American Reacts to Napoleon's Greatest Foe (Part 1) | Lindybeige

[@SoGal_YT]

Part 2 coming up! Like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video 👍🏻 Follow me on social media, and join my Discord & Patreon: ❤ Patreon: www.patreon.com/sogal_yt?fan_landing=true 🐕 Instagram: instagram.com/sogal.yt/ 🏀 Twitter: twitter.com/SoGal_YT ⚽ Facebook Page: facebook.com/SoGal-104043461744742 🏖 Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/238616921241608 💥 Discord: discord.gg/amWWc6jcC2 🖖 My Star Trek Podcast: www.tribblespodcast.com/

[@dave_h_8742]

Thought you were going to fall asleep or give up on lindy's ramblings at the start 😀 Had a historian i slightly knew tell me for hrs how wonderful Napolion was, sun shone out his arse and all that guff. shame I didn't know half of this to counter his aggressive ramblings.

[@steved6092]

Interesting video SoGal ... plenty new information regarding Napoleon and never heard of Sidney Smith ... looking forward to part two

[@delmaticodsh5281]

Could you react to this video it show how modern states are created, how nations are created and nationstates, and what is nation, nationstate and similar stuff Nationalism explained Political ideology kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpncoZ57pr2ofqs

[@FLORATOSOTHON]

History repeats itself different president same lies and I don't mean Putin... kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6fVk4aml8dnnJY Some interesting points of view: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2HbZ3WOeM5qiq8 kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4SzamlmodSosLs kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4O5n5KYqNGGgbM

[@MrPaulstrivens]

Lindeybeige is one of the best storyteller’s on KZbin

[@puliturchannel7225]

The best.

[@williambranch4283]

"Pounds, shillings, and pence: a history of English coinage" by Lindybeige is the only video to adequately explain the old English money (pence) from 785 - 1970.

[@joshuahargrave8239]

I agree!

[@si4632]

thats another brilliant video and ive only watched a couple of his

[@CalidrisJZ]

What dooes he mean, "did the world good by combatting Napoleon"? Napoleon was the good guy.

[@archercolin6339]

LINDYBEIIIIGE! For my money, one of the best historical KZbinrs out there, always worth watching.

[@sheepsky]

Lindybeige is great, I'd love for you to watch more of his stuff

[@dangermouse9348]

Yeah a slightly eccentric Englishman on YT. What's not to like?

[@xenotypos]

His videos related to France aren't his best ones imho, he has a strong bias against that country.

[@gluteusmaximus299]

@@xenotyposWhat do you mean lol, they’re great. And Lindy obviously doesn’t have a bias against France, it’s just a little satirical English/French rivalry in his videos. And this might be a shock to you, but it’s a long running gag in Europe that nobody likes the French.

[@tibsky1396]

@@gluteusmaximus299 The neighboring countries of France (Ex: Britain, Germany, Italy...), but in general, the countries of the East or towards the Balkans, Greece, even the Nordic countries have nothing against France overall. You can even find Francophiles there. The USSR had even chosen French as an international foreign language in order to counterbalance the Western world with English under the American aegis.

[@gluteusmaximus299]

@@tibsky1396 You forgot Spain, Portugal, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Sweden, The Netherlands and Switzerland. You seem to misunderstand this, it is just friendly banter. No one seriously hates the French lol.

[@damian1807-]

Many details about the execution of prisoners in Jaffa have been omitted. Adjutants Bonaparte Beauharnais and Croisier offered the Turkish garrison (about 3 thousand people) to capitulate in exchange for saving their lives. But when these 3,000 prisoners were brought to Napoleon, he was shocked. He said, "What do you want me to do with so many prisoners? Do I have food to feed them? Ships to ferry them?" The situation was catastrophic. There are 3,000 fierce warriors, many of whom have given their word of honor not to fight against the French after their liberation at Fort Elarizh. Napoleon's army was about 12,000 soldiers. Bonaparte called a council of war, which he did very rarely. All the councilors voted to be shot. As a result, about three-quarters of the prisoners were shot in three days. Why not everyone? The rest were released because they were Egyptians (and Napoleon at that time was the de facto sultan of Egypt). Napoleon's secretary Bourien wrote: "As for me, I know for sure that only after all the generals made a unanimous decision, he decided. I must also say that he decided on this under the pressure of exceptional circumstances and was in the army to whom this massacre caused greatest grief." Bonaparte had no choice. If he had let them go, they would have taken up arms again after 200 meters. There were no ships to ferry them to Egypt. And to keep them with the army, you need a huge escort and food.

[@omarbradley6807]

You are right, However the Ottoman garrison was of 15,000 soldiers, and those who were killed sworned an oath to not to fight after El Arish for a year, and to be clear, 8,000 did settle in Baghdad for the remaining of the war, so they were willingly violating the law of war, however, the Ottomans surrenderes after the French took the city asking for their lifes to be spared to whom, Eugene acepted, however there was a lot of distrust on the Ottomans for breaching the parole, also they have killed the French prisioners during the siege, so the French retaliated killing the ones who were behind this.

