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110-611: Adventurers led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville moved from Fort Maurepas in Biloxi , Mississippi to a wooded bluff on the west bank of the Mobile River in early 1702, where they founded Mobile , which they named after the Maubilian Indians. The outpost was populated by French soldiers, French-Canadian trappers and fur traders, and a few merchants and artisans accompanied by their families. The French had easy access to

220-414: A Legislative Body and Tribunate which were selected from indirectly elected candidates, and a Senate and Council of State which were effectively nominated by the executive. The new constitution was approved by plebiscite on 7 February 1800. The official count was over three million in favour and 1,562 against. Lucien, however, had doubled the count of the "yes" vote to give the false impression that

330-716: A Seventh Coalition , which defeated him at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. Napoleon was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died of stomach cancer in 1821, aged 51. Napoleon is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history and Napoleonic tactics are still studied at military schools worldwide. His legacy endures through the modernizing legal and administrative reforms he enacted in France and Western Europe, embodied in

440-525: A coup d'état that purged royalists from the legislative councils on 4 September—the Coup of 18 Fructidor . This left Barras and his republican allies in control again but more dependent upon Bonaparte who finalized peace terms with Austria by the Treaty of Campo Formio . Bonaparte returned to Paris on 5 December 1797 as a hero. He met Charles Maurice de Talleyrand , France's Foreign Minister, and took command of

550-445: A combination of amnesties for those who lay down their arms and brutal repression of those who continued to resist. Bonaparte also improved state finances by securing loans under a promise to defend private property, raising taxes on tobacco, alcohol and salt, and extracting levies from France's satellite republics. Bonaparte believed that the best way to secure his regime was by a victorious peace. In May 1800, he led an army across

660-767: A company of Creoles in Confederate service, the Native Guards, formed from a Creole firefighting battalion. After Federal forces defeated the Confederates in Mobile, the Creole Native Guards disappeared from service. The Civil War completely destroyed Mobile as it once was. Prior to the Civil War, Mobile was Alabama's most vital urban area, and it was the undisputed economic and social center of

770-484: A complex three-way struggle among royalists, revolutionaries, and Corsican nationalists. He became a supporter of the Jacobins and joined the pro-French Corsican Republicans who opposed Paoli's policy and his aspirations to secede. He was given command over a battalion of Corsican volunteers and promoted to captain in the regular army in 1792, despite exceeding his leave of absence and a dispute between his volunteers and

880-629: A corruption of Acadian , matching the Cajuns of Louisiana. Creoles at this time used the term Cajun/Cajan ( French : Cadjin [ka.dʒɛ̃] ) interchangeably with the social designation petit habitant (Creole peasant), and the Cajans of Alabama adopted the Cajan name to distinguish themselves from the urban Creoles of Mobile. Alabama Cajans inhabited a region called the Cajan Country , which

990-667: A group of 167 scientists, with mathematicians, naturalists, chemists, and geodesists among them. Their discoveries included the Rosetta Stone , and their work was published in the Description de l'Égypte in 1809. En route to Egypt, Bonaparte reached Hospitaller Malta on 9 June 1798, then controlled by the Knights Hospitaller . Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim surrendered after token resistance, and Bonaparte captured an important naval base with

1100-530: A large fortune by uncertain means. The accounts of the West Indian expedition were hopelessly disorganized; there were accusations of embezzlement. His widow, Marie Thérèse Pollet (1672–1740) was forced to pay back a large part of her inheritance. D'Iberville was perhaps the first great soldier born in Canada. Students of the art of war may see his career as an example of the importance of following up after

1210-468: A mainstay of life in the city. Gradually Mobile evolved into the third most important port city in the American Union behind New York City and New Orleans, Louisiana . In 1844, a Northern visitor described the diversity and beauty of Mobile: "Clerks of all shapes and sizes, white and red haired men, staid thinking men and brainless flops. Here goes a staid, demeure-faced priest and behind him

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1320-483: A majority of those eligible to vote had approved the constitution. Historians have variously described Bonaparte's new regime as "dictatorship by plebiscite," "absolutist rule decked out in the spirit of the age," and "soft despotism." Local and regional administration was reformed to concentrate power in the central government, censorship was introduced, and most opposition newspapers were closed down to stifle dissent. Royalist and regional revolts were dealt with by

1430-627: A plebiscite since the Revolution. France had regained her overseas colonies under Amiens but did not control them all. The French National Convention had voted to abolish slavery in February 1794, but, in May 1802, Bonaparte reintroduced it in all the recovered colonies except Saint-Domingue and Guadeloupe which were under the control of rebel generals. A French military expedition under Antoine Richepanse regained control of Guadeloupe and slavery

1540-566: A series of victories. The Republic, however, was bankrupt and the ineffective Directory was unpopular. Despite the failures in Egypt, Bonaparte returned to a hero's welcome. The Directory discussed Bonaparte's desertion but was too weak to punish him. Bonaparte formed an alliance with Talleyrand and leading members of the Council of Five Hundred and Directory: Lucien Bonaparte, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès , Roger Ducos and Joseph Fouché to overthrow

