Chapter Summaries

Brigadier General Pike learned that more than eighty nations had signed France’s International Maritime Convention despite Britain’s naval blockade. In Portugal, Wellesley’s New Army ambushed Talavera’s Spanish forces and drove them toward the Mondego River.

• Pike received the signed maritime treaty and recognized that Britain’s opposition had failed to stop the convention.
• Ships from the participating nations sailed from Copenhagen Harbor past Pike’s warships and into the Baltic Sea.
• Wellesley lured Talavera’s army away from Mortágua before ordering the Scots Guard to attack its exposed flank.
• Talavera ordered Ruiniz to form a defensive line, but English skirmishers broke through the legion’s first line with superior firepower.
• The Scots Guard pierced Talavera’s central defenses, and the Spanish troops fled toward the Mondego River before nightfall halted the attack.

Wellesley withdrew from Talavera when French forces approached, then defended his decision to Dos Santos and renewed his plan to exhaust the Franco-Spanish forces by targeting their supplies. Three days later João approved clearing settlements around Coimbra, while Joseph arrived in Paris for the sixth anniversary ceremony of the Paris Police Academy.

• Wellesley halted the assault on Talavera and ordered his army to retreat toward Coimbra after cavalry reported French activity to the northeast.
• Junot’s forces routed Lecor’s rearguard, and Junot angrily confronted Talavera before continuing south toward Coimbra.
• Wellesley explained to Dos Santos that withdrawing had avoided a dangerous counterattack and argued that fortifications and attacks on enemy supply lines could force the Franco-Spanish forces to retreat.
• João approved Wellesley’s recommendation to clear villages and towns around Coimbra to protect the gateway to Lisbon.
• Joseph arrived at the Royal Military Academy of France as ceremonial cannons marked the sixth anniversary of the Paris Police Academy.

At the Paris Police Academy anniversary, Joseph addressed the army’s senior officers and argued that France should avoid a costly war with Austria and Prussia until its economy and military strength had grown further. He called for economic development and a Second Military Reform.

• Massena ordered more than ten thousand soldiers to salute when Joseph arrived at the academy’s anniversary celebration.
• Joseph delivered a speech recalling the academy’s history before soldiers staged drills, music, and shooting demonstrations.
• Senior officers discussed General Bonaparte’s imprisonment and considered petitioning Joseph to pardon him.
• Joseph told the officers that France could defeat Austria and Prussia but risked being weakened by prolonged fighting.
• Joseph urged France to stabilize its market, develop industry and agriculture, grow its population, and begin the Second Military Reform.

Joseph rejected a request to reinforce Junot in Portugal, insisting France should avoid becoming bogged down in Iberia and instead weaken Portuguese resistance by changing public opinion. In Nehabe Village, Igor challenged the village chief’s order to evacuate by accusing the British of abandoning displaced people and selling some into slavery.

• Joseph rallied the officers around France’s military reforms and ambition, then announced promotions and the outline of the Second Military Reform.
• Berthier told Joseph that Junot had won a battle and requested twenty thousand reinforcements to capture Lisbon, but Joseph capped French forces in Portugal at seven thousand.
• Joseph told Berthier that France would avoid a costly campaign in Portugal and would work to discourage the Portuguese from organizing guerrillas, with Lavalette already beginning that effort.
• In Nehabe Village, the village chief ordered residents to move south within three days to escape Spanish plundering.
• Igor disputed the chief’s claims, saying the British had left people displaced from Porto without food or shelter and had sold some strong-bodied people to Levantine slave ships.

Igor tried to warn Nehabe Village about the dangers of migration, but the villagers left with Talente after he convinced Igor to flee. After Igor discovered freshly buried bodies along their route, he and Diado reported them to Bamelo, who secretly summoned Mr. Calvão and Mr. Loritoge.

• Lord Matos silenced the villagers' discussion, and the village chief sent everyone home to prepare for migration.
• Talente told Igor to flee with his mother and recruit trusted neighbors, then secretly notified his companions.
• Talente led Igor's family and a neighboring family out of Nehabe Village along a forest trail.
• Talente, Igor, and the neighbor overheard men burying villagers from Huka Village and discussing deaths during the migration.
• Igor dug at the fresh earth, and the next morning he and Diado told Bamelo about the bodies.
• Bamelo ordered his steward to secretly invite Mr. Calvão and Mr. Loritoge.