[@davidhyams2769]

The point about Sidney Smith being promoted on merit was, I think, to contrast what was happening in the Royal Navy with the way you got promotion in the British Army at the time, which was through purchasing a higher rank. Promotion by merit in the army was very rare, which is what makes Sharpe in the novels and TV films unusual.

[@mrsykes9636]

Lindybeige might be a nerd but hes the master of explaining things 💪👊

[@lahire4943]

You need to take everything Lindybeige says with a huge grain of salt. At Toulon, Sidney Smith burned half the French fleet that was at the hand of the rebels. So he did that completely unopposed (even though the city of Toulon had allowed the British to enter the port at the condition that they would not damage any ship). Lindybeige makes it look like Smith burned the French fleet in some sort of battle. Napoléon obviously never planned to conquer India with his invasion of Egypt and even less to take Vienna after taking Constantinople. I thought it was ironic on the moment but it seems it wasn't. "Even after they had surrendered at Jaffa, he had them all massacred" Lindybeige forgets to say that the French messengers Napoléon had sent to inform the city of Jaffa of an ultimatum had ended up being tortured, castrated and decapitated with their heads impaled on the city walls, that most of these Ottomans had been captured in previous battles and released against the promise they would never fight the French again, also that he had no possibility of taking care of 4,000 prisoners and that he took the decision after a war council where everyone agreed to execute the prisoners. Lindybeige's anti-Napoléon bias is really showing. "He killed two million of his own people and the amount of unecessary deaths he brought to the world was quite extraordinary" What a ridiculous statement. First of all, he includes there the war of the first coalition which was the deadliest war of all the wars of the coalitions between 1792 and 1815. Napoléon took power in 1799 so the way he makes Napoléon responsible for the hundreds of thousands of deaths before that date is quite strange. Secondly, he makes it look like Napoléon was the main instigator to all those wars. The truth is that the new European order after the war of the second coalition didn't suit Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia at all. They were the ones that did everything they could to break this order. Which is exactly why what Napoléon faced were agressive coalitions funded by Great Britain. If a country has to be chosen for being the most responsible for those deaths and wars, that's Great Britain, as the Emperor of Austria said it after the battle of Austerlitz. Lindybeige seems to love Richard the Lionheart (will he be disappointed to learn he didn't speak a word of English?), he strangely forgets to say that Richard had close to 3,000 Muslim prisoners executed at Ayyadieh! The siege of Acre lasted one month and a half, not three. And it was not a "tiny miserable little town". The French also had to fight off relief armies meanwhile. Napoléon did not burn every village he came across. Lindybeige is clearly not short of caricatures. Kléber did sign a treaty with Sidney Smith to allow the evacuation of the French soldiers from Egypt but the British broke the treaty and sent an Ottoman army to attack the French at Heliopolis.

[@omarbradley6807]

At least someone reasonable, and remember, he is also a British Nationalist and a Medievalist, normally they hate the French liberator of monarchies. (and to ad Djezzar Pasa crimes in Jaffa, those killed weren't also liberated prisioners from El Arish? expected to follow their swearing of not to fight the French during a year period? And wasn't it actually complied by many of the garrison of El Arish who resettled in Baghdad except those few thousand renegades?. And Jaffa didn't surrender either, it was taken by assault. Also. intresting as it is Lionheart also took Accre by promising terms, and executed the entire non christian population

[@Gambit771]

The anti-British bias is really showing through your comments so I'll take you two with the same amount of salt you take Lindybeige.

[@lahire4943]

@@Gambit771 It's not about being biased or not. It's about not asserting historical fallacies and simplifications.

[@stephenleggett4243]

If you watch the rest of it, the story of the British establishment refusing to abide by Smiths deal and the pointless, and detrimental to Britain, assault on the French is told and derided.

[@elizner]

Lmao upvoted because you made me laugh. Napoleon was an overzealous midget and a deceitful coward. If he couldn't handle taking in so many prisoners then he shouldn't have agreed to the terms in the first place. Having a meeting with your yes men doesn't make it ok to commit war crimes

[@TukikoTroy]

In Nelson's time, a 12 year old midshipman could be in charge of a whole deck of guns. He could also lead a boarding party or shore party of seasoned sailors old enough to be his father... and the men would follow him.

[@ianprince1698]

I think the ranks called the midshipmen snotties nowadays they would be officer cadets and older

[@tonys1636]

@@ianprince1698 It wasn't just the ranks that called them snotties, officers did as well as were often found in hidden parts of a ship sniffling as missing home life. Naval life could be hard for a well educated 12 or 13 year old. Harder for a less educated one having to grapple with the mysteries of navigation and mathmatics. If a small lad the physical work could be taxing as well, mast manning displays were common well into the 20th century for a formal entry in to a port on an official visit of a sail training ship.

[@phillee2814]

That drawing of Smith in his cell in Paris' Temple Prison was commissioned by him and drawn live as he posed for it - it is about as accurate as you get prior to the invention of photography. It is now in the British Museum. His escape was by means of forged prisoner transfer orders.

