1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Our next couple of Saturday classics are inspired 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: by both recent and upcoming episodes of the show. So 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: coming up next week we have an episode related to 4 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,800 Speaker 1: the French Revolution that has a connection to Toma Alexander Duma, 5 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: and then our previous October episode on the Ludon Possessions 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,160 Speaker 1: referenced work by his son Alexander Duma peer So over 7 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: the next two Saturdays, we are re releasing our two 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: episodes on them. They are different episodes, not a two parter, 9 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: but I just kind of I like having them somewhat together. 10 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,879 Speaker 1: Today's classic on Toma Alexandre Duma originally came out on 11 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 1: February twenty fifth, twenty nineteen. Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You 12 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and 13 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracey V. Wilson and I'm 14 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: Holly Frye. If you've listened to the show for a while, 15 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: you've heard us periodically talk about the accidental two parters 16 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: where we got into an episode that we did not 17 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: intend to stretch into two parts, but it was so 18 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,479 Speaker 1: fascinating or so involved that it did. In today's show 19 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: is not exactly an accidental two parter. It's more like 20 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: an accidental duology. Because Alexandra Dumat is probably a familiar 21 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: name to most of our listeners. There are actually two 22 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,759 Speaker 1: of those. There's Alexander Duma Pere, the father who wrote 23 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: things like The Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte Cristo, 24 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: and then his son Alexander Duma Fieu. People call him 25 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: that to try to differentiate between the two of them. 26 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: He wrote the play that became the basis for Verdi's 27 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: opera La Traviata. So Alexandra Duma Pere had been on 28 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: my list for a really long time, and I had 29 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: toyed with the idea of doing kind of a father 30 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: son duo package, especially when we started to plan our 31 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: upcoming trip to France this June. It seemed particularly appropriate 32 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: to get into their stories when we have that on 33 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: the horizon. But as I got into this research, I 34 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,519 Speaker 1: started to realize that I did not really so much 35 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: want to talk about the father son pair of Alexandra's Duma. 36 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: I wanted to talk about the elder Alexander and his father, 37 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: General Tooma Alexander Duma. Both of their stories are fascinating 38 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,959 Speaker 1: and incredibly dramatic and basically the general sounds like a 39 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: character out of one of his son's books, because he 40 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: pretty much was. And he's even more appropriate to talk 41 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: about in connection to this trip that we're taking to Paris, 42 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,079 Speaker 1: because a lot of that trip is based around the 43 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: French Revolution, which took place while the general was in 44 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: the French Army. This episode and the forthcoming one on 45 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: his son are there really standalone episodes. You don't need 46 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: to listen to one to be able to understand the other, 47 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: but there will be some points of interconnectivity between them. 48 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,799 Speaker 1: Toma Alexandre Duma was born to Toma Alexandro Davis de 49 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: la Payetrie. His father was Antoine Alexandle de vill Marquis 50 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: de la Pietrie, who went by Antoine. Antoine had moved 51 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,799 Speaker 1: from France to the French colony of San Damongue which 52 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: is now Haiti in the late seventeen thirties. After moving 53 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 1: to the island, Antoine had spent the next decade more 54 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: or less freeloading off of his younger brother, who had 55 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: married into a family of wealthy sugar planters. That in 56 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: seventeen forty eight there was some kind of argument between 57 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: the two of them. That prompted Antoine to take three 58 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: of his brothers, enslaved laborers, one of whom was a 59 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: young woman, and leave that plantation in the middle of 60 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: the night. The details are a mystery, but it seems 61 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: like there was some sort of family rift of a 62 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: major nature at work here or else. Antoine was just 63 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: trying to shirk his responsibilities. He did not tell anyone 64 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: where he was going, and when his mother and father 65 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: died in seventeen fifty seven. In seventeen fifty eight, no 66 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: one could find any trace of him. He was the eldest, 67 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: so they were looking for him pretty hard. It was 68 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: later determined that he had moved to the parish of 69 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: Jeremie in the southwestern part of the island and had 70 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: started going by the name Antoine Delille or Antoine of 71 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 1: the Island. He also had four children there with a 72 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 1: woman named Marie Cassette Duma. One of them was Toma Alexander, 73 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: who went by alex and was born on March twenty fifth, 74 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty two. It's clear from the colonial record that 75 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: Marie Cassette was enslaved, and that other people thought the 76 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: amount of money that Antoine paid for her was excessive. 