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User:Jnestorius/Marengo (horse)

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Marengo was the most famous horse of Napoleon.

Napoleon edit

Marengo was an Arab horse with a light grey coat, standing 14.1 hands high.[1][2] Napoleon bought him after the 1799 Battle of Abukir, probably from the El Naseri stud,[1] and rode him in 1800 at the Battle of Marengo, in which the French triumphed, and in honour of which the horse was renamed.[1][2] Napoleon is alleged to have ridden Marengo at later battles and campaigns, including Austerlitz 1805, Jena 1806, Spain 1808, Wagram 1809, Russia 1812, and finally Waterloo 1815.

At Waterloo, Marengo was wounded for the eighth time and left as the Emperor fled the field in a cart.[1][3] Bernard Cornwell ZZZ says Napoleon "managed to find his coach" and got as far as Genappe where he abandoned it and his jewels in a traffic jam, was "given a horse" and got over the French border "by 9 a.m. on Monday".[4] George Hooper ZZZ 1862 says [emphasis added]:[5]

Napoleon had taken part in the last encounters. During the attack of the Imperial Guard he had ridden as far as the orchard of La Haye Sainte; when the Guard recoiled he had rallied them; when the 52nd and the other regiments of the brigade pursued so promptly, he had gradually fallen back with the steadier masses of the fugitives, surrounded by the truly devoues of those days, the veterans of the Guard. When Vivian and Vandeleur had tried to cut in upon his line of retreat, a majestic body of horse grenadiers, resolute and compact, barred the way, and walked superbly from the field in unassailable order. [...] the sound of the bugle and beat of the drum alone sufficed to drive the French from nine bivouacs, and to force them before nightfall over the Sambre. Napoleon had made no preparation for a retreat, although he had fought with only one road in his rear. This alone shows the infatuation of the man. Having diverged from the press, he made a detour on the western side of the road, and cut in upon it again at Genappe. Here he found the defile blocked up by the wreck of the baggage, and a struggling, terrified, shouting mob, the wreck of that splendid host he had marshalled so arrogantly in the morning. Forcing his way through the throng, "preceded and escorted by the tumult," he reached Quatre Bras. Here he halted, and sent to Grouchy news of the lost battle, but forgot to name the point upon which he should march. Then, mounting once more, he rode off into the moonlight, and silently, without halting, passed through Charleroi at dawn. Outside the town he obtained a carriage, and unattended, except by Bertrand, drove to Philippeville.

Even if Napoleon did ride away from the battlefield, it may have been on another horse while Marengo was left behind, having either been replaced after getting wounded, or else separated from his handlers in the confusion.

In art edit

Of the five versions of Jacques-Louis David's 1801 painting Napoleon Crossing the Alps, the "fiery steed" is modelled on Marengo in three: those held at Versailles and Vienna.[6] (The Charlottenburg version of the painting is modelled on Napoleon's mare "la Belle".[7])

ZZZ Maybe the 'Napoleon Crossing the Alps' info is garbled? Table:

ZZZ
Version Location coat colour Model Notes Ref
King of Spain 1801 Château de Malmaison "skewbald with brown markings on its head and breast" — Probably the first of the series of five [1]
Napoleon 1801 Château de Saint-Cloud Charlottenburg "chestnut with four white half stockings and a wide stripe on the head" La Belle "Its name is La Belle, as concluded by Philippe Osché in his book Les chevaux de Napoléon" [2]
Napoleon 1802 Les Invalides Versailles "grey" [gold mane and tail] Le Marengo "same horse figures in record 223580" [3]
Napoleon 1803 Milan Belvedere, Vienna Le Marengo "which horse also figures in 221476. Le Marengo was born in 1794 in Egypt and captured by the army of Napoleon at Aboukir. Napoleon rode this horse is various battles, a.o. at Marengo (hence its new name), during his Campagne de France and at Waterloo. There the British captured Le Marengo and took the horse to England. James Ward, Robert Alexander Hillingford, William Home Lizars and Victor Adam all used this horse in one of their paintings. On the shoulder of the horse, next to the rider's knee, two scars from an old wound are visible. All horses in Napoleon's riding stable were registered with many details by the Grand Ecuyer, Armand de Caulaincourt." [4]
David 1804 Versailles "piebald" — [5]

