Napoleon Unmasked

@Kevin F. Kiley So, was there ever a formal alliance between the US and France? We shouldn’t read to much about victualling it’s even repairs, as the use of neutral ports is normal, covered in our period by the normal usages of war, and now enshrined in international law. If there is no treaty or memorandum of understanding, was there any evidence of contemporary recognition of being cobelligerents? I’ve certainly not seen anything from the Brutish point of view that regarded the conflict as being controlled by Napoleon.

@david Tomlinson I said nothing about a 'formal alliance' between the US and France, because there was none, though some British authors sometimes mention inaccurately that there was.

And I neither stated nor implied that there was one.

@Kevin F. Kiley Thank you, I thought not, but as I say, not an area of my interest/expertise. That lack of formal involvement with either with or against Napoleon is what prompted me to hypothesise why his legend occupies a different place culturally than it might in, say, Europe.

@tomholmberg Wow!

It largely reads like a eulogy delivered in front of the widow and kids, with very little room for criticism until a short passage towards the end. Some things I've picked out though:

""They charge me," he said, "with the commission of great crimes: men of my stamp do not commit crimes""

""My son can not replace me; I could not replace myself.""

"he was himself eminently endowed with this two-o'clock-in-the-morning courage, and that he had met with few persons equal to himself in this respect"

"Bonaparte relied on his own sense, and did not care a bean for other people's."

""Friendship is but a name. I love nobody. I do not even love my brothers""

"For my part I know very well that I have no true friends""

"Men found that his absorbing egotism was deadly to all other men."

""My ambition," he says, "was great, but was of a cold nature.""

And I get accused of all sorts when I point out that diagnostic professional have detected that Napoleon exhibited narcissistic traits!

As to the assertion that "the Golden Legend" is a baseless slander, it appears Napoleon knew rather better:

""A great reputation is a great noise: the more there is made, the farther off it is heard. Laws, institutions, monuments, nations, all fall; but the noise continues, and resounds in after ages.""

It's clear once you filter out the obvious conservative vs democrat slant, there is still residual value. Thank you for sharing.

@david Tomlinson @john fortune @Kevin F. Kiley @tomholmberg If you feel there's merit in it, I'm sure other forum users would be interested in a thread on the War of 1812. It sounds like there are misconceptions that need addressing, at least in popular culture.

@Zack White It’s not my area of expertise (other than a couple of Osprey’s). The only point I was making was that as the US had no direct involvement in conflicts that had Napoleon as a belligerent, this leaves little cultural baggage. This may go some way to explain the different national perceptions.

Yes, I agree, I have never got the impression that Napoleon is revered in France. Mind you, a colleague told me a while back 'No-one is talking about Napoleon in France', which i'm a bit more sceptical about.

I’m more convinced that Americans are talking about Napoleon more than the French are.