Napoleon

The disaster of Waterloo had forced Napoleon to abdicate and leave French soil. Despite the doubts and hesitations then troubling his mind, it seems that he had at last taken the firm decision to make for the United States of America. On 16 July 1815 he embarked at Rochefort, voluntarily going aboard the British naval ship Bellerophon and placing himself, trusting and resigned, under the noble and generous hospitality of the English. On reaching the coast of England on 24 July, he recognised, disillusioned but too late, the sad and cruel fate that awaited him: exile and death on the harsh and lonely rocks of St Helena.

On 7 August Napoleon transferred from the Bellerophon to the flagship Northumberland, which that same day set a southward course, accompanied by the frigates Havannah, Ceylon and Bucephalus and the brigs Peruviana, Zephiro, Zenobia, Ferrol, Icarus and Redpole. The squadron was commanded by George Cockburn and carried the 53rd Regiment of English infantry, which was to garrison St Helena. The emperor’s suite consisted of General Bertrand with his wife and children, the Count of Las Casas and his family, Generals Montholon and Gourgaud, a naval captain, two aides and a few servants.

On 22 August they sighted the Madeira archipelago. As they passed between Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) and the Desertas (‘deserted islands’), the Northumberland’s doctor pointed out to the Count of Las Casas the resemblance he saw between the latter islands and the bare, barren rocks of St Helena. Napoleon, on the ship’s deck, was gazing absorbed at the steep ravines of the Desertas when the count approached him and passed on the ship’s doctor’s remark. The same thought may well have crossed the emperor’s mind. It is also likely that, on seeing the luxuriant vegetation of Madeira, he reflected on the stark contrast between the incomparable beauty and mild climate of this island and the desolate aridity of St Helena and the conditions of so inhospitable a region. Napoleon said nothing to Las Casas, merely giving a faint smile and a disdainful shrug.

During the night of 22 August the squadron appeared off Funchal, but it seems that it did not anchor until the following day. All the ships anchored in our bay except the flagship Northumberland, which sailed offshore not far from the harbour. Under the strict instructions of the British Admiralty, the ship carrying the emperor was not to call at any port during its voyage, nor allow anyone outside its crew to come aboard.

23 August brought heat more intense than any the inhabitants of this island could remember. It was the familiar leste (hot, dry easterly wind from Africa), which this time came with a violent storm. The people, in their superstitious simplicity, attributed the phenomenon to Napoleon’s passing. The Attila who had laid Europe waste at the head of his invincible armies, though a prisoner stripped of all his power and grandeur, had still unleashed the fierce gale that did so much damage to agriculture here and harmed many buildings and dwellings!

The sea had grown rough, and communication with the ships of the squadron was difficult. An eyewitness states that the wind was strong and the swell very heavy, so that the emperor suffered considerable discomfort. Nevertheless they managed to take on provisions and refreshments, among them ‘unripe oranges, poor peaches, tasteless pears and excellent grapes’.

It is said that the British consul in Madeira, Henrique Veitch, had learned in advance that Napoleon would pass Madeira and at once resolved to do everything possible to see and speak to him. Despite the state of the sea and the distance of the Northumberland from land, he managed to reach the ship and speak to Admiral Sir George Cockburn, a personal friend, to whom he confided his great wish to greet the victor of Austerlitz and Marengo. The admiral tried to dissuade Veitch from any such attempt, on the pretext that Napoleon had become extremely irascible and even intractable, even towards the members of his own suite.

By good fortune for the British consul, one of Bonaparte’s aides appeared at that moment. Veitch was introduced to him and at once said that he ardently wished to offer his most respectful greetings to His Imperial Majesty. It was the first time that the title of majesty had been used for the emperor aboard the Northumberland, for he could only be addressed simply as General Bonaparte. This, it seems, was the talisman that broke the spell and brought Veitch into Napoleon’s presence. Napoleon received England’s representative in Madeira warmly and, when offered his services, replied that he would much appreciate some books and fruit from this beautiful island. Henrique Veitch graciously met Napoleon’s wishes, sending him a splendid gift of fruit, sweets and old wines. The emperor sent the consul some gold napoleons to pay for the boat that had carried the refreshments aboard, and tradition has it that Veitch placed them in the foundation stone of the Anglican Church (Igreja Anglicana) in Rua da Bela Vista when the foundations of that church were dug. On the afternoon of 24 August 1815 the whole squadron set sail for its destination, passing the Canary Islands on the 27th without calling there, and the latitude of Cape Verde on 1 September, and anchoring at St Helena on 15 October. Napoleon was born on 15 August 1769 and died on the island of his banishment on 4 May 1821.

Of particular interest is what can be found in the ‘Diary’ of J. R. Glover, secretary to Admiral Georges Cockburn, commander of the Northumberland, the ship carrying Napoleon into exile. The book was published in Oxford in 1931 by Colonel H. A. Newel, and the distinguished Madeiran writer Father J. Vieira Caetano extracted a few pages from it in summary form. We shall transcribe the main passages that concern our subject.

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23 AUGUST. The wind veered to the east and became very hot and unpleasant. At two o’clock the island of Porto Santo was sighted, and shortly afterwards that of Madeira. That day Bonaparte did not take his walk before dinner.

