1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy Vie Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. If you've 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: listened to the show for a while, you've heard us 5 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: periodically talk about the accidental two parters, where we got 6 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: into an episode that we did not intend to stretch 7 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: into two parts but it was so fascinating or so 8 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 1: involved that it did. In today's show is not exactly 9 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: an accidental two parter. It's more like an accidental duology. 10 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: Because Alexandra Dumont is probably a familiar name to most 11 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 1: of our listeners, there are actually two of those. There's 12 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: Alexander duma Pair, the father who wrote things like The 13 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, and then 14 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: his son, Alexander duma Feast, who people call umn that 15 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: to try to differentiate between the two of them. He 16 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: wrote the play that became the basis for Verity's opera 17 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:04,480 Speaker 1: latch Riata. So Alexandra duma Pair had been on my 18 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:06,680 Speaker 1: list for a really long time, and I had toyed 19 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:08,960 Speaker 1: with the idea of doing kind of a father son 20 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: duo package, especially When we started to plan our upcoming 21 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: trip to France this June, it seemed particularly appropriate to 22 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: get into their stories when we have that on the horizon. 23 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: But as I got into this research, I started to 24 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: realize that I did not really so much want to 25 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: talk about the father son pair of Alexandra's Duma. I 26 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,639 Speaker 1: wanted to talk about the elder Alexander and his father, 27 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: General Thoma Alexander Duma. Both of their stories are fascinating 28 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: and incredibly dramatic, and basically the General sounds like a 29 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: character out of one of his son's books because he 30 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: pretty much was. And he's even more appropriate to talk 31 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: about in connection to this trip that we're taking to Paris, 32 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: because a lot of that trip is based around the 33 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: French Revolution, which took place while the General was in 34 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: the French Army. This episode and the fourth coming One 35 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: and his son are there. They're really standalone episodes. You 36 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: don't need to listen to one to be able to 37 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: understand the other, but there will be some points of 38 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: interconnectivity between them. Toma Alexandra Duma was born to Toma 39 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: Alexandra Davie de la Pietri. His father was Antoine Alexandra 40 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: de Vi Marquis de la Pietrie, who went by Antoine. 41 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: Antoine had moved from France to the French colony of 42 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: sand Among, which is now Haiti, in the late seventeen thirties. 43 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: After moving to the island, Antoine had spent the next 44 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,239 Speaker 1: decade more or less freeloading off of his younger brother, 45 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: who had married into a family of wealthy sugar planters. 46 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: Then in seventeen forty eight, there was some kind of 47 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: argument between the two of them that prompted Antoine to 48 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,399 Speaker 1: take three of his brothers enslaved laborers, one of whom 49 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 1: was a young woman, and leave that plantation in the 50 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: middle of the night. The details are a mystery, but 51 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: it seems like there was some sort of family rift 52 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: of a major nature at work here or else. Antoine 53 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: was just trying to shirk his responsibilities. He did not 54 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: tell anyone where he was going, and when his mother 55 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: and father died in seventeen fifty seven and seventeen fifty eight, 56 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: no one could find any trace of him. He was 57 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: the eldest, so they were looking for him pretty hard. 58 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: It was later determined that he had moved to the 59 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 1: parish of Jeremy in the southwestern part of the island 60 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: and had started going by the name Antoine Delisle or 61 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 1: Antwine of the Island. He also had four children there 62 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: with a woman named Marie Cassette duma One of them 63 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: was Tama Alexander, who went by alex and was born 64 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: on March seventeen sixty two. It's clear from the colonial 65 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: record that Marie Cassette was enslaved and that other people 66 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: thought the amount of money that Antoine paid for her 67 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: was excessive. What isn't clear is whether she and Antoine 68 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: were later married. To discourage the births of biracial children, 69 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: colonial law imposed fines on white men who fathered children 70 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: with enslave women, regardless of who was enslaving them at 71 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: the time, but this fee was waived and the mother 72 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: and her children were freed if the father married her. 73 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: Alex's son Alexander Dumas, would later write that his grandparents 74 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: had been