The Star of New Orleans - A Louisiana AAR

[General_Hoth]

Why not Emperor of New France

But in fact, Napoleon wanted to take a scientifical journey from North to south to study all the americas and write a book on his discoveries. Never forget that Napoleon was a scientist, a brilliant mathematician who was member of the Institut des Sciences in France. In real life, many bonapartist colonies were established in Louisiana...without the 100 days and the white terror to kill most of Republican and Bonapartists french, many thousands, even tens of thousands could emigrate in Louisiana.

And about the 400 hundred men...they are the Old Guard, la Vieille Garde, still recognised as the best soldiers to have ever existed. Don't underestimate them

[RGB]

Dear Sir,

I must register my extreme Indignation at the Presumption of the British and our American Neighbours. The French of the Empire of Louisiana are not the savage Beasts they imply we are by installing Garrisions, ostensibly for Protection of their Citizens! Why, just last week I had some Americans at the Fete celebrating the breaking of the Siege of New Orleans! We are perfectly capable of treating these Foreigners with the Decorum they deserve.

Yours,

Mssr. Rene-Gilbert de Baie.

[General_Hoth]

with Napoléon and his Vieille Garde in la Nouvelle Orléans...I'm sure the occupying regiment will not stay long!

[Enewald]

Wouldn't Spain already be losing control of Mexico?
Napoleon leading the Mexican revolution?

[Vesimir]

I agree with general_hoth. Louisiana is just... to american! Emperor of New France sounds much better. Louisiana would stay Louisiana, just that Napoleons title would be Emperor of New France.

It'll be nice to see an undeveloped colony blossom into a power under the rule of one of the greatest people in history. Remember to take Texas and New Mexico! I want to see an old and disgruntled Napoleon in cowboy attire overlooking his extensive ranch.

[General_Hoth]

And if I may, Louisiana doesn't exist...it's Louisiane!

[enf91]

Dear Sir;

I find it absurd that the man who ruled France in opposition to the kings would continue to have his new home named after one of them. Messr. Bonaparte strikes me as a gentleman who would take any victory where he can, so he would ostensibly rename Louisiana to something more republican or Bonapartist. New France, as suggested by previous letters, seems more appropriate. And yes, I am aware of the paradox of referencing a letter that hasn't been printed yet.

Sincerely,
E. F.

[GregoryTheBruce]

Dear Sir;

I suspect the parties involved would be none too pleased to hear M. Bonaparte declare himself "Emperor of New France." After all, this implies a certain revancharde tendency on M. Bonaparte's part, with claims to Quebec. Moreover, the Bourbon king might find the step from "L'empereur de la Nouvelle-France" to "L'empereur nouveau de la France" a bit too short.

Yours,
G. B.

[AllmyJames]

(The editor apologizes to those correspondents whose letters were replied to individually, rather than being printed below)

Dear Sir,

Why not Emperor of New France

But in fact, Napoleon wanted to take a scientifical journey from North to south to study all the americas and write a book on his discoveries. Never forget that Napoleon was a scientist, a brilliant mathematician who was member of the Institut des Sciences in France. In real life, many bonapartist colonies were established in Louisiana...without the 100 days and the white terror to kill most of Republican and Bonapartists french, many thousands, even tens of thousands could emigrate in Louisiana.

And about the 400 hundred men...they are the Old Guard, la Vieille Garde, still recognised as the best soldiers to have ever existed. Don't underestimate them

Yours,

Gen. Hoth

Thanks for the advice regarding Napoleon's intellectual weight. I think science and cultural pursuits would be one of the Emperor's priorities, especially since foreign affairs are closed to him. I can imagine many French, and even some Italians, Spaniards, Germans and Poles coming to Lousiana once the reactionaries get going in Old Europe.

Dear Sir,

I must register my extreme Indignation at the Presumption of the British and our American Neighbours. The French of the Empire of Louisiana are not the savage Beasts they imply we are by installing Garrisions, ostensibly for Protection of their Citizens! Why, just last week I had some Americans at the Fete celebrating the breaking of the Siege of New Orleans! We are perfectly capable of treating these Foreigners with the Decorum they deserve.

Yours,

Mssr. Rene-Gilbert de Baie.

M.de Baie,

I'm afraid the garrisons are here to stay, at least for the time being. At least the Americans are friendly to Napoleon's regime (though they doubtless have their own interests at heart). The British are outwardly hostile to all things French. The biggest danger is that the Brits and Americans will have more conflict with each other than with the Louisianais.

Dear Sir,

With Napoléon and his Vieille Garde in la Nouvelle Orléans...I'm sure the occupying regiment will not stay long!

Yours,

Gen. Hoth.

The problem with chasing out the occupiers is that they both have large borders with us. It's going to take some time to reassert independence.

Dear Sir,

Wouldn't Spain already be losing control of Mexico?
Napoleon leading the Mexican revolution?

Yours,

Enewald

That's perfectly true - but the Bourbons aren't willing to admit it. They still think they have a chance to hold on to their North American Empire, and they want Louisiana to be part of it. But their weak position is reflected in the fact that they are contributing nothing to guarding the Emperor.

Napoleon would be happy to see Mexico go its own way, but for now he can't do much except behind the scenes.

Dear Sir,

I agree with general_hoth. Louisiana is just... to american! Emperor of New France sounds much better. Louisiana would stay Louisiana, just that Napoleons title would be Emperor of New France.

It'll be nice to see an undeveloped colony blossom into a power under the rule of one of the greatest people in history. Remember to take Texas and New Mexico! I want to see an old and disgruntled Napoleon in cowboy attire overlooking his extensive ranch.