[@erictaylor5462]

Life spans weren't actually that much shorter back in the day. Life expectancy was much shorter, but life expectancy is the average age of the overall population. Infant mortality had a huge impact on life expectancy. If between 30% and 60% of all the babies born die before their sixth birthday this will lower life expectancy by decades even if most of the people who manage to survive to adulthood live into their 70's and 80's. Medical care before the 20th century was a bit... well lets just say in most cases you'll want to keep the "doctors" away from your sick loved ones. They are probably going to die anyway, but their chances might be slightly better without 18th century medical "care." George Washington was likely bled to death by his doctors. But if you could manage to avoid getting a disease, avoid having an accident, and find enough to eat, you could quite easily live into your 80's 0r 90's.

[@steved6092]

Interesting video SoGal ... plenty new information about Napoleon and never heard of Sidney Smith ... looking forward to seeing the second part

[@catherinewilkins2760]

Samuel Pepys was instrumental in changing how the Royal Navy was run. Not who you know but what you knew. He introduced exams and training. Napoleon didn't like Thomas Cochrane either, another Naval officer.

[@eamonnclabby7067]

Good point ,Catherine, there was quite a list of people, Napoleon did not like....

[@nigelmcconnell1909]

Oh yes Thomas Cochrane! Everyone should react to his story! (Mostly like this 😮😮😮🤯🤯)

[@williambranch4283]

Pepys was a great diarist that tells us what it was like in London in the 1600s.

[@omarbradley6807]

Napoleon liked Cochrane a lot, he was the better Royal Navy commander, when asked about his sucess at the Basque Roads, he said My admiral could be a fool, but yours is worst (in reference to Crochane superior who halted the British Attack and demoted him)

[@williambranch4283]

@@omarbradley6807 Americans had their naval heroes back then too ... Capt Stephen Decatur ... who''s special ops boarded and destroyed the USS Philadelphia which had been captured by the Barbary Pirates ... "the most bold and daring act of the Age" - Admiral Horatio Nelson ... "the United States, though in their infancy, had done more to humble and humiliate the anti-Christian barbarians on the African coast in one night than all the European states had done for a long period of time" - Pope Pius VII.

[@FLORATOSOTHON]

Most impartial British point of view. lol.

[@omarbradley6807]

Irony right?

[@Gambit771]

Love to see the impartial French view that hails Napoleon as the second Christ.

[@erictaylor5462]

13:00 Actually there was an expectation of decent treatment for prisoners of noble rank. They were treated quite well, and often given large rooms or entire building. They might share the buildings, but being a POW at this time wasn't that bad, so long as you were a noble.

[@eagleofceaser6140]

Money was also a big factor on how well you were treated. A well placed bribe could do wonders for a POW's living conditions.

[@erictaylor5462]

@@eagleofceaser6140 That's true even today.

[@pinkpenzu]

Money is the true law of society

[@liamdancer8531]

Loving to see a lindy beige reaction

[@stephenelliott1135]

Lindybeige can make anything interesting, the man is a treasure.

[@erictaylor5462]

4:00 It is quite common, even today to have a 24 year old Jr officer giving orders to a Sargent Major who has been in the service, fighting longer than the Jr officer has even been alive. The sergeant major responds with, "Yes sir" and carries out the order, even if the SM knows it's stupid. That said, a wise Jr officer will listen to and follow the advice of his NCO's and more experienced enlisted people. Even a more experienced officer will listen to their NCO's. The fact they are higher ranked officers probably means they have been depending on the advice of more experienced NCO's for years.

[@dave_h_8742]

Putin's army hasn't got the structure of the NCO'S to guide the units which is why when an officer of a rank or even high rank dies than it's headless chicken time. If no one is allowed to go & use their initiative or experience to keep things running than you end up with a big Putin snafu.

[@erictaylor5462]

@@dave_h_8742 I'm not sure what that has to my comment. Sara was talking about what an experienced older vet might feel about taking orders from a younger, inexperienced officer. What I said is that it isn't that unusual for a younger less experienced officer to give orders to an older, lower ranking person.

[@andrewcomerford264]

Sir Sidney was a high-ranking prisoner-of-war, and would be treated with certain courtesies - one of the reasons the trumped-up charge of arson wouldn't stick. The British sent a task force to Egypt, on the grounds that they were under threat from a common enemy, and requested an alliance - a gesture which could've worked out well. Napoleon had trained as an artillery commander, and knew the value of such assets - losing your heavy cannon was something he never wanted to contemplate.

[@Alex-bc1hx]

Be aware of Lindy bias

[@TheQeltar]

@@EaterOfBaconSandwiches The British Empire?

[@Azphreal]

Lindy would not like him even if he had not been evil he would hate him because he was FRENCH. The natural enemy of the English lol.

[@theREDdevilz22]

My ancestor Sir Alexander John Ball fought at the battle of the Nile :) he commanded HMS Alexander

[@si4632]

HUZZAH

[@erictaylor5462]

Richard the Lionheart was the King of England in the Robin Hood legends.