77 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: What isn't clear is whether she and Antoine were later married. 78 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: To discourage the births of biracial children, colonial law imposed 79 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: fines on white men who fathered children with enslaved women, 80 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: regardless of who was enslaving them at the time, but 81 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: this fee was waived and the mother and her children 82 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: were freed if the father married her. Alex's son, Alexandre Duma, 83 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,600 Speaker 1: would later write that his grandparents had been married, but 84 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: there is no written documentation of that marriage ever happening. 85 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: After Antoine absconded to Jeremi, his younger brother, Charles, went 86 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: back to France. He maintained that he was the oldest 87 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: of his late parents surviving children, and he took control 88 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 1: of the family's estates, and he started a smuggling operation 89 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: back on the island of Espaniola, moving sugar and enslaved 90 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: people through a port that was known as Monte Cristo 91 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: on the border between Spanish and French territory. In seventeen 92 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: seventy five, after both of Antoine's brothers had ruined most 93 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:36,919 Speaker 1: of their own investments and died, Antoine returned to France 94 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: with his birth certificate as proof of who he was 95 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,600 Speaker 1: ready to take control of his family estates and start 96 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: up a series of legal fights with his surviving family members. 97 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: To finance the trip, he had sold his children and 98 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: their mother when it came to Tolmin Alexandle, though he 99 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: made the sale conditional so that he could buy him 100 00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: back once he had access to his money in France. 101 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: He never saw his other children again. So Alex was 102 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: fourteen when this happened, and he arrived in France on 103 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: August thirtieth, seventeen seventy six. He was listed on the 104 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: ship's manifest as the slave Alexandra, but once he was 105 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: reunited with his father, he was treated more like the 106 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: teenage son of an aristocrat. His father legally recognized him 107 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,359 Speaker 1: as his own and started giving him the kind of 108 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:28,040 Speaker 1: education that was expected of somebody of his station. Alex 109 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,239 Speaker 1: hadn't had much formal education at all in Santa Manga, 110 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: so he was way behind his peers. He started spending 111 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: his days with tutors and fencing instructors in the like, 112 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: learning everything from classical languages to European style hunting. They 113 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: learned very quickly, though, and he seemed to become quite 114 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: skilled at whatever he put his mind to. He also 115 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: started adjusting to French society. Back in Santamang, they had 116 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: been in a community in which a lot of the 117 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,359 Speaker 1: people around them were black or multiracial, but in France, 118 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: most of the people around them were white. Was not 119 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: the only free person of color in France's more affluent society, 120 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: though many had come to France in much the same 121 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: way that Alex had. They were the children of affluent 122 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: frenchmen who had spent time in the Caribbean colonies and 123 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: fathered children with enslaved or free women of color. This 124 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: was in spite of the sorts of laws that we 125 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: mentioned before, which attempted to discourage into racial marriages and 126 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: the births of multi racial children, either in or out 127 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: of wedlock. Some of these people of color had also 128 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: become quite prominent. For example, Joseph Boulong, the Chevalier de 129 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: Saint George, had been born in Guadalupe to a white 130 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 1: father and a free black woman in seventeen forty five. 131 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: The Chevalier was reportedly the best swordsman in all of France, 132 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: and he was also a composer who was nicknamed Black Mozart. 