married, but there is no written documentation of 75 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: that marriage ever happening. After Antoine absconded to Jeremy, his 76 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: younger brother Charles, went back to France. He maintained that 77 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 1: he was the oldest of his late parents surviving children, 78 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: and he took control of the family's estates, and he 79 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 1: started a smuggling operation back on the island of Espaniola, 80 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: moving sugar and enslaved people through a port that was 81 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: known as Monte Cristo on the border between Spanish and 82 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: French territory. In seventeen seventy five, after both of Antoine's 83 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: brothers had ruined most of their own investments and died, 84 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: Antoine returned to France with his birth certificate as proof 85 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: of who he was, ready to take control of his 86 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: family estates and start up a series of legal fights 87 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: with his surviving family members. To finance the trip, he 88 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: had sold his children and their mother when it came 89 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 1: to Tuma Alexander, though he made the sale conditional so 90 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: that he could buy him back once he had access 91 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: to his money in France. He never saw his other 92 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: children again. So alex was fourteen when this happened, and 93 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: he arrived in France on August seventeen seventy six. He 94 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: was listed on the ship's manifest as the slave Alexandra, 95 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,279 Speaker 1: but once he was reunited with his father, he was 96 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: treated more like the teenage son of an aristocrat. His 97 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: father legally recognized him as his own and started giving 98 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:41,119 Speaker 1: him the kind of education that was expected of somebody 99 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 1: of his station. Alex hadn't had much formal education at 100 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 1: all in Senti Mangus, so he was way behind his peers. 101 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: He started spending his days with tutors and fencing instructors 102 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: in the like, learning everything from classical languages to European 103 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: style hunting. They learned very quickly, though, and he seemed 104 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: to become quite skilled at whatever he put his mind to. 105 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: He also started adjusting to French society. Back in Saint 106 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: among they had been in a community in which a 107 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: lot of the people around them were black or multi racial, 108 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: but in France, most of the people around them were white. 109 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: He definitely was not the only free person of color 110 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: in France's more affluent society, though many had come to 111 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: France in much the same way that Alex had. They 112 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,799 Speaker 1: were the children of affluent frenchmen who had spent time 113 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: in the Caribbean colonies and fathered children with enslaved or 114 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: free women of color. This was in spite of the 115 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: sorts of laws that we mentioned before, which attempted to 116 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: discourage into racial marriages and the births of multi racial children. 117 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: Either in or out of wedlock. Some of these people 118 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: of color had also become quite prominent. For example, Joseph Boulong, 119 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,480 Speaker 1: the Chevalier de Saint George, had been born in Guadaloupe 120 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: to a white father and a free black woman in 121 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:58,280 Speaker 1: seventeen forty five. The Chevalier was reportedly the best swordsman 122 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: in all of France, and he was also a composer 123 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: who was nicknamed Black Mozart. He would also play a 124 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 1: part in Alex's military life later on, which we will 125 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: get to. Alex and his father had an extravagant and 126 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: lavish lifestyle, and as he got older, Alex increasingly traveled 127 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: to Paris, which was about a three hour trip from 128 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: their estate. He moved there in the spring of seventeen 129 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: eighty four at the age of twenty two. The free 130 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: black community in Paris was often viewed with this combination 131 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: of derision and curiosity. They simultaneously faced discrimination and also 132 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: we're almost admired as kind of exotic and unique, and 133 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: Alex's case in particular, he was frequently described as having 134 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: an extremely handsome face, an excellent build, and a lovely 135 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: skin color. But he was also, as one example, arrested 136 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: at a theater in September of seventeen eighty four after 137 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: a naval officer and his companions started harassing the woman 138 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 1: that Alex was escorting. When Alex tried to warn them off, 139 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: they called him her lackey and then started hurling racist 140 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: taunts at him. On February seventeen eighty six, Alex's father, 141 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: who was in his seventies, married his thirty three year 142 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: old housekeeper, Marie Francois. The marquis started focusing his money 143 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: on his new wife rather than on his son. Alex 144 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: