served in the Army.
Plus there is the whole "money whitens" things so an educated, powerful person who was an immigrant will be viewed more kindly than a working class immigrant. Especially one who has served in the Army.
Driftless
Donor
Maryland was a comparative safe haven for Catholics of the Revolutionary Era.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Maryland
Not all was sweetness and open arms, but it was still a logical destination.
Regarding Napoleon's name - FWIW, I once knew a burly former hockey player with the given first name of Napoleon, who was called "Poley" by everyone who knew him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Maryland
Not all was sweetness and open arms, but it was still a logical destination.
Regarding Napoleon's name - FWIW, I once knew a burly former hockey player with the given first name of Napoleon, who was called "Poley" by everyone who knew him.
Also he is (was) pretty swarthy. NOT a good omen for advancement in the US.
The arsenic that helped kill him may well have been from a skin lightening cream.
This is interesting.
But the point is that, if you want Napoleon to perform extraordinary actions in America, you need to create extraordinary circumstances in America. You need some kind of political chaos and almost permanent war to have Napoleon come out as the extraordinary general he became in Europe.
It was such extraordinary circumstances in France that enabled Napoleon to get out of the rank. Others ide he would have remained an ambitions and talented member of the low nobility.
So you could have for example have chaos about the adoption of the constitution. You would also need dissent between the States.
And you would also need a good long lasting war against Britain, and even Spain, on the american continent which could end as you wish : possibly with the total conquest of north America (eastern Canada and Mexico).
Which would quite logically create a terrible mess because the 13 colonies would then probably lose control and be much less coherent.
But the point is that, if you want Napoleon to perform extraordinary actions in America, you need to create extraordinary circumstances in America. You need some kind of political chaos and almost permanent war to have Napoleon come out as the extraordinary general he became in Europe.
It was such extraordinary circumstances in France that enabled Napoleon to get out of the rank. Others ide he would have remained an ambitions and talented member of the low nobility.
So you could have for example have chaos about the adoption of the constitution. You would also need dissent between the States.
And you would also need a good long lasting war against Britain, and even Spain, on the american continent which could end as you wish : possibly with the total conquest of north America (eastern Canada and Mexico).
Which would quite logically create a terrible mess because the 13 colonies would then probably lose control and be much less coherent.
Working on a new update. Should be done tonight. 
I also hope to have more updates throughout the next weeks as well. I've been working on other projects, such as articles for the Timeline-191 Filling the Gaps thread, so I kinda temporarily neglected this.
I also hope to have more updates throughout the next weeks as well. I've been working on other projects, such as articles for the Timeline-191 Filling the Gaps thread, so I kinda temporarily neglected this.
Working on a new update. Should be done tonight.
I also hope to have more updates throughout the next weeks as well. I've been working on other projects, such as articles for the Timeline-191 Filling the Gaps thread, so I kinda temporarily neglected this.
Hoorah! Huzzah! Other celebratory interjections that both begin and end in h!
LeopoldPhilippe
Banned
Elizabeth Patterson was the daughter of William Patterson of Baltimore, Maryland. Will Betsy Patterson marry Jerome Bonaparte?
The Early Years of Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte, aged 25 in 1794, painted in 1828 by Aloysius Morrison of Boston, Massachusetts (1786-1848) [1]
In the summer of 1787, Napoleon Bonaparte, a young and relatively recent immigrant from the island of Corsica living and working as the apprentice of a weapons maker in Baltimore, whose ancestors had been politicians on the aforementioned island for over a century previously, signed up for military service in the then fledgling United States Army. By mid-August, he was sent to the Northwest Territory, where since 1785, a war, known as the Northwest Indian War or Little Turtle's War, had been waged by the United States Army against numerous Native American tribes in the territory. In that same year of 1787, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was passed by the US Congress under the Articles of Confederation. The ordinance created the Northwest Territory itself and allowed for Native Americans title to enjoy whatever lands they lived on. It also encouraged White American settlement north of the Ohio River, and skirmishes between White settlers and Native Americans continued to be all too common [2].