After Waterloo edit

Henry William Petre,[nb 1] a lieutenant in the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, found the wounded horse at Waterloo and recognised him by the N cipher branded into his haunch.[9] Petre nursed him back to health and was allowed to keep him as a prize of war.[9]

Petre shipped Marengo to England and exhibited him at the "Waterloo Rooms" in Pall Mall, London, charging a shilling admission, children half price.[1] Once public interest subsided Petre sold Marengo to William Angerstein, wealthy son of Whig politician John Angerstein, who put him to stud in Isle of Ely, charging a fee of 25 guineas.[1] His progeny had no success as racehorses, so Marengo was put out to grass until his death in 1831.[1]

The Marengo print in James Ward's 1824 "Series of Lithographic Drawings of Celebrated Horses" shows him at the water's edge and describes him as "The Favourite Barb Charger rode by Napoleon Buonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo. The Property of Captain Howard."[10]

London Hospital processed the carcass, preserving the skeleton, which Angerstein presented to the Royal United Services Institution, in whose museum it remained until 1947, when it was transferred to the National Army Museum.[11][9][2] Two hooves are missing from the skeleton; one was turned into a silver-mounted snuffbox which Angerstein presented to the Brigade of Guards, and which is placed at lunchtime before the Captain of the Guard in the officers' mess at St James's Palace.[9][1] The location of the other hoof was unclear for decades; various army regiments claimed to have it.[1] About 2015, a descendant of Angerstein discovered it in the form of another silver-mounted snuffbox. It is on display in the Household Cavalry Museum. The hooves were reunited in September 2016 for a BBC documentary The Spoils of War.[1]

Putative Irish origin edit

In 1894, Irish media reported a claim that Marengo was foaled in Ireland rather than Egypt.[12] "Miss Brownrigg" claimed that Marengo was foaled on the estate of her grandfather, "Annesley Brownrigg, Esq., of Annesley Park"[nb 2] in County Wexford on Whit Monday 1796; that his original name was "Young Hidalgo", his sire was Hidalgo, son of Eclipse, and his dam was Vagary; that he was 16 hands tall and "perfectly white"; and that he was sold in 1800 to a French officer for 100 guineas.[12] She claimed the family still possessed a violin bow strung with Marengo's tail hair.[12] Marengo's Irish origin remains widely believed in Ireland. It has been mentioned in speeches by Senators Kathleen Browne in 1933[14] and Séamus Dolan in 1975,[15] and President Mary Robinson in 1994;[16] and in a 1946 article by Richard Hayes.[17]

Several fairs are believed in their respective localities to have been the place where Marengo was sold to the French officer, including: Cahirmee Horse Fair, now held in Buttevant, in County Cork;[18][19][nb 3] Bartlemy Fair, formerly held in Bartlemy near Rathcormac, also in Cork;[11] and Ballinasloe Horse Fair in County Galway.[23][24] In 2017, Kanturk and Mallow municipal district council resolved to write to the NAM asking for the return of the skeleton for display in a museum in Buttevant.[11] John Spillane wrong a song in support.[11] The NAM said it would deal "sensitively" with the request.[3]

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ Sometimes confused with his cousin William Petre, 11th Baron Petre.[8]
  2. ^ Annesley Brownrigg of Parkannesley, near Ballygarrett, was a justice of the peace who sent Hunter Gowan to trial after the Wexford Rebellion of 1798.[13]
  3. ^ It is similarly claimed that Copenhagen, ridden by the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo, was sold at Cahirmee in 1810.[19][18] In fact his breeder, Thomas Grosvenor raced Copenhagen in 1811–12,[20][21] and then sold him to Charles Stewart, later Marquess of Londonderry.[22] The General Stud Book says Copenhagen's dam Lady Catherine, was "sent to Ireland" in 1810.[21]

Sources edit

  • Hamilton, Jill (2001). Marengo: The Myth of Napoleon's Horse (PDF). Fourth Estate. ISBN 9781841153520.
  • Osché, Philippe; Künzi, Frédéric (2002). Les chevaux de Napoléon Bonaparte (in French). Aoste: Imprimerie valdôtaine.

