User:Dumelow/Schwarzenberg fire
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Ball held 1 July 1810 by Austrian ambassador to France Prince Karl I. Philipp of Schwarzenberg to honour Napoleon's marriage to Marie Louise of Austria. Pauline of Schwarzenberg, Philipp's sister-in-law, attended and danced a solo quadrille with Eugène de Beauharnais, Napoleon's stepson; Marie Julie Bonaparte, the queen of Naples and wife of Napoleon's brother and Prince Paul Anton Esterházy. 20 people died as a result of the fire. Pauline's diary and the dress and shoes of her daughter Marie Pauline are held at the Český Krumlov Castle.[1]
The 1810 fire caused the deaths of many high ranking persons. The chief of teh Corps des gardes-pompes de la ville de Paris was absent from the city during the fire and was dismissed, his second in command beign placed in charge. Emperor Napoleon determined that the leadership fo the fire brigade was inadequate and resolved to bring them under military control. In 1811 he estbalished the Bataillon de sapeurs-pompiers de Paris, under the control of the Ministry of the Interior but under military discipline.[2]
Caused by a wax candle knocked over shortly after midnight. Set fire to a garland on a wall and then a gauze curtain. Attempts were made to pull down the curtain but the fire spread. The alarm was raised by firemen did not respond immediately. Napoleon had just been introduced to Schwarzenberg's daughter. When he was informed he rushed to Marie Louise and took her to safety at the Tuileries. Panic afterwards spread among the guests who rushed and blocked the exit passageways. Timber planked ballroom engulfed. The roof fell onto those remaining in the ballroom. Six firemen eventually appeared but several were drunk and their engine had no water. Guests helped and eventually extinguished the fire. Teh next day Napoleon was told that around 12 pople had died among them was Princess Pauline Schwarzenberg who had intially escaped but returned to look for her daughter, her body was so badly burned she was identified only y her jewellery. Numerous others were wounded. Two other high-ranking women were among the dead Madame Touzard, the wife of an artillery general, and Countess de la Layen, wife of the Russian consul-general, who died of her injuries several days later. Teh Countess had also returned to the blaze to look for her daughter.[3]
- ^ "Dancing and dying for Napoleon: The Schwarzenberg Ball in Paris". New College, Oxford University. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ Young, Charles Frederick T. (1866). Fires, Fire Engines, and Fire Brigades. Lockwood & Company. p. 475.
- ^ Walton, Geri (30 March 2020). Napoleon’s Downfall: Madame Récamier and Her Battle with the Emperor. Pen and Sword History. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-5267-3462-4.