I started
this website in French some eight years ago. At that
time, it was only dedicated to the marshals and
generals of Napoleon, but I soon extended it to
include other monuments and memorials, campaigns and
many other things and -logically- (soon) also
Napoleon's opponents and enemies. This website
doesn't claim to be exhaustive. There are already
so many books and websites on the subject, that it
would be very difficult to tell something new about
it. So my intention is not to present a complete
biography of these personalities or to tell the
campaigns once more.
I just want
to take you in the footsteps of some great names and
important events of this period, and have some
battlefield walking with you, in order to show you
monuments and memorials, commemorative plates or
just some historic places. The first
place where these personalities are commemorated is
often their hometown or village: in some cases, the
house where they were born still exists. I shall
not give a complete biography, for the reasons I
have just given, but very often the memorials will
do it for me. Often, it is even a way to show how
they were considered by the following generations
and by the people who erected these monuments. Of
course, these brief historical surveys would often
end with their grave, if the vicissitudes of the
centuries have permitted them to still exist. When I
thought it was appropriate or necessary, I given
some historical critical comment, or even some
corrections. The monuments and memorials are given
in the categories you'll find above, but the choice
of the personalities was not always done on a
historical or scientific base, very often, it is
only the result of my own peregrinations.
I must also
apologise to the English-speaking visitors, because
currently, only a few pages are given in English.
There are two reasons for this: first of all, since
I am working on this alone, I don't have the time to
translate everything in English. Sorry for that. On
the other hand, the most important thing on this
website are the pictures. And the pictures speak for
themselves!
As soon as I
can, I'll give a priority to the pages on the
Peninsular War and on British officers.
Of course, in the meantime, you can always ask a
question or some explanation, or make a comment in
English. I'll try to answer as soon as I can, but
keep in mind that this is only a hobby and that I
have to give priority to my job. So please be
patient. And if I forget to answer you, don't
hesitate to send a reminder.
Dominique
Timmermans
Lieutenant-Colonel
(R)
FINS (Fellow of the
International Napoleonic
Society)
Delegate of the
President,
Member of the Executive Committee and webmaster
ACMN
President
of the Association Franco-Européenne
de Waterloo,
Vice-President (ACMN) of the
Amis de Ligny ,
Member of the
Souvenir Napoléonien -
SRBEN -
APN -
Waterloo Committee
- Bataillon Napoléon.
(Belgium)
But let the memorials
speak...
