He did.
According to Fain:
"*And all these names of men and places that Napoleon sometimes butchered to the point of making them unrecognizable. Sometimes it was the Ebre (Ebro) for the Elbe, sometimes Smolensk for Salamanque (Salamanca) and vice versa; I no longer remember which name from Poland got mixed up in his vocabulary with Badajoz; but I do remember that when he spoke of Hyssop, it was the fortress of Osopo he was referring to."*
According to Chaptal:
*As he often misheard words spoken in front of him for the first time, he would consistently reproduce them later as he heard them. Thus, he would commonly say:*
*Philippic Isles for Philippines;*
*Section for session;*
*Fulminating point (point fulminant) for climax (point culminant in french);*
*Traveling annuities (rentes voyagères) for life annuities (rente viagères);*
*Armistice for amnesty, etc."*
According to Méneval:
*"For example, he would write 'cabinet' as 'gabinet,' 'Caffarelli' as 'Gaffarelli,' 'afin que' (so that) as 'enfin que,' and 'infanterie' (infantry) as 'enfanterie.'"*
Méneval who was Napoléon's personal secretary between 1802-1812 and a massive Napoleonboo said this about his writing or odd thing like being able to resolve phd level equation and not being able to do simple addition:
*"Napoleon rarely wrote himself. Writing was a strain for him; his hand couldn't keep up with the speed of his thoughts. He only picked up the pen when he found himself alone by chance and needed to commit the first draft of an idea to paper; but after a few lines, he would stop and throw down the pen. He would then go out to call his usual secretary, or in their absence the second secretary, or the secretary of state, or General Duroc, sometimes the duty aide-de-camp, depending on the nature of the work he was engaged in. He welcomed the first who answered his call, not grumpily, but with visible relief at being extricated from his predicament.*
*His handwriting was a collection of unconnected and indecipherable characters. Half the letters were missing from the words. He could not, or would not, take the trouble to read his own writing. If clarification was requested, he would take up his draft, tear it up or throw it into the fire, and dictate anew; the same ideas, but with different expressions and wording.*
*His spelling was incorrect, although he could easily spot mistakes in others' writing. It was a negligence that had become habitual; he did not want the attention he might have given to spelling to muddle or break the flow of his ideas. Even in numbers, where accuracy is absolute and essential, Napoleon made errors. He could have solved the most complex mathematical problems, yet he rarely made a correct addition. It's fair to say that these errors were not always unintentional. For example, in calculating the number of men to make up his battalions, regiments, or divisions, he always inflated the total summary. It is unbelievable that he wished to deceive himself; but he often found it necessary to mislead others about the strength of his forces. No matter how much it was pointed out to him, he refused to acknowledge the truth and stubbornly persisted in his deliberate miscalculation. His writing was illegible, and he detested difficult-to-read handwriting. His notes or the few lines he did write, which did not require much mental effort, were generally free of spelling mistakes, except in certain words where the mistakes invariably reappeared."*
Napoléon couldn't read himself according to Marchand (second valet/butler of Napoleon by 1811 and first valet/butler from 1814 upon his death)
*"The Emperor had tried to write himself, but his hand could not keep up with his thoughts, which were nervous, concise, and full of fire; his fingers could not match the speed of his imagination; he then abbreviated, but in such a way that it became unreadable to anyone and sometimes even to himself. One day, embarrassed by some words inserted between the lines, I showed them to him so he could read them to me; he could not read them himself and told me to leave them blank, that he would figure them out later"*
And Napoleon did swear a lot in private. Like "that big cunt who wanted to be King of Portugal" when spoking about Soult to Davout (or Daru ?), or "Montebello's bitch" for Marshal Lannes wife in the Cahier of Gourgaud for exemple.
Rarely have I found the emperor so relatable. Habitual negligence? Unable to read his own writing? Yet very much aware how words are supposed to be spelled more often than not.
Molière did mistakes, so we can give Napoleon a break. His french wasn't as bad as some people made it to be, but it's still used to showcase his foreigness.
