"Napoleon’s Military Carriage" Topic

"Designed for optimum speed and utility, Napoleon's military carriage carried the Emperor of the French all over the continent of Europe. Stripped of its wheels and lashed to a sleigh, it carried him back to Paris in the terrible retreat from Moscow. With the exiled Emperor it went to Elba; with him it returned. And it waited for him all one weekend near the village of Waterloo.

Later Sunday night, June 18, 1815 – while Napoleon was trying to escape from Waterloo – a pursuing troop overtook the carriage and captured it. Napoleon himself barely managed to escape on horseback, leaving behind his hat, sword, telescope, and – along with an immense treasure – a uniform in the lining of which were sewn unmounted diamonds worth a million gold francs…"

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Armand

Good to see this again. One of my favourite modelling projects, both in 28mm and 15/18mm. Curiously never did do it in 1/72. The Waterloo in 20mm project has an unbeatable and long out of production metal German model.

Napoleon was not short of a bob or two and had many personal coaches. Many still exist and all claim to have carried him home from Russia. Most were imperial green, but this does seem genuinely to have been dark blue all along.

This one sure as heck did not see Russia. It was constructed in 1815 in Belgium by a chap named Genting. It was actually ready to go before the start of the Hundred Days, but Boney was seeking out transport urgently, so this was rapidly modified and purchased.

The text says two photos still exist, but, over the years I found a few more. The best known is the small image above the burnt out debris and the third is oft seen. The other three took some finding!

I think you'll find Bonaparte rather avoided the terrible retreat from Moscow by skipping out early.

The carriage he had on Elba was the one he used at Waterloo. It was captured by the British, presented to the Prince Regent and later displayed at Madame Tussaud's in London alongside a wax figure of the little dictator. It unfortunately met its end in a fire at the museum in 1925.

There was indeed a carriage transported from Elba, but it was not this particular one. The household had many carriages (over a dozen) back at Rossomme for his various staff members.

This carriage was captured by the Prussians at Genappe (15th Fusiliers under Major Keller). A similar carriage, also taken there, survives at Malmaison after a century in German museums.

Documentation is very unreliable, as the many and various coaches are always confused. The Elba coach got no further than Grasse as the road was impassible for it. The famous one (Post Chaise numbered 389) is variously credited to Simon in Brussels, or Getting (?Goeting?) in Paris and Boney insisted that he did not enter it after crossing the border into Belgium.

Every website will tell you that this remarkable landau made it all the way to Moscow and back again. Mind you, a French museum makes the same claim for a much earlier design of carriage. I read somewhere that a carriage did get back from Russia (long after the Emperor) but Marie-Louise pinched it and took it to Vienna. No pre-nups back then!

My bottom photo shows the remains after the fire. One axle was kept and is also in Malmaison now.

Thanks

Armand

It is all very confusing, but worth bearing in mind that, whatever sums the auctions fetch, he had many a hat, several personal transports (as well as parade vehicles) and then his immediate retinue made for quite a train by 1815.

Osprey's "Napoleon's Imperial HQ" vols 1 and 2 by Ronald Pawly is a mine of info and almost unique on the subject (in the English language anyway)

And then there was…were.. Marengo.

The horse that is.

Excellent point! "Napoleon's horse", with no evidence that the poor brute ever existed and of course the Emperor might just have had a spare.

I like that, thanks for the addition.