1650-563: A serious challenge. Anglo-American Southerners generally defended slavery as a positive institution for the benefit of the slaves. The large Creole community in Mobile posed serious practical and ideological problems for the proponents of slavery. How could slavery be a positive good for both whites and blacks when the Creole population not only existed, but prospered? Creoles maintained their own schools, churches, fire companies, and social institutions; urban slaves had access to money, as well as

1760-516: A temporary increase of French power in Egypt, though it faced repeated uprisings. In early 1799, he moved an army into the Ottoman province of Damascus (Syria and Galilee ). Bonaparte led these 13,000 French soldiers in the conquest of the coastal towns of Arish , Gaza , Jaffa , and Haifa . The attack on Jaffa was particularly brutal. Bonaparte discovered that many of the defenders were former prisoners of war, ostensibly on parole, so he ordered

1870-584: A typical Corsican of the time. In January 1779, at age 9, Napoleon moved to the French mainland and enrolled at a religious school in Autun to improve his French (his mother tongue was the Corsican dialect of Italian). Although he eventually became fluent in French, he spoke with a Corsican accent and his French spelling was poor. In May, he transferred to the military academy at Brienne-le-Château where he

1980-519: A victory, for he won all his battles but never was able to consolidate what he had won. Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville was a knight of the Order of Saint-Louis . The following works and sites are named for d'Iberville: Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte ; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I , was a French military officer and statesman who rose to prominence during

2090-448: Is a dashing gambler   ... Here is a sailor just on shore with a pocket full of rocks ready for devilment of any kind and there is a beggar in rags. Pretty Creoles, pale-faced sewing girls, painted vice, big-headed and little-headed men, tall anatomies and short Falstaffs   ... a great country this is and make no mistake." Mobile contained approximately 40% of all of Alabama's free black population. Mobile's free people of color were

2200-755: The Conspiration des poignards (Dagger plot) in October 1800 and the Plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise two months later, gave him a pretext to arrest about 100 suspected Jacobins and royalists, some of whom were shot and many others deported to penal colonies. After a decade of war, France and Britain signed the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802, bringing the Revolutionary Wars to an end. Under

2310-571: The Battle of Leipzig . The coalition invaded France and captured Paris, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April 1814. They exiled him to the Mediterranean island of Elba and restored the Bourbons to power . Ten months later, Napoleon escaped from Elba on a brig, landed in France with a thousand men, and marched on Paris, again taking control of the country. His opponents responded by forming

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2420-577: The Fall of Maximilien Robespierre in July 1794, Bonaparte's association with leading Jacobins made him politically suspect to the new regime. He was arrested on 9 August but released two weeks later. He was asked to draw up plans to attack Italian positions as part of France's war with Austria and, in March 1795, he took part in an expedition to take back Corsica from the British, but the French were repulsed by

2530-694: The French Republican calendar —he fired on the rebels with canister rounds (later called: "a whiff of grapeshot "). About 300 to 1,400 rebels died in the uprising. Bonaparte's role in defeating the rebellion earned him and his family the patronage of the new government, the French Directory . On 26 October, he was promoted to commander of the Army of the Interior, and in January 1796 he

2640-709: The French Revolution and led a series of successful campaigns across Europe during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1796 to 1815. He was the leader of the French Republic as First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then of the French Empire as Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814, and briefly again in 1815. Born on the island of Corsica to a family of Italian origin, Napoleon moved to mainland France in 1779 and

2750-560: The French and Indian War where France relinquished all of its continental colonial territory to Britain and ceded half of Louisiana to Spain, Britain merged the Southern Louisiana territories into British West Florida . Some Creoles of New Orleans at this time moved to Mobile, as they preferred British to Spanish rule. Life changed very little for Alabama Creoles under British rule. The fur trade continued and British adopted

2860-633: The Gulf of Mexico . The French began dreaming of building a great empire by linking the Saint Lawrence and Mississippi basins , thereby bottling up the English on the Atlantic coast . This presented diplomatic problems; the Gulf coast was claimed, though not occupied, by Spain . Pontchartrain , the minister for naval affairs and colonies, gave d'Iberville the task of locating the mouth of

2970-514: The Louisiana Native Guard in 1861, although Confederate States Army forces ultimately dissolved the unit in 1862. Creoles in Mobile also continuously petitioned to join the war effort. In November 1862, Alabama's General Assembly passed legislation allowing Creoles to enroll in the state militia, and a unit of Alabama Creole Guards was raised. In November 1863, the general in command of Mobile, Dabney H. Maury , requested that

3080-574: The Louisiana Territory that had not yet developed a thriving mercantile community. As Mobile grew, it attracted medical and legal professionals as well as printers. Mobile experienced a dramatic growth as cotton flowed through its ports from plantations and farms in the Alabama interior. Mobile also received a reputation for being quite unrefined, as young men and transients poured into the city, and made saloons, drinking, and prostitution

3190-593: The Maison Bonaparte home in Ajaccio , where Napoleon was born on 15 August 1769. He had an elder brother, Joseph , and, later, six younger siblings: Lucien , Elisa , Louis , Pauline , Caroline , and Jérôme . Five more siblings were stillborn or did not survive infancy. Napoleon was baptized as a Catholic , under the name Napoleone di Buonaparte . In his youth, his name was also spelled as Nabulione , Nabulio , Napolionne , and Napulione . Napoleon