Bamelo and the villagers resisted Wellesley’s relocation order after Security Bureau agents planted evidence that English soldiers were killing relocated villagers, while Spanish policies and Portuguese Liberals further weakened English control. As relocation stalled and Coimbra faced a worsening military threat, Wellesley ordered Colonel Hill to force compliance with cavalry.

• Bamelo and the people of Nehabe Village agreed to stay put, prepare their guns, and spread resistance to relocation among nearby villages.
• The villagers’ investigation uncovered reports of deaths along the migration routes and in Lisbon, strengthening opposition to leaving their homes.
• Spain paid market prices for grain and promised Portuguese regions local autonomy, winning support from villagers and Portuguese Liberals.
• Wellesley learned that only four villages near Coimbra had been cleared and that the Franco-Spanish Allied Forces were advancing.
• Wellesley ordered Colonel Hill to lead eight hundred cavalry to enforce relocation and execute anyone who refused.

Dusal Town’s militia fought British cavalry after refusing Lisbon’s scorched-earth order, but the town’s defenses collapsed under repeated attacks. Councilman Apinto surrendered from the church bell tower as the British approached.

• A French cavalry commander ended his company’s inaction as two British squadrons gathered near Dusal Town.
• Councilman Apinto brought bread and wine to Laplaisir and urged the militia to defend their homes until reinforcements arrived from Rue Town.
• The British Hussars charged Dusal Town’s barricades, broke through the militia line, and killed or routed most of the Mounted Police.
• Laplaisir led the remaining militia in resisting the British advance through the streets, but more than a hundred militiamen were killed.
• Apinto waved a white flag from the church bell tower and called for the town to surrender.

Laplaisir’s militia and the French Hussars defeated the British attack on Dusal Town, and Laplaisir took office as councilman as anti-English resistance spread through Portugal. As the Franco-Spanish siege of Coimbra intensified, Wellesley requested more British troops to prevent the city’s fall.

• Apinto surrendered Dusal Town, but Laplaisir resumed the fight when gunfire signaled French reinforcements approaching.
• The French Hussars attacked the British cavalry from behind, and Laplaisir’s militia joined them to force the British to surrender.
• The French escorted the prisoners away, and townspeople later imprisoned Apinto and elected Laplaisir councilman.
• Laplaisir spread news of the battle, helping anti-English sentiment grow and disrupting the Portuguese Crown Prince’s scorched-earth orders.
• Spain sent another fifteen thousand troops to Portugal as the Franco-Spanish forces bombarded Coimbra’s remaining bastion forts.
• Wellesley, facing heavy losses and the possible fall of Coimbra, wrote to Prime Minister Grenville requesting ten thousand more expeditionary troops.

Joseph planned to pressure Britain into keeping troops in Portugal while visiting an industrial town near Paris. At the Paris Fertilizer and Pesticide Company, Lavoisier showed him the first production process for potash fertilizer.

• Joseph ordered Massena to prepare twenty thousand reinforcements for Iberia and planned a grand send-off to provoke Britain into committing more troops to Portugal.
• Joseph told Berthier that if Britain counterattacked, Massena would truly march south with support from Spanish troops.
• Joseph’s carriage passed through polluted, heavily industrialized Antoine Town, where factories used more than thirty steam engines.
• Lavoisier welcomed Joseph at the fertilizer factory and credited his guidance for the rapid development of potash fertilizer.
• Lavoisier showed Joseph the reactors and explained that workers heated crude salt so impurities would precipitate from the solution first.

Joseph oversaw plans to scale up fertilizer production and considered ways to bring women into industrial work. At the cabinet meeting, he assigned officials to promote fertilizer and reclaim Rhineland farmland, with mining to expand as yields rose.

• Lavoisier explained the Potash Fertilizer process and agreed to lead construction of a large factory in the Palatinate, aiming to begin production within a year.
• Joseph promised support for Lavoisier’s wife Marianne and said she should receive a noble title for her contributions to the fertilizer factory.
• Joseph discussed producing Potassium Sulfate and Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate with Lavoisier.
• Mirabeau reported that the Tunis Phosphate Fertilizer factory would begin producing five thousand tons monthly next month.
• Joseph directed Venio to promote fertilizer use and reclaim Rhineland farmland, then told Mirabeau to advance coal and iron mining there as grain yields increased.

Joseph addressed the lack of investment in the Rhineland’s coal and iron mines by proposing ways to increase demand and compete with British producers. He left Mirabeau with plans for iron bridges, loans for Italian farming equipment, household coal products, and experiments with converter steelmaking.