had no way to support himself, so about two weeks 145 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: after the wedding, which he appears not to have attended, 146 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: he decided to join the army. Let's talk about that 147 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 1: more after a sponsor break. Becoming an army officer was 148 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: a very common employment for young men in the French 149 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: nobility in the eighteenth century. As long as they could 150 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: prove that they had four generations of nobility on their 151 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,320 Speaker 1: father's side, they were entitled to become commissioned officers, and 152 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: Alex had that, but France also had discriminatory race laws 153 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: that made it a lot harder for him to actually 154 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:01,480 Speaker 1: claim it, so He told his father that he was 155 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: just going to enlist as a private, and it did 156 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: not even matter to him which unit he enlisted in. 157 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: He was just gonna go join whichever one he found first. 158 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: According to his son's memoirs, the marquis told him, quote, 159 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: that is all very fine, but as I am the 160 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: Marquis de la Pietry, a colonel and Commissary General of Artillery, 161 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: I will not allow you to drag my name in 162 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: the mire of the lowest ranks of the army. His 163 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: father was kind of a jerk, that was not clear. 164 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:34,679 Speaker 1: So alex joined the army under his mother's name, describing 165 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:40,559 Speaker 1: himself as quote, son of Antoine and Sissette Duma, which 166 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: is just the shadiest way to do that in terms 167 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: of the way he was talking about his father. And 168 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: from that point on he was just known as Alexandra Duma, 169 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: also dropping the Tomah part of his name for the 170 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: most part. He joined the Queen's Dragoons on June two six, 171 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: and this was not at all a prestigious unit. They 172 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: were often on the lines and the dirtiest and most 173 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: dangerous parts of battle, basically treated as cannon fider. So 174 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,320 Speaker 1: not only had he become a private. He had become 175 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: a private in a unit that his father would not 176 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: have approved of at all. Then just a couple of 177 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: weeks later, on June, his father died. It does not 178 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: appear that Alex was there, and he wasn't one of 179 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:25,720 Speaker 1: the signatures on the death certificate. I find it, uh 180 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: like I have this little bit of uh gleefulness about 181 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,240 Speaker 1: the fact that his father was so concerned about the 182 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 1: family name and then almost immediately died, had not really 183 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: needing to have worried about it. Soon though, Alex was 184 00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:43,680 Speaker 1: developing quite the reputation as a soldier, and he was 185 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,679 Speaker 1: also reportedly very strong and very fond of doing strongman 186 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 1: style stunts like hopping across the room while carrying two 187 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: other men, or grabbing an overhead bar while he was 188 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:57,439 Speaker 1: on horseback and then lifting the horse up with his legs, 189 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: or do not do this ever, please, putting each of 190 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:03,559 Speaker 1: his fingers into the mouth of a musket and then 191 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: lifting them all up by flattening out his hand. And 192 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:10,199 Speaker 1: he was also extremely fond of dueling, which was illegal 193 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: amongst civilians in France at this point, but tolerated within 194 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: the army. At one point he reportedly fought three duels 195 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: in one day while injured from the first of them. 196 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 1: Unsurprisingly given his fondness for dueling. He was also known 197 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: for having a very hot temper and for speaking very 198 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:30,840 Speaker 1: freely when he was angry. This is the kind of 199 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 1: thing where I read this list of crazy things he did, 200 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: and I just want to go, what is wrong with you? Like, well, 201 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,200 Speaker 1: especially the horse thing. That was probably some kind of 202 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:48,680 Speaker 1: a stunt, but yeah, especially the musket thing, Why would 203 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: you do that? What's wrong with you? What is wrong 204 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: with you? Like I suddenly become I don't know, somebody's mom, 205 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: what is wrong with you? Has has your brain been damaged? Like? 206 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:06,559 Speaker 1: Why did you do this? Uh? But anyway, Dumont joined 207 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: the army during the prelude to the French Revolution so 208 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:14,199 Speaker 1: quick recamp in the late eighteenth century. Among France's three estates, 209 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,440 Speaker 1: which were the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners, the 210 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 1: clergy and nobility held all the power, even though the 211 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: commoners vastly outnumbered them. The nation was nearly bankrupt and 212 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 1: the common people were facing food shortages, and the food 213 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: that was available was