3300-665: The Mississippi River , which La Salle had failed to find on his last expedition , and building a fort which would block the river to other nations. D'Iberville left Brest with four ships in October 1698. He sailed along the Florida coast, past the base the Spanish were building at Pensacola . In March 1699, he entered the Birdfoot Delta . It was only after meeting some Indians who remembered La Salle that he

3410-543: The Napoleonic Code . He established a system of public education, abolished the vestiges of feudalism , emancipated Jews and other religious minorities, abolished the Spanish Inquisition , enacted the principle of equality before the law for an emerging middle class, and centralized state power at the expense of religious authorities. His conquests acted as a catalyst for political change and

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3520-615: The Schenectady massacre in present-day New York's Mohawk Valley. Charles le Moyne de Longueuil, Baron de Longueuil , was governor of Montreal. Another, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne Bienville , founded New Orleans . Jacques and Paul LeMoyne were with him on James Bay , and Joseph LeMoyne was with him in Louisiana . Le Moyne d'Iberville was raised Catholic under the Jesuit order. Parish records indicate that he made his First Communion at

3630-775: The Sultan of Mysore , an enemy of the British. Bonaparte assured the Directory that "as soon as he had conquered Egypt, he will establish relations with the Indian princes and, together with them, attack the English in their possessions". The Directory agreed in order to secure a trade route to the Indian subcontinent . In May 1798, Bonaparte was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences . His Egyptian expedition included

3740-411: The 1930s, Mobile was essentially a small town where most people were comfortable and satisfied with the community institutions available. However, the city was deeply divided by race, and the lack of economic opportunity hampered the economic development of the city. Mobile's Creole population was prevented from fully contributing its energy and talents towards building a better city. World War II changed

3850-608: The Army of England for the planned invasion of Britain. After two months of planning, Bonaparte decided that France's naval strength was not yet sufficient to confront the British Royal Navy. He decided on a military expedition to seize Egypt and thereby undermine Britain's access to its trade interests in India . Bonaparte wished to establish a French presence in the Middle East and join forces with Tipu Sultan ,

3960-640: The Austrians again challenged France in the War of the Fifth Coalition , in which Napoleon solidified his grip over Europe after winning the Battle of Wagram . In summer 1812, he launched an invasion of Russia , which ended in the catastrophic retreat of his army that winter. In 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russia in the War of the Sixth Coalition , in which Napoleon was decisively defeated at

4070-469: The Austrians at Hohenlinden in December. The Austrians capitulated and signed the Treaty of Lunéville in February 1801. The treaty reaffirmed and expanded earlier French gains at Campo Formio. Bonaparte's triumph at Marengo increased his popularity and political authority. However, he still faced royalist plots and feared Jacobin influence, especially in the army. Several assassination plots, including

4180-891: The Austrians sued for peace. The preliminary peace of Leoben , signed on 18 April, gave France control of most of northern Italy and the Low Countries , and promised to partition the Republic of Venice with Austria. Bonaparte marched on Venice and forced its surrender , ending 1,100 years of Venetian independence. He authorized the French to loot treasures such as the Horses of Saint Mark . In this Italian campaign, Bonaparte's army captured 150,000 prisoners, 540 cannons, and 170 standards . The French army fought 67 actions and won 18 pitched battles through superior artillery technology and Bonaparte's tactics. Bonaparte extracted an estimated 45 million French pounds from Italy during

4290-584: The Austrians, laying siege to Mantua . The Austrians launched offensives against the French to break the siege, but Bonaparte defeated every relief effort, winning the Battle of Castiglione , the Battle of Bassano , the Battle of Arcole , and the Battle of Rivoli . The French triumph at Rivoli in January 1797 led to the collapse of the Austrian position in Italy. At Rivoli, Austria lost 43% of its soldiers dead, wounded or taken prisoner. The French then invaded

4400-636: The Catholic community began the 15-year construction of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception . For most of the antebellum era, friction between Protestants and Catholics was practically non-existent. The Creoles of Mobile built a Catholic school run by and for Creoles. Mobilians supported several literary societies, numerous book stores, and number of book and music publishers. The institution of slavery presented white Alabamians with

4510-431: The Confederate War Department immediately accept Creole state militia into Confederate service, with the idea of making them heavy artillerists to man Mobile's shore batteries. Confederate Secretary of War James A. Seddon denied Maury's request and stated that blacks could never be enlisted as Confederate soldiers. Nevertheless, in 1864, as Mobile needed defenders for the city, Creoles joined Confederate cavalry units, and

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4620-421: The Corsican assembly had condemned him and his family, the Buonapartes fled to Toulon on the French mainland. Bonaparte returned to his regiment in Nice and was made captain of a coastal battery. In July 1793, he published a pamphlet, Le souper de Beaucaire (Supper at Beaucaire ), demonstrating his support for the National Convention which was now heavily influenced by the Jacobins. In September, with