[@palupalu5647]

Fun fact : Raised in the south-west of France, the young Richard speaks perfectly Latin and French. He does not understand by a treacherous word the language of his people, English

[@Zajuts149]

Yes, 16 is young, and as Lloyd says, he should have at least been 19. The rule was that one had to have 6 years at sea, and at least 2 years as a midshipman(officer's cadet). Sometimes, officers could come from the ranks in the Royal Navy, and it was not uncommon that a quick, young able seaman(3+ years at sea) would be rated as a midshipman if sickness, combat or promotions had left a crew a midshipman short while on a remote posting. I suspect that his promotion was to "acting" lieutenant, which would happen if the ship was short of commissioned officers. Usually they had to have had their lieutenant's exam or at least be ready for it(19 years of age, 6 years at sea). The promotion still had to be "confirmed" by the admiral of the squadron that the ship belonged to to be official.

[@Quallenkrauler]

The chain of command and draconic punishments for disobedience in these times made sure that officers' orders were followed, regardless of their age. As other commenters have already said, 16 was by far not they youngest an officer could be. They would be commanding men who could be their fathers or grandfathers and these men would follow them to their deaths. Not fraternizing with them also played an important role in that. If you didn't let the men under your command get to to know you personally, they wouldn't be tempted to call you "son" or question your orders because of their superior experience. You just remained the commanding officer whose orders had to be obeyed.

[@michaelnolan6951]

In the late 18th century Royal Navy officers began their shipboard training and began getting operational experience as pre-teens. A truly exceptional individual would have plenty of opportunity to be noticed and evaluated by their superiors while still very young.

[@jovianr900]

Lindybeige is very good at telling a story and explaining things, however the things he explains are mostly his own opinions which should be taken with a large pinch of salt. To be honest, you should take everything anyone says with a pinch of salt, pinches of salt need to vary in size though.

[@quoniam426]

Napoleon and Nelson respectively became General and Rear Admiral at the age of 24 so that's not that surprising, although 16 to be a leutenant might be slightly out of the ordinary. The great fortification builder and besieger, Vauban also rose through the ranks with merit only quite quickly, through bravery and daring, mostly along with his cunning analysis of fortification business... Fun fact, the Temple prison used to be the fortress of the Templar Knights Order in the Middle Ages. Once the Order was disbanded by King Philippe the 4th in 1314, the tower was taken property by the King and became a prison. In the Revolution, Louis 16th and his family were imprisoned there and it is said that his son, Louis 17th died there. By the way they did kept their original clothing standard as depicted in the drawing ! The tower was demolished in the 19th Century during the Haussemann complete overhaul of the city. Now a garden stands in its place near the 3rd District City Hall. Garding suc prisoners was quite civilized to a point that surveilance was sometimes quite lose. So a small cunning plan was generally enough to escape. During his numerous attempts to rise to power, the future Napoleon 3rd (Nap's nephew) escaped from prison disguised as a construction worker during a maintenance work in the building where his was imprisoned.

[@BlameThande]

4:15 If you think that's young for an officer on a ship, wait till you see Master & Commander next week and meet the midshipmen. It was normal for children to be giving orders to adult enlisted crewmen - the class system again, inherited social class more than anything defined the officer corps. Also, bear in mind the lifespan thing is exaggerated - it wasn't unusual for people to live to 70, 80, 90 back then, it was just that the average is misleadingly dragged down because so many people died of childhood diseases before the age of 5.

[@stephenparker6362]

Hi, Sarah, that was very interesting, I'm looking forward to part 2. Napolean was a great military strategist, possibly one of the greatest but I think his ruthless streak is sometimes overlooked, he certainly was responsible for many deaths and much destruction although I think it must also be said that our narrator appears to have a great dislike of Napolean. I'm not sure who I would say was Napoleans greatest foe, probably the Russiwn winter. This is very interesting part 2 should be good.

[@mirp5497]

Omg love Lindy Beige

[@Gothtecdotcom]

Lindybeige is one of my favourite channels...

[@svenschollkopf3260]

Hope you watch more of his stuff. He is one of the GOATs of historyyoutube.

[@trymtrodal2972]

Wow great reaction so much added insight! How is this allowed to stay on youtube.

[@ryklatortuga4146]

Napoleon was never the same man after he was kidnapped and taken to San Dimas by The Duke of Ted and the Earl of Preston.

[@ashleywetherall]

In the British navy just prior to the Napoleonic wars, Naval Officer training started around 11 years of age. Watch Master and commander which although a work of fiction, actually get most of its fact correct. The petty officers are extremely young and are commanding men in there 40's and 50's.

[@martinwyke]

I would have said Napoleon's greatest foe was the Russian Winter, followed by his own arrogance which was both a gift and a curse. As a person, yes Wellington. You might find his video "The wargamers who won a real war" about WATU very interesting.

[@willis32]

He clarified this with, In Napoleons opinion Sir Sidney was his arch enemy

[@omarbradley6807]

@@willis32 In Napoleon's opinion it was Barcally de Tolly, you either could take this brute ranting or do some research.

[@willis32]

@@omarbradley6807 Suppose so, lets be fair it was a vehicle to tell an interesting story. He is after all, juet telling stories.

[@HinFoo]

lindybeiges video about fire arrows are mandatory!