In mid-August of 1787, the 18-year old Napoleon Bonaparte, was, as mentioned before, sent to the Northwest Territory to fight Native American tribes in the Northwest Indian War. He was sent to Fort Harmar in the Ohio region of the Northwest Territory and began serving under Brevet Brigadier General Josiah Harmar, the commander and namesake of the fort [3]. Almost immediately after Bonaparte was sent to Fort Harmar, raids began by a number of Native American tribes against the fort. It was during these raids that the young Napoleon Bonaparte showed exemplary tact and bravery under fire. He quickly became known as a good shot, and, armed with his musket from the ramparts of Fort Harmar, killed a number of individual Native American soldiers during raids, greatly decreasing their morale as a result. He also, on more than one occasion, risked his life by saving his comrades from Native American fire. During one such occasion, in June of 1788, Bonaparte was seriously injured in the right shoulder by a bullet from a Native musket. As a result, he was hospitalized in the fort for a number of months, but by October of 1788, over a year after his posting at the fort, he was back on duty. By this point however, raids by Native American tribes against the fort had become more sporadic, thanks in part to Bonaparte's efforts. By January of 1789, they had all but stopped.
As a result, the next year remained quiet for Bonaparte. On his twentieth birthday, he wrote a letter to his family back in Baltimore which read; I have grown bored over the past months. The Indians no longer attack us and no action has occurred as a result. Ironically, they say it is because of me that the Indians no longer attack this fort. I have to say, a I agree with them. Nevertheless, I long for more military action. I hope it will come soon [4]. In 1790, Bonaparte got his wish when President George Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox ordered Brigadier General Josiah Harmar, Bonaparte's commander, to launch a new and major western offensive into the Shawnee and Miami country. By October of that very year, a force of 1,453 men under Brigadier General Harmar, including a now 21-year old Napoleon Bonaparte, was assembled near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana. Four hundred men under Colonel John Hardin, Bonaparte being one of the four hundred, attack a Native force of some 1,100 warriors. Unfortunately for Hardin, he was handily defeated in became known as Hardin's Defeat. Hardin had lost at least 129 soldiers, though nevertheless, Napoleon Bonaparte continued to show his skill in battle.
For the next three years, the war in the Northwest Territory continued on, with Bonaparte still stationed at Fort Wayne, Indiana with the rest of Brigadier General Harmar's army. Meanwhile, on November 4th, 1791, an army under Scottish-born General Arthur St. Clair was seriously defeated in a surprise attack by a Native American force of about 2,000 warriors, led by Little Turtle, Blue Jacket, and Tecumseh, leaders of the "Western Confederacy" a loose confederation of tribes in the Great Lakes region, in what became known as St. Clair's defeat. As a result of this, President Washington ordered General "Mad" Anthony Wayne to form a new and well-trained force to put an end to the Northwest Indian War once and for all. In the summer of 1792, after five years in the army, Napoleon Bonaparte heard about Washington's order to General Wayne and, after two years of seeing little to no fighting, wanted to so eagerly to join Wayne's new force. He given permission by Brigadier General Harmar to do so that September and in October, Bonaparte was transferred to Legionville, Pennsylvania, where General Wayne was just beginning to train his new force of soldiers.
Mad Anthony Wayne
It was in Legionville that Napoleon Bonaparte became a part of Wayne's new force of soldiers, known simply as the "Legion of the United States". It was also here that Bonaparte spent a good number of months through late-1792 and mid-1793 training for battle at Wayne's newly established basic training facility, the main purpose of which was to prepare professional soldiers, such as Bonaparte, for his force. This attempt of Wayne's was, in fact, the very first attempt to provide basic training for regular U.S. Army recruits and Legionville was the first facility established expressly for this purpose [5]. Waynes method of training recruits would also influence Bonaparte and his views on the military, particularly in regards to the training of raw recruits.
In February of 1793, Napoleon's older brother Joseph left Baltimore to Legionville, Pennsylvania to join Wayne's "Legion of the United States", with Lucius Bonaparte working as a publisher's apprentice for a year by that point and now able to support the family to the point where Joseph's absence would be minimal. Joseph had not even known Napoleon would be there, according to Napoleon himself, and the two were very happy to see each other when they meet for the first time in so many years. Joseph, as well as the rest of the family, was proud of Napoleon's military achievements and Napoleon was glad Joseph was finally joining the military like he always wanted.