4730-407: The Creole practice of holding Indian congresses and inviting Indian guests. The new colonial government enacted a harsher slave code that gave slaves very few legal rights and made emancipation much more difficult to obtain. Slaves became expensive, each one costing around 300 Spanish dollars. To counteract expensive slave labor, white indentured servants were imported and they began to supply much of

4840-542: The Creoles. A people of diverse origins, the Creoles formed an elite with their own schools, churches, fire company, and social organizations. Many Creoles were the descendants of free blacks at the time of Mobile's capture by American forces, and who retained their freedoms by treaty and treated by the American government as a unique people. Other Creoles were blood relatives of white Mobilians including those of prominent families. The Catholic community of primarily French Creole descent remained numerous and influential. In 1825,

4950-415: The English only York Factory which was far to the northwest and inaccessible by land. De Troyes left in August 1686, leaving d'Iberville in charge with 40 men. The following summer, when no supplies arrived, d'Iberville left 12 men at the forts and went first south to Quebec and then to France. In France, he lobbied for the Compagnie and obtained command of Soleil D'Afrique and returned to James Bay in

5060-433: The First Coalition , scoring decisive victories and becoming a national hero. He led an invasion of Egypt and Syria in 1798 which served as a springboard to political power. In November 1799, Napoleon engineered the Coup of 18 Brumaire against the Directory , and became First Consul of the Republic. He won the Battle of Marengo in 1800, which secured France's victory in the War of the Second Coalition , and in 1803 sold

5170-412: The Fourth Coalition , Napoleon defeated Prussia at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt in 1806, marched his Grande Armée into Eastern Europe, and defeated the Russians in 1807 at the Battle of Friedland . Seeking to extend his trade embargo against Britain , Napoleon invaded the Iberian Peninsula and installed his brother Joseph as King of Spain in 1808, provoking the Peninsular War . In 1809,

5280-432: The French capital of Newfoundland, and began the Avalon Peninsula Campaign on 1 November. On this expedition he captured St. John's and ruined most of the English fishing villages. During four months of raids, Iberville was responsible for the destruction of 36 settlements. The Newfoundland campaign was one of the cruelest and most destructive of Iberville's career. Before he could consolidate his hold on Newfoundland, he

5390-461: The French garrison in Ajaccio. In February 1793, Bonaparte took part in the failed French expedition to Sardinia . Following allegations that Paoli had sabotaged the expedition and that his regime was corrupt and incompetent, the French National Convention outlawed him. In early June, Bonaparte and 400 French troops failed to capture Ajaccio from Corsican volunteers and the island was now controlled by Paoli's supporters. When Bonaparte learned that

5500-505: The French who were gradually driven back. Late in the afternoon, however, a full division under Desaix arrived on the field and reversed the tide of the battle. The Austrian army fled leaving behind 14,000 casualties. The following day, the Austrians signed an armistice and agreed to abandon Northern Italy. When peace negotiations with Austria stalled, Bonaparte reopened hostilities in November. A French army under General Moreau swept through Bavaria and scored an overwhelming victory over

5610-517: The Indian Lingua franca of the area, the Mobilian Jargon , and intermarried with Indian women. Mobile was a melting pot of different peoples, and included continental Frenchmen, French-Canadians, and various Indians mingled together in Mobile. The differences between continental Frenchmen and French-Canadians were so great that serious disputes occurred between the two groups. The French also established slavery in 1721. Slaves infused elements of African and French Creole culture into Mobile, as many of

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5720-467: The Indian fur trade, and furs were the primary economic resource of Mobile. Along with fur, some settlers also raised cattle as well as produced ships' timbers and naval stores. Indian nations gathered annually at Mobile to be wined, dined, and showered with presents by the French. About 2,000 Indians descended on Mobile for as long as two weeks. Because of the close and friendly relationship between colonial French and Indian peoples, French colonists learned

5830-406: The Italian form "Napoleone di Buonaparte." Two days after the marriage, Bonaparte left Paris to take command of the Army of Italy. He went on the offensive, hoping to defeat the Kingdom of Sardinia in Piedmont before their Austrian allies could intervene. In a series of victories during the Montenotte campaign , he knocked the Piedmontese out of the war in two weeks. The French then focused on

5940-421: The Kingdom of Sardinia. The French army carried out Bonaparte's plan in the Second Battle of Saorgio in April 1794, and then advanced to seize Ormea in the mountains. From Ormea, it headed west to outflank the Austro-Sardinian positions around Saorge . After this campaign, Augustin Robespierre sent Bonaparte on a mission to the Republic of Genoa to determine the country's intentions towards France. After

6050-409: The Mamluks' Egyptian cavalry. Twenty-nine French and approximately 2,000 Egyptians were killed. The victory boosted the French army's morale. On 1 August 1798, the British fleet under Sir Horatio Nelson captured or destroyed all but two vessels of the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile , preventing Bonaparte from strengthening the French position in the Mediterranean. His army had succeeded in

6160-445: The Royal Navy. From 1794, Bonaparte was in a romantic relationship with Désirée Clary whose sister Julie Clary had married Bonaparte's elder brother Joseph. In April 1795, Bonaparte was assigned to the Army of the West , which was engaged in the War in the Vendée —a civil war and royalist counter-revolution in the Vendée region. As an infantry command, it was a demotion from artillery general and he pleaded poor health to avoid