astronomically expensive. Violence and unrest grew 214 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:36,240 Speaker 1: during this time. As the commoners pushed back against poverty 215 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: and oppression. The six Dragoons spent most of this time 216 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: stationed in the countryside north of Paris, fairly removed from 217 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: all of the things that were happening just to the south. Okay, 218 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: this was definitely not confined only to Paris, but they 219 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: just were in a place that was a little bit 220 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: off the beaten path from what was happening. The revolution 221 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: really got going in seventeen eighty nine, and the face 222 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: of going unrest, King Louis the sixteenth summoned the Estates 223 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,520 Speaker 1: in General, which represented all three Estates, for a meeting 224 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: that was to be held on May fifth, eighty nine, 225 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: and then that June, after negotiations failed to get anywhere, 226 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 1: the Third Estate, which represented the commoners, formed the National Assembly. 227 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:21,839 Speaker 1: They vowed to work on constitutional reforms. Revolutionaries stormed the 228 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,080 Speaker 1: bast Deal on July fourteenth. In October five, women march 229 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,360 Speaker 1: on Versailles to demand relief for the ongoing food shortages 230 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,440 Speaker 1: and demand that the King and the Queen returned to Paris. 231 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 1: We have an episode on that in the archive. In 232 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 1: the weeks between the storming of the Best Deal, in 233 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: the Women's March under sigh Alex Duma was finally called 234 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: into action. In August seventeen eighty nine, a detachment from 235 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: the six dragoons were summoned to the defense of the 236 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,240 Speaker 1: town of Ville Cotre in northern France, which was being 237 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,840 Speaker 1: threatened by rioters. The person who called for this aid 238 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: was Claude Laboret, who was the innkeeper of Lottel de 239 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 1: lecu in v a Contre. He had just been elected 240 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: the head of the town's national guard, and since the 241 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 1: town had no barracks, the dragoons who came to help 242 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,839 Speaker 1: had to be billeted in the homes of various people 243 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 1: around the town. Labret was so impressed with Duma that 244 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 1: he invited him to stay at the end, and that 245 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: first night Dumont met Laborat's daughter, Marie Louise. She described 246 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 1: him as quote a fine figure of a man, and 247 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: they were engaged on December sixth, sev nine, with her 248 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: father giving his approval as long as they waited until 249 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: Duma was promoted to sergeant to actually marry, and that 250 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: promotion happened in seventeen two, and they married on November 251 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:42,320 Speaker 1: twenty eighth of that year. In the intervening years, Duma 252 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: remained stationed in northern France or across the border in 253 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: what was then the Austrian Empire after France declared war 254 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: on Austria in April of seventeen. During those years, Duma 255 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: really made a name for himself through dramatic and daring exploits, including, 256 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: for example, cutting off a group of Austrian soldiers that 257 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: were on horseback and taking them prisoner without firing a 258 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 1: single shot, and then donating his share of the prize 259 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: from that capture to the nation of France. He had 260 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: a reputation for being a really exceptional soldier and leader, 261 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: always on the side of justice and freedom. His upbringing 262 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: in Sandoman probably served him really well in all of this. 263 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: He had become quite the stereotypical aristocrat after moving to 264 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: France with his father, but as French society reformed itself 265 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: during the Revolution, he was able to drop a lot 266 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: of those more aristocratic traits, draw on his more humble upbringing, 267 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: and keep the respect of the soldiers from the lower 268 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:43,920 Speaker 1: and middle classes. Starting in late sev Dumal was promoted 269 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 1: up through the ranks incredibly quickly, being commissioned as a 270 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:52,480 Speaker 1: second lieutenant, then promoted to first lieutenant then brigadier, all 271 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: in a matter of months. And as that was happening, 272 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: France was also expanding its military might. The Republic of 273 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: France had been called Gring neighboring Territory and had also 274 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: offered its support to other nations that wanted to fight 275 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 1: for their own freedom. But the existing French military and 276 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 1: the mercenaries that had been hired to supplement it weren't 277 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: big enough to support all of this, so the nation 278 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: had allowed the establishment of free legions, which were separate 279 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: from the regular French army. One of these was the 280 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: Free Legion of Americans and of the South, which was 281 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: made up entirely of