Joseph Bonaparte
In 1794, General Anthony Wayne and the Legion of the United States left Legionville for the Northwest Territory. When arriving in the Northwest Territory and after advancing into Native-held territory, the Legion built a new fort, Fort Recovery, on the site of General St. Clair's defeat. That June, Chief Little Turtle unsuccessfully attacked the fort. Soon after said attack, Wayne's Legion advanced deeper into the territory of the Wabash Confederacy. Native American forces were later defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20th, 1794.
The Battle of Fallen Timbers as depicted in an 1896 magazine article
Throughout all these campaigns and battles, Napoleon Bonaparte continued to display all the bravery and skill in the battle that had made him so prominent amongst his comrades during the late-1780's. Anthony Wayne wrote to President Washington in October of 1794; This young man, Napoleon Bonaparte, a Corsican by birth, is a soldier not fazed by death and with extraordinary skill in battle. In short, I have high hopes for him. Joseph Bonaparte also proved to be a very good soldier as well, though he could not never quite outshine his younger brother. Nevertheless at the aforementioned Battle of Fallen Timbers tragedy struck. During the heat of the battle, as Napoleon, Joseph and the other members of the legion shot furiously and repeatedly at the opposing natives, Joseph was suddenly struck in the skull by a bullet coming from the musket of one of Chief Blue Jacket's soldiers. He was killed almost instantly. Even Napoleon knew there was nothing that could be done. A day after the battle ended, Joseph's body was sent to Baltimore for a private funeral for the Bonaparte family. Napoleon would not appear at his brother's funeral, as he himself decided to stay in the Legion and continue fighting as he stated "it is what my brother would have wanted". Joseph Bonaparte, only 26 at the time of his death, was buried in a private cemetery in Baltimore. His death very much hurt Napoleon, and as a result, he would remain bitter towards the Native Americans for much of his younger years.
Napoleon continued to serve in Wayne's Legion until 1795. It was in that year, on August 3rd, that the Treaty of Grenville was signed between the US and the Western Confederacy. A day after the Treaty of Grenville was signed, Napoleon Bonaparte was honorably discharged by Anthony Wayne. It is important to note that during his years in the Legion, General Wayne had become an important mentor of sorts to Napoleon, and it was a mentorship that would influence Napoleon for a number of years to come. After he was discharged, Napoleon decided he liked the rugged frontier of America, and decided to move to the town of Nashville in the Tennessee region, then a part of the state of North Carolina. In Nashville, Napoleon quickly signed up to the town's local militia, which fought fight off any threats to the city, such as Indian raids, mob violence and the like. Through his prestige and influence gained during his years in the military, particularly in Wayne's Legion and the reputation he gained as a result of these services, Napoleon Bonaparte quickly became leader of the town's militia. It was during his time
as leader of Nashville's militia that Bonaparte meet a a local lawyer by the name of Andrew Jackson, Jackson himself a native of the Waxhaws region between North and South Carolina. Bonaparte and Jackson immediately hit if off. They had a number of things in common; their love of the rugged and backwoods regions of America, their interest in the military (though Jackson had yet to join the military himself) their fear of British encroachment in the country and their fear of Indian raids in the city. In Nashville during the mid-late 1790s, the two would often be seen together, discussing military or legal theory or, more lightly, socializing at bars or going on hunting trips. It was an on-and-off friendship that would grow to become quite significant for both men in due time.
Andrew Jackson
Bonaparte continued to serve as leader of the Nashville Militia, studying military theory during most of his spare time, until 1799, at the age of 30, when he decided to move temporally back to his adoptive hometown of Baltimore and spend time with his family once again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
[1] Fictional Character.
[2] This was the case IOTL as well.
[3] It doesn't seem that Harmar was explicitly commander of this fort at this time IOTL, though due to butterflies, he is ITTL.
[4] Bonaparte was fluent in English by this point, and this letter very much shows this.
[5] This, again, was the case IOTL as well.
Great TL thus far - one hopes whatever effects Napoleon has, that the USA will remain firmly republican in nature.
Annunciata becomes annunciation in English, it is celebrating the Angel appearing to Mary and "announcing" that she will become the Mother of God. When I was young, I went to a Catholic school in Garstang and was taught by nuns - (I'm nun the worse for it!) There was Sister Catherine, Sister Immaculata and Sister Joseph! I could never get my head round that last one! Sister Immaculata was a hottie. Sister Catherine was a bitch!
