Book Characters

All of the characters in Napoleon in America actually existed. They are listed below, with their (non-fictitious) birth and death dates, in order of appearance in the novel. Click on each name to read more about them.

Engelbert Lutyens (1784 – 26 January 1830) – Captain of the Twentieth Regiment of Foot, Orderly Officer at Longwood

Hudson Lowe (28 July 1769 – 10 January 1844) – Governor of St. Helena

Henri Bertrand (28 March 1773 – 31 January 1844) – Napoleonic general, Grand Marshal of the Palace of the Emperor

Charles de Montholon (21 July 1783 – 21 August 1853) – Napoleonic general

Louis Saint-Denis (22 September 1788 – 3 May 1856) – Napoleon’s second valet, known as Mameluke Ali

Louis Marchand (28 March 1791 – 19 June 1876) – Napoleon’s first valet

Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) – Emperor of the French

Robert Banks Jenkinson, Lord Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) – Prime Minister of Great Britain

Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) – British field marshal, Master-General of the Ordnance

Louis XVIII (17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824) – King of France

Count of Artois (9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) – Brother of Louis XVIII

Marie-Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême (19 December 1778 – 19 October 1851) – Daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, niece of Louis XVIII and the Count of Artois

Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême (6 August 1775 – 3 June 1844) – Son of the Count of Artois, nephew of Louis XVIII, husband of Marie-Thérèse

Francis I (12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) – Emperor of Austria

Napoleon François Charles Joseph (Franz) Bonaparte (20 March 1811 – 22 July 1832) – King of Rome, Duke of Reichstadt, son of Napoleon, grandson of Francis I

Clemens von Metternich (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859) – Foreign Minister and Chancellor of Austria

Louis Bonaparte (2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) – Brother of Napoleon

Pauline Bonaparte (20 October 1780 – 9 June 1825) – Sister of Napoleon

Letizia Bonaparte (24 August 1750 – 2 February 1836) – Mother of Napoleon

Joseph Fesch (3 January 1763 – 13 May 1839) – Roman Catholic cardinal, half-brother of Letizia Bonaparte, uncle of Napoleon

Jean Laffite (c. 1782 – 5 February 1823) – Gulf of Mexico pirate and privateer

Louis Lauret (1797 – 1830 or later) – Napoleonic cavalry officer living in Louisiana

Nicolas Girod (1747 – 1 September 1840) – French-born former mayor of New Orleans

Félix Formento (1790 – 6 January 1888) – Napoleonic doctor and pharmacist living in New Orleans

J.N. François Guillemin (c. 1777 – between 1832 and 1836) – French consul in New Orleans

Vincent Nolte (21 November 1779 – 1856) – German-Italian merchant, Prussian consul in New Orleans

Charles Lallemand (23 June 1774 – 9 March 1839) – Napoleonic cavalry general living in Louisiana

Josephine Lauret (March 1796 – 1826 or later) – American-born wife of Louis Lauret

Marie Villard (c. 1784 – 27 October 1833) – New Orleans-born free mulatto, common-law wife (placée) of Jean Laffite’s brother Pierre

Catherine (Catiche) Villard (c. 1793 – 2 July 1858) – Sister of Marie Villard, mistress of Jean Laffite

Reynard de Laferrière (? – ?): New Orleans doctor

Rose (actual name unknown, before 1795 – ?) – Slave of Nicolas Girod

Marie Laveau Paris (10 September 1794 or 1801 – 15 June 1881) – New Orleans Voudou (voodoo) priestess

Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes (14 September 1773 – 22 April 1822) – Napoleonic cavalry general living in Alabama

Narcisse Rigaud (20 May 1794 – before 1846) – Napoleonic captain living in Louisiana

Antonia Rigaud (before 1805 – 1 September 1871) – Sister of Narcisse Rigaud

Joseph Bonaparte (7 January 1768 – 28 July 1844) – Brother of Napoleon

John Quincy Adams (11 July 1767 – 23 February 1848) – US Secretary of State

Jean-Guillaume Hyde de Neuville (24 January 1776 – 28 May 1857) – French minister to the United States

Louis Mailliard (22 May 1795 – 1872) – Joseph Bonaparte’s secretary

Joseph Archambault (22 August 1796 – 3 July 1874) – Joseph Bonaparte’s groom

Charles Stewart (28 July 1778 – 6 November 1869)– United States Navy officer, neighbor of Joseph Bonaparte

Delia Stewart (8 January 1787 – 7 September 1861) – Wife of Charles Stewart

Henry Clay (12 April 1777 – 29 June 1852) – Former United States senator, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, from Kentucky

Nicholas Biddle (8 January 1786 – 27 February 1844) – Philadelphia lawyer, director of the Second Bank of the United States, neighbor of Joseph Bonaparte

Jane Biddle (6 April 1793 – 11 August 1856) – Wife of Nicholas Biddle

Joseph Hopkinson (12 November 1770 – 15 January 1842) – Philadelphia lawyer, former congressman, neighbor of Joseph Bonaparte

Emily Hopkinson (1774 – 11 December 1850) – Wife of Joseph Hopkinson

Elizabeth Hopkinson (6 January 1800 – 20 September 1891) – Daughter of Joseph and Emily Hopkinson

Charles Ingersoll (3 October 1782 – 14 May 1862) – United States District Attorney for Pennsylvania, former congressman, neighbor of Joseph Bonaparte

Stephen Girard (20 May 1750 – 26 December 1831) – French-born American businessman and banker, friend of Joseph Bonaparte

Henri Lallemand (17 October 1777 – 15 September 1823) – Napoleonic artillery general living in Philadelphia, brother of Charles Lallemand

Henriette Lallemand (21 June 1802 – 26 July 1880) – Wife of Henri Lallemand, niece of Stephen Girard