• Mirabeau reported that the Cologne Coal Mine was ready to begin production, while the Aachen Coal Mine and Hunsrück iron mine lacked investment, with the iron mine securing subscriptions for only 22 percent of its shares.
• Joseph proposed building iron bridges over the Seine River and the Loire River, financed by initial French Reserve Bank loans and local fundraising, with tolls repaying the loans.
• Joseph suggested that the Italian Bank offer loans for Italian farmers to buy water pumps and farm tools, and that Rhineland hard coal be promoted for household use.
• Joseph sketched a honeycomb briquette and described a matching stove that ironworks could produce for household heating and baking.
• Joseph considered developing converter steelmaking to improve French steel quality and help France compete with British producers.

Joseph directed France’s industrial expansion toward converter steelmaking, chemicals, medical equipment, and pharmaceuticals while addressing the Industrial Development Fund’s shortage of capital. He left Mirabeau with plans to recruit steelmaking experts, establish profitable factories, and expand Glucose production as research on BDP2 continued.

• Joseph ordered Mirabeau to send skilled steelmaking technicians and scholars to Lorraine to develop converter steelmaking.
• Joseph told Mirabeau to expand Sulfuric Acid and Soda Ash production so France could undercut British competitors.
• Joseph proposed building an Aniline Dye Factory and using its profits or shares to fund chemical plants.
• Joseph ordered the Ministry of Industry to expand medical-equipment production and publicity because the factory promised high profits.
• Joseph directed the construction of a Glucose factory, while the Paris Pharmaceutical Factory continued producing BDP and researching BDP2, Sodium Salicylate.

Joseph and French officials completed an ambitious industrial development plan covering sectors from coal and steel to medicine and furniture. Joseph then turned to Treasury deputy Gaudin to develop an investment plan to fund it.

• Joseph’s pharmaceutical factory had found that Sodium Salicylate was three to five times more effective than Salicin, and he ordered the factory to aim for mass production before the end of the year.
• Joseph and the officials discussed development plans for France’s textile, sugar, carriage, cosmetics, furniture, and other industries until the conference ended the following afternoon.
• Mirabeau reviewed the draft plan, which set investment and production targets across industries including coal, steel, sugar refining, chemicals, medical equipment, and medicines.
• Mirabeau concluded that implementing the plan could bring French industry level with the United Kingdom’s within four to five years.
• Joseph asked Treasury deputy Martin-Michel-Charles Gaudin to formulate an investment plan so the industrial program could proceed.

Joseph planned to raise industrial investment through government bonds, company shares, and a new banking system for the Italian states, then paused Cabinet work to prepare for his fiancée Alexandra’s arrival. Alexandra reached Paris in a carriage and saw Joseph waiting to receive her.

• Gaudin proposed issuing 50 million francs in special treasury bonds and selling shares in profitable French companies, and Joseph ordered him to prepare a bond plan.
• Joseph devised plans to list French companies abroad and establish a Mediterranean Bank and a stock exchange in Northern Italy, then ordered inspections in Milan and Genoa.
• After the Cabinet meeting, Countess de Berninac reminded Joseph that Alexandra was arriving, and he postponed the next meeting to prepare for the reception.
• On September 18, 1794, Alexandra arrived in Paris and spotted Joseph beneath the reception canopy.

Alexandra arrived in Paris and thwarted Veronique’s attempt to humiliate her during her formal greeting, then met Crown Prince Joseph. During their carriage ride, Joseph reassured her that she could keep her Orthodox faith in private, and Alexandra asked for paper and a pen to make him a gift.

• Alexandra greeted Louis XVI and the Queen, then began to retreat while Veronique’s two maids deliberately failed to guide her.
• Realizing the maids might make her trip, Alexandra turned, knelt in prayer, and publicly showed her willingness to convert to Catholicism.
• Archbishop Beaumont blessed Alexandra, and she then greeted Crown Prince Joseph as the nobles offered their congratulations.
• Veronique’s plan to win Alexandra’s trust after her embarrassment failed, and she resolved to find another way to control her.
• In the carriage, Joseph told Alexandra she could privately continue following Eastern Orthodox customs, and she asked him for paper and a pen to give him a gift.

Alexandra gave Joseph a poem and spoke with him about his Industrial Development Plan, then returned to Versailles Palace and confronted two maids she suspected of disloyalty. She warned Anna and Clarisse that their families could suffer if they displeased her.