[@nundzi1548]

I remember suggesting this at the start of covid, glad other listeners did too

[@kevinkards]

He was held in Paris for two years, despite a number of efforts to exchange him and frequent contacts with both French Royalists and British agents. Notably Captain Jacques Bergeret, captured in April 1796 with the frigate Virginie,[5] was sent from England to Paris to negotiate his own exchange; when the Directoire refused, he returned to London. The French authorities threatened several times to try Smith for arson but never followed up the threats. Eventually, in 1798 the Royalists, who pretended to be taking him to another prison, helped Smith and Wright to escape.[6] The royalists brought the two Englishmen to Le Havre, where they boarded an open fishing boat and were picked up on 5 May by HMS Argo on patrol in the English Channel, arriving in London on 8 May 1798.[7] Bergeret was then released, the British government considering the prisoner exchange as completed.

[@archercolin6339]

Another thing regarding youthful commanders - Edward of Woodstock, generally known as the Black Prince, was only 16 when he commanded one of the flanks for his father Edward 111 at the battle of Crecy in 1346.

[@marksadventures3889]

Prisoners in those days were able to have life according to their status and could have guests, wine and food etc he probably just walked out. In debtor's prisons you could actually go out to work and return.

[@alanmon2690]

@sogal, there is an excellent book on Gutenberg called "Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte" (originally published in 1836) written by Louis Antoine Fauvelot de Bourrienne, his private secretary, that includes references to Sir Sidney Smith, the massacre at Jaffa, the siege at Acre, the shot at Napoleon (the shooter, a Nablousian, may have been captured and shot). If you have a few days to spare it's worth reading those sections. They are in rough agreement with what LindyBeige has said. "We left Paris on the 3d of May 1798. Ten days before...Sir Sidney Smith escaped [..] destined to contribute materially to [Napoleon's] defeat." "Sir Sidney Smith was beyond doubt the man who did us the most injury". About 4000 -4100 prisoners were shot on Napolean's orders. The villagers were burnt. Always read the primary original sources.

[@fearlessmash8717]

Lindy:”Napoleon brought the most death proportional to population” Gengis Khan and Timur the lame:”Rookie numbers”

[@Diogolindir]

girl, you encountered Lindybeige, there is no coming back :)

[@stevenholt4936]

The Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian will give you a greater feel for the Napoleonic wars than many a history book. Beware, the books are addictive.

[@alanmon2690]

I've read them all but I found The Post Captain to be dreadfully slow compared to other war books, eg Bolitho, Hornblower, Sharpe but after reading the later books I came to appreciate the first as an introduction to the slow passage of time at sea. And have read them several times. Pity about the film -wrong doctor, wrong boatswain, wrong enemy -but a brilliant evocation of life at sea.

[@stevenholt4936]

@@alanmon2690 the film got almost everything wrong, except for the atmosphere. The biggest miscast for me was Bonden - and Aubrey would never have called him 'Barrett.' Read all 20 three times - must be due for a fourth.

[@lewisb85]

They didn't quite bust him out of prison, some friends pretended they were transferring him to another prison and in that process snuck him out of the country.

[@DropdudeJohn]

Lindybeige, top find

[@patrickevans2041]

I love Lindybeige so much but bare in mind he is extremly biased about this sort of thing. Tbh its one of the main reasons I like him, he sort of owns it.

[@allenwilliams1306]

Re Napoleon, I find him to be fairly objective. Those who hail Napoleon as a “genius” are the biased ones.

[@allenwilliams1306]

@D Anemon Unfortunately, it is not a fact, it is an opinion. You have at least accepted that Napoleon was not a genius (which is what I said) and qualified it by claiming he was only a “military genius”. I do not think military ability, whatever that exactly means, is a natural ability; it is learned, Thus, according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, the relevant sense of the word is “an exceptionally intelligent or able person”, applied only to things military. I do think his personal leadership and inspirational skills were exceptional, when things were going well, but that's only a small part of good generalship. His tactical judgement was also usually very good, again, when he was winning. However, if things went wrong, he hadn't a clue: he did not “know when to retreat, and have the courage to do it”, and his strategic talent was well below par. We also have to bear in mind that he had the advantage of the fact that he usually faced lamentably badly led armies, and shone only by comparison. Therefore, no, I do not think he was anything close to being a “military genius”, either. You are entitled to your opinion, though.

[@stucody]

Some of Lindybeoge videos are hilarious, especially the ones he’s done on so called historical dramas

[@johanlindwall7295]

Lindybeige is always fascinating, great reaciton.

[@flyingeagle3898]

honestly, the extrmely negative view of napolean Lindy has seems to be a bit overly influenced by British propaganda. Lots of either places in europe view napolean through a more neutral/nuanced or in some cases even a positive lens. Granted Napoleon was no paragon of democratic virtue, but I'm not sure all the stories Lindy's telling are true in an objective sense.

[@georgeharold6197]

In 1798 the Royalists, who pretended to be taking him to another prison, helped Smith and Wright (his secretary) to escape.The royalists brought the two Englishmen to Le Havre, where they boarded an open fishing boat and were picked up on 5 May by HMS Argo on patrol in the English Channel, arriving in London on 8 May 1798.