133 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: He would also play a part in Alex's military life 134 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: later on, which we will get to. Alex and his 135 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: father had an extravagant and lavish lifestyle, and as he 136 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 1: got older, Alex increasingly traveled to pay, which was about 137 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: a three hour trip from their estate. He moved there 138 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: in the spring of seventeen eighty four at the age 139 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: of twenty two. The free black community in Paris was 140 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: often viewed with this combination of derision and curiosity. They 141 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: simultaneously faced discrimination and also were almost admired as kind 142 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: of exotic and unique. In Alex's case in particular, he 143 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: was frequently described as having an extremely handsome face, an 144 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: excellent build, and a lovely skin color. But he was also, 145 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: as one example, arrested at a theater in September of 146 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,680 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty four after a naval officer and his companions 147 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: started harassing the woman that Alex was escorting. When Alex 148 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: tried to warn them off, they called him her lackey 149 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:51,559 Speaker 1: and then started hurling racist taunts at him. On February thirteenth, 150 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty six, Alex's father, who was in his seventies, 151 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 1: married his thirty three year old housekeeper, Marie Francois Friteu, 152 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 1: the marquis started focusing his money on his new wife 153 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 1: rather than on his son. Alex had no way to 154 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: support himself, so about two weeks after the wedding, which 155 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: he appears not to have attended, he decided to join 156 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: the army. We'll talk about that more after a sponsor break. 157 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:28,680 Speaker 1: Becoming an army officer was a very common employment for 158 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: young men in the French nobility in the eighteenth century. 159 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: As long as they could prove that they had four 160 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: generations of nobility on their father's side, they were entitled 161 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: to become commissioned officers, and Alex had that, but France 162 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: also had discriminatory race laws that made it a lot 163 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,080 Speaker 1: harder for him to actually claim it. So he told 164 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: his father that he was just going to enlist as 165 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: a private, and it did not even matter to him 166 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:54,559 Speaker 1: which unit he enlisted in. He was just going to 167 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: go join whichever one he found first. According to his 168 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: son's memoirs, the marquis told him quote, that is all 169 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,120 Speaker 1: very fine, but as I am the Marquis de la Pietrie, 170 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,680 Speaker 1: a colonel and Commissary General of Artillery, I will not 171 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: allow you to drag my name in the mire of 172 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,679 Speaker 1: the lowest ranks of the army. His father was kind 173 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: of a jerk, that was not clear. So Alex joined 174 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: the army under his mother's name, describing himself as quote 175 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: son of Antoine and Sissette Duma, which is just the 176 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:31,920 Speaker 1: shadiest way to do that in terms of the way 177 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:34,199 Speaker 1: he was talking about his father. And from that point 178 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: on he was just known as Alexandra Duma, also dropping 179 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: the Toma part of his name for the most part. 180 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:44,080 Speaker 1: He joined the Queen's Dragoons on June second, seventeen eighty six, 181 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:46,679 Speaker 1: and this was not at all a prestigious unit. They 182 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: were often on the front lines and the dirtiest and 183 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: most dangerous parts of battle, basically treated as cannon fodder. 184 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:55,559 Speaker 1: So not only had he become a private, he had 185 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: become a private in a unit that his father would 186 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,080 Speaker 1: not have approved of at all. Then just a couple 187 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: of weeks later, on June fifteenth, his father died. It 188 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: does not appear that Alex was there, and he wasn't 189 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:12,319 Speaker 1: one of the signatures on the death certificate. I find 190 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: it like I have this little bit of gleefulness about 191 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: the fact that his father was so concerned about the 192 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: family name and then almost immediately died, had not really 193 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: needing to have worried about it. Soon though, Alex was 194 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: developing quite the reputation as a soldier, and he was 195 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:35,199 Speaker 1: also reportedly very strong and very fond of doing strongman 196 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: style stunts, like hopping across a room while carrying two 197 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:42,400 Speaker 1: other men, or grabbing an overhead bar while he