6270-403: The Spanish Empire. In Spanish colonies, all citizens were required to become Catholic, but the Spanish government in the Floridas allowed its inhabitants to worship as they pleased. The government also offered liberal land grants to potential settlers. In 1785, Spanish Mobile had 746 inhabitants. By 1788, Mobile had a population of over 1,400. As time went on, however, the Americans began desiring

6380-414: The Spanish Succession Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France . He was born in Montreal to French colonist parents. Pierre Le Moyne was born in July 1661 at Fort Ville-Marie (now Montreal ), in the French colony of Canada ,

6490-399: The Spanish Succession , 1701–1714, the North American theater of which was Queen Anne's War ). D'Iberville had contracted malaria on the Gulf coast, and both his health and judgment seem to have deteriorated. Early in 1706, he left France in command of twelve vessels. A squadron under Henri-Louis de Chavagnac devastated Saint Kitts. From 1 to 22 April, d'Iberville and Chavagnac devastated

6600-417: The Spanish commander surrendered his 60 men and Fort Charlotte . In 1815, the Americans defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans and held on to the territory that they had won. Mobile was thereafter administered by the United States. The first Americans to arrive in Mobile after the War of 1812 were merchants from New England , and they recognized a unique opportunity compared to New Orleans in

6710-450: The Spanish lands. In 1803 the Americans bought French Louisiana from Napoleon Bonaparte , and they claimed that the Spanish Floridas were part of the purchase. Americans within the Floridas plotted against the Spanish government. During the War of 1812 , the Americans finally had a justification to take Spanish Mobile and the Floridas. On April 11, 1813, an American force of 600 overwhelmed 60 Spanish troops stationed in Mobile. On April 13,

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6820-436: The Swiss Alps into Italy, aiming to surprise the Austrian armies that had reoccupied the peninsula when Bonaparte was still in Egypt. After a difficult crossing over the Alps, the French captured Milan on 2 June. The French confronted an Austrian army under Michael von Melas at Marengo on 14 June. The Austrians fielded about 30,000 soldiers while Bonaparte commanded 24,000 troops. The Austrians' initial attack surprised

6930-404: The Vendée campaign. He sought a transfer to Constantinople to offer his services to Sultan Selim III . The request was eventually granted, but he never took up the post. On 3 October, royalists in Paris declared a rebellion against the National Convention. Paul Barras , a leader of the Thermidorian Reaction , knew of Bonaparte's military exploits at Toulon and made him second in command of

7040-449: The age of 12. Like most young men of his background, who received a classical and religious education, d'Iberville was educated in a Sulpician seminary. Destined for the priesthood, he chose the military vocation. At the age of 12, he became a cabin boy on his uncle's ship trading to Port Royal , Acadia . A few years later he was in the fur trade at Sault Ste. Marie in Canada, where he would have learned something of canoe travel in

7150-522: The benefits of the future New Orleans area as a port , the size of the French presence on the Mississippi at this early date, and d'Iberville's questionable business practices. On his third voyage in February 1701, he built a fort at Mobile . Here, Henri de Tonti aided him in establishing good relations with the Indians . He left Louisiana for the last time in April 1702. His brother Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded New Orleans in 1718. In 1702, England and France were again at war ( War of

7260-452: The campaign, another 12 million pounds in precious metals and jewels, and more than 300 paintings and sculptures. During the campaign, Bonaparte became increasingly influential in French politics. He founded two newspapers: one for the troops in his army and one for circulation in France. The royalists attacked him for looting Italy and warned that he might become a dictator. Bonaparte sent General Pierre Augereau to Paris to support

7370-513: The civil rights of women and children in France, reintroduced a hereditary monarchy and nobility, and violently repressed popular uprisings against his rule. Napoleon's family was of Italian origin. His paternal ancestors, the Buonapartes, descended from a minor Tuscan noble family who emigrated to Corsica in the 16th century and his maternal ancestors, the Ramolinos, descended from a noble family from Lombardy . Napoleon's parents, Carlo Maria Buonaparte and Maria Letizia Ramolino , lived in

7480-438: The company of other slaves and free blacks. Following the Creole custom liberté des savanes (savannah liberty), although outlawed by Americans, many slaves hired themselves out and accumulated personal funds. Slaves in Mobile learned to read and write from the highly educated Creoles, and they gained freedom through their skilled labor. Although the antebellum period was the most colorful, exuberant period of Mobile's history, it

7590-432: The development of nation states . However, he is controversial due to his role in wars which devastated Europe, his looting of conquered territories, and his mixed record on civil rights. He abolished the free press, ended directly elected representative government, exiled and jailed critics of his regime, reinstated slavery in France's colonies except for Haiti , banned the entry of blacks and mulattos into France, reduced

7700-595: The economic outlook of Mobile. New industry appeared, and Mobile became an important port once more. After World War II, racial tension became inflamed again leading to the protests and riots of the Civil Rights Movement that changed the situation of blacks in the United States. After the Civil Rights Movement, institutionalized segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement were finally abolished. The Creoles of Alabama slowly disappeared, either emigrating to other states or assimilating into African American culture , replacing their Creole history, language, and heritage in

