Brigadier Gerard
Encyclopedia
Brigadier Gerard is the hero of a series of comic short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle
. The hero, Etienne Gerard, is a Hussar
in the French Army
during the Napoleonic Wars
. Gerard's most notable attribute is his vanity - he is utterly convinced that he is the bravest soldier, greatest swordsman, accomplished horseman and gallant lover in all France. Gerard is not entirely wrong since he displays notable bravery on many occasions, but his self-satisfaction undercuts this quite often. Obsessed with honour and glory, he is always ready with a stirring speech or a gallant remark to a lady.
Conan Doyle, in making his hero a vain, and often rather uncomprehending Frenchman, was able to satirise both the stereotypical English view of the French, and - by presenting them from Gerard's baffled point of view - English manners and attitudes.
. We discover that he was born in Gascony
in the early 1780s (he is 25 in "How the Brigadier Captured Saragossa
"); in "How the Brigadier Rode to Minsk" he attends a review of troops about to depart for the Crimea
(1854-5), and this is the last identifiable date in his life, although "The Last Adventure" has a still later setting, with Gerard about to return to his Gascon homeland. He first joins the 2nd Hussars - the Hussars of Chamberan - around 1799, serving as a Lieutenant
and Junior Captain. He first sees action at Marengo
in Italy
in 1800. He transfers to the 3rd Hussars of Conflans in 1807 as a Senior Captain. He speaks somewhat idiosyncratic English, having learned it from an officer in the Irish Regiment of the French Army. By 1810 he is Colonel
of the 2nd Hussars. He serves in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Russia. He is awarded the Grand-Cross of the Légion d'honneur
by Napoleon
in 1814. There are various discrepancies in the accounts of his life, not the least that in none of the stories except the last is he married.
Conan Doyle enthusiasts have noted that Gerard is modeled on the real life Baron