was 198 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:44,960 Speaker 1: on horseback and then lifting the horse up with his legs, 199 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 1: or do not do this ever, please, putting each of 200 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: his fingers into the mouth of a musket and then 201 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: lifting them all up by flattening out his hand. And 202 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 1: he was also extremely fond of dueling, which was illegal 203 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 1: among civilians in France at this point, but tolerated within 204 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,079 Speaker 1: the army. At one point he reportedly fought three duels 205 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: in one day while injured from the first of them. 206 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: Unsurprisingly given his fondness for dueling, he was also known 207 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: for having a very hot temper and for speaking very 208 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,360 Speaker 1: freely when he was angry. This is the kind of 209 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,080 Speaker 1: thing where I read this list of crazy things he 210 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: did and I just want to go, what is wrong 211 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: with you? Well, especially the horse thing that was probably 212 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: some kind of a stunt. But yeah, especially the musket thing. 213 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: Why would you do that? What is wrong with you? 214 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: What is wrong with you? Like I suddenly become I 215 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: don't know somebody's mom. What is wrong with you? Has 216 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: has your brain been damaged? Why would you do this? 217 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 1: But anyway, Duma joined the army during the prelude to 218 00:12:55,720 --> 00:13:00,120 Speaker 1: the French Revolution so quick recamp in the late eighteenth century. 219 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,600 Speaker 1: Among France's three estates, which were the clergy, the nobility, 220 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,200 Speaker 1: and the commoners, the clergy and nobility held all the power, 221 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: even though the commoners vastly outnumbered them. The nation was 222 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:14,320 Speaker 1: nearly bankrupt and the common people were facing food shortages, 223 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: and the food that was available was astronomically expensive. Violence 224 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: and unrest grew during this time as the commoners pushed 225 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: back against poverty and oppression. The sixth Dragoons spent most 226 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,720 Speaker 1: of this time stationed in the countryside north of Paris, 227 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:32,720 Speaker 1: fairly removed from all of the things that were happening 228 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,959 Speaker 1: just to the south. Yeah, this was definitely not confined 229 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: only to Paris, but they just were in a place 230 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: that was a little bit off the beaten path from 231 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: what was happening. The revolution really got going in seventeen 232 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: eighty nine, and the face of ongoing unrest, King Louis 233 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: the sixteenth summoned the Estates in General, which represented all 234 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 1: three Estates, for a meeting that was to be held 235 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: on May fifth, seventeen eighty nine, and then that June, 236 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 1: after negotiations failed to get anywhere, the Third Estate, which 237 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,559 Speaker 1: represented the commoners, formed the National Assembly. They avowed to 238 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: work on constitutional reforms. Revolutionaries stormed the Bastille on July 239 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: fourteenth and October fifth, women march on Versailles to demand 240 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: relief for the ongoing food shortages and to demand that 241 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: the King and the Queen returned to Paris. We have 242 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 1: an episode on that in the archive. In the weeks 243 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: between the storming of the Bastille and the women's march 244 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: on Versailles, alex Duma was finally called into action. In 245 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 1: August seventeen eighty nine, a detachment from the six Dragoons 246 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 1: were summoned to the defense of the town of Ville 247 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: Cotre in northern France, which was being threatened by rioters. 248 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: The person who called for this aid was Claude Laboret, 249 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: who was the innkeeper of Lutel de le Queue in 250 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: Ville Cottre. He had just been elected the head of 251 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 1: the town's national guard, and since the town had no barracks, 252 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: the dragoons who came to help had to be billeted 253 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: in the homes of various people around the town. La 254 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: Beret was so impressed with Duma that he invited him 255 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: to stay at the inn, and that first night Dumat 256 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: met Labrey's daughter, Marie Louise. She described him as quote 257 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: a fine figure of a man, and they were engaged 258 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: on December sixth, seventeen eighty nine, with her father giving 259 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: his approval as long as they waited until Duma was 260 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: promoted to sergeant to actually marry, and that promotion happened 261 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,600 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety two, and they married on November twenty 262 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: eighth of that year. In the intervening years, Duma remained 263 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: stationed in northern France or across the border in what 264 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: was then the Austrian Empire after France declared war on 265 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: Austria in April of seventeen ninety two. During those years, 266 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: Duma really made a name for himself through dramatic and 267 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: daring exploits, including, for example, cutting off a group of 268 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 1: Austrian soldiers that were on horseback and taking them prisoner 269 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: without firing a single shot, and then donating his share 270 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: of the prize from that capture to the Nation of France. 