freemen of color. At this point 282 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: in French history, people of color in France were generally 283 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: referred to as Americans, whether they were from the America's 284 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: or not, and then often American colonists, regardless of their race, 285 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: were also called Americans. It was a little confusing. This 286 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: would later be nicknamed La le jon noir or the 287 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: Black Legion. La le gen Noir was started by Joseph Boulogne, 288 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 1: Chevalier de Saint George, who naturally wanted Duma as one 289 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: of his officers. However, Duma was already spoken for. He 290 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: had joined another free legion, the Hussars of Liberty and Equality, 291 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 1: started by Colonel Joseph Boyer, and the colonel and the 292 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: Chevalier basically had a bidding war as each of them 293 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:12,440 Speaker 1: tried to lure Duma away from the other. Dumas finally 294 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: joined the Legend Noir after the chevalier promised him the 295 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: rank of lieutenant colonel. He was commissioned in that legion 296 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: on January tenth, seventeen ninety three, and even though Duma 297 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: was technically second in command, the Chevalier wasn't all that 298 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: interested in actually running things, so he mostly just left 299 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: Duma to it. This legion didn't last very long, though, 300 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: it was chronically underfunded, really short on supplies, and the 301 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:40,359 Speaker 1: Chevalier was suspected of some criminal activity. The legion was 302 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 1: disbanded just a few months after Duma joined it, but 303 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:47,879 Speaker 1: on July seventeen ninety three, he was made brigadier general 304 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,400 Speaker 1: of the French Army of the North, and then five 305 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: days after that he was made the General Commander in 306 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 1: chief of the Army of the Western Pyrenees. This made 307 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 1: him the highest ranking black man in the French army 308 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: with tens of thousands of mostly white soldiers under his command, 309 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: something that would not happen again for hundreds of years afterward. 310 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: But in seventeen ninety four, Dumas fortunes started to shift, 311 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:13,280 Speaker 1: and we'll get to that after we first have a 312 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:24,920 Speaker 1: sponsor break. In the seventeen nineties, alex Dema was described 313 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,960 Speaker 1: as the finest soldier in the world as the French 314 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: Revolution morphed into the reign of terror. He was also 315 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: nicknamed Mr. Humanity for pushing back against senseless violence and slaughter, 316 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: and for ordering his men not to take unfair advantage 317 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: of the people in the towns that they captured. He 318 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: had a reputation for integrity and for making wise decisions 319 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: rather than rash ones, and for being merciful as much 320 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,199 Speaker 1: as possible in the role of a military commander. But 321 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: he was also still very stubborn. He still had a 322 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: hot headed streak, and he was still pretty vocal about 323 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 1: his opinions. In seventeen ninety four, these traits were nearly 324 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,679 Speaker 1: his undoing. While fighting in the Alps that January, he 325 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,880 Speaker 1: was ordered to capture two mountain passes, which were at 326 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 1: that time totally impassable due to heavy snow and ice. 327 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: Duma thought this was a foolish and probably fatal course 328 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 1: of action, so he refused to do it until the 329 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: weather improved. There were also reports that he destroyed a 330 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,200 Speaker 1: guillotine and used it as firewood for his men who 331 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 1: had no other way to keep warm, and all of 332 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: this raised suspicion that he was a counter revolutionary. This 333 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: was in spite of the fact that his very vocal 334 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: opinions had been the opposite of that the entire time. 335 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,680 Speaker 1: But soon he had been denounced by the local Jacobin Club, 336 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: which was one of the French revolutions more radical organizations. 337 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: The Committee of Public Safety, which acted as France's executive 338 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: government during the Reign of Terror, summoned Dumont back to Paris, 339 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,720 Speaker 1: and he probably would have faced execution if he had 340 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,680 Speaker 1: gotten there, But before he could go, Maximilian Robespierre, who 341 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 1: was the head of the committee, was himself behead it. Eventually, 342 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: Duma was cleared of all the charges against him, in 343 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,479 Speaker 1: part because he did go capture those passes once he 344 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: thought it was prudent to do so. But he was 345 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: moved to a less prestigious posting given command of the 346 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:16,200 Speaker 1: Army of the West, where he was sent to fight 347 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,800 Speaker 1: against a royalist uprising. When he got there, though, he 348 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 1: was horrified to discover that the Army of the West 349 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:27,200 Speaker 