OLD NEWS

Bonaparte In Love

by Richard Frank Bromer
Fearing an armed uprising, the Directors of the French Revolutionary government rounded up the arms of French citizens in the fall of 1795. Among the confiscated weapons was the sword of the General and Vicomte, Alexander Beauharnais, who had been guillotined during the Reign of Terror. The late General's sword was prized by his fourteen-year-old son, Eugene.
Determined to retrieve the sword of his father, young Eugene Beauharnais went to see the commanding general of the army in Paris, twenty-six-year-old Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonaparte was impressed by the lad's devotion to his father's memory and immediately returned the cherished sword.
In a few days Eugene's mother called on Bonaparte to thank him for returning the sword to her son. Thirty-two years old and the mother of two adolescent children, Madame Rose Beauharnais was a seductive woman. Bonaparte, who was single and unacquainted in Paris, was captivated by her beauty and charm. When she invited him to visit in her home, the general eagerly accepted.
Bonaparte was not an accomplished lover. When he visited the alluring Rose, he was shy and inhibited in her presence. A native of the island of Corsica, he felt uncouth in the company of this sophisticated Parisienne. After his first few visits to Madame Beauharnais, he lost his nerve and stopped calling on her.
Rose was experienced in affairs of the heart; in addition to having been married, she had enjoyed a number of love affairs. She was aware of her strong appeal to the awkward and bashful young general. When he stopped calling at her house, she sent him an encouraging note: "You no longer come to see a friend who is fond of you. You have completely deserted her. You are wrong, for she is affectionately attached to you. Come tomorrow to lunch with me. I need to see you, and to talk with you about your affairs. Good night, my friend. I embrace you."
Although Rose knew that Bonaparte was strongly attracted to her, she did not realize what a torrent of passion she was unleashing when she wrote that enticing note to him. In a short time he was feverishly in love with her and wanted to take complete possession of her. Because other men before him had possessed Rose, he insisted on calling her by a new name that no other man had ever whispered in her ear. He called her Josephine.
The first known letter from Napoleon to Josephine was written at seven in the morning. He wrote, "I awake, full of you. Your portrait, and the memory of the intoxicating evening of yesterday leave my senses no rest. Sweet and incomparable Josephine, what strange power do you have over my heart?...I drink from your lips and from your heart a flame which burns me. Ah, this night has shown me how far your portrait falls short of your true self! You leave at noon: in three hours I shall see you again. Till then, mio dolce amor, a thousand kisses; but give me none, for they set my heart on fire!"
It was rumored that before Napoleon fell in love with Josephine, she had been the mistress of Paul Barras, one of the five Directors who ruled France. Napoleon's relationship with Josephine was complicated by the fact that Barras was Napoleon's chief supporter in the Directorate. Josephine succeeded in convincing Napoleon that she and Barras had never been more than good friends.
Josephine allowed herself to be swept along by Napoleon's ardor for her. She was swayed not only by the sheer force of Napoleon's mania for her, but also by her growing realization that her suitor was a very unusual young man. He told her, "My sword is at my side, and with it I shall go far." Josephine wrote to a friend: "I don't know why, but sometimes this absurd self-confidence of his impresses me to the point of believing that anything is possible for this singular man--anything at all that might come into his mind to undertake! And with his imagination, who can guess what he might undertake?"
In February, 1796, only four months after they had met, Josephine and Napoleon announced their plans to be be married. On March 9, a civil ceremony was performed in a public building with only a few friends in attendance.
The newlyweds spent their wedding night in Josephine's home. Napoleon was chagrined to learn that Josephine already had a bed companion whom she was unwilling to evict. On his wedding night Napoleon slept not only with Josephine but also with her mongrel dog, Fortuné. Sometime during the night Fortuné sank his teeth into Napoleon's calf, leaving permanent scars.
Two days after his wedding Napoleon set off for the southern part of France where he took command of the French Army of Italy, a post to which he had been appointed by Paul Barras, the Director.
