Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte,
By LOUIS ANTOINE FAUVELET DE BOURRIENNE His Private Secretary
Volume One 1769-1800
CHAPTER 1 1769-1783.
Authentic date of Bonaparte's birth— His family ruined by the Jesuits—
His taste for military amusements— Sham siege at the College of Brienne—
The porter's wife and Napoleon— My intimacy with Bonaparte at college—
His love for the mathematics, and his dislike of Latin—
He defends Paoli and blames his father— He is ridiculed by his comrades—
Ignorance of the monks— Distribution of prizes at Brienne—
Madame de Montesson and the Duke of Orleans—
Report of M. Keralio on Bonaparte— He leaves Brienne.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE was born at Ajaccio, in Corsica,
on the 15th of August 1769; the original orthography of his name was Buonaparte,
but he suppressed the "u" during his first campaign in Italy.
His motives for so doing were merely to render the spelling conformable with the pronunciation,
and to abridge his signature. He signed Buonaparte even after the famous 13th Vendemiaire.
It has been affirmed that he was born in 1768, and that he represented himself to be a year younger
than he really was. This is untrue. He always told me the 9th of August was his birthday,
and, as I was born on the 9th of July 1769, our proximity of age served to strengthen our
union and friendship when we were both at the Military College of Brienne.
The false and absurd charge of Bonaparte having misrepresented his age, is decidedly refuted by
a note in the register of M. Berton, sub-principal of the College of Brienne, in which it is stated
that M. Napoleon de Buonaparte, ecuyer, born in the city of Ajaccio, in Corsica, on the
15th of August 1769, left the Royal Military College of Brienne on the 17th October 1784.
The stories about his low extraction are alike devoid of foundation. His family was poor,
and he was educated at the public expense, an advantage of which many honourable families
availed themselves. A memorial addressed by his father, Charles Buonaparte, to the Minister of
War states that his fortune had been reduced by the failure of some enterprise in which he had
engaged, and by the injustice of the Jesuits, by whom he had been deprived of an inheritance.
The object of this memorial was to solicit a sub-lieutenant's commission for Napoleon,
who was then fourteen years of age, and to get Lucien entered a pupil of the Military College.
The Minister wrote on the back of the memorial, "Give the usual answer, if there be a vacancy;"
and on the margin are these words—"This gentleman has been informed that his request is inadmissible
as long as his second son remains at the school of Brienne. Two brothers cannot be placed at the same
time in the military schools." When Napoleon was fifteen he was sent to Paris until he
should attain the requisite age for entering the army. Lucien was not received into the College
of Brienne, at least not until his brother had quitted the Military School of Paris.
Bonaparte was undoubtedly a man of good family. I have seen an authentic account of his genealogy,
which he obtained from Tuscany. A great deal has been said about the civil dissensions which
forced his family to quit Italy and take refuge in Corsica. On this subject I shall say nothing.
Many and various accounts have been given of Bonaparte's youth.
He has been described in terms of enthusiastic praise and exaggerated condemnation.
It is ever thus with individuals who by talent or favourable circumstances are raised above
their fellow-creatures. Bonaparte himself laughed at all the stories which were got up
for the purpose of embellishing or blackening his character in early life. An anonymous publication,
entitled the 'History of Napoleon Bonaparte', from his Birth to his last abdication,
contains perhaps the greatest collection of false and ridiculous details about his boyhood.
Among other things, it is stated that he fortified a garden to protect himself from the attacks of
his comrades, who, a few lines lower down, are described as treating him with esteem and respect.
I remember the circumstances which, probably, gave rise to the fabrication inserted in the work just
mentioned; they were as follows. During the winter of 1783-84,
so memorable for heavy falls of snow, Napoleon was greatly at a loss for those retired walks
and outdoor recreations in which he used to take much delight. He had no alternative but
to mingle with his comrades, and, for exercise, to walk with them up and down a spacious hall.
Napoleon, weary of this monotonous promenade, told his comrades that he thought they might
amuse themselves much better with the snow, in the great courtyard, if they would get shovels
and make hornworks, dig trenches, raise parapets, cavaliers, etc. "This being done," said he, "we
may divide ourselves into sections, form a siege, and I will undertake to direct the attacks."
The proposal, which was received with enthusiasm, was immediately put into execution.
This little sham war was carried on for the space of a fortnight, and did not cease until
a quantity of gravel and small stones having got mixed with the snow of which we made our bullets,
many of the combatants, besiegers as well as besieged, were seriously wounded.
I well remember that I was one of the worst sufferers from this sort of grapeshot fire.
It is almost unnecessary to contradict the story about the ascent in the balloon.
