"Napoleon's warhorse Marengo gets ready to ride out again " Topic
13 Posts
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Tango01 | 29 Dec 2016 9:33 p.m. PST |
"Ah, that's it, got it moving now," Derek Bell said in satisfaction, as he and Arianna Bernucci delicately dragged off the leg of one of the most famous horses in history. The crude iron bars and rusted bolts were exposed, which for almost two centuries have been holding together the skeleton of Napoleon's little grey Arab stallion, Marengo. The skeleton of the horse that repeatedly carried Napoleon into victory in battle, and finally into the last defeat at Waterloo in 1815, is being taken apart by Bell, an expert on prop making and conservation, and Bernucci, a senior conservator who has been recruited from the Natural History Museum to help with a unique project. In a studio in old farm buildings in Essex, they are dismantling, conserving and reconstructing Marengo for the National Army Museum, which will reopen on its Chelsea site in spring 2017 after a three-year closure for a major rebuild." Main page link Amicalement Armand |
GROSSMAN | 29 Dec 2016 9:55 p.m. PST |
I saw this thing back in 2000 it sure looked tired then. |
Tango01 | 30 Dec 2016 10:59 a.m. PST |
Well…. after all … we are not talking about ANY horse ….! (smile) Amicalement Armand
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Major Mike | 30 Dec 2016 11:25 a.m. PST |
Belle, Stirie, Aly, Cirus, Epicurien, Fayoume, Gonzalve, Ingénu, Intendant, Jafa, Lutzelberg, Montevideo, Hérodote, Roitelet, Sara, Soliman, Tamerlan, Tauris, Tcherkès, les Turkmènes, Vizir… — the Emperor rode over hundred and eighty horses, loosing on the average twenty a year. The famous Arabian, Marengo, was covered with scars and had a bullet lodged in its tail, yet never threw Bonaparte out of the saddle. We don't know if Napoleon rode Marengo at Waterloo — too sick that day, he probably never stepped out of his carriage, but it is where the Brits captured the horse to ship it to England as trophy. Today we can still see the famous carcass at the National Army Museum; two of the hooves are missing, one of them becoming a sniffing-tobacco box, the other — an ashtray. You can see a stuffed Vizir in Paris. |
piper909 | 30 Dec 2016 11:39 a.m. PST |
Fascinating! Did Marengo go to Elba with Napoleon, or how was his time spent during the Bourbon restoration of 1814-15? (Pensioned off at half-pay with the other die-hard grognards?) |
Tango01 | 01 Jan 2017 4:25 p.m. PST |
Of possible interest? Les Chevaux de Napoléon Bonaparte… See here PDF link Amicalement Armand
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Lord Hill | 02 Jan 2017 4:10 a.m. PST |
Brilliant idea for the National Army museum to plan its 3-year closure to mean missing the 200th anniversary of Waterloo and the 100th anniversary of 1914-1917. |
Brechtel198 | 02 Jan 2017 4:44 a.m. PST |
We don't know if Napoleon rode Marengo at Waterloo — too sick that day, he probably never stepped out of his carriage Where did that come from? I've never heard that one before. Napoleon certainly wasn't 'sick' the night before Waterloo as he performed a personal reconnaissance of the allied position in the mud and rain. |
Brechtel198 | 02 Jan 2017 4:51 a.m. PST |
Napoleon had nineteen horses shot our from under him during the wars. Those that were retired were well-cared for in their retirement, pensioned off to 'green pastures and warm stables.' Napoleon's stable had about one hundred horses, both saddle and carriage. Napoleon's horses were schooled (trained) by Monsieur Auguste Jardin who was one of Napoleon's senior equerries. Napoleon preferred Arabs and Barbs for saddle horses; the draft animals used were Limousins. Napoleon was not an accomplished rider; that being said, he was also 'an able, daring, and reckless horseman. On St Helena he once ditched his English escort officer by leaping his mount over a hedge and riding off across country. There is a story of Napoleon making fun of one of his escort of Chasseurs a Cheval who was thrown from his mount on the road. A little later, the same thing happened to Napoleon and the quick-witted Chasseur returned the barbed compliment. |
von Winterfeldt | 02 Jan 2017 5:44 a.m. PST |
Gareth Glover writes this : " However following through research in the French records by Jill Hamilton, it is clear that there never was a horse named Marengo in the Imperial stables, and that his discription does not match any of the horses listed in the stables at any time. Thus the conclusion must be that the horse was an impostor – " Seemingly a hoax and fairy tale then, for more on this subject Glover, Gareth : Waterloo – Myth and Reality |
deadhead | 02 Jan 2017 9:17 a.m. PST |
There was very poorly researched book entitled something like The Myth of Marengo, which I recently binned. It did very convincingly, despite so much of the text, state that Marengo is a composite character, with no record of any horse of that name. A bit like Horn who claimed to be Napoleon's coachman and was wounded at Genappe in the capture of Boney's carriage. A celebrity in early Victorian England. Only snag, no record of anyone of that name and the coach used postillions anyway. The famous coach was NOT at Mt St Jean, indeed Napoleon insisted he had not used it at all, after crossing the Belgian frontier. The Imperial train did not get north beyond Le Caillou |
deadhead | 03 Jan 2017 9:45 a.m. PST |
A very generous review of the book I was trying to recall; link which does summarise much of the content well |
Tango01 | 03 Jan 2017 10:51 a.m. PST |
Many thanks my friend!. (smile) Amicalement Armand
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