[@palupalu5647]

French version It was in the middle of the parties given to Bonaparte, when he returned to Paris after the conclusion of the Treaty of Camp-Formio, that Smith will find way to escape from prison. Smith is released to orders signed by the Minister of the Navy and Colonies. A few hours later it will be discovered that this was a false order, purchased 60,000 Gold Francs by Phélippeaux, a document presented by a police commissioner, accompanied by four gendarmes in disguise. What you need to know is that Phélippeaux was in the same class as Bonaparte at the royal military school in Paris in 1785. Antoine de Phélippeaux was immediately admitted to the rank of second lieutenant for the examination for enter the artillery just ahead of his «enemy» Bonaparte. Fun fact : Emigrated in 1791, he served with the Duke of Enghien in the army of emigrants (for the british). It is said that he was in 1792 at the Battle of Valmy and the Battle of Jemmapes. He died in 1799 at acre st-jean at 32 years

[@HankD13]

Horatio Nelson went to sea aged 12. Believe Sydney Smith was 13. Open eager minds learning to be Naval Officers - and 3 years at sea, and in battle, they would know everything to know and would have the respect of the crew - or they would not survive long. Watch Master and Commander: Far Side of the World to see a brilliant depiction of this in action.

[@johnelliott7850]

Very interesting. Looking forward to part two.

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

Fun fact it was quite common in this time for Royal Navy officers who were without an appointment to a ship and while the UK was at peace to make themselves avaliable for other nations to fight for them one of Britians best Naval officers Thomas Cochrane would end up fighting for Chile against Spain at one point in his life.

[@vaudevillian7]

Prisoners that were of the gentry and higher social standings were usually treated very well so that’s probably not too inaccurate a picture

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

3:58 Well an army platoon (the smallest unit in the army commanded by and officer) officer which would be a 2nd Lieutenant or Lieutenant are typically younger and with less time in the military then their Sergeant the senior NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) who would be their second in command in the Platoon.

[@keithreynolds]

Been watching the filming of Napoleon directed Ridley Scott, star Joachim Phoenix. Shooting cavalry charges etc in Bourne Woods, Surrey, UK nearby to my home over the last couple of weeks. Also they’ve been shooting in Greenwich, London around the historic Royal Naval College buildings near the river Thames. They’ve also used Lincoln Cathedral to stand in for Norte Dame Paris.

[@zachpaterson8128]

If you like this, Lindybeige's video on the charge of the Calcutta last horse is great :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/aISkYYqtraeqZ7M

[@fourthdrawerdown6297]

Napoleon never had to face that magnificent sweater.

[@DFinityFTW]

Lindy has some of the best videos. Please watch more!

[@thedisciple516]

If you are jonesing for more Napoleon, I'd suggest watching (and reacting to) the excellent Peabody Award winning Napoleon Documentary from PBS. It goes a lot into his personal life which you've expressed interest in.

[@Max_Flashheart]

30:42 You Jumped, I Jumped, We all Jumped for Scarlet....

[@andyp5899]

If at any point you are doing the battle of the Atlantic in a World War 2 series I would suggest Lindybeige on The Wargamers who won a real war

[@Aughtel]

Lindybeige is awesome

[@rodrigopfeifferdasilva771]

Napoleon was not even close to mao or stalin in brutality Plus the top dog in genocide is genghis Khan if we are considering population

[@williambranch4283]

Frenchmen kill while well dressed and perfumed ;-)

[@TukikoTroy]

Lindybeige famously does not like Napoleon... I mean he really REALLY doesn't like Napoleon. He is very knowledgeable though. Edited to add, now i've watched to the end, be very careful with anything Lindy says about Napoleon. There are two sides to what he did in Egypt.

[@markmorris7123]

Why are you downplaying Napoleons faults,, he was great leader but he was a conqueror..And conquerors do awful things.He absolutely did that stuff in Egypt. There's correspondence, detailed records, African sources, British sources, French sources, diaries. Its like Alexander, he too was a great leader/conqueror.. But let's not forget his atrocities at Tyre. Where he crucified thousands of civilians, and sold a whole population into slavery,, and then repopulated it.

[@TukikoTroy]

@@markmorris7123 Show me where I have denied him doing any of this.

[@billythedog-309]

@@TukikoTroy So, what is the other side?

[@jeanlannes4375]

@@billythedog-309 he’s simply saying there are differing accounts to what Napoleon did in Egypt. Some sources state he committed terrible, brutal and appalling acts of violence on the local population; while others state the opposite. For example, many sources account that Napoleon would have, any soldiers who raped a woman shot. While this might seem to be the bare minimum in today’s climate, during the early 19th century it was quite common to see foreign soldiers raping local women. So for Napoleon to spare Egyptian women was quite noble, especially that they were Muslims and foreign soldiers were most notoriously savage to locals who they considered barbaric. Which was what most French soldiers probably considered Muslims to be. The truth is most likely in the middle.

