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Pawet Jerzmanowski

Paweł Jerzmanowski, Baron of the Empire, was a distinguished Polish officer in Napoleon’s Imperial Guard.

Born on June 23, 1779 in Mniewo, Poland, he was appointed Captain of the Polish Light Horse Lancers of the Guard on April 7, 1807, and served in this elite corps until the very end of the Empire.

He first earned distinction at the Battle of Wagram in 1809, where he was wounded in action.

On February 17, 1811, Jerzmanowski was promoted to squadron leader and tasked with retrieving two squadrons still fighting in Spain — in preparation for the upcoming Russian campaign. During that campaign, on July 27, 1812, near Vitebsk, he led a bold charge against Russian cavalry rearguards, routing them with minimal losses. Historian Jean Tranié noted that this engagement proved the “technical value acquired by the regiment since its creation.”

Jerzmanowski remained in the thick of combat during the disastrous retreat from Russia, helping lead rearguard actions from Posen to the Elbe. Fellow lancer Dezydery Chłapowski later wrote:

“He was certainly the most experienced officer in the regiment, full of courage and composure.”

In the German campaign of 1813, he led his squadron at Dresden, defeating a Prussian battalion and capturing over 1,000 prisoners. Then at Hanau on October 30, he charged the Bavarians and was made an officer of the Legion of Honour.

In 1814, during the French campaign, Jerzmanowski distinguished himself at Montereau, leading the Polish service squadron in hot pursuit of the Austrians. After Napoleon’s abdication, he followed the Emperor into exile on Elba, where he commanded the so-called “Napoleon Squadron” — the Polish Lancers who remained loyal even in exile.

The Polish squadron on Elba. Jerzmanowski is on the left, behind Napoléon.

French administrator André Pons de l’Hérault described him as a man of “high superiority.”

In 1815, he returned with Napoleon during the Hundred Days and was promoted to Colonel and Commander of the Legion of Honour. At Waterloo, he was again wounded — this time at Mont-Saint-Jean, fighting alongside the Emperor to the bitter end.

After Napoleon’s final defeat, Jerzmanowski returned to Poland and entered the army of the Kingdom of Poland, serving until 1819. He then returned to France with his wife. During the November Uprising of 1831, he supported the cause of Polish independence from abroad, joining the Polish National Committee in Paris. That same year, he was promoted to General.

Paweł Jerzmanowski died in Paris and is buried at the Montmartre Cemetery, not far from the grave of the Polish poet Juliusz Słowacki

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Flag made by Napoléon during his time on Elba 🐝🐝🐝

The silk flag with three bees in gold filigree on a red band in a white field. It was designed by Napoleon himself for his reign on Isola D'Elba.

One of the more curious legends from Napoleon’s first exile is the origin of the flag of Elba — a white field, crossed by a diagonal red stripe, and adorned with three golden bees.

It is often believed that this design was borrowed from the Polish Chevau-Légers, Napoleon’s elite light cavalry. According to this story, Napoleon adopted their banner — a white background with a red diagonal — and added three golden bees, a symbol he had admired since his earlier campaigns.

The bees themselves held imperial meaning for Napoleon. They were not Egyptian, as is sometimes claimed, but were discovered in the tomb of Childeric I — the father of Clovis and one of the first Merovingian kings. Over 300 gold bees were found scattered within his sarcophagus, symbolizing eternity and rebirth. Napoleon adopted the bee as an emblem of continuity with ancient monarchy — but now repurposed for his Empire.

On Elba, he incorporated three golden bees into the island’s new flag — possibly as a nod to imperial survival in exile.

So, did Napoleon really borrow the Polish cavalry’s flag?

Actually, the reverse may be closer to the truth.

When Napoleon arrived on Elba, his Polish soldiers — grenadiers, artillerymen, Chevau-Légers, and lancers — were reorganized into a single elite cavalry squadron under Major Jan Paweł Jerzmanowski. The unit became known as the Polish Chevau-Légers — the “Napoleon Squadron”, and served as the Emperor’s personal guard on the island.

