Some time ago we had a film about Napoleon in cinemas. But it’s not about the movie, because I haven’t seen it, and I’ll leave that to the movie critics to debate. But Napoleon is under scrutiny.
Books have been written about Napoleonic battles, both won and lost. A defeat has been talked about quite a bit, and it also famously occurred after the signing of the peace treaties of Tilsit in 1807. One treaty was with Russia after its defeat at Friedland, and another with Prussia, after its forces were crushed in the battle of Jena. So what happened next was a military and diplomatic success story. By the way, Tilsit is located in what was then North Prussia, or today Kaliningrad Oblast, and is now called Sovetsk.
Napoleon was at the height of his victories and fame. However, after the signing of the treaties, the Emperor of France wanted to have some fun and thought that a nice hunting trip would be ideal. Among high statesmen the passion for hunting is common and in several European countries it constituted one of the entertainments of the nobility in general. From a time closer to us we remember Leonid Brezhnev, who also loved hunting and, moreover, drinking after hunting.
But let’s go back to France. When you hunt, you hunt. Napoleon’s chief of staff and war minister, Louis-Alexander Berthier, was immediately ready to organize the matter and even offered his lands near Paris for this purpose. Berthier was an indispensable assistant to Napoleon. No one could better guess the emperor’s thoughts and free him from dealing with trifles.
So the faithful Berthier offered personal land for what was supposed to be a hare hunt. However, there was a shortage in his lands: there were no rabbits. If there are no rabbits it is also difficult to hunt them. Of course, apart from managing the army, solving the rabbit issue was not a problem. Berthier called one of his faithful servants and ordered him to quickly buy a thousand rabbits from the farmers and take them to the intended hunting grounds.
Farmers were ordered to deliver about a thousand rabbits to the hunting grounds by the morning of the hunting day. And they did it. However, in the hunt that followed, everyone involved vowed to remain as silent as the grave.
The general of Napoleon’s army, Baron Thiébault, for whom Berthier was a rather repugnant figure, was also aware of the incident. He transcribed the matter in his memoirs, although they were not published until 1895, long after the deaths of all those involved.
So what happened? On the morning of the hunting day, everyone gathered at the noose intended for the hunt, and Napoleon also rushed there in his carriage from Paris. The rabbits were released. Everyone was excited because it looked like there was a mass of targets. Preparations were made for effective chasing and shooting, but the rabbits behaved completely unnaturally. This is where the term needs to be changed. They were not rabbits, but domestic rabbits. Furthermore, with animals that had skipped breakfast. Maybe they were hungry.
At the shots of the group of hunters, the rabbits did not flee in panic, but gathered in a large herd along the circuit. The hunters could not guess anything for a moment, but then a wave of rabbits began to move towards them. The rabbits knew that the food was given by a person, so you had to go to them and stick your nose.
The animals especially attracted the attention of a short man in a strange hat, who seemed to be a leader because everyone listened to him. Therefore, it was the main feeder, the rabbits thought, and went on the attack. Berthier tried to save the party and ordered the coachmen to whip the rabbits.
“Napoleon was knee-deep in rabbits, and the furthest animals jumped onto the backs of the nearest ones and tried to climb into the emperor’s lap.”
The rabbits retreated, but then acted like trained soldiers. The herd of a thousand people split in two, one moving to the left and the other to the right. The rabbits performed a wing maneuver and took the group of people with them. And he went on the attack again. Napoleon was knee-deep in rabbits, and the furthest animals jumped onto the backs of the closest ones and tried to climb onto the emperor’s lap.
Napoleon almost lost his balance, but still managed to climb onto the ledge and squeeze through the rabbits. However, some rabbits were already in the cage before him, so the servants had to throw them out. Outside the tent, however, the river of hungry and demanding rabbits continued.
Töld, together with the exhausted emperor, ran from the hunting ground to Berthier’s manor. After what happened, the group of hunters needed a couple of glasses of something stronger first to regain their mental balance. Then they tried to find a rational explanation for the rabbit’s attack. Were they crazy? Or possessed by an evil spirit? Or had someone provoked them? No one has been able to give a clear answer to these questions.
The main culprit, Berthier, summoned the servant sent to buy the rabbits and asked him for explanations. He admitted that he did not distinguish between a rabbit and a rabbit and thought that a domestic rabbit is at least as good as a rabbit, perhaps even better, because it does not run too fast, because it is mostly used to living in a cage.
Berthier then tried to turn this story into a joke and relayed the servant’s story to the rest of the group. However, the unfortunate hunters did not have to go hungry, the organizer of the event took care of them beautifully. Everyone had their fill, the wine was plentiful and soon we were already joking about the morning battle.
Since emperors do not like to appear ridiculous, all those present took a solemn oath of silence. It would be very unfortunate if Napoleon, who had won victories on the battlefields of Europe, were brought up to the people as a ruler who lost the battle against the rabbits.
Baron Thiébault’s memoirs were translated and published in English only a year after the publication of the original. The English must have liked this story about Napoleon. There is also a link to the digital version of the English translation below, and the description of this hunt begins on page 185. Although the story has probably leaked more widely, as there appear to be references to it elsewhere.
References for reading enthusiasts
2023-12-07 13:40:00
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