It is now very well known that the hero of that headlong adventure was not young Bonaparte,
as has been alleged, but one of his comrades, Dudont de Chambon, who was somewhat eccentric.
Of this his subsequent conduct afforded sufficient proofs.
Bonaparte's mind was directed to objects of a totally different kind.
He turned his attention to political science. During some of his vacations
he enjoyed the society of the Abby Raynal, who used to converse with him on government,
legislation, commercial relations, etc. On festival days, when the inhabitants of
Brienne were admitted to our amusements, posts were established for the maintenance of order.
Nobody was permitted to enter the interior of the building without a card signed by the principal,
or vice-principal. The rank of officers or sub-officers was conferred according to merit;
and Bonaparte one day had the command of a post, when the following little adventure occurred,
which affords an instance of his decision of character.
The wife of the porter of the school, who was very well known, because she used to sell milk, fruit,
etc., to the pupils, presented herself one Saint Louis day for admittance to the representation of
the 'Death of Caesar, corrected', in which I was to perform the part of Brutus. As the woman had
no ticket, and insisted on being admitted without one, some disturbance arose. The serjeant of the
post reported the matter to the officer, Napoleon Bonaparte, who in an imperious tone of voice
exclaimed: "Send away that woman, who comes here with her camp impudence." This was in 1782.
Bonaparte and I were eight years of, age when our friendship commenced. It speedily became
very intimate, for there was a certain sympathy of heart between us. I enjoyed this friendship and
intimacy until 1784, when he was transferred from the Military College of Brienne to that of Paris.
I was one among those of his youthful comrades who could best accommodate themselves to his stern
character. His natural reserve, his disposition to meditate on the conquest of Corsica,
and the impressions he had received in childhood respecting the misfortunes of his country and his
family, led him to seek retirement, and rendered his general demeanour, though in appearance only,
somewhat unpleasing. Our equality of age brought us together in the classes of the
mathematics and 'belles lettres'. His ardent wish to acquire knowledge was remarkable from
the very commencement of his studies. When he first came to the college he spoke only
the Corsican dialect, and the Sieur Dupuis, who was vice-principal before Father Berton,
gave him instructions in the French language. In this he made such rapid
progress that in a short time he commenced the first rudiments of Latin. But to this study he
evinced such a repugnance that at the age of fifteen he was not out of the fourth class.
There I left him very speedily; but I could never get before him in the mathematical class,
in which he was undoubtedly the cleverest lad at the college. I used sometimes to help him with
his Latin themes and versions in return for the aid he afforded me in the solution of problems,
at which he evinced a degree of readiness and facility which perfectly astonished me.
When at Brienne, Bonaparte was remarkable for the dark color of his complexion (which, subsequently,
the climate of France somewhat changed), for his piercing and scrutinising glance,
and for the style of his conversation both with his masters and comrades.
His conversation almost always bore the appearance of ill-humour, and he was certainly not very
amiable. This I attribute to the misfortunes his family had sustained and the impressions made on
his mind by the conquest of his country. The pupils were invited by turns to dine with
Father Berton, the head of the school. One day, it being Bonaparte's turn to enjoy this indulgence,
some of the professors who were at table designedly made some disrespectful remarks
on Paoli, of whom they knew the young Corsican was an enthusiastic admirer.
"Paoli," observed Bonaparte, "was a great man; he loved his country; and I will never forgive
my father, who was his adjutant, for having concurred in the union of Corsica with France.
He ought to have followed Paoli's fortune, and have fallen with him."
Generally speaking, Bonaparte was not much liked by his comrades at Brienne.
He was not social with them, and rarely took part in their amusements. His country's recent
submission to France always caused in his mind a painful feeling, which estranged him
from his schoolfellows. I, however, was almost his constant companion. During play-hours he used to
withdraw to the library, where he-read with deep interest works of history, particularly Polybius
and Plutarch. He was also fond of Arrianus, but did not care much for Quintus Gurtius.
I often went off to play with my comrades, and left him by himself in the library.
The temper of the young Corsican was not improved by the teasing he frequently experienced from his
comrades, who were fond of ridiculing him about his Christian name Napoleon and his country.
He often said to me, "I will do these French all the mischief I can;"
and when I tried to pacify him he would say, "But you do not ridicule me; you like me."
Father Patrauld, our mathematical professor, was much attached to Bonaparte.
He was justly proud of him as a pupil. The other professors, in whose classes he was
not distinguished, took little notice of him. He had no taste for the study of languages,
polite literature, or the arts. As there were no indications of his ever becoming a scholar,
the pedants of the establishment were inclined to think him stupid. His superior intelligence was,
however, sufficiently perceptible, even through the reserve under which it was veiled.