271 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: He had a reputation for being a really exceptional soldier 272 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 1: and leader, always on the side of justice and freedom. 273 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:08,840 Speaker 1: His upbringing in Sandomange probably served him really well in 274 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: all of this. He had become quite the stereotypical aristocrat 275 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: after moving to France with his father, but as French 276 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: society reformed itself during the Revolution, he was able to 277 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 1: drop a lot of those more aristocratic traits, draw on 278 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: his more humble upbringing, and keep the respect of the 279 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: soldiers from the lower and middle classes. Starting in late 280 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety two, Dumal was promoted up through the ranks 281 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 1: incredibly quickly, being commissioned as a second lieutenant, then promoted 282 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: to first lieutenant, then brigadier, all in a matter of months. 283 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: And as that was happening, France was also expanding its 284 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: military might. The Republic of France had been conquering neighboring 285 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: territory and had also offered its support to other nations 286 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: that wanted to fight for their own freedom, but the 287 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: existing French military and the mercenaries that had been hired 288 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: to supplement it weren't big enough to support all of this, 289 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: so the nation had allowed the establishment of free legions, 290 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,760 Speaker 1: which were separate from the regular French army. One of 291 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: these was the Free Legion of Americans and of the South, 292 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,439 Speaker 1: which was made up entirely of freemen of color. At 293 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,240 Speaker 1: this point in French history, people of color in France 294 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 1: were generally referred to as Americans, whether they were from 295 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: the Americas or not, and then often American colonists, regardless 296 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: of their race, were also called Americans. It was a 297 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: little confusing. This would later be nicknamed La le jon 298 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 1: noir or the Black Legion. La le Genoir was started 299 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:41,560 Speaker 1: by Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint George, who naturally wanted 300 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: Dumas as one of his officers. However, Dumas was already 301 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: spoken for. He had joined another free legion, the Hussars 302 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: of Liberty and Equality, started by Colonel Joseph Boyer, and 303 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,200 Speaker 1: the colonel and the Chevalier basically had a bidding war 304 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: as each of them tried to lure Dumas away from 305 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 1: the other. Dumas finally joined the lesson Noir after the 306 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: chevalier promised him the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was 307 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:09,119 Speaker 1: commissioned in that legion on January tenth, seventeen ninety three, 308 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: and even though Duma was technically second in command, the 309 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:15,919 Speaker 1: Chevalier wasn't all that interested in actually running things, so 310 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:19,399 Speaker 1: he mostly just left Duma to it. This legion didn't 311 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: last very long, though, it was chronically underfunded, really short 312 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: on supplies, and the Chevalier was suspected of some criminal activity. 313 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:29,959 Speaker 1: The legion was disbanded just a few months after Dumad 314 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 1: joined it, But on July thirtieth, seventeen ninety three, he 315 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:37,119 Speaker 1: was made brigadier general of the French Army of the North, 316 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 1: and then five days after that he was made the 317 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: general commander in chief of the Army of the Western Pyrenees. 318 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,439 Speaker 1: This made him the highest ranking black man in the 319 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:49,120 Speaker 1: French Army, with tens of thousands of mostly white soldiers 320 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,199 Speaker 1: under his command, something that would not happen again for 321 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:57,119 Speaker 1: hundreds of years afterward. But in seventeen ninety four, Duma's 322 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,200 Speaker 1: fortunes started to shift. And we'll get to that after 323 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:11,920 Speaker 1: we first have a sponsor break in the seventeen nineties, 324 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: alex Dema was described as the finest soldier in the 325 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: world as the French Revolution morphed into the reign of Terror. 