7810-411: The economy recovering, Bonaparte became increasingly popular, both domestically and abroad. In May 1802, the Council of State recommended a new plebiscite asking the French people to make "Napoleon Bonaparte" Consul for life. (It was the first time his first name was officially used by the regime.) About 3.6 million voted "yes" and 8,374 "no." 40%-60% of eligible Frenchmen voted, the highest turnout for

7920-627: The first time. In the spring of 1696, he sailed from France with three ships. Sending one to Quebec, he led the other two to the aid of the governor of Acadia , Joseph Robineau de Villebon , whom the English were blockading at the mouth of the Saint John River . He captured one enemy ship and drove the other two away. He then went 200 miles west and captured the most northerly settlement in New England, Pemaquid, Siege of Pemaquid (1696) , 14 August. He then sailed east to Placentia ,

8030-588: The forces defending the convention in the Tuileries Palace . Bonaparte had seen the massacre of the King's Swiss Guard during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792 there three years earlier and realized that artillery would be the key to its defence. He ordered a young cavalry officer, Joachim Murat , to seize cannons and Bonaparte deployed them in key positions. On 5 October 1795— 13 Vendémiaire An IV in

8140-411: The garrison and some 1,500–5,000 prisoners to be executed by bayonet or drowning. Men, women, and children were robbed and murdered for three days. Bonaparte began with an army of 13,000 men. 1,500 were reported missing, 1,200 died in combat, and thousands perished from disease—mostly bubonic plague . He failed to reduce the fortress of Acre , so he marched his army back to Egypt in May. Bonaparte

8250-409: The glories of the past and their older social heritage. Creoles continued to maintain their own schools, churches, social clubs, and the fabled Creole Steam Fire Company Number I. Creoles worked as doctors, lawyers, educators, and businessmen. They mirrored the customs and practices of Mobile's white elite, and formed their own mystic societies, creating a "Colored Mardi Gras" celebration. At the end of

8360-844: The government. On 9 November 1799 ( 18 Brumaire according to the revolutionary calendar), the conspirators launched a coup, and the following day, backed by grenadiers with fixed bayonets, forced the Council of Five Hundred to dissolve the Directory and appoint Bonaparte, Sieyès and Ducos provisional consuls. On 15 December, Bonaparte introduced the Constitution of the Year VIII , under which three consuls were appointed for 10 years. Real power lay with Bonaparte as First Consul, and his preferred candidates Cambacérès and Charles-François Lebrun were appointed as second and third consuls who only had an advisory role. The constitution also established

8470-582: The heartlands of the House of Habsburg . French forces in Southern Germany had been defeated by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen in 1796, but Charles withdrew his forces to protect Vienna after learning of Bonaparte's assault. In their first encounter, Bonaparte pushed Charles back and advanced deep into Austrian territory after winning the Battle of Tarvis in March 1797. Alarmed by the French thrust that reached Leoben , about 100 km from Vienna,

8580-423: The help of his fellow Corsican Antoine Christophe Saliceti , Bonaparte was appointed artillery commander of the republican forces sent to recapture the port of Toulon which was occupied by British and allied forces. He quickly increased the available artillery and proposed a plan to capture a hill fort where republican guns could dominate the city's harbour and force the British to evacuate. The successful assault on

8690-570: The island of Nevis and took much of the population prisoner. He went to Havana , where he was involved in planning an expedition against Charles Town, Carolina (an English colonial settlement), when he died suddenly, perhaps of yellow fever , in July, 1706. D'Iberville was buried at Church of San Cristóbal ( Havana Cathedral ); the burial records identify him under his French name, and as El General Dom Pedro Berbila . After his death, his estate became involved in an inquiry that dragged on for more than thirty years. D'Iberville had acquired

8800-598: The loss of only three men. Bonaparte and his expedition eluded pursuit by the Royal Navy and landed at Alexandria on 1 July. He fought the Battle of Shubra Khit against the Mamluks , Egypt's ruling military caste. This helped the French practise their defensive tactic for the Battle of the Pyramids on 21 July, about 24 km (15 mi) from the pyramids . Bonaparte's forces of 25,000 roughly equalled those of

8910-453: The mid-18th century, Mobile was populated by French Creoles, European Frenchmen, French-Canadians, Africans, and Indians. This diverse group was united by Roman Catholicism, the exclusive religion of the colony. The town's inhabitants included 50 troops, a mixed group of approximately 400 civilians which included merchants, laborers, fur traders, artisans, and slaves. This mixed diverse group and its descendants are called Creoles. In 1763, after

9020-440: The new HBC base at Fort Severn . In 1692 and 1693, he again planned to attack York Factory, but both times the needed ships were diverted. It was 1694 before he could effect the capture of York Factory . His work was undone when the English recaptured Fort Albany in 1693 and York Factory in 1695. 1695 and 1696 were spent in coastal raiding. In 1697 he captured York Factory a second time after winning his most heroic battle . It

9130-535: The outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, but spent long periods of leave in Corsica which fed his Corsican nationalism. In September 1789, he returned to Corsica and promoted the French revolutionary cause. Paoli returned to the island in July 1790, but he had no sympathy for Bonaparte, as he deemed his father a traitor for having deserted the cause of Corsican independence. Bonaparte plunged into