In Italy Napoleon proved himself to be a consummate general, who was not only a master strategist and tactician, but also an inspiring leader of men. He won victory after victory against the armies of northern Italy and Austria.
While directing his army with cool precision, Napoleon was not totally preoccupied with making war. Particularly at night, between battles, exciting images of Josephine filled his mind. He wrote her: "I go to bed, my heart full of your lovely image, but frantic at this long separation...Good God, how I wish I could drop in on you tonight and watch you at your dressing table, with one little shoulder bare and one little white breast showing...A kiss upon your lips, your eyes, your shoulder, your breast, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere!"
Napoleon had not been in Italy very long before he began to complain in his letters to Josephine about the dearth of her letters to him. She had written only two in a month. He lived for her letters; they sustained him. When he did not hear from her he was plunged into despair. He pleaded with her to write to him more often.
One letter from Josephine was very brief, just a note, the general grumbled. Moreover, it was written in a very shaky hand, he noted.
As time passed and Josephine failed to send him letters, Napoleon switched from pleading with Josephine to expressing doubts about her love for her husband. "What, then, are you doing all the day, madame? What business is so important as to deprive you of the time to write to your devoted husband? What other affection interferes with the tender and constant love you promised him? Who can he be, this marvelous new lover who monopolizes your every moment?"
If Josephine did have a lover, Napoleon warned her: "Take care, Josephine! Take care, for one of these fine nights your doors will burst open, and there I'll be." He wanted to frighten her if she was betraying him, but in case she was being true, he did not want to appear to be unjustly suspicious. Therefore he added: "Seriously speaking, however, I am deeply concerned at your silence, and hope before long to clasp you in my arms."
As the summer of 1796 approached, Napoleon became less concerned about the lack of letters from Josephine and more anxious about when she would join him in northern Italy. He fully expected that she would lose no time in coming to him in Milan. But when she made no plans to leave Paris, Napoleon's gnawing doubts about her devotion and loyalty became acute. His feelings about her became even more complicated when he heard that she was ill, even pregnant, and he felt guilty about his suspicions and resentments.
As it turned out, his doubts about Josephine's fidelity to him were justified. Soon after Napoleon's departure to take command of the Army of Italy, Josephine had been beguiled by a lieutenant in her husband's army. The lieutenant's name was Hippolyte Charles. At the time they became lovers, Josephine was thirty-three; Hippolyte was twenty-three. Josephine's new beau was the opposite of her husband. While Napoleon was careless in dress, taciturn, and serious, Hippolyte was a fashion plate, full of small talk, and witty.
Josephine's infidelities in Paris, while her husband was engaged in heroic military feats in Italy, was acceptable behavior in her fashionable social circle. Many of Josephine's friends felt that it was improper, almost indecent, to be passionately in love with one's spouse.
Josephine was embarrassed by having a husband so madly, ridiculously, in love with her. She thought that Napoleon was droll. To a friend she wrote with some exasperation: "My husband doesn't love me--he worships me!" It was not easy for Josephine to live up to Napoleon's exalted notion of his wife, especially not when Josephine was accustomed to leading a carefree existence in Paris.
In July, 1796, Josephine, with no signs of her previously reported illness or pregnancy, finally made arrangements to travel to her husband's side in Italy. Traveling with her were Napoleon's rivals: Lieutenant Hippolyte Charles and the dog, Fortuné. When Josephine arrived at Napoleon's headquarters in Italy, she found that war had called him away. It took Napoleon three days of furious riding to get to his reunion with Josephine.
Josephine spent half of 1796 and most of 1797 in Italy, staying in Milan and other cities where she was safe from the Austrians. Napoleon joined her whenever he could between battles. As the wife of a military hero she was the guest of honor at numerous banquets and receptions over which she graciously presided. But she was bored by all her formal appearances and yearned to return with Hippolyte to their uninhibited pleasures in Paris.