1: had shifted from fighting and uprising to terrorizing ordinary people 350 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:30,200 Speaker 1: for its own gain. It was also full of new 351 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: recruits who had no military training at all and seemed 352 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: to be fighting just for sport. So Duma fired the 353 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,520 Speaker 1: chief of staff and started reorganizing the army, training all 354 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: the new recruits and trying to shape the Army of 355 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,879 Speaker 1: the West into an organized and efficient unit and, in 356 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,240 Speaker 1: his words quote remind the rank and file of a 357 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 1: love of justice and upstanding comportment. In sevent Duma met 358 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:59,479 Speaker 1: Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine. Napoleon had taken command 359 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: of the Army Italy, and Duma served under him during 360 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:06,360 Speaker 1: Napoleon's Italian campaign, and although there are documents in which 361 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: Napoleon described Duma with respect and admiration, almost immediately the 362 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,919 Speaker 1: two men did not get along. The central issue was 363 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,080 Speaker 1: one of the things that had gotten Duma into trouble 364 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 1: during the Reign of Terror. Duma believed in fighting for liberty, 365 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 1: not for conquest and thought that civilians should be actively 366 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 1: protected during warfare, but Napoleon's outlook was increasingly focused on 367 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,880 Speaker 1: conquest and dominance. During the Italian campaign, Duma was part 368 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: of the successful siege of Mantua, but when Napoleon wrote 369 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: up his report after it was all over, he praised 370 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: every other officer involved except for Duma. Duma was really 371 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:46,639 Speaker 1: angry about this, and angry that instead of being given 372 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: a division of his own to command, he was placed 373 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,639 Speaker 1: under another officer that he didn't get along with. In 374 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,920 Speaker 1: spite of all of that, as the French army tried 375 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,640 Speaker 1: to drive the Austrians out of Italy in the early 376 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: months of seventeen Dumat so persistent and so effective that 377 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:05,919 Speaker 1: the Austrians nicknamed him the Black Devil. In March of 378 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: that year, he was injured in battle after his horse 379 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:12,120 Speaker 1: was shot out from under him. He was given leave 380 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: to go home and recover, and he stayed at Ville 381 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 1: Cotre with his wife and their daughter. He had been 382 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,119 Speaker 1: able to make trips home over the years, and they 383 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:23,160 Speaker 1: had had two children by this point, but one had 384 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: died of an illness or accident. While Duma was fighting 385 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: in the Italian campaign, In sevent Duma once again joined 386 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 1: Napoleon's army, this time to fight in Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. 387 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: This was Napoleon's attempt to cut off Britain from its 388 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,439 Speaker 1: colonies in India during the Napoleonic Wars by taking control 389 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 1: of Egypt, and during this campaign, Napoleon found another reason 390 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 1: to dislike Duma. We mentioned earlier in the show about 391 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 1: how Duma was very tall and was considered to be 392 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:55,679 Speaker 1: extremely well built and attractive, and when Dama and Napoleon 393 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: rode in together, people assumed that Duma was the one 394 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:05,399 Speaker 1: in comma end Napoleon took this very personally. I know 395 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:07,679 Speaker 1: it caused all sorts of legitimate trouble, but I have 396 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: to laugh at the hubris involved uh Duma's opinions and 397 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: temper continued to get him in trouble in Egypt. In 398 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 1: addition to the issues of integrity and rules of warfare 399 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: that Duma had carried all through his time in the military, 400 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,919 Speaker 1: he was frustrated that Napoleon apparently had no plan to 401 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: abolish slavery in Egypt. As always, Duma was vocal about 402 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 1: this frustration, and on July nine, Napoleon sent someone to 403 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: spy on a meeting among Duma and other officers. After 404 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,560 Speaker 1: getting a report back that Duma was bad mouthing him 405 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: at this meeting, Napoleon threatened to shoot him. On August one, 406 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,119 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety eight, Napoleon suffered a major defeat at the 407 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,480 Speaker 1: Battle of the Nile, also known as the Battle of 408 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,920 Speaker 1: abukir Bay. Admiral Horatio Nelson and the British navy destroyed 409 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: nearly all of the French fleet, and that cut off 410 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: Napoleon's army in Egypt. The French military and Egypt started 411 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,639 Speaker 1: to crumble and withdraw Dama fought off an uprising in 412 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,479 Speaker 1: Cairo before trying to return home to France, but he 413 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,120 Speaker 1: was shipwrecked on the way off the coast of Toronto 414 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:15,399 Speaker 1: in Naples, which had fallen to insurgents. He was taken 415 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 1: prisoner and kept in a dungeon for almost two years. 