9240-479: The position on 16–17 December led to the capture of the city. Toulon brought Bonaparte to the attention of powerful men including Augustin Robespierre , the younger brother of Maximilien Robespierre , a leading Jacobin. He was promoted to brigadier general and put in charge of defences on the Mediterranean coast. In February 1794, he was made artillery commander of the Army of Italy and devised plans to attack

9350-452: The posting. During this period, he wrote the romantic novella Clisson et Eugénie , about a soldier and his lover, in a clear parallel to Bonaparte's own relationship with Clary. In August, he obtained a position with the Bureau of Topography where he worked on military planning. On 15 September, Bonaparte was removed from the list of generals in regular service for refusing to serve in

9460-409: The process. The last speakers of Alabama Creole French died at Mon Louis Island in the 1990s. Asia Middle East Europe North America South America Oceania Country Creoles who lived in the bayous outside of Mobile, in the forests surrounding Daphne , and in the hills of Mount Vernon were designated as "Cajans" during the years after the Civil War. They gained their name from

9570-588: The school is that he led junior students to victory against senior students in a snowball fight, which allegedly showed his leadership abilities. But the story was only told after Napoleon had become famous. In his later years at Brienne, Napoleon became an outspoken Corsican nationalist and admirer of Paoli. In September 1784, Napoleon was admitted to the École militaire in Paris where he trained to become an artillery officer. He excelled at mathematics, and read widely in geography, history and literature. However, he

9680-629: The slaves who came to Mobile worked in the French West Indies . In 1724, the Code Noir , a slave code based on Roman laws , was instituted in French colonies which allowed slaves certain legal and religious rights not found in either British colonies or the United States. The Code Noir based on Roman laws also conferred affranchis (ex-slaves) full citizenship and gave complete civil equality with other French subjects. By

9790-473: The state. In the years after the Civil War, Mobile's economy languished, and its population declined. Birmingham replaced Mobile in its economic development and became Alabama's largest city. For Creoles in Mobile, the following era was bleak. Poor economic conditions continued from reconstruction all the way until the first World War, and a rising tide of racism eroded many of the rights that Creoles once knew. A binary racial system took hold of Mobile; everyone

9900-464: The summer of 1688. There he captured three HBC ships that were trying to re-establish their position on James Bay. Returning to Quebec, he was caught up in King William's War and sent south to attack the British colonies (see below). In July 1690, he left Quebec with three ships in the hope of capturing York Factory. Finding himself outgunned by a larger English ship, he fled south and captured

10010-478: The temporary departure of British ships from French coastal ports and set sail for France, despite the fact that he had received no explicit orders from Paris. The army was left in the charge of Jean-Baptiste Kléber . Unknown to Bonaparte, the Directory had sent him orders to return from Egypt with his army to ward off a possible invasion of France, but these messages never arrived. By the time that he reached Paris in October, France's situation had been improved by

10120-594: The territory of Louisiana to the United States . In December 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French, further expanding his power. The breakdown of the Treaty of Amiens led to the War of the Third Coalition by 1805. Napoleon shattered the coalition with a decisive victory at the Battle of Austerlitz , which led to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire . In the War of

10230-529: The third son of Charles le Moyne de Longueuil et de Châteauguay , a native of Dieppe or of Longueuil near Dieppe, Normandy in France and lord of Longueuil in Canada, and of Catherine Thierry  [ fr ] (called Catherine Primot in some sources) from Rouen . He is also known as Sieur d'Iberville ( et d'Ardillières ). He had eleven brothers, most of whom became soldiers. One, Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène , led French and Indian forces in

10340-628: The town's labor. White indentured servants usually worked for two to four years and their masters provided them housing, food, and clothing. In 1783, Spain took possession of East Florida and West Florida after the American Revolutionary War . Fur trading continued to be the primary resource sold by Mobile. Mobile continued to have a very heterogeneous population, and Spain wanted more settlement in its Floridian colonies. It attracted British and American immigrants by adopting very liberal policies compared to those in other parts of

10450-621: The treaty, Britain agreed to withdraw from most of the colonies it had recently captured from France and her allies, and France agreed to evacuate Naples. In April, Bonaparte publicly celebrated the peace and his controversial Concordat of 1801 with Pope Pius VII under which the Pope recognized Bonaparte's regime and the regime recognized Catholicism as the majority religion of France. In a further step towards national reconciliation (known as "fusion"), Bonaparte offered an amnesty to most émigrés who wished to return to France. With Europe at peace and

10560-498: The two countries were at peace. Under the command of Pierre de Troyes, Chevalier de Troyes , d'Iberville his brothers Paul and Jacques led the Canadian woodsmen on a 1686 expedition to Hudson Bay . He played a heroic part in the capture of the fort at Moose Factory . At Fort-Rupert , he captured the sloop Craven and killed at least one unarmed sailor. As a result, the French seized all three English posts on James Bay, leaving