When she could arrange to, she met Hippolyte. Although many of Napoleon's generals knew about Josephine's affair with Hippolyte, none of them ventured to inform the commander of his wife's amour.
One day Josephine's mongrel, Fortuné, was killed after being foolhardy enough to attack a mastiff owned by Napoleon's chef. Hippolyte tried to console Josephine by presenting her with a pedigreed dog, and Napoleon's suspicions were aroused by this gift.
When Napoleon encountered the chef while strolling, the chef apologized profusely for the murder of Fortuné by the chef's mastiff. Napoleon replied, "Let your dog run loose, and perhaps he will rid me of this new one as well."
In December, 1797, Napoleon and Josephine returned to Paris in separate coaches. When Napoleon arrived he expected to find Josephine already there, but she did not show up until several weeks later. She was taking her time with Hippolyte as her traveling companion.
While Josephine's indiscretions were widely known and gossiped about, and Napoleon's mistrust of her increased, he still loved her and wanted to believe in her devotion to him. It was his vanity which deceived him.
He could not help but be vain; after his Italian campaign he was the idol of France. The name of the street on which he lived was changed to Rue de la Victoires. Josephine shared in his glory. She was called "Our Lady of Victories."
Napoleon was planning new campaigns. The Directorate wanted him to invade England, but after a careful study of the possibilities, Napoleon decided that the prospects of occupying England were not favorable. As an alternative, Napoleon conceived a more fanciful campaign, the conquest of Egypt, which was under British control. By taking Egypt, the French could wreck British domination of the Mediterranean Sea. Partly because the Directors were fearful of Napoleon's ambition and his popularity among the French people, they approved of his Egyptian campaign and breathed a sigh of relief when he and his large army embarked for the Nile.
In Egypt, as in Italy, Napoleon was victorious, but his triumph was spoiled by his finally learning from one of his generals about Josephine's unfaithfulness. Not only had she been untrue to him, but, using her prestige as Napoleon's wife, she and her lover Hippolyte had been dealing dishonestly in government contracts under the fictitious name, "Bodin Company."
Napoleon's secretary observed Napoleon receiving this disturbing news from the general. Napoleon turned pale and struck his head with his fist. Then he turned ferociously on his secretary: "So! I find I cannot depend on you.--These women!--Josephine! If you had loved me you would before now have told me all I have heard from [General] Junot--he is a real friend--Josephine!--and I am six hundred leagues from her--you ought to have told me. That she should have thus deceived me!--Woe to them!--I will exterminate the whole race of fops and puppies! As to her--divorce! Yes, divorce!"
Josephine's sixteen-year-old son, Eugene, was with Napoleon in Egypt, learning the craft of warfare from the master. Eugene wrote to his mother: "Dear mama, I have so many things to say to you that I don't know where to begin. Bonaparte has been extremely sad for five days as a result of an interview with Junot. This conversation has affected him more than I would have believed. All I have heard amounts to this: that [Hippolyte] Charles traveled in your carriage until you were within three posting stations of Paris; that you saw him in Paris; that you were with him at the Theatre of the Italians in the private boxes; that he gave you your little dog; that even now you are with him...You know, Mama, that I don't believe this; but what is certain is that the general is very upset...Your son chooses to believe that all gossip is manufactured by your enemies. Your son loves you as much as ever and is as eager to greet you. I hope that when you do come all will be forgiven."
Eugene's letter to his mother was never received by her. The ship carrying it as mail was captured by the British navy. The letter was turned over to the British press, which made its contents known to the world.
His faith in Josephine destroyed, Napoleon sought reprisal against her and started casting his eyes about among the attractive women to be found in Cairo. The commander's eyes came to rest on Pauline Foures, wife of a lieutenant in Napoleon's army. The lieutenant was conveniently absent from a banquet where Napoleon was seated next to Madame Foures.