If the monks to whom the superintendence of the establishment was confided had understood
the organisation of his mind, if they had engaged more able mathematical professors,
or if we had had any incitement to the study of chemistry, natural philosophy, astronomy, etc.,
I am convinced that Bonaparte would have pursued these sciences with all the genius and spirit of
investigation which he displayed in a career, more brilliant it is true, but less useful to mankind.
Unfortunately, the monks did not perceive this, and were too poor to pay for good masters.
However, after Bonaparte left the college they found it necessary to engage two professors
from Paris, otherwise the college would have fallen to nothing. These two new professors,
MM. Durfort and Desponts, finished my education; and I regretted that they did not come sooner.
The often-repeated assertion of Bonaparte having received a careful education at Brienne is
therefore untrue. The monks were incapable of giving it him; and, for my own part,
I must confess that the extended information of the present day is to me a painful contrast
with the limited course of education I received at the Military College. It
is only surprising that the establishment should have produced a single able man.
Though Bonaparte had no reason to be satisfied with the treatment he received from his comrades,
yet he was above complaining of it; and when he had the supervision of any duty
which they infringed, he would rather go to prison than denounce the criminals.
I was one day his accomplice in omitting to enforce a duty which we were appointed
to supervise. He prevailed on me to accompany him to prison, where we remained three days.
We suffered this sort of punishment several times, but with less severity.
In 1783 the Duke of Orleans and Madame de Montesson visited Brienne; and, for upwards of
a month, the magnificent chateau of the Comte de Brienne was a Versailles in miniature. The series
of brilliant entertainments which were given to the august travellers made them almost forget the
royal magnificence they had left behind them. The Prince and Madame de Montesson expressed a
wish to preside at the distribution of the prizes of our college.
Bonaparte and I won the prizes in the class of mathematics, which, as I have already observed,
was the branch of study to which he confined his attention, and in which he excelled. When I was
called up for the seventh time Madame de Montesson said to my mother, who had come from Sens to be
present at the distribution, "Pray, madame, crown your son this time; my hands are a-weary."
There was an inspector of the military schools, whose business it was to make an annual report
on each pupil, whether educated at the public expense or paid for by his family. I copied from
the report of 1784 a note which was probably obtained surreptitiously from the War Office.
I wanted to purchase the manuscript, but Louis Bonaparte bought it.
I did not make a copy of the note which related to myself, because I should naturally have felt
diffident in making any use of it. It would, however, have served to show how time and
circumstances frequently reversed the distinctions which arise at school or college. Judging from the
reports of the inspector of military schools, young Bonaparte was not, of all the pupils at
Brienne in 1784, the one most calculated to excite prognostics of future greatness and glory.
The note to which I have just alluded, and which was written by M. de Kerralio,
then inspector of the military schools, describes Bonaparte in the following terms:
Father Berton, however, opposed Bonaparte's removal to Paris, because he had not passed
through the fourth Latin class, and the regulations required that he should be in
the third. I was informed by the vice-principal that a report relative to Napoleon was sent from
the College of Brienne to that of Paris, in which he was described as being domineering,
imperious, and obstinate. I knew Bonaparte well;
and I think M. de Keralio's report of him was exceedingly just, except, perhaps,
that he might have said he was very well as to his progress in history and geography, and very
backward in Latin; but certainly nothing indicated the probability of his being an excellent seaman.
He himself had no thought of the navy. In consequence of M. de Keralio's report,
Bonaparte was transferred to the Military College of Paris, along with MM. Montarby de Dampierre,
de Castres, de Comminges, and de Laugier de Bellecourt, who were all, like him,
educated at the public expense, and all, at least, as favorably reported.
What could have induced Sir Walter Scott to say that Bonaparte was the pride of the college,
that our mathematical master was exceedingly fond of him, and that the other professors in
the different sciences had equal reason to be satisfied with him?
What I have above stated, together with the report of M. de Keralio,
bear evidence of his backwardness in almost every branch of education except mathematics.
Neither was it, as Sir Walter affirms, his precocious progress in mathematics that occasioned
him to be removed to Paris. He had attained the proper age, and the report of him was favourable,
therefore he was very naturally included among the number of the five who were chosen in 1784.
In a biographical account of Bonaparte I have read the following anecdote:—When he was fourteen
years of age he happened to be at a party where some one pronounced a high eulogium on Turenne;
and a lady in the company observed that he certainly was a great man,
but that she should like him better if he had not burned the Palatinate.
"What signifies that," replied Bonaparte, "if it was necessary to the object he had in view?"
This is either an anachronism or a mere fabrication.
Bonaparte was fourteen in the year 1783. He was then at Brienne,
where certainly he did not go into company, and least of all the company of ladies.