"His Monument": Napoleon’s Past and Future Are Filled with Dead Bodies
This Janus–like figuration of Napoleon haunts the viewer as it suggests a future filled with skulls. Indeed, the unprecedented deaths from war and conquest of the last two centuries make this image seem predictive.
None Identified
<span>Bibliothèque Nationale de France</span>
1814-00-00
Public Domain
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/159/|Collection de Vinck. <em>Un siècle d'histoire de France par l'estampe, 1770-1870</em>. Vol. 67 (pièces 8802-8908 bis), Directoire, Consulat et Empire
JPEG
German
159
"The Declaration of Pillnitz"
In response to the "Padua Circular," King Louis’s brother, the Count of Artois, a leader of the<i> émigré </i>nobles, expressed his support for Emperor Leopold II of Austria. Leopold, in conjunction with Prussian King Frederick–William III, then issued this "Declaration of Pillnitz"; the "resolution to act quickly" was perceived as a declaration of war on France for the purpose of ending the Revolution, even though neither Austria nor Prussia was displeased by French weakness.
George F. de Martens, <i>Recueil des traites</i>, 2d ed., vol. 5 (Gottingue, 1917), 260. Translated by <i>Exploring the French Revolution </i>project staff from original documents in French found in J.M. Roberts, <i>French Revolution Documents</i>, vol. 1 (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966), 439.
August 27, 1791
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/421/
421
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i>: Blame Now Falls (16 May 1792)
Blame now falls, at least according to the author of this letter, on the "blood–thirsty aristocracy," which has created dissensions among the French. The author also expresses alarm at the thought of the revolt spreading to other islands in the Caribbean.
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i> (Philadelphia), 16 May 1792; available on cd-rom (Accessible Archives: Wilmington, Del., distributed by Scholarly Resources, 1998).
May 16, 1792
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/573/
573
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i>: Free blacks and mulattos flee (4 December 1793)
Free blacks and mulattos also fled the uprising. Mulattos could own slaves and plantations, and many of them did. Free blacks often manned the militias used to hunt down runaway slaves. Like the white settlers, both groups therefore had reason to flee. But states such as South Carolina feared the consequences of their influence on the state’s own slave population.
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i> (Philadelphia), 4 December 1793; available on cd-rom (Accessible Archives: Wilmington, Del., distributed by Scholarly Resources, 1998).
December 4, 1793
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/575/
575
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i>: Magnitude of the Insurrection (12 October 1791)
The magnitude of the insurrection quickly became clear as alarmed observers related that considerable armies were being raised to fight the rebels. It is noteworthy that such reports even to northern U.S. newspapers expressed little sympathy for the rebels.
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i> (Philadelphia), 12 October 1791; available on cd-rom (Accessible Archives: Wilmington, Del., distributed by Scholarly Resources, 1998).
October 12, 1791
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/567/
567
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i>: U.S. Vigilance (13 December 1797)
In the United States, vigilance remained at a high pitch as slaveowners dreaded the possible importation of rebellion from Saint Domingue.
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i> (Philadelphia), 13 December 1797; available on cd-rom (Accessible Archives: Wilmington, Del., distributed by Scholarly Resources, 1998), 13 December 1797.
December 13, 1797
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/577/
577
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i>: Unrest Continues (28 September 1796)
Despite the abolition of slavery by the French, turbulence continued in many parts of the colony. The French relied on local generals, such as Toussaint L’Ouverture, to restore order.
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i> (Philadelphia), 28 September 1796; available on cd-rom (Accessible Archives: Wilmington, Del., distributed by Scholarly Resources, 1998).
September 28, 1796
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/576/
576
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i>: White Refugees (17 July 1793)
Many American cities met the emergency needs of an influx of white refugees who fled the uprising.
<i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i> (Philadelphia), 17 July 1793; available on cd-rom (Accessible Archives: Wilmington, Del., distributed by Scholarly Resources, 1998).
July 17, 1793
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/574/
574
A Girondin View: Roland Calls on the King to Declare War
In the spring of 1792, the Legislative Assembly—particularly its Executive Committee, dominated by Girondins—took a more aggressive attitude toward Austria, repeatedly arguing that France needed to act first to ward off invasion and thereby not only preserve but advance the Revolution by spreading it across Europe. In June 1792, Jean–Marie Roland de la Platière, a Girondin minister in the King’s cabinet, wrote the following letter, informing the King that the assembly favored war and suggesting that the constitution required him to execute this decision as the will of the people and warning that if he did not act, the people would consider Louis an accomplice of the "conspirators" against the Revolution. Upon receipt of this letter, Louis dismissed Roland, signaling that he did not feel compelled either to obey the will of the assembly on this matter or to distance himself from counterrevolutionaries.
M. J. Mavidal and M. E. Laurent, eds., <i>Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860, </i>première série (1787 à 1799), 2d ed., 82 vols. (Paris: Dupont, 1879–1913), 45:163–64. Translated by <i>Exploring the French Revolution </i>project staff from original documents in French found in J.M. Roberts, <i>French Revolution Documents</i>, vol. 1 (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966), 459–63.
June 1792
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/423/
423
An Ordinary British Soldier Recounts the Portuguese Campaign (1810)
This account, probably by Thomas Howell, a soldier of the Highland Light Infantry regiment, offers a firsthand account of the skirmishes between British/Portuguese forces and the French armies. Little is known about Howell except that he was born in 1790 of Methodist parents. His memoir was published shortly after the events described (a second edition dates from 1819).
Christopher Hibbert, ed., A Soldier of the Seventy-First: The Journal of a Soldier of the Highland Light Infantry, 1806-1815 (London: Leo Cooper, 1975), pp. 48-53.
1810
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/520/
520