08-25-2018, 08:51 AM | #11 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: [Alt. History] captive Napolean
I would think they wkould treat him as another fugitive pretender would be. They would give him hospitality as a diplomatic card, as reciprocity in case their VIPs have to go on the lam, and as good manners. However it is not somehow a better option for someone who wants to reuse Boney then Elba. He was you know, King of Elba making an escape extremely easy. Whereas if he ended up in the US people might shrug and say good riddance the way they do when dictators end up in Monte Carlo. After all if he declares himself King of America without an army to back him, the response will just be something like, "phooey on you." He might conceivably be offered a commission in the US army though however useful he was, he would be a dangerous person to be given such a chance.
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
08-25-2018, 08:56 AM | #12 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: [Alt. History] captive Napolean
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
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08-25-2018, 09:03 AM | #13 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: [Alt. History] captive Napolean
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He would be in the same position as Trotsky was in Istanbul. He could have been uncommonly inconvenient to the Turkish authorities but they just let him live the life of any other exile.
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
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08-25-2018, 06:12 PM | #14 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
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Re: [Alt. History] captive Napolean
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Elba had a population of 12,000, about 1000 of whom were French. Lousiana had a population of ~100,000, of whom AFAICT ~50,000 might well consider themselves French. OTOH, Louisiana has the advantage over Elba of being several thousand miles further from France, which would make the trick he pulled in OTL of just hopping aboard the naval vessel he was (inexpicably IMO) allowed to maintain and sailing ~300 miles home much harder. The idea that he'd end up in Louisiana basically penniless, as the OP suggested, is a harder sell. |
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08-25-2018, 09:50 PM | #15 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: [Alt. History] captive Napolean
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In Louisiana everything he did would be watched by suspicious people waiting for him to make a comeback conspiracy. On Elba he could simply use his natural authority to make a landing in France. Which be it known had a considerable population which considered themselves Frenchmen.
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
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08-26-2018, 10:02 AM | #16 |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
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Re: [Alt. History] captive Napolean
To make the scenario a little more believable, what if the British exile Napoleon to somewhere in the Caribbean, but a bad storm drives the ship ashore in the Mississippi Territory? Captured/rescued by Andrew Jackson's forces in the Creek War.
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RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
08-26-2018, 10:25 AM | #17 | ||
Join Date: Sep 2011
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Re: [Alt. History] captive Napolean
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If the money isn't to be given to Napoleon until Guadeloupe was made, then at the time the prize capture was made, the money doesn't belong to Napoleon. The question then becomes, is it to be treated as belonging solely to the UK government, in which case it's all prize, or does it belong to the Allies, in which case it may be possible to claim that portion which the UK put up as prize. It's not likely, but if the Allies may not have intended Napoleon to ever lay his hands on all the money. Perhaps they give him several pieces of scrip, one to purchase the plantation, one to staff it, one for wardrobe, and so on. As Napoleon makes his purchases, he pays with scrip, which the ship's master redeems with gold. Only once Napoleon is truly settled in as a plantation owner is any remaining cash released to Napoleon, thereby preventing him from using the monies to raise an armed force, or so it is hoped. I agree that he isn't likely to be penniless in New Orleans but having his potential wealth tied up in a dispute at prize court, will get him in a position close to the OP's original desire. |
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08-26-2018, 10:39 AM | #18 | |
Join Date: Sep 2011
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Re: [Alt. History] captive Napolean
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08-31-2018, 10:12 AM | #19 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Udine, Italy
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Re: [Alt. History] captive Napolean
The USA let Napoleon settle down where he wishes, and give him back the money he was carrying, provided that he isn't bent on stirring up any kind of trouble whatsoever. People coming to visit him will be closely monitored, and quietly questioned after before being admitted and after they leave. He'll be allowed to write his memoirs or things like that, living as a retired foreign VIP.
The moment it seems he's going to cause problems, he'll be threatened to be declared persona non grata. In that case he'd be deported to his country - which doesn't mean he'll be allowed to reach France, but that he'll be delivered to a French ship, manned by a rabidly royalist crew. Theoretically they should bring him to Elba. So maybe he'll stir up trouble on purpose, since Elba is much closer to France. But who knows what will happen during the journey. Bonapartist corsairs free him and urge him to go back to Paris as the Emperor? Or, more likely, an unfortunate accident takes place? Or the French officially stick to their word that he'll be brought to Elba, but for some reason there is a long, long stop at Fort-de-France, and... |
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