19th century

News Stories

From ‘General Bonaparte’ to ‘Napoleon’ to ‘Hannibal’: The Evolution of a Military Legend, 1800-1838

From 1800 on, the First Consul became less and less ‘General Bonaparte’ and more ‘Napoleon.’ The Constitution of the Year X (1802) granted him the title of First Consul for Life.

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An American Look at Napoleon’s “Dark Age” Press, 1810-1811 

Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s key to perpetuating the war despite setbacks was ensuring the compliance of the people at home. Thus total control over French newspapers fueled the constant call for more soldiers.

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Colonel Alexander Doniphan’s Epic March in Mexico, 1846-1847

Alexander William Doniphan is well known among Mormons for his saving Joseph Smith from certain death in the 1838 Mormon War, but his Mexican-American War expedition covering swaths of the Southwest was hailed at the time as a military achievement. In the fall of 1846 Doniphan, an attorney-turned-colonel in the expansionist war, led the 1st Regiment of Mounted Missouri Volunteers out of occupied Santa Fe, New Mexico, into hostile lands of the Navajo and northern Mexican states including Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo Leon.

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Davy Crockett’s “Autobiographies”: The Life and Legend in Literature   

In 1923 Charles Scribner’s Sons, the famous New York-based publishing company founded in 1846 by Charles Scribner at the start of the Mexican-American War, released The Autobiography of Davy Crockett (1786-1836) – a work about the famous Tennessee frontiersman-turned politician who died in Texas at the Battle of the Alamo.

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When the Colt Revolver came to Texas: The Life of Swante Magnus Swenson  

According to the esteemed historian of Texas, Walter Prescott Webb, Colonel Swante Magnus Swenson (1816-1896), an immigrant from Sweden to the United States, was the first person to introduce the Colt revolver to Texas.

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