416 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,359 Speaker 1: While he was imprisoned, Duma's wife had no idea where 417 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,400 Speaker 1: he was or if he was even alive. She wrote 418 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,440 Speaker 1: numerous letters to everyone she could think of in the government, 419 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: trying to get someone to find him and, if he 420 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: was alive, to bring him home, but she had trouble 421 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:39,560 Speaker 1: getting anyone's attention. This wasn't just because of Napoleon's ongoing 422 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:43,520 Speaker 1: animosity against her husband. France was at war and had 423 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 1: other issues to deal with. The first diplomatic efforts to 424 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,560 Speaker 1: track down Duma finally started just days before the Coup 425 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: of eighteen Bluemire, which began on November nine. This coup 426 00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 1: effectively ended the French Revolution and established Napoleon Bonaparte as 427 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,160 Speaker 1: the government's first console. It also meant that nearly everyone 428 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: Marie Louise had contacted to try to find her husband 429 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,800 Speaker 1: was removed from the government during the coup. As his 430 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,199 Speaker 1: wife was trying to find help for him, Duma was 431 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: also trying to negotiate for his own release from prison, 432 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,679 Speaker 1: but without any success. Once he finally was released at 433 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:21,480 Speaker 1: the end of eighteen o one, it was part of 434 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,440 Speaker 1: an armistice between France and Naples, which included a deal 435 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 1: for all French prisoners of war to be repatriated to France. 436 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: By this point, those twenty months in a dungeon had 437 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: taken an enormous toll. Zuma was in very poor health. 438 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,919 Speaker 1: He was partially paralyzed and deaf in one ear, and 439 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 1: extremely sick. He was also denied his pension and back 440 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 1: pay for his time in the service, and was only 441 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: able to get home to via Corterey because another officer 442 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 1: gave him money out of his own pocket. The Dumal 443 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:58,199 Speaker 1: family fell into extreme poverty, but on July two, Alex 444 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: Dumont and Marie Louise Eliza at le Bray welcomed his 445 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: son Alexandra, who Alex absolutely doated on for the rest 446 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,840 Speaker 1: of his life, along with doating on his wife. They 447 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: really seemed to love each other very intensely throughout their marriage. 448 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: Their personal poverty was not the only issue affecting the 449 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: duma family. Slavery had been abolished in French territory during 450 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: the French Revolution, and people of color had also been 451 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: granted full citizenship rights in seventeen ninety four, but in 452 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:32,080 Speaker 1: eighteen o two, Napoleon reinstated slavery, and after naming himself 453 00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:35,200 Speaker 1: Emperor of France two years later, he started rolling back 454 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: those other racial reforms. He started ejecting black members of 455 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: the military and enforcing segregation and banning interracial marriages. Retired 456 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:49,000 Speaker 1: military officers of color were prohibited from living in Paris 457 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:51,440 Speaker 1: or the surrounding area, and there was a whites only 458 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: zone that was created around Paris. All of us included 459 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 1: the Dumah home, which forced the family to have to 460 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: seek special permission to continue living there. For the next 461 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:06,160 Speaker 1: few years, the Duma family struggled. Alex at least somewhat 462 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:09,000 Speaker 1: recovered his health, although he never regained the kind of 463 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 1: vigor that he had had before his imprisonment. He died 464 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 1: on February eighteen o six at the age of forty four. 465 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,400 Speaker 1: The likely cause of death was stomach cancer, possibly from 466 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 1: being poisoned while he was imprisoned, but Napoleon's attitude towards 467 00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:28,879 Speaker 1: Dumont didn't really change after his death. Marie Louise was 468 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: denied a window's pension, and the young Alexandra later wrote 469 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 1: that he was barred from attending French military school or 470 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,719 Speaker 1: civil college. Long after the general's death, a statue was 471 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,159 Speaker 1: put up in his honor, but it was later destroyed 472 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,879 Speaker 1: by the Nazis. As we said at the top of 473 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,479 Speaker 1: the show, Alex's life sounds like it could have been 474 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 1: one of his son's books. Specifically, Alexander L. Duma cited 475 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,440 Speaker 1: a number of inspirations for his famous work The Count 476 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,080 Speaker 1: of Monte Cristo, but the character of Edmund Dante was 477 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 1: undoubtedly influenced by his father. They're particularly in his wrongful imprisonment. 