Napoleon at the Boulogne Camp

“THE reasons which induced me to publish the present work are briefly these: My father was a Boulonnais, and owner of the land historically famous for its associations with Bonaparte and Bruix. I have therefore in my possession a number of documents, hitherto unpublished, concerning the Camp of Boulogne.

“Besides this, during the many years spent on my father’s property at the Plateau d’Odre, I have had many opportunities of acquiring information and collecting circumstantial evidence on the spot itself, from old men who had seen and talked with Napoleon, and had served under him.

“When writing these pages, in full view of the splendid panorama of the Boulogne roadstead, and from the top of the very cliff on which Napoleon and the Commander of the Flotilla had once taken up their quarters, I could not help thinking that the narrative of former events and of memorable incidents would certainly be of psychological interest to the public.

“Added to this, it seemed to me that a faithful record of typical details connected with Napoleon’s Camp at Boulogne, might even prove a useful contribution to the military history of that period, in which the extraordinary and fertile activity of Napoleon—seconded by the ardour, so typical, of his soldiers and sailors—had inspired England with fear, and served to organise an incomparable army.”