• Alexandra presented Joseph with a sonnet, and he told her it was the best gift he had ever received.
• Alexandra thanked Joseph for Eden Amusement Park and confessed that she had fallen in love with him after learning he had created it.
• Joseph explained how France's Industrial Development Plan guided factory owners, and Alexandra offered to study and help organize events for the people.
• Alexandra returned to Versailles Palace, where Joseph kept her in separate quarters to delay consummating their marriage and avoid the danger of an early childbirth.
• Alexandra recognized her maids as Anna and Clarisse, revealed that she knew details about their families, and threatened them with consequences if they displeased her.

Alexandra settled into Versailles while Joseph found a way to turn her menagerie into a zoo and a new source of revenue. Meanwhile, Napoleon, under escort, gave Berthier plans to improve the army and asked him to deliver them to Joseph as amends for his mistakes.

• Alexandra frightened Anna and Clarice into silence, then reflected on the dangers faced by queens in France and fell asleep thinking fondly of the Crown Prince.
• Joseph learned that Alexandra’s dowry included bears, a rhino, tigers, and wolves, and decided to propose opening a zoo in Paris.
• Joseph ordered Eman to summon the Paris Municipal Commissioner and Minister of Finance Gaudin to discuss the zoo, which he considered giving to Alexandra.
• Berthier reviewed the Gendarmerie’s documents before Major Sévigné escorted Napoleon under guard, and he agreed to hear Napoleon’s message with Lieutenant Colonel Gardette present.
• Napoleon gave Berthier his plans to improve the army’s combat strength and asked him to deliver them to Joseph as an apology for his mistakes.

Napoleon presented Berthier with his report on skirmishers, only to learn that Crown Prince Joseph had already developed a broader Skirmisher Cluster theory. Berthier outlined its formations, flexible tactics, and Vaulters, leaving Napoleon impressed by how completely Joseph had anticipated his ideas.

• Napoleon gave Berthier his report on the use of skirmishers, and Berthier told him that Joseph had already proposed a skirmisher theory.
• Berthier explained that Joseph planned to make skirmishers the main force, using Rifled Guns and small-scale volleys against enemy Infantry Lines.
• Berthier described Joseph’s mixed formation of skirmishers, Columns, and a rear Infantry Line, with each arm serving a different battlefield role.
• Napoleon raised the danger of superior forces and cavalry, and Berthier explained that troops could switch between skirmisher and line formations or form a Hollow Square.
• Berthier introduced Joseph’s Vaulters, who used basic horses for quick short-distance maneuvers, and Napoleon compared them to Dragoons.

Berthier explained Joseph’s Second Military Reform to Napoleon, who was exiled to Elba despite hoping his own skirmisher proposal would save him. In London, Grenville’s Cabinet discussed reinforcing Portugal as French troops approached, leaving the ministers confronting the cost of sending 35,000 soldiers.

• Berthier described the army’s new command structure, combined divisions, civilian personnel, Honor Representatives, and reorganized cavalry to Napoleon.
• A Gendarmerie officer ended Berthier’s briefing, and Napoleon was escorted toward Marseille to be sent into exile on Elba.
• Pitt the Younger met with Grenville, Fox, and other ministers in London to discuss the threat to Portugal.
• Wyndham reported that 20,000 soldiers of the Massena Legion were nearing the Pyrenees and would reach Coimbra within a month.
• Grenville urged reinforcements for Portugal, and Pitt agreed Lisbon could not be lost but warned of financial pressure.
• Lansdowne said maintaining an Expeditionary Force of 35,000 men would cost nearly 90,000 Pound Sterling each month.

Pitt the Younger approved plans to seize the Cape of Good Hope while Britain expanded its forces in Portugal. He then warned Grenville that Britain needed sweeping reforms to compete with France, leaving the specific reforms undecided.

• Grenville presented John Shore’s proposal that British forces could quickly capture the Dutch-held Cape of Good Hope.
• Pitt the Younger backed the seizure and proposed using Dutch ships and trade routes to pressure the Netherlands into accepting British terms.
• The Cabinet decided that the East India Company would occupy the Cape, Fox would negotiate with the Dutch, and Wellesley would expand the Portuguese expeditionary force to thirty-five thousand men.
• After the meeting, Pitt the Younger told Grenville that French reforms and industries were outpacing Britain.
• Pitt the Younger insisted that Britain needed a sweeping reform capable of surpassing France, not a minor adjustment.