326 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: He was also nicknamed Mister Humanity for pushing back against 327 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,239 Speaker 1: senseless violence and slaughter, and for ordering his men not 328 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: to take unfair advantage of the people in the towns 329 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 1: that they captured. He had a reputation for integrity and 330 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 1: for making wise decisions rather than rash ones, and for 331 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,320 Speaker 1: being merciful as much as possible in the role of 332 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: a military commander. But he was also still very stubborn. 333 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: He still had a hot headed streak, and he was 334 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,000 Speaker 1: still pretty vocal about his opinions. In seventeen ninety four, 335 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:50,879 Speaker 1: these traits were nearly his undoing. While fighting in the 336 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 1: Alps that January, he was ordered to capture two mountain passes, 337 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: which were at that time totally impassable due to heavy 338 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,360 Speaker 1: snow and ice. Oh I thought this was a foolish 339 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: and probably fatal course of action, so he refused to 340 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 1: do it until the weather improved. There were also reports 341 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 1: that he destroyed a guillotine and used it as firewood 342 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 1: for his men, who had no other way to keep warm, 343 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: and all of this raised suspicion that he was a 344 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:20,440 Speaker 1: counter revolutionary. This was in spite of the fact that 345 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,199 Speaker 1: his very vocal opinions had been the opposite of that 346 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,040 Speaker 1: the entire time. But soon he had been denounced by 347 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 1: the local Jacobin Club, which was one of the French 348 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: revolutions more radical organizations. The Committee of Public Safety, which 349 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 1: acted as France's executive government during the Reign of Terror, 350 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: summoned Dumat back to Paris, and he probably would have 351 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:43,919 Speaker 1: faced execution if he had gotten there. But before he 352 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:47,280 Speaker 1: could go, Maximilian Robespierre, who was the head of the committee, 353 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: was himself beheaded. Eventually, Duma was cleared of all the 354 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,919 Speaker 1: charges against him, in part because he did go capture 355 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 1: those passes once he thought it was prudent to do so. 356 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: But he was moved to a lesser prestigious posting, given 357 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: command of the Army of the West, where he was 358 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:08,120 Speaker 1: sent to fight against a royalist uprising. When he got there, though, 359 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: he was horrified to discover that the Army of the 360 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:15,320 Speaker 1: West had shifted from fighting and uprising to terrorizing ordinary 361 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,439 Speaker 1: people for its own gain. It was also full of 362 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: new recruits who had no military training at all and 363 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: seemed to be fighting just for sport. So Duma fired 364 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: the chief of staff and started reorganizing the army, training 365 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: all the new recruits and trying to shape the Army 366 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:34,160 Speaker 1: of the West into an organized and efficient unit and, 367 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:37,639 Speaker 1: in his words quote remind the rank and file of 368 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: a love of justice and upstanding comportment. In seventeen ninety six, 369 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:47,320 Speaker 1: Duma met Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine. Napoleon had 370 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,879 Speaker 1: taken command of the Army of Italy, and Duma served 371 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,920 Speaker 1: under him during Napoleon's Italian campaign, and although there are 372 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,919 Speaker 1: documents in which Napoleon described Duma with respect and admiration, 373 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: almost immediately, the two two men did not get along. 374 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:04,360 Speaker 1: The central issue was one of the things that had 375 00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:07,880 Speaker 1: gotten Duma into trouble during the Reign of Terror. Duma 376 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: believed in fighting for liberty, not for conquest, and thought 377 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 1: that civilians should be actively protected during warfare, but Napoleon's 378 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:20,480 Speaker 1: outlook was increasingly focused on conquest and dominance. During the 379 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 1: Italian campaign, Duma was part of the successful siege of Mantua, 380 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 1: but when Napoleon rode up his report after it was 381 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: all over, he praised every other officer involved except for Duma. 382 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 1: Duma was really angry about this, and angry that instead 383 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,120 Speaker 1: of being given a division of his own to command, 384 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: he was placed under another officer that he didn't get 385 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,439 Speaker 1: along with. In spite of all of that, as the 386 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: French army tried to drive the Austrians out of Italy 387 