Not used yet edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Joll, Christopher (Winter 2017). "Marengo's Hooves". The Guards Magazine: Journal of the Household Division.
  2. ^ a b c Skeleton of Napoleon's horse 'Marengo' National Army Museum ZZZ
  3. ^ a b Sawer, Patrick (20 February 2017). "Irish ride into battle against English to claim Napoleon's horse". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  4. ^ Cornwell, Bernard (2015-02-23) [2014]. Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles (ebook ed.). Harper Collins / Lulu. ISBN 9781312925229. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  5. ^ Hooper, George (1862). Waterloo, the Downfall of the First Napoleon: A History of the Campaign of 1815. Smith, Elder. pp. 238–239. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  6. ^ ZZZ
  7. ^ ZZZ
  8. ^ ZZZ
  9. ^ a b c d Battle of Waterloo anniversary: Soldier who saved Napoleon’s horse Belfast News Letter, 18 June 2015 ZZZ
  10. ^ "Marengo / A Series of Lithographic Drawings of Celebrated Horses". Collection online. British Museum. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  11. ^ a b c d Battle underway for return of Napoleon's horse Marengo to Ireland 5 February 2017, Sean O'Riordan, Irish Examiner ZZZ
  12. ^ a b c ZZZ 'Marengo,' Napoleon's Charger A. W. C. H. The Scottish Antiquary, or, Northern Notes and Queries Vol. 9, No. 35 (1895), p. 131 Published by: Edinburgh University Press jstor=25516765 url=https://archive.org/stream/scottishantiquar09unse#page/131/mode/1up
  13. ^ Memoirs of Joseph Holt, general of the Irish rebels in 1798, ed. by T.C. Croker p.189 ZZZ; JRSAI 1894 Part I p.71 ZZZ; The Spedding family. With short Accounts of a few other families allied by marriage p.77 ZZZ; Hay, Edward (1842). History of the Irish Insurrection of 1798: Giving an Authentic Army : and a Genuine History of Transactions Preceding that Event : with a Valuabel Appendix. James Duffy. pp. 257–258. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  14. ^ seanad1933120600011 ZZZ
  15. ^ seanad1975061800004 ZZZ
  16. ^ ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT ROBINSON AT THE 33rd ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE BRITISH EQUINE VETERINARY ASSOCIATION, ON 15 SEPTEMBER, 1994 ZZZ
  17. ^ ZZZ Irish Links with Napoleon Richard Hayes Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review Vol. 35, No. 137 (Mar., 1946), pp. 63-74: 72, fn.1 Published by: Irish Province of the Society of Jesus Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30099623?seq=10
  18. ^ a b Kelleher, Olivia (15 July 2014). "Buttevant's ancient horse fair attracts eager crowd". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  19. ^ a b "Cahirmee Fair". Buttevant.ie. Buttevant Community Council. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  20. ^ Weatherby, Edward and James (1811). "Craven". Racing Calendar. 39: 5. Retrieved 13 April 2017.; Weatherby, Edward and James (1812). "Chester". Racing Calendar. 40: 32. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  21. ^ a b Skinner, J. S. (1832). "Lady Catherine". The General Stud-book. 1–2: 410.
  22. ^ "Castor" (April 1852). "Copenhagen; The Favourite Charger of His Grace the Duke of Wellington". The New Sporting Magazine. 23: 243–244.
  23. ^ Connolly, Emer (8 October 2016). "Business closures sap energy from heart of Ballinasloe". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  24. ^ "History". Ballinasloe October Fair. Retrieved 13 April 2017. A local hotel has a restaurant called Marengo. [...] The explanation is that [...] Marengo had been bought at the Ballinasloe October Fair.

Category:1793 animal births Category:1831 animal deaths Category:Arabian and part-Arabian horses Category:Napoleonic Wars Category:Individual warhorses Category:Individual male horses

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