[@TukikoTroy]

@@billythedog-309 The other side is what Lindy didn't go into, and that is the reasons for why some of these things happened. Not all, I grant, Napoleon was nothing if not a cruel, petulant egotist. But sound military doctrine was behind some of these horrific events. Scorched earth for example has been used by many, many armies throughout history. The massacre of prisoners also. In the case of the between 2000 and 4000 (historians are divided) killed on the beach, let me ask you this; What would you have done with them? At the time Napoleon's army was riddled with plague (he left a lot of his own men behind and I think killed some of the worst afflicted). He couldn't spare the men to look after the prisoners and he couldn't let them go. All I am saying is that 'the other side' is the reasons for what he did.

[@PHDarren]

04:36 just FYI the Istanbul not Constantinople lines were lyrics from the song Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants.

[@ratarsed666]

tis a bit older than that it was first released in 1953 ......sorry i can't remember the group but think it might be "the four lads"

[@PHDarren]

@@ratarsed666 Lindybeige isn't that old to remember that version 😁

[@hypersp3ce596]

Back in the time Officers who were captured and were POWs were treated with great respect because they were gentlemen Officers. So that drawing of Smith in prison is actually accurate.

[@DropdudeJohn]

Social class and standing was everything back then, age didn't matter, station in life was everything, only difference from today is back then it was open, not hidden like it is today, but it is still alive today

[@hellobanking802]

I hope you're doing well, SoGal. Wow! That rhymes. :)

[@Steve-ys1ig]

Napoleon was a great military strategist but outside of that in many ways he was not only brutal but a fool as well. His armies were expected to live off the land when on campaign. This led to a lot of atrocities because the only way you can live off the land is to take it from the locals by killing, rape etc or if they were lucky leaving them to starve. It was one of the main reasons that when he went into the Peninsula campaign his army suffered more casualties from guerrillas than in battles against Spanish, Portuguese and British troops. This is not to say that non-French troops were morally superior, I am sure armies on both sides would have quite happily murdered, stole and raped their way across the continent. The difference at least for the British and Portuguese and later the Spanish, was Wellington, who had the foresight to insist that everything was paid for and his hanging of troops who stole or molested locals. He kept his troops from making enemies of the ordinary people, even when they entered France. Though even he could not stop his troops sometimes as there were a couple of horrific sacks of cities during the Peninsula campaign.

[@omarbradley6807]

Didn't the British did the same even to allied cities, like Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, San Sebastian etc?

[@marleykattanek734]

37:29 The Siege of Ceuta can tout itself as the longest siege in recorded history. The first phase of the conflict lasted a staggering 26 years, during which time Moroccan forces fought with the inhabitants of the Spanish-held city on the northern coast of Africa.

[@erictaylor5462]

Napoleon had some involvement in Russian history. Perhaps his greatest foe was the Russian Winter.

[@Jubilo1]

It was the Scarlet Pimpernell who saved Smith.

[@sarunasjuonys4220]

30:40 never thought I'd experience a jump scare on your channel.

[@fraso7331]

Many people don't know about him. I mean, Napoleon names his greatest foe and than it's a guy named Smith. Often he is mentioned by teachers, but the students forget about him. Some say, that would be his greatest reward, since the work of a diplomat is done best, when not noticed. The longest siege was that of Candia on Crete, which belonged to Venice. Today the city is named Heraklion. The siege took 21 years, from 1648 to 1669, when the Ottoman Empire got hold of the city. In Europe it was an issue like Ukraine today and soldiers from all over Europe defended the city. Princes had to serve as normal soldiers, because they only accepted very experienced officers and many soldiers were rejected, because more wanted to fight than could be of use. At the end it was handed over to the Turks during a truce. It remained the example for dirty warfare known by every European until World War 1. Today Heraklion is more famous because of events from World War 2.

[@xlerb_again_to_music7908]

SSS's escape was being swapped and disguised as a washer-woman... if memory serves.

[@lyndarichardson4744]

This bloke is really good !

[@markmorris7123]

If you haven't heard of the Knights Templar you should definitely react to something on it.. It was a noble group that grew out of the Crusades Mainly consisted of English, French and Germanic knights

[@johnboy9386]

Lindybeige!

[@iainmalcolm9583]

Some good stuff on Lindybeige's channel but he does ramble on a bit.

[@anthonytillman6363]

Some sieges last years. It took a roman emperor 2 years to take Byzantium (modern Istanbul).

[@stamasd8500]

Lindybeige is a treasure, lots and lots of good stuff on his channel. He's a very good narrator too, I hope that you will use more of his videos in the future.

[@erictaylor5462]

18:30 No he didn't. It's the Battle of da Nile!

