The Napoleonic Exiles in America , by Jesse S. Reeves , Ph. D. (Johns Hopkins University Studies, Series, XXIII, Nos. 9-10, Baltimore, 1905), is a monograph which, according to the author's prefatory note, “centers about the unfortunate colonial enterprise called Champ d'Asile on the banks of the Trinity River in Texas.” As a matter of fact, however, Champ d'Asile, while it furnishes the dénouement of the story, occupies only a little more than a third of the space devoted to the fortunes of the Napoleonic exiles in America.

Dr. Reeves shows that after Napoleon's overthrow, Joseph Bonaparte and many of Napoleon's followers, including several officers of the “Old Guard,” sought asylum in the United States. Conspicuous among these officers were the brothers Charles and Henri Lallemand, Lefebvre-Desnouëttes, and Rigaud, who became leading spirits among the exiles in the formation of various insane schemes.

Part of the refugees were organized into a “Napoleonic Confederation,” which conceived the quixotic plan of raising an army of nine hundred men in the Western States, capturing by force the northeastern frontiers of Mexico; and, aided by the revolutionists there, establishing Joseph Napoleon in Mexico as King of Spain and the Indies.

To enable them to gain a livelihood, a portion of the refugees were organized at Philadelphia into the “Society for the Cultivation of the Vine and the Olive.” They secured from the United States government a tract of land on the Tombigbee River and attempted to found a colony there, but the project, very naturally under the circumstances, was an utter failure. The only connection established by Dr. Reeves between this colony and the scheme of revolutionizing Mexico is that they were promoted by the same persons, and that an attempt was made to raise money for the Mexican project by the sale of lands from the colony's grant.

More directly connected with the Mexican scheme, doubtless, although just what the connection was has not been shown, was the attempt of the Lallemands and Rigaud to found on the Trinity River the settlement known as Champ d'Asile. In telling the story of this unfortunate affair, Dr. Reeves has relied almost entirely on Hartmann and Millard's Le Texas, and Just Girard's fictitious narrative contained in the Adventures of a French Captain. To this part of his story, therefore, he has added very little to what was already well known by specialists. He has, however, brought to light the correspondence relative to Champ d'Asile between the Spanish Minister, Onis, and the United States government, and has shown how Monroe's administration proceeded to interfere with the Lallemands' plan by sending George Graham to Galveston Island to see what was going on.

In spite of a partial failure to state his own conclusions in a sufficiently definite form, Dr. Reeves has done a good piece of work. But to complete the story of the Napoleonic exiles in America, and particularly of the Champ d'Asile episode, it would be necessary to examine the Mexican archives and the Béxar Archives at Austin, Texas. Onis was, during his ministry, in constant correspondence with the government at Mexico and Chihuahua, and the officials at these places, in turn, communicated their fears and directed their orders for precautionary measures regarding the United States frontier to the authorities in Texas. The reviewer has seen in the Mexican archives correspondence from the Mexican side of the Champ d'Asile question, and is confident of the existence of the same sort in the Béxar Archives. The Mexican side of Dr. Reeves' story, therefore, yet remains to be told.

H. E. B.

How to cite:
"The Napoleonic Exiles in America", Volume 009, Number 2, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 142 - 143. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v009/n2/review_9.html
[Accessed Sun Nov 22 22:40:24 CST 2009]