Finding Napoleon’s Friend Jean Lannes
While visiting family in Austin, Texas, this past weekend, I kept my eyes open for Napoleonic references. I discovered that the location itself, when chosen in 1838 to be the capital city of the Republic of Texas, had been named Waterloo. The next year the nascent republic’s congress rechristened it Austin, after the Texas hero, Stephen F. Austin.
I haven’t determined exactly why the frontier outpost had been called Waterloo, but at least it explains why I ran across Waterloo Park, Waterloo Restaurant, Waterloo Pool Services, the music venue Waterloo Records, Waterloo Dialysis . . . well, you get the idea. It became a tad depressing for someone writing a novel from Napoleon’s point of view.
Happily, I discovered this magnificent larger-than-life portrait of Napoleon’s close friend Jean Lannes at the University of Texas’s Blanton Museum of Art. Having started life as a farmer’s son, the daring, capable general died a Marshal of the Empire and the first Duc de Montebello. He’s a fine example of the Emperor’s support for meritocracy. Napoleon is often quoted as saying that he found Lannes “a pygmy and left him a giant.” Today we lovers of meritocracy would be more likely to say that Napoleon created the opportunity for Lannes to transform himself into a giant.
Seems to me we could all use a little more meritocracy for advancement versus the more common mediocrity. What would Napoleon think of this era, I wonder?