[@Scoobydcs]

the dog made me jump lol

[@omarbradley6807]

Okay Lindy is a crazy dud! You could not take him serious, one thing is a mistake, or a myth like many who happen in any video, but a man ranting and making stuff up in the air is just something who must never get into your judgment. during the entire Napoleonic wars, 1 million Frenchs were killed because of the wars, (who as you may know were initiated by his enemies) and yes millions died because they were enemies and suffered horrendous looses in the wars, but he didn't kill anybody, besides a few royalists and criminals, like the ones at Jaffa who (not all, only a group) breached the laws of wars twice. And Napoleon with Planes? what he will had done? defend France better, and to be clear 5 million deaths as a result of 8 wars, are actually not so many in contrast with the wars before and after Napoleon. But again all those deaths are result of what? Austria Britain Prusia Spain The Netherlands Russia, Piedmont The Ottomans and all the monarchies going against the most precious thing who is the liberty of the people to be free (who was represented by France and Napoleon). And his Egyptian campaign was not a brutal one, in fact the Egyptians builded their national identity and become a sovereign nation (until 1866) thanks to Napoleon, When Mohamed Ali Pasa become the first ruler of a modern Egypt. And i must tell you who the British invaded Egypt right after and comited a terrible genocide until they were massacrated in 1807 by the Egyptian partisans. (in Fact Egypt, like Argelia, Persia were strong friend of Napoleon, even reciving many of his allegated after his exile).

[@omarbradley6807]

@John Ashtone Wich research? He literally make the things up in the air, he is far from accurate, worst he is terrible biased, while what i do is seriously, something universally known

[@johnc2988]

"1 million Frenchs were killed because of the wars, (who as you may know were initiated by his enemies)" What made people oppose him? "millions died because they were enemies and suffered horrendous looses in the wars, but he didn't kill anybody, besides a few royalists and criminals," Where do I start with this one? If he "didn't kill anybody, besides a few royalists and criminals" how did the millions die? Again does any nation or nations put armies in the field just because they don't like the general of a country? Lindy may have an agenda but it is better argued than yours. "his Egyptian campaign was not a brutal one, in fact the Egyptians builded their national identity and become a sovereign nation" I believe that Egypt was a nation a little before this time. Omar N Bradley must be turning in his grave.

[@omarbradley6807]

@@johnc2988 If you want to make partial cuts to undermine my claim seems who you are a bit out of touch. What make people opose him? People or just a bunch of Monarchs, they disliked the revolution, dont play the savy one, you perfectly know how it was, and How did millions die? Well thanks to those wars, people like you or Lindy are outraged because the French fought back! Nations indeed field armies because they dislike the other leader, that is what happened in history back then and even today. Yet what they disliked was his policies, and the lovers of opresion like Lindy disliked it enough to remember, who their leaders wage war against politics who were "ahead" of their time and monarchist intrest. Read the Brundswick decree and all the conspiracies of the Bourbon house to get back to "their" throne in France. In short they disliked the revolution, and the question who you should ask is why the people rose up against a monarch in the first place. Maybe the people was tired of being dictated by someone who wasn't even attached to his people? And Egypt ceased to be an state after the fall of Memphis and death of Psalmik III on the hands of Cymbasis II of the Persian Aechimenid Empire. After that it was never sovereign, maybe some periods of Hellenistic rule but even then, they were lost. Egypt rediscovered it's past and take their identity from the liberation who they went throught at the hands of the Frenchs, and the war against Britain. Remember who they were a "Slave sultanate" of the Ottoman Empire, with British intrest before them. Until Napoleon came.

[@Oddballkane]

The fact in a war it's the civilians that suffer.

[@alansmithee8831]

Bonjour SoGal et l'empereur. It had to be a Smith, of course! Getting you in the mood for Master and Commander?

[@catherinewilkins2760]

Master and Commander based on Thomas Cochrane.

[@alansmithee8831]

@@catherinewilkins2760 I was just going off a comment on a SoGal post that suggested this film might come soon on Patreon, not on this video, but thank you for the info.

[@YekouriGaming]

Prisoners of higher rank were allowed to keep up appereance. Not every prison were degrading and neither are they today.

[@vaudevillian7]

Lifespans weren’t all that much shorter, as long as you survived childhood you were likely to live to a decent age notwithstanding illness

[@andreivlad3518]

At that time, at the age of 16, they were married with a child on the road.

[@tonys1636]

The thing woth history is we are supposed to learn from it and not repeat it. some however learn from it and do repeat it, hoping for a different result.

[@DomR1997]

HE DID IT, HE SAID THE THING. Like old New York was once new Amsterdam. Whyd they change it? I can't say, maybe they liked it better that waaaaaay.

[@erictaylor5462]

26:45 Probably because Sir Sidney Smith showed him respect first.

[@steviebudden3397]

The Knights Templers were a an order of knight/monks who were created to help and protect pilgrims travlling from Europe to Jerusalem, specifically to Soloman's Temple in Jerusalem - hence the name. They grew to have immense money and power despite or even because of an oath of poverty and are credited with inventing an early form of banking. However power attracts enemies and they were disbanded a few centuries later. Officially. There are however 'unofficial histories' (read 'conspiracy theories') which claim all sorts of things about them some of which were used by Dan Brown for the plot of 'The DaVinci Code' which may be where you'vr heard of them?

[@andrewclayton4181]

Disbanded is a mild term for what happened. Mutilation and deaths were involved.

[@steviebudden3397]

@@andrewclayton4181 Yeah I thought it was something like that, and burnings at the stake as well as I understand it. But I'm not well up on the subject and I know that it's on where there's a lot of false claims being made so I thought I'd stick to what I knew.

[@arposkraft3616]

i commanded my first ship at 16