Eugene De Beauharnais was the brother of Hortense and the stepson of Napoleon.
Born in 1781, he was the only son of Alexandre de Beauharnais, by his
wife Marie Josephe Rose...
His father was a liberal aristocrat who was sympathetic to the
Revolution, but was later executed for military failures…during the Reign of
Terror…
Eugene’s parents separated when he was a child, and he was given into
his father’s custody, while Josephine (then called Rose) had Hortense.
Josephine was a devoted mother, and her children adored her. However they often had to undertake the parental
role as she was flighty and extravagant. She and her husband achieved a certain friendly
relationship in their last few years, but she was imprisoned and only escaped
the guillotine by luck… After her release
from prison, she had her two children to support. She became the mistress and hostess
for Paul Barras, who was one of the Directorate, which was the ruling council
of France.
Josephine was only moderately pretty but she was elegant and very
charming. She met Napoleon in society,
but he was shy and awkward with women. According to some reports, Eugene met Napoleon
when there was a directive to hand in weapons, and his father’s sword was to be
handed in to the authorities. Eugene,
out of loyalty to his father, wanted to keep the sword and Napoleon permitted
this. Josephine called to thank him and
a romance began between her and the young General…
Eugene soon grew to love his stepfather though Hortense did not like
him so much at first. He wanted to be a
soldier, so he joined the army and when Napoleon went to Egypt, he served as
his aide de camp.
While in Egypt, Napoleon discovered that his wife was having an affair
back in Paris with Hippolyte Charles... a Hussar captain. At the time, her feelings for Napoleon had
been somewhat lukewarm; she had married him for security... while he was
passionately in love. When rumours of the affair, which had been going on for
some time, reached him, Napoleon was enraged and crazy with jealousy. He determined to find a mistress himself, and
swore that he would divorce his wife once he returned to Paris. He started an affair with Pauline Foures, a young
Frenchwoman who had accompanied her husband to Egypt, and who was bored and flattered
by his attentions.
Eugene was unhappy about the affair - and protested to his stepfather
about having to escort Madame Foures in her drives around town... Napoleon
excused him from this duty but he still intended to get a divorce….
Eugene was torn between loyalty to his mother, whom he loved dearly, and
to his step father.
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