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: in the early months of seventeen ninety seven, Dumat was 388 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,440 Speaker 1: so persistent and so effective that the Austrians nicknamed him 389 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,199 Speaker 1: the Black Devil. In March of that year, he was 390 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 1: injured in battle after his horse was shot out from 391 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: under him. He was given leave to go home and recover, 392 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: and he stayed at Ville Cotree with his wife and 393 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,800 Speaker 1: their daughter. He'd been able to make trips home over 394 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,400 Speaker 1: the years, and they had had two children by this point, 395 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: but one had died of an illness or accident. While 396 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: Duma was fighting in the Italian campaign. In seventeen ninety eight, 397 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: Duma once again joined Napoleon's army, this time to fight 398 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: in Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. This was Napoleon's attempt to cut 399 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: off Britain from its colonies in India during the Napoleonic Wars, 400 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:33,200 Speaker 1: by taking control of Egypt, and during this campaign, Napoleon 401 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: found another reason to dislike Duma. We mentioned earlier in 402 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: the show about how Duma was very tall and was 403 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: considered to be extremely well built and attractive, and when 404 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 1: Duma and Napoleon rode in together, people assumed that Duma 405 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 1: was the one in command. Napoleon took this very personally. 406 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,919 Speaker 1: I know it caused all sorts of legitimate trouble, but 407 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 1: I have to laugh at the hubris involved uh Duma's 408 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: opinions and temper continued to get him in trouble in Egypt. 409 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: In addition to the issues of integrity and rules of 410 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:09,000 Speaker 1: warfare that Duma had carried all through his time in 411 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 1: the military, he was frustrated that Napoleon apparently had no 412 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: plan to abolish slavery in Egypt. As always, Duma was 413 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,520 Speaker 1: vocal about this frustration, and on July ninth, seventeen ninety eight, 414 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 1: Napoleon sent someone to spy on a meeting among Duma 415 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:29,120 Speaker 1: and other officers. After getting a report back that Duma 416 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: was bad mouthing him at this meeting, Napoleon threatened to 417 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: shoot him. On August first, seventeen ninety eight, Napoleon suffered 418 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:39,080 Speaker 1: a major defeat at the Battle of the Nile, also 419 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: known as the Battle of abukir Bay. Admiral Horatio Nelson 420 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: and the British Navy destroyed nearly all of the French fleet, 421 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: and that cut off Napoleon's army in Egypt. The French 422 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:53,240 Speaker 1: military and Egypt started to crumble and withdraw Duma fought 423 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 1: off an uprising in Cairo before trying to return home 424 00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: to France, but he was shipwrecked on the way off 425 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,760 Speaker 1: the coast of Taranto and Aples, which had fallen to insurgents. 426 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 1: He was taken prisoner and kept in a dungeon for 427 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: almost two years. While he was imprisoned, Duma's wife had 428 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 1: no idea where he was or if he was even alive. 429 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 1: She wrote numerous letters to everyone she could think of 430 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:19,840 Speaker 1: in the government, trying to get someone to find him and, 431 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: if he was alive, to bring him home, but she 432 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:26,879 Speaker 1: had trouble getting anyone's attention. This wasn't just because of 433 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: Napoleon's ongoing animosity against her husband. France was at war 434 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: and had other issues to deal with. The first diplomatic 435 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:38,600 Speaker 1: efforts to track down Duma finally started just days before 436 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 1: the Coup of eighteen Blumiere, which began on November ninth, 437 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:46,520 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety nine. This coup effectively ended the French Revolution 438 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:51,159 Speaker 1: and established Napoleon Bonaparte as the government's first consul. It 439 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: also meant that nearly everyone Marie Luise had contacted to 440 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:57,400 Speaker 1: try to find her husband was removed from the government 441 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,360 Speaker 1: during the coup. As his wife was trying to find 442 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,199 Speaker 1: help for him, Duma was also trying to negotiate for 443 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:06,640 Speaker 1: his own release from prison, but without any success. Once 444 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: he finally was released at the end of eighteen oh one, 445 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,920 Speaker 1: it was part of an armistice between France and Naples, 446 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: which included a deal for all French prisoners of war 447 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,560 Speaker 1: to be repatriated to France. By this point, those twenty 448 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,440 Speaker 1: months in a dungeon had taken an enormous toll. Duma 449 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:26,359 Speaker 1: was in very poor health. He was partially paralyzed and 450 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,520 Speaker 1: deaf in one ear, and extremely sick. He was also 451 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:32,439 Speaker 1: denied his pension and back pay for his time in 452 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,000 Speaker 1: the service, and was only able to get home to 453 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: Ville Cotterret because another officer gave him money out of 454 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:43,200 Speaker 1: his own pocket. The Duma family fell into extreme poverty. 