With premeditated clumsiness Napoleon knocked over a glass of wine into Pauline's lap. He then graciously insisted that Pauline accompany him to his quarters where he himself would remove the wine stain from her gown. Napoleon and Pauline returned to the banquet an hour later. The guests applauded as they entered and reoccupied their seats.
To get Pauline's husband out of the way, Napoleon had him transferred to France. The British, however, captured the ship on which the luckless husband was being transported and shipped him back to his wife and commander in Egypt. Wearying of being the plaything of Napoleon and the British, Pauline's husband sued for divorce.
Pauline rode ostentatiously beside Napoleon in his carriage or, wearing very tight white trousers, straddled a horse prancing beside Napoleon's. Josephine's son, Eugene, took his stepfather aside and cautioned Napoleon against making such a public display of his affair with Pauline. After Eugene's talk with him, Napoleon was more discreet in his relationship with Pauline, although there is no doubt that he wanted the world, and especially Josephine, to know that Napoleon Bonaparte could not be cuckolded without getting his vengeance.
Although Napoleon won his usual victories in his initial land battles in Egypt, the French fleet was destroyed in the Battle of the Nile by British Admiral Horatio Nelson. Then the previously invincible army of Napoleon suffered some reverses.
News from France indicated that the national government was unstable; the Directorate was on the verge of toppling. Napoleon sensed an opportunity to seize power in France before his military reputation suffered from additional setbacks. Leaving his army in Egypt, he and a small number of companions managed to make their way north across the Mediterranean Sea. Disguised as fishermen, they slipped through the British fleet in a tiny craft.
Josephine had heard that Napoleon intended to divorce her, but she was confident of her continued power over him. When she heard about his arrival in southern France she set out to meet him on the road to Paris, where she planned to overwhelm him with her irresistible appeal. Unfortunately for her, she took a different route south from his route north, and they passed by each other. By the time she discovered her mistake it was impossible for Josephine to intercept Napoleon. She arrived back in Paris three days after him.
When she came to their house at two in the morning and pounded on the door, it was opened by the doorman, who informed her that he was under orders not to admit her under any circumstances. It was not difficult, however, for Josephine to slip by the servant, who was accustomed to obey her.
She ran upstairs to the bedroom. Finding the bedroom door securely locked, Josephine knocked sharply on it and called out to Napoleon inside. She got no response.
She begged and pleaded. She told Napoleon that her enemies had filled his ears with lies about her, all lies, filthy lies! Her yells changed to shrieks and hysterical screams. She collapsed outside the threshold of the bedroom, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her two children, Eugene and his sister, appeared. Joining their mother, they added their wails to hers, forming a mournful chorus.
The latch in the door clicked. Then the door slowly opened. There stood Napoleon Bonaparte in his nightshirt. Josephine flung herself upon him, and his arms enveloped her.
The following morning Napoleon's brother, Lucien, called and was ushered up to the bedroom where Napoleon and Josephine lay together under the covers, obviously reconciled.
Within a few days Napoleon dissolved the national assembly and removed the Directors, including his old ally and Josephine's friend, Paul Barras. As First Consul, he became the dictator of France. Josephine slept in the bed of Marie Antoinette and became the Empress of France.
Because she failed to produce an heir for Napoleon, he eventually divorced Josephine and replaced her with Marie Louise of Austria, who gave him the son he wanted.
There were many women in Napoleon's life, hundreds of them. A scholar wrote a 334-page book in which he attempted to list all the women who served, sometimes for only a few minutes, as Napoleon's mistress. But among all these women, Josephine stood out supremely in Napoleon's estimation. She was, he said, "incomparable."


SOURCES:
Empress Josephine. by Ernest John Knapton. Harvard. Cambridge. 1963.
Napoleon and Josephine. by Frances Mossiker. Simon and Schuster. New York. 1964.
Josephine, the Empress and Her Children. by Nina Epton. Norton. New York. 1975.
Josephine, a Biography. by André Castelot. Harper. New York. 1964.

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