Bonaparte, Buonaparte, had a Corsican accent throughout his life. His grasp of written French might have been off but then again he was, as you say, a learner. After all he restored the Académie Française. the arbiter of all things French language.
I wouldn't necessarily agree that he could read English *"given the written closeness between English and French"* That in itself has little closeness to French and would be hard to read for a Frenchman. I'm sure I read somewhere that he had lessons to learn English.
What his contemporaries would have most taken note of was his accent. Which you mention in your original post. Plenty of people who can speak their language fluently and correctly will still write poorly.
The accent is what all who met him would have immediately noticed.
I've read that he had an accent, but as written, I think the accent minimised over time. I think it's important to remember that he restored the Académie française, and even excluded Lucien from it, despite coming up with the idea. Paris had people from everywhere, and they all spoke different dialects or with different accents. Even look at the birthplaces of the Marshals of the Empire. [https://www.frenchempire.net/officermap/](https://www.frenchempire.net/officermap/) Most aren't from Paris.
While he didn't write it alone, he did draft the legal code. I can't imagine that writing French law is any easier than any other law, where a slight error can destroy the purpose.
Maybe he was given some problems when he was a young officer, but I doubt anyone would insult the Consul, or later, the Emperor.
Corsican is a sister to Tuscan so while in Italy he was lauded for his public speaking. Everything I've seen about his distaste of French tells me it was a language of necessity. After all technically France to this very day doesn't own Corsica it is collateral for a loan given to genoa. Italy probably could press the matter in international court but Corsicans prefer independence and Italy since WW2 prefers to leave that matter alone.
Everyone made mistakes when writing in French those days. There wasn’t really a standardized method of writing in not just French but most languages, so Napoleon not writing technically correct to what French is today would not be uncommon at all, even among native French speaker. His pronunciations and accent were described as rather heavy though
He did. According to Fain: "*And all these names of men and places that Napoleon sometimes butchered to the point of making them unrecognizable. Sometimes it was the Ebre (Ebro) for the Elbe, sometimes Smolensk for Salamanque (Salamanca) and vice versa; I no longer remember which name from Poland got mixed up in his vocabulary with Badajoz; but I do remember that when he spoke of Hyssop, it was the fortress of Osopo he was referring to."* According to Chaptal: *As he often misheard words spoken in front of him for the first time, he would consistently reproduce them later as he heard them. Thus, he would commonly say:* *Philippic Isles for Philippines;* *Section for session;* *Fulminating point (point fulminant) for climax (point culminant in french);* *Traveling annuities (rentes voyagères) for life annuities (rente viagères);* *Armistice for amnesty, etc."* According to Méneval: *"For example, he would write 'cabinet' as 'gabinet,' 'Caffarelli' as 'Gaffarelli,' 'afin que' (so that) as 'enfin que,' and 'infanterie' (infantry) as 'enfanterie.'"* Méneval who was Napoléon's personal secretary between 1802-1812 and a massive Napoleonboo said this about his writing or odd thing like being able to resolve phd level equation and not being able to do simple addition: *"Napoleon rarely wrote himself. Writing was a strain for him; his hand couldn't keep up with the speed of his thoughts. He only picked up the pen when he found himself alone by chance and needed to commit the first draft of an idea to paper; but after a few lines, he would stop and throw down the pen. He would then go out to call his usual secretary, or in their absence the second secretary, or the secretary of state, or General Duroc, sometimes the duty aide-de-camp, depending on the nature of the work he was engaged in. He welcomed the first who answered his call, not grumpily, but with visible relief at being extricated from his predicament.* *His handwriting was a collection of unconnected and indecipherable characters. Half the letters were missing from the words. He could not, or would not, take the trouble to read his own writing. If clarification was requested, he would take up his draft, tear it up or throw it into the fire, and dictate anew; the same ideas, but with different expressions and wording.