478 00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:06,720 Speaker 1: That work has similarities to an earlier shorter work called 479 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:11,840 Speaker 1: Simply George, whose main character is described as Lulato. More 480 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 1: on Duma's work next time, And if you want more 481 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:19,879 Speaker 1: about the general, Tom Rice's The Black Count, which came 482 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,919 Speaker 1: out in two twelve and won the thirteen Pulitzer Prize 483 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 1: for Biography or Autobiography along with other awards, is a 484 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: great read. It has so much more detail about all 485 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: the particulars of Duma's upbringing and military service, plus a 486 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,119 Speaker 1: lot more details on all the many, many things that 487 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 1: were going on in French history and the French Revolution 488 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: and the rise of Napoleon during all of this. An 489 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: announcement also came out in twenty fourteen that John Legends 490 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: Production Company bought the film rights to this book. So 491 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 1: maybe there will be a movie I would watch that 492 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 1: I would too, especially because I think that clothes would 493 00:28:55,240 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: be fantastic that they would. You have a listener, mail, 494 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 1: I sure do. This is from Kel, and Kel says, first, 495 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: let me give you a warning that this is going 496 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:10,280 Speaker 1: to be a Hodgepodge of an email. I am a 497 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,840 Speaker 1: theater artist living in New Orleans with a degree in 498 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: staging Shakespeare. So I've been loving your recent spate of 499 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:18,640 Speaker 1: early modern history, as well as your nods to my 500 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: current locale. I was interested to learn about the Pelican 501 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 1: Girls and the Petticoat Insurrection during your Six Impossible episodes 502 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,560 Speaker 1: Deja Vu in the US and Canada. I have never 503 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,120 Speaker 1: heard of those two, but of course I had heard 504 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:35,640 Speaker 1: of the Casket Girls. Their conflation into vampire lore always 505 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 1: made me giggle, because casket can mean a box or 506 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: a chest in English too, especially in the early modern period. 507 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: My famous example of this is in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, 508 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: where Porsche's father makes her suitors choose one of three 509 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: caskets with riddles written on them. Whoever chooses the correct 510 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,960 Speaker 1: casket gets to marry her. For now, we will set 511 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,360 Speaker 1: aside all comments about whether that's a good way to 512 00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,239 Speaker 1: choose a spouse. The Casket Girls story certainly change, does 513 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:03,480 Speaker 1: the way we used that word evolved. I've always wondered 514 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: if they were so sensationalized before Interview with a Vampire 515 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:11,480 Speaker 1: revved up the New Orleans slash vampire connection or whether 516 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 1: that developed as a result of it. Kel goes on 517 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 1: to ask whether we made it to the New Orleans 518 00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:18,720 Speaker 1: Museum of Art while we were visiting. We did not, 519 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:21,480 Speaker 1: but we definitely hope to go back to New Orleans 520 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: at some time. I'm going next month and I'm totally going. Okay, 521 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:31,480 Speaker 1: Holly has plans. Kel ends with a few episode suggestions. 522 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:35,000 Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Kill. I continue to just be 523 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:39,400 Speaker 1: really amused by the whole idea that somehow people were 524 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:43,160 Speaker 1: like those girls have boxes, therefore their vampires, and also 525 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 1: they're pale, so their vampires. It's not as though it 526 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 1: was totally normal to be very pale after being in 527 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:53,160 Speaker 1: the hold of a ship and carry your box stuff 528 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: around in a box. I don't know it checks out anyway. 529 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:01,479 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us about this, 530 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 1: there any other podcast where a History podcast and how 531 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. We're also all over social media 532 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 1: at miss in History. You can find us at Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, 533 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 1: and Instagram as miss in history, and you can come 534 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:15,480 Speaker 1: to our website, which is missed in history dot com 535 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 1: if you click on the link up at the top 536 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:21,480 Speaker 1: menu or in the little menu icon on on mobile devices. 537 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,720 Speaker 1: You will find a link that says Paris trip. You 538 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: can find out all about the trip to Paris that 539 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:29,240 Speaker 1: we talked about at the top of this episode. And 540 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,840 Speaker 1: you can also find at our website a searchable archive 541 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,160 Speaker 1: of all the episodes Holly and I have ever done, 542 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: and shore notes on the episodes that Holly and I 543 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 1: have worked on together. So you can do all that 544 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 1: and a lot more at miss in history dot com. 545 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,960 Speaker 1: You can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts and 546 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:47,640 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, but anywhere else you get podcasts. 547 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, is 548 00:31:55,160 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works dot com.