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At the meal he appeared pensive and out of sorts. He asked the admiral a few questions about Madeira: its size, how long ago it had been discovered and by whom. Immediately after dinner he went to the stern and watched the island, most particularly as we sailed along its coast, until we reached the bay of Funchal when it was already dark. After playing for a while with Madame Montholon, he withdrew to his “cabin”, evidently dejected. These words are translated from the Diary almost literally.

They show us the victor of Marengo and Austerlitz melancholy and dejected. This is hardly surprising in a man who had stood at the zenith of glory and was now sailing into exile, passing from the splendours of Paris and Versailles to the solitude of the remote islet of St Helena. Within sight of the Madeiran coast, Bonaparte (the ship’s secretary gives him no other title) was learning the history and geography of Madeira, of which he knew nothing, as the questions he put to His Britannic Majesty’s admiral show.

24 AUGUST: ‘We lay in the bay of Funchal, a long way off the landing place. The crew went ashore to fetch water and provisions, and I too went to buy some fruit and wine.

Mr Veitch, His Majesty’s consul, visited the ship, and Bonaparte asked him many questions about the island, its produce, its height above sea level, its population, etc.

Mr Veitch dined on board. After dinner Bonaparte walked with him and the admiral for a considerable time, talking about general topics, after which he retired to bed without stopping at the card table.’

On this second day the frigate took on provisions and the English consul, Mr Veitch, went on board. Napoleon talked and went on learning about Madeira, retiring to bed without his game of cards.

Whether it was on this day that he received the visit of the young lady of Funchal handed down by tradition, which inspired Major Reis Gomes’s fine historical tale ‘Anel do Imperador’, the secretary does not say in the ship’s diary; nor did the visit lessen the exile’s despondency.

25 AUGUST: ‘The violent and very unpleasant sirocco continued, having begun when we sighted Madeira. Such was the superstition of the inhabitants that they blamed this destructive wind on Bonaparte, who was in the harbour; they were very anxious about their crops, which, already almost ripe, would be half lost.’

The secretary, Mr Glover, goes on to state that, owing to rough seas and unpleasant weather, they spent the whole day until nightfall taking on provisions. It was already dark when they set sail for the south.

Of Bonaparte he adds: ‘The heat of the leste (hot, dry easterly wind from Africa), the unpleasant nature of the wind and the ship’s rolling, which was very considerable, evidently affected the General. At dinner he ate very little and was downcast.

That evening he played vingt-et-un for only about half an hour and retired to bed.’ On this day the ship left Madeira, which Napoleon saw for the first and last time. The ship’s diary makes no mention of the gold coins the Emperor left in Madeira in payment for fruit and some books he had asked for.

The author of The English Church in Madeira, however, mentions them and relates that Consul Veitch placed them in the foundations of the Anglican church when the building’s first stone was laid. He found this confirmed in a letter written on 5 January 1860 by Mrs Minet, of the Cossart family, to her sister Mrs Leacock.

Mrs Minet says that, as a little girl, she saw the consul, Mr Veitch, place some gold coins received from Napoleon beneath the first stone and then affix the seal.

On that afternoon of 25 August the Emperor of the French left the harbour of Funchal, whose astonishing panorama he had contemplated, for his retreat on St Helena, where he went to meditate on the vanity of worldly greatness and to exclaim, like the eloquent orator of his homeland: God alone is great!’

Of considerable interest on this subject is the book O Anel do Imperador by the illustrious writer and academician João dos Reis Gomes.

Nineteen years passed. On 24 July 1840 the French naval frigates La bela Poule and Favorite dropped anchor in our harbour. They were carrying to St Helena the mission that the government of Louis Philippe had charged with officially transporting the mortal remains of the Emperor Napoleon I from that island to Toulon, and from that port to the city of Paris. The mission was led by the Prince of Joinville (see that entry), and it included some of Napoleon’s former servants, among them General Bertrand, who had been the emperor’s companion in exile and had attended him in his last moments in his retreat on St Helena.

The distinguished Madeiran Monteiro Teixeira (see that entry), who was the French consul in Funchal, gave a splendid ball for the Prince of Joinville and his retinue, attended by the most eminent people of this city. It was at this party that a charming Funchal lady sang, with great accuracy and feeling, a poem in French dedicated to General Bertrand, which had enjoyed great popularity throughout Europe. It moved the illustrious soldier deeply, and he could not hide the great emotion that stirred him so keenly at that moment. Taking from his finger a precious ring, a gift from Napoleon and the dearest relic he kept of his emperor, he presented it to our distinguished compatriot, thanking her in this way for the affectionate and captivating tribute that had been paid to him. The lady graciously declined the kind offer, above all because she knew how much it must be prized and valued by General Bertrand’s heart.

The Prince of Joinville’s retinue included Artur Bertrand, son of General Bertrand, who had been born on St Helena during the exile and had received the first lessons of his education from the Emperor Napoleon himself. In the most eloquent and expressive language he described the ceremonies of the exhumation of the emperor’s body and of its transfer on board the French ships, an account that cannot be read without respectful and heartfelt emotion. This description refers to the passage of the Belle Poule and the Favorite through the port of Funchal.