The climate on the island is oppressive, unbearable. All-pervading humidity irritates the nostrils. It is everywhere, in every corner and nook. In the room, a crowd of onlookers gathers around a large bed, and in it lies a man. His face is neither white nor even pale. It is waxen. Breathing heavily, the man watches those around him with cloudy eyes. How difficult it is to die on foreign soil. Among friends and enemies. Well, death approaches slowly, subtly taking away the breath, and the blood flows more slowly. A lingering smell can still be sensed. Is it really only humidity? Or perhaps death is already very close…
This is how one might imagine Napoleon’s death – the emperor of the French, a soldier and, above all, a great man. Although the Napoleonic era passed into oblivion long ago, history still struggles with this highly controversial figure. As Napoleon traversed Europe far and wide, he left his mark on Lower Silesia.
Napoleon Bonaparte is most astonishing for the heroic effort and the scale of the success he achieved. From soldier and officer, he became an emperor. He lifted France from its knees. Above all, this is what the French are grateful to him for. Modern France abandoned its role as an empire long ago. Its weak position was already visible during the Second World War.
Without straying from the subject, it is worth mentioning some curiosities about Napoleon. To this day, he is considered a short person. This flaw is more likely a product of English propaganda. According to various sources, Bonaparte was between 168 and 170 cm tall. That is not remarkably short, especially when we look at modern politicians. For comparison, Dmitry Medvedev is 163 cm tall, while Nicolas Sarkozy is 165 cm. Napoleon compares quite well in this group.
It is true, however, that he was afraid of cats. He disliked these animals. He considered them treacherous and deceitful. Julius Caesar, Mussolini and Hitler reportedly suffered from a similar affliction. Moreover, Bonaparte did not take particularly good care of his health. He slept very little. He usually went to bed at 2 a.m. and got up at 5. He made up for such short sleep with brief naps during the day. He would fall asleep for a quarter of an hour, even during… a battle.
The emperor also liked to walk around the city in disguise, incognito. He often walked around Paris in this way, but secretly visited Görlitz and Bolesławiec as well. In every building where he spent the night, he counted the windows.
Toxic Wallpaper
His death is a genuine mystery. It causes great controversy, and in reality this matter has never been definitively explained.
The official cause of the emperor’s death was stomach cancer and a perforated ulcer. In their notes, members of the household staff repeatedly described the terrible torment Bonaparte endured for several months. His gastric problems may indeed indicate that an ulcer was present. They may, but they may not. What is puzzling is that large quantities of arsenic were found in Napoleon’s body. On the one hand, this was nothing extraordinary. In those days, arsenic was present in many everyday products, such as hair pomade. It was in his hair that the presence of this poison was demonstrated. On the other hand, Napoleon was initially buried on Saint Helena. Only 19 years later was his body exhumed and transported to France. When the coffin was opened, it turned out that the remains were intact. After almost 20 years, that should have been impossible. A probable reason for this condition is arsenic, which, as a poison, also eliminates microorganisms. The amount of arsenic in Napoleon’s body exceeded today’s standards a hundredfold.
The most interesting theory concerning the emperor’s death is the poisoned-wallpaper theory… Yes, it sounds improbable. It is possible that the wallpaper on the wall of Bonaparte’s room was a distinctive green colour. To obtain such a colour, a yellow-green dye known as Scheele’s green was used. It contained one of the forms of hydrogen arsenite. When the room was sufficiently humid, toxins were released. Arsenic has neither taste nor smell. The wallpaper may have been a silent killer.
As Napoleon’s health deteriorated, doctors did not believe it. The chief physician, François Antommarchi, identified stomach cancer and a perforated ulcer as the main cause of death during the autopsy. The doctors present at the post-mortem examination were not unanimous about its findings. All differing views were recorded, and in the end Antommarchi’s diagnosis was accepted as the only valid explanation.
Anecdotes
Returning, however, to Napoleon’s life, it is easy to see that he had a great and distinctive sense of humour. Numerous anecdotes about him still circulate today. One concerns a funny situation that occurred during a military briefing. Napoleon tried to reach a map located on a rather high shelf. Unfortunately, he was too short. A young officer came to his aid.
– Your Excellency – he said – allow me to help you. I am bigger.
– Not bigger, but taller – the emperor corrected him, taking the map from the officer’s hands.
Another incident occurred during the retreat after the disgraceful defeat in Russia. The emperor travelled in a rickety sleigh. He was heading west (the sleigh broke down beyond Chojnów and was the reason for the stop in Bolesławiec). He stopped with his entourage by the Niemen River. He had to cross it. During the crossing, he asked a poor peasant who was ferrying them:
– Have many deserters already reached the other side?
– No, sir. You are the first.
Bonaparte was famous for being able to talk to anyone. He often listened to his subjects. He asked about their families and the difficulties of everyday life. Yet he was also someone who liked to feed his ego. While entering one of the French towns, he asked the mayor: “Why do you not fire cannons when I enter the town?” The mayor replied: “There are twenty reasons. First – we have no cannons, second…”. “Thank you, the first is enough for me,” said the displeased emperor.
Bonaparte liked flattery, but he also had a sense of perspective about himself; he valued and respected his enemies for their courage. When he first arrived in Bolesławiec, he asked his companions: “Is this the Bolesławiec where Marshal Kutuzov died?” The officers confirmed it.
– And has the Marshal been commemorated in any worthy manner? – the emperor asked further.
– No, not yet – he was told.
Napoleon intended to change this and honour the memory of the great Russian as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the war and the withdrawal of the French army from Lower Silesia thwarted his plans.