10670-514: The wilderness. He later became quartermaster on one of his father's ships. The Hudson's Bay Company was founded in 1670. This company diverted furs away from Quebec and threatened further expansion into French territory. In 1682, the Compagnie du Nord was founded to compete with the English on the Bay. In 1686, the aggressive Governor General Denonville decided to drive out the English even though

10780-689: Was all of the bayou country surrounding Mobile; to the north, it reached the hills of Mount Vernon and Citronelle ; to the east, it reached through the bayous and forests around Daphne to the Perdido River . Cajans were of varying racial mixtures; some under Alabama's new racial laws were considered black, others were considered white, and others yet designated as Indians. Cajans were discriminated against due to their racial ambiguity, and many remained illiterate due to not having access to public schools. Cajans tended to stay among their own communities. Pierre Le Moyne d%27Iberville War of

10890-544: Was alleged to have ordered plague-stricken men to be poisoned with opium to speed the retreat. Back in Egypt on 25 July, Bonaparte defeated an Ottoman amphibious invasion at Abukir . Bonaparte stayed informed of European affairs. He learned that France had suffered a series of defeats in the War of the Second Coalition . On 24 August 1799, fearing that the Republic's future was in doubt, he took advantage of

11000-494: Was also short-lived. Young Alabama Creoles who began their careers in the 1820s lived to see their fortunes and the accomplishments of their city destroyed by a civil war , which they more than other Alabamians, sought to avoid. Creoles during the Civil war in both Louisiana and Alabama petitioned their state governments to form military units to protect their homes, their cities, and their states. In New Orleans, Creoles formed

11110-573: Was appointed head of the Army of Italy. Within weeks of the Vendémiaire uprising , Bonaparte was romantically involved with Joséphine de Beauharnais , the former mistress of Barras. Josephine had been born in the French colonies in the Lesser Antilles , and her family owned slaves on sugar plantations The couple married on 9 March 1796 in a civil ceremony. Bonaparte now habitually styled himself "Napoleon Bonaparte" rather than using

11220-478: Was born one year after the Republic of Genoa ceded Corsica to France. His father fought alongside Pasquale Paoli during the Corsican war of independence against France. After the Corsican defeat at the Battle of Ponte Novu in 1769 and Paoli's exile in Britain, Carlo became friends with the French governor Charles Louis de Marbeuf , who became his patron and godfather to Napoleon. With Mabeuf's support, Carlo

11330-459: Was classified either as black or white. An informal, but rigid segregation code restricted the social and economic activities of the Creoles. In 1901, racist forces moved to permanently disenfranchise the black population of Mobile through the state constitution. The Creoles of Mobile pleaded with the white leadership of the state, but it was of no use. Many Creoles turned inward, seeking solace in

11440-532: Was commissioned as an officer in the French Royal Army in 1785. He supported the French Revolution in 1789, and promoted its cause in Corsica. He rose rapidly through the ranks after winning the siege of Toulon in 1793 and defeating royalist insurgents in Paris on 13 Vendémiaire in 1795. In 1796, Napoleon commanded a military campaign against the Austrians and their Italian allies in the War of

11550-582: Was diverted north to capture York Factory for a second time during the summer of 1697. Soon after his departure, the English arrived in Newfoundland with 2,000 troops and restored their position. Hostilities ended with the Treaty of Ryswick in September 1697. In 1682, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was the first European to travel from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi River to

11660-470: Was named Corsican representative to the court of Louis XVI and Napoleon obtained a royal bursary to a military academy in France. The dominant influence of Napoleon's childhood was his mother, whose firm discipline restrained a rambunctious child. Later in life, Napoleon said, "The future destiny of the child is always the work of the mother." Napoleon's noble, moderately affluent background afforded him greater opportunities to study than were available to

11770-574: Was poor at French and German. His father's death in February 1785 cut the family income and forced him to complete the two-year course in one year. In September he was examined by the famed scientist Pierre-Simon Laplace and became the first Corsican to graduate from the École militaire . Upon graduating in September 1785, Bonaparte was commissioned a second lieutenant in La Fère artillery regiment . He served in Valence and Auxonne until after

11880-410: Was routinely bullied by his peers for his accent, birthplace, short stature, mannerisms, and poor French. He became reserved and melancholic, applying himself to reading. An examiner observed that Napoleon "has always been distinguished for his application in mathematics. He is fairly well acquainted with history and geography ... This boy would make an excellent sailor". One story of Napoleon at

11990-697: Was sure that this was the Mississippi. Having achieved his first aim and finding no good sites in the delta, he built a temporary fort Fort Maurepas at Ocean Springs, Mississippi , left a garrison of 81 men, and returned to France . On his second voyage, he reached Biloxi in January 1700. He built a second "Fort Maurepas" 40 miles up the Mississippi River. On his return journey, he is said to have stopped at New York City and sold 9,000 furs that coureurs des bois had given him, in preference to hauling them back to Montreal . This story illustrates

12100-512: Was too late in the season to capture Fort Albany, so he left Hudson Bay, never to return. York Factory remained French until 1713. In 1690, he was second in command to his brother Jacques in a raid south to New York that culminated in the Schenectady Massacre . In 1692, he convoyed supply ships from France and harassed English coastal settlements, taking three prizes. In 1694, he returned to Hudson Bay and captured York Factory for

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