Yours,

Vesimir

Developing an American colony was one of the reasons I chose Louisiana to play. I also wanted to divert the inevitable rise of the USA. Napoleon the cowboy? That's an unusual image1

Dear Sir,

And if I may, Louisiana doesn't exist...it's Louisiane!

Yours,

Gen. Hoth

Bien sur, monsieur, you are quite correct. I'm just using the English name for now out of convenience. Although Louisiane would make it seem less American.

Dear Sir;

I find it absurd that the man who ruled France in opposition to the kings would continue to have his new home named after one of them. Messr. Bonaparte strikes me as a gentleman who would take any victory where he can, so he would ostensibly rename Louisiana to something more republican or Bonapartist. New France, as suggested by previous letters, seems more appropriate. And yes, I am aware of the paradox of referencing a letter that hasn't been printed yet.

Sincerely,
E. F.

There is a certain irony to the situation, yes. But I think the name Louisiana has become entrenched in its inhabitants' minds. Spain kept the name when they took it from France, as did the USA (also, New York, Georgia, the Carolinas and Maryland are all named after British royalty). I'm not sure that Napoleon would be much different. New Orleans is also named after the Duc d'Orleans - should I change that?

Dear Sir;

I suspect the parties involved would be none too pleased to hear M. Bonaparte declare himself "Emperor of New France." After all, this implies a certain revancharde tendency on M. Bonaparte's part, with claims to Quebec. Moreover, the Bourbon king might find the step from "L'empereur de la Nouvelle-France" to "L'empereur nouveau de la France" a bit too short.

Yours,
G. B.

I think I agree with you. My preference, I think, would be to stick with Louisiana/Louisiane for now, and have 'New France' as a cultural union tag including Quebec. That'd give me something to aim for.

***

To all - no updates this weekend, so more debate on the naming issue is encouraged. I'm also ambivalent about the culture I should use for Louisiana - French and French-Canadian are accepted cultures, but I wanted a new primary culture. I'm torn between Louisianais (of my own invention) or Cajun (but does that imply an African influence?). What do my esteemed readAARs think?

[Ricainfier]

Cajun has no African influence, its the environment. In the context of Louisiana, Creole is the eone with African influence as in Louisiana Creole. Cajun is just misinterpretation of them saying Acadian.

[Vesimir]

This is the only image I got that had anything to do with Nappy after googlin 'Napoleon cowboy'.

Cajun sounds better than Louisianais. Louisianais is too long. Long enough that I've ctrl+c'd it instead of writing. I think the best way of dealing with the naming issue is the following : The country is named : The Republic of Louisiane. Napoleon has the title Emperor of New France, and serves as the Lord Protector of Louisiane. Perfect.

[General_Hoth]

some little things

First, Acadien would be a good idea for the culture. And would remember England that the Acadians that were deported and massacred in 1757 haven't forgotten this crime.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_the_Acadians

On the title of Napoleon, I must correct myself...he wasn't emperor of France but emperor of the Frenchs, l'Empereur des Français. Why not keep this title? and I really like the idea of Vesimir about the République de Louisiane. Or an in between: République de Nouvelle-France, Republic of New France.

And for Mexico...Joseph Bonaparte received in real life proposition by the independentist of mexico to get the crown of Mexico and refused...With his brother in america...why not?

[Fronzel]

By the treaty of Fontainebleau Napoleon was Emperor of Elba, so Emperor of Louisiana seemed appropriate.

Elba is a flyspeck and Louisiana is not.

The only problem the Coalition had with Napoleon on Elba is that he left. I imagine this way won't work so well.

[General_Hoth]

In fact, Great Britain planned to invade Elba to deporte Napoleon to St Helena before he escaped. Many historians thinks that the Empereur knew it and that decided him to return to France

[Ricainfier]

The problem with Acadien is they didn't dominate, there were already pre-expulsion French colonists and then all the plantation owners who fled St-Domingue, plus all the pirates, don't forget Lafitte. I'm sure he'd have a big role in an independent Louisiana.

[Alfredian]

Dear Sir

I think Emperor of Louisiana (or Louisiane). Any attempt to have a title incorporating the words France or French are likely to annoy the British/Bourbons/Prussians/Austrians/Russians/etc and see Napoleon end up on St Helena (or somewhere worse).

Yours faithfully

Mr A. Alfredian

[AllmyJames]

I'm still a ways from starting the game proper, so the debate has time to continue.

The problem with Acadien is they didn't dominate, there were already pre-expulsion French colonists and then all the plantation owners who fled St-Domingue, plus all the pirates, don't forget Lafitte. I'm sure he'd have a big role in an independent Louisiana.

This is my problem with using either Acadien or Cajun - it seems to fit a sub-culture of the Louisianais French, rather than being a general enough term. However, it does have name recognition, and it is more catchy than Louisianais. (Thanks for the heads-up of Laffitte - I'll see if he can make a cameo appearance).

I want to save 'New France' for a possible cultural union with Quebec, and I agree with those who think that N. would not be allowed to keep his title as 'Emperor of the French'. The whole point of moving him to Louisiana was to remove his support in France, remember?

[AllmyJames]

[Enewald]

Now all we need is the fleet to defect to their Emperor, carrying a horde of Frenchmen over to the new world.

A land of opportunity, for Frenchmen?
Shall you have the same plurality and attractiveness as USA?

[RGB]

Dear Sir:

I, like many others, was overcome to the point of tears by patriotism and amour de la patrie, even one that is now centered in this New World. The Emperor's speech bestirs any heart to such noble sentiment! Vive Napoleon!

Sincerely,

Mssr. R-G. de Baie.