The Bolesławiec Episode
According to various sources, including Mariusz Olczak and his “The 1813 Campaign”, Napoleon visited Bolesławiec (Prussian Bunzlau) five times. During one visit, which took place on 12 December 1812, he stopped at 3 a.m. at the Pod Złotym Aniołem inn. There he ate baked fruit with dumplings. He was unable to pay for the meal, so he offered the owner one of the vases from his porcelain collection. The sleigh, meanwhile, was given new horses. The sleigh later went to the United States. It was sold there at auction at the beginning of the 20th century for 35 dollars [www.podzlotymaniolem.pl].
Another account concerning Bolesławiec says that the emperor stopped at the Pod Czarnym Orłem inn. The inn was located at today’s 2 Prusa Street. The 18th-century building itself did not survive the last war. A post-war reconstruction now stands there.
Another stay took place on 7 June 1813. This time the emperor lodged in the townhouse of the merchant Ernest Janke. The building, located in the Market Square, has not survived to the present day. It was demolished in 1897, and a townhouse was erected in its place; the Agora bookshop is now located there.
Napoleon spent the night in a room on the first floor. The room became so famous that it was rented to subsequent guests at a higher price.
Stay in Görlitz
Besides Bolesławiec, the emperor also stopped in Lubań, Lwówek Śląski, Wykroty and many other towns in Lower Silesia and Upper Lusatia. One of them is Görlitz. He visited the city eight times. On 23 May 1813, he spent the night there for the first time. (His earlier stays had been only brief breaks during his journey.)
At noon, the emperor entered the city wearing a grey frock coat and a bicorne hat. He took up residence in the Nositza townhouse in the Lower Market. Today, it is building number 29. The entire Napoleonic headquarters stayed in Görlitz (110 generals and 451 staff officers). During the billeting, the townhouse was carefully guarded. Its distinctive feature is a beautifully decorated balcony. It was there that the emperor reviewed his troops. His stay in this Saxon city lasted two days.
Silesian Skirmishes
During the Napoleonic campaign in 1813, there were many battles and skirmishes between French forces and the Prussian-Russian coalition. One such skirmish was the clash between the French and Russians at Kruszyn near Bolesławiec, which took place on 21 August. Forty Russians were killed in the fighting, and one Russian hussar shielded her commander with her own body. This hussar was a woman, the colonel’s companion at the front, named Natalia. A stone obelisk was erected in honour of the brave soldier.
Other, lesser-known armed clashes also took place near Mściszów (25 May 1813), Chojnów (27 May), Jawor (30 May) and Pielgrzymka (22 August). One of the largest Silesian battles was the Battle of the Kaczawa (26 August), also called the Battle of Legnica. It took place near the village of Dunino, 10 kilometres from Legnica. Only one river within the battle area is often mentioned. However, people forget that the battle took place along two rivers: the aforementioned Kaczawa (German name Katzbach) and its tributary, the Nysa Szalona (German Wütende Neiße). The Nysa Szalona played a fairly important role. As its name indicates, it is a fast-flowing river. It was quite deep in Napoleonic times. Torrential rains preceding the battle caused the ground to become waterlogged. The gunpowder became damp, and the fighting was conducted mainly with melee weapons. The current of the Nysa Szalona made it difficult for the French army to cross. Many soldiers drowned. Supply wagons were lost. Although the battle was not a strategic battle, it marked the beginning of the end of Napoleon’s Silesian campaign.
Lower Silesia suffered greatly during the French invasion. We must remember that Silesia was already Prussian territory. French soldiers plundered towns and villages. However, Prussian troops also caused destruction. In the village of Zebrzydowa, on 4 April 1812, the Prussian corps of General von Becker burned a sawmill and the bridge over the Kwisa to hinder the Napoleonic troops from crossing the river.
Napoleon. The Little Great Man
Why Napoleon today? Well, this figure undoubtedly became part of the history of Lower Silesia and Lusatia. This minor episode left a visible mark on Silesian soil.
Many of us probably approach the emperor of the French with reserve, perhaps even contempt. To this day, Polish schools teach that Napoleon was the one who exploited the Poles. He dazzled them with a vision of their own sovereign state. Nevertheless, the seed of Polish statehood was created in the form of the Duchy of Warsaw. I think Bonaparte had genuinely pure intentions toward the Poles. As a pragmatist, he counted on the benefits that Polish units were to bring him. There is no doubt that standing by Napoleon cost us a great deal of blood.
This is not a typical presentation of the entire Napoleonic campaign. At this point, I refer readers to the aforementioned publication by Mariusz Olczak – “The 1813 Campaign”. I also suggest visiting www.szukajacnapoleona.com and istotne.pl (Bolesławiec, the City of Napoleon Bonaparte), where the emperor’s stay in Bolesławiec has already been discussed in greater detail.
Napoleon lived on Saint Helena for six years. The place’s very humid climate surely also affected his health. The emperor died on 5 May 1821, at 17:49, at the age of 51. The emperor’s stay in Lower Silesia and Lusatia was merely a tiny drop in the sea of the war he waged throughout his life – with himself, with his surroundings and with foreign empires. He lost this war, but saved his honour, an attitude so greatly forgotten in the modern world.
Paweł Skiersinis
The author is a blogger and a history enthusiast, particularly interested in the history of Lower Silesia and Poland. Why Lower Silesia? As he himself says: – Why not? The most interesting history is the history around us, concerning ourselves and our ancestors.
And he adds: – I try to present history from a different perspective, in an interesting way, not in the typical bookish manner, full of dry dates and facts. The articles I present concern facts that we will not find in textbooks and well-known publications. The history of Lower Silesia is undoubtedly interesting and fascinating, so it is worth devoting at least a brief moment to it from time to time.