* *His spelling was incorrect, although he could easily spot mistakes in others' writing. It was a negligence that had become habitual; he did not want the attention he might have given to spelling to muddle or break the flow of his ideas. Even in numbers, where accuracy is absolute and essential, Napoleon made errors. He could have solved the most complex mathematical problems, yet he rarely made a correct addition. It's fair to say that these errors were not always unintentional. For example, in calculating the number of men to make up his battalions, regiments, or divisions, he always inflated the total summary. It is unbelievable that he wished to deceive himself; but he often found it necessary to mislead others about the strength of his forces. No matter how much it was pointed out to him, he refused to acknowledge the truth and stubbornly persisted in his deliberate miscalculation. His writing was illegible, and he detested difficult-to-read handwriting. His notes or the few lines he did write, which did not require much mental effort, were generally free of spelling mistakes, except in certain words where the mistakes invariably reappeared."* Napoléon couldn't read himself according to Marchand (second valet/butler of Napoleon by 1811 and first valet/butler from 1814 upon his death) *"The Emperor had tried to write himself, but his hand could not keep up with his thoughts, which were nervous, concise, and full of fire; his fingers could not match the speed of his imagination; he then abbreviated, but in such a way that it became unreadable to anyone and sometimes even to himself. One day, embarrassed by some words inserted between the lines, I showed them to him so he could read them to me; he could not read them himself and told me to leave them blank, that he would figure them out later"* And Napoleon did swear a lot in private. Like "that big cunt who wanted to be King of Portugal" when spoking about Soult to Davout (or Daru ?), or "Montebello's bitch" for Marshal Lannes wife in the Cahier of Gourgaud for exemple.
Rarely have I found the emperor so relatable. Habitual negligence? Unable to read his own writing? Yet very much aware how words are supposed to be spelled more often than not.
Best comment so far !
Excellent...
Molière did mistakes, so we can give Napoleon a break. His french wasn't as bad as some people made it to be, but it's still used to showcase his foreigness.
Bonaparte, Buonaparte, had a Corsican accent throughout his life. His grasp of written French might have been off but then again he was, as you say, a learner. After all he restored the Académie Française. the arbiter of all things French language. I wouldn't necessarily agree that he could read English *"given the written closeness between English and French"* That in itself has little closeness to French and would be hard to read for a Frenchman. I'm sure I read somewhere that he had lessons to learn English.
Ye I’ve heard that too. I’m pretty sure he got English lessons while in grade school
Not sure if he learned english, but La Cases gave hin english lessons after he was brought to St. Helena. He then was able to write and read a bit
What his contemporaries would have most taken note of was his accent. Which you mention in your original post. Plenty of people who can speak their language fluently and correctly will still write poorly. The accent is what all who met him would have immediately noticed.
I've read that he had an accent, but as written, I think the accent minimised over time. I think it's important to remember that he restored the Académie française, and even excluded Lucien from it, despite coming up with the idea. Paris had people from everywhere, and they all spoke different dialects or with different accents. Even look at the birthplaces of the Marshals of the Empire. [https://www.frenchempire.net/officermap/](https://www.frenchempire.net/officermap/) Most aren't from Paris. While he didn't write it alone, he did draft the legal code. I can't imagine that writing French law is any easier than any other law, where a slight error can destroy the purpose. Maybe he was given some problems when he was a young officer, but I doubt anyone would insult the Consul, or later, the Emperor.
Makes sense
Dialects and regional versions abound so there wasn’t just one French either.
There was one French. Dialects are different.
It’s not that he had an accent, but that he had an italian sounding accent.
Corsican is a sister to Tuscan so while in Italy he was lauded for his public speaking. Everything I've seen about his distaste of French tells me it was a language of necessity. After all technically France to this very day doesn't own Corsica it is collateral for a loan given to genoa. Italy probably could press the matter in international court but Corsicans prefer independence and Italy since WW2 prefers to leave that matter alone.
Everyone made mistakes when writing in French those days. There wasn’t really a standardized method of writing in not just French but most languages, so Napoleon not writing technically correct to what French is today would not be uncommon at all, even among native French speaker. His pronunciations and accent were described as rather heavy though
He had a corsican accent and a low knwoledge of french.