This newly unified squadron adopted the Elba flag, not the other way around. It was the symbol of Napoleon’s small sovereign rule in exile — and the Polish unit carried it proudly.

When Napoleon returned to France for the Hundred Days, these Polish soldiers followed him, and were reabsorbed into the Grande Armée, still bearing the symbolism of the island that had briefly been his empire.

Napoleon's flag of Elba was immediately a great success, so much so that, according to Pons de I'Herault in his Souvenirs et Anecdotes de l'lle d'Elbe, even the Barbaresque pirates greeted it, because they saw in it the symbol of their war hero, Napoleon, in person, as they sailed the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The flag of the Polish cavalry is kept at Musée de l'Armée of Paris and below the flag is the following statement:

"Horse Squadron Standard - Light Poles”. Napoleon Squadron - From Napoleon’s Guard to the Island of Elba (Gift from the Prince of Moskowa on June 12, 1929).

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The parting of Pauline and her brother Napoléon according to to his valet Louis Marchand:

I was in the Emperor's room, awaiting his final orders, when Princess Pauline entered, her beautiful face covered with tears; she came up to me, holding a diamond necklace worth 500,000 francs. She wanted to speak, but sobs choked her voice.

I myself was moved by the state she was in. She said: "Here, the Emperor sent me to hand you this necklace as the Emperor may need it if he is in trouble, Oh! were this to happen, Marchand, never abandon him, take good care of him. Adieu," she said, offering her hand for me to kiss. "Your Highness, I am hopeful this is but au revoir."

"That is not what I think." Some secret premonition seemed to tell her she would never see the Emperor again. His Majesty walked in at this point, speaking words of consolation, and took her out into the garden.

~ In Napoleon's Shadow: The Memoirs of Louis-Joseph Marchand, pp. 147-148

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Photo dump of Rolf Möbius as Napoleon II/Duke of Reichstadt and Lilian Harvey as Fanny Elssler in the 1937 German film "Fanny Elssler”

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Harp of Empress Josephine

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Eugenie de Montijo, Countess of Teba', 1849, future Empress of the French as wife of Napoleon III Bonaparte

by Federico de Madrazo

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Paulina Bonaparte's (Princess Borghese) Personal Mahogany Letterbox

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“The Beautiful Greek",

Pauline Bonaparte, Princess Borghese

By Salomon Guillaume Counis

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Portrait of Camillo Borghese, duke of Guastalla

by Francois Joseph Kinson

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Happy birthday to the Empress Josephine, born on June 23, 1763❣️❣️

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Photo dump of Rolf Möbius as Napoleon II/Duke of Reichstadt and Lilian Harvey as Fanny Elssler in the 1937 German film "Fanny Elssler”

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Preparation for the coronation

Jean-Louis-Victor (Hector) ,Viger du Vigneau,

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Beautiful Illustration depicting Hortense de Beauharnais Queen Consort of Holland, and stepdaughter of Emperor Napoléon I

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Pictures of the fourth count Charles Léon (1911-1994) Napoléon’s Great grandson

Picture of Count Charles Léon and Louis-prince Napoléon (Bonaparte) and princess Alix Napoleon at a Mass Given in Memory of the Emperor Napoleon at Les Invalides at les invalides-1988

Count Charles Léon next to Count Charles Andre Colonna Walewski and his wife, Prince Alain Murat and the guy with the shades on Louis napoleon Bonaparte Wyse( descendant of Lucian Bonapartes daughter) again attending the Mass Given at Les Invalides in 1993. Unfortunately he died the year after. He had a daughter who died in 2022.

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The salon in Empress Eugénie’s apartments in the Tuileries (the traditional Paris residence of French monarchs), captured in an 1868 oil painting by Giuseppe Castiglione. The Empress can be spotted reading behind a screen.

When the Empress made herself at home at the Tuileries in the 1850s she originally selected pieces from the palace’s rich store of period furniture and art. But as she grew more confident in her role she hired an architect to redesign her apartments and to furnish them in a manner that allowed freer expression of her personal taste. This revivalist style is known today as Louis XVI-Impératrice.

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Print of laure Junot ,Duchess of Abrantes