Simon Bernard (28 April 1779 – 5 November 1839) – Napoleonic engineering general serving with the United States Army

Dorothea von Lieven (17 December 1785 – 27 January 1857) – Wife of the Russian minister to England, lover of Clemens von Metternich

Henri, Duke of Bordeaux (29 September 1820 – 24 August 1883) – Grandson of the Count of Artois, nephew of the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême, heir presumptive to the French throne

Louise d’Artois (21 September 1819 – 1 February 1864) – Granddaughter of the Count of Artois, niece of the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême, sister of Henri, Duke of Bordeaux

Maurice Dietrichstein (19 February 1775 – 27 August 1864) – Governor of the Duke of Reichstadt

Caroline Augusta (8 February 1792 – 9 February 1873) – Empress consort of Austria, wife of Francis I

Franz Karl (17 December 1802 – 8 March 1878): Archduke of Austria, son of Francis I

Lucien Bonaparte (21 May 1775 – 29 June 1840) – Brother of Napoleon

Pierre-François Réal (28 March 1757 – 7 May 1834) – Napoleon’s former internal security advisor, former chief of police of Paris, living in New York State

Jean Pichon (c. 1777 – ?) – Pierre-François Réal’s secretary

Jean-Baptiste Norau (c. 1783 – ?) – Petitioner from Saint-Constant, Quebec

Charlotte (Lolotte) Napoléone Bonaparte (31 October 1802 – 2 March 1839) – Daughter of Joseph Bonaparte

Adam Adalbert, Count von Neipperg (8 April 1775 – 22 February 1829) – Grand Master of the Court of Parma, lover of Napoleon’s wife, Marie Louise

Jacques Laffitte (24 October 1767 – 26 May 1844) – French banker

Jerome (Bo) Patterson Bonaparte (7 July 1805 – 17 June 1870) – Son of Napoleon’s brother Jérôme and Elizabeth Patterson

Elizabeth (Betsy) Patterson Bonaparte (6 February 1785 – 4 April 1879) – American-born first wife of Napoleon’s brother Jérôme

Louisa Adams (12 February 1775 – 15 May 1852) – Wife of John Quincy Adams

René Savary, Duke of Rovigo (26 April 1774 – 2 June 1833) – Napoleonic general

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834) – French aristocrat, military officer, opposition member of the Chamber of Deputies

Maximilien Sébastien Foy (3 February 1775 – 28 November 1825) – Napoleonic general, opposition member of the Chamber of Deputies

Sebastien (Bastien) Wagner (c. 1785 – ?) – Lafayette’s valet

George Schumph (c. 1795 – ?) – Quebec-born master-at-arms of Jean Laffite’s brother Pierre

Jean-Pierre Piat (6 June 1774 – 12 April 1862) – Napoleonic general

Jacques(?) Saint-Victor (? – ?) – Napoleonic captain of the Imperial Guard, Parisian restaurateur

Michel Vitez (c. 1788 – ?) – Napoleonic captain of the Polish Lancers

Antoine Dubroc (? – ?) – Member of the Parisian National Guard

Barthélemy Bacheville (c. 1780 – 27 February 1833) – Napoleonic captain of the Imperial Guard

Pierre Viriot (20 September 1773 – 10 June 1860) – Napoleonic officer

Louis-Joseph Oudart (? – ?) – Napoleonic officer living in Louisiana

Jean Joseph Amable Humbert (25 November, 1755 or 22 August 1767 – 3 January 1823) – Napoleonic general living in New Orleans

James Bowie (10 April 1796 – 6 March 1836) – Land speculator, slave trader, business associate of Jean Laffite, from Kentucky

Guy Delavau (1 July 1787 – 9 March 1874) – Prefect of police of Paris

Joseph de Villèle (14 April 1773 – 13 March 1854) – Prime Minister of France

George Canning (11 April 1770 – 8 August 1827) – Foreign Secretary of Great Britain

James Monroe (28 April 1758 – 4 July 1831) – President of the United States

John C. Calhoun (18 March 1782 – 31 March 1850) – United States Secretary of War

Benjamin Milam (20 October 1788 – 7 December 1835) – Soldier, entrepreneur, from Kentucky

Arnaud Texier de la Pommeraye (3 September 1768 – 30 November 1843) – Napoleonic officer living in Philadelphia

Gaspard Philibert (? – ?) – Indian interpreter

Dehahuit (? – March 1833) – Caddo Indian chief

John (Duwali) Bowles (c. 1756 – 16 July 1839) – Cherokee Indian chief

José Félix Trespalacios (1781 – 4 August 1835) – Governor of Texas

José Francisco Ruiz (28 January 1783 – 19 January 1840) – Mexican revolutionary, Indian administrator

Francisco Maynes (5 November 1761 – September 1834) – Chaplain of Presidio San Antonio de Béxar

Baron de Bastrop (23 November 1759 – 23 February 1827) – Dutchman on the San Antonio ayuntamiento

Josiah Bell (22 August 1791 – 17 May 1838) – Austin colonist on the Brazos River

Charles Fabvier (10 December 1782 – 14 September 1855) – Napoleonic officer

Louis Vallin (16 August 1770 – 25 December 1854) – French general

Duke of Belluno (7 December 1764 – 1 March 1841) – French Minister of War

Francisco García (? – 1834) – Commanding officer of Presidio La Bahía

Stephen Austin (3 November 1793 – 27 December 1836) – American empresario settling colonists in Texas

Achille Murat (21 January 1801 – 15 April 1847) – Son of Napoleon’s sister Caroline

José Antonio Díaz de León (1786 or 1787 – 4 November 1834) – Franciscan cleric, administrator of the Texas missions

Felipe de la Garza (before 1798 – 3 July 1832) – Mexican brigadier