455 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:47,200 Speaker 1: But on July twenty fourth, eighteen oh two, Alex Dumont 456 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:51,320 Speaker 1: and Marie Luise Elizabeth le Bret welcome to son Alexandre, 457 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: who Alex absolutely doted on for the rest of his life. 458 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,240 Speaker 1: Along with doting on his wife. They really seemed to 459 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:02,720 Speaker 1: love each other very intensely out their marriage. Their personal 460 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,119 Speaker 1: poverty was not the only issue affecting the Duma family. 461 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: Slavery had been abolished in French territory during the French Revolution, 462 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:13,920 Speaker 1: and people of color had also been granted full citizenship 463 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,120 Speaker 1: rights in seventeen ninety four, but in eighteen oh two, 464 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:21,600 Speaker 1: Napoleon reinstated slavery, and after naming himself Emperor of France 465 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:25,600 Speaker 1: two years later, he started rolling back those other racial reforms. 466 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: He started ejecting black members of the military and enforcing 467 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:35,119 Speaker 1: segregation and banning inter racial marriages. Retired military officers of 468 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,679 Speaker 1: color were prohibited from living in Paris or the surrounding area, 469 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,200 Speaker 1: and there was a white's only zone that was created 470 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:45,000 Speaker 1: around Paris. All of us included the Duma Home, which 471 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: forced the family to have to seek special permission to 472 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:51,440 Speaker 1: continue living there. For the next few years, the Duma 473 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:56,159 Speaker 1: family struggled, Alex at least somewhat recovered his health, although 474 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:58,359 Speaker 1: he never regained the kind of vigor that he had 475 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 1: had before his imprisonment. He died on February twenty seventh, 476 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:05,760 Speaker 1: eighteen oh six, at the age of forty four. The 477 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,160 Speaker 1: likely cause of death was stomach cancer, possibly from being 478 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:13,840 Speaker 1: poisoned while he was imprisoned, but Napoleon's attitude towards Duma 479 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 1: didn't really change after his death. Marie Luise was denied 480 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,399 Speaker 1: a widow's pension, and the young Alexandra later wrote that 481 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:25,640 Speaker 1: he was barred from attending French military school or civil college. 482 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,679 Speaker 1: Long after the general's death, a statue was put up 483 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 1: in his honor, but it was later destroyed by the Nazis. 484 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:34,440 Speaker 1: As we said at the top of the show, Alex's 485 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,399 Speaker 1: life sounds like it could have been one of his 486 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:40,720 Speaker 1: son's books. Specifically, alexand Le Duma cited a number of 487 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: inspirations for his famous work The Count of Monte Cristo, 488 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: but the character of Edmund Dante was undoubtedly influenced by 489 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 1: his father, particularly in his wrongful imprisonment. That work has 490 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 1: similarities to an earlier, shorter work called Simply George, whose 491 00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: main character is described as Mulato. More on Duma's work 492 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: next time, and if you want more about the general, 493 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 1: Tom Rice's The Black Count, which came out in twenty 494 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 1: twelve and won the twenty thirteen Pulitzer Prize for Biography 495 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,000 Speaker 1: or Autobiography along with other awards, is a great read. 496 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 1: It has so much more detail about all the particulars 497 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:22,200 Speaker 1: of Duma's upbringing and military service, plus a lot more 498 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 1: details on all the many, many things that were going 499 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:27,800 Speaker 1: on in French history and the French Revolution and the 500 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: rise of Napoleon during all of this. An announcement also 501 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 1: came out in twenty fourteen that John Legend's production company 502 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,440 Speaker 1: bought the film rights to this book, So maybe there 503 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: will be a movie I would watch that I would too, 504 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 1: especially because I think the clothes would be fantastic that 505 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 1: they would. Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. 506 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:57,160 Speaker 1: If you'd like to send us a note, our email 507 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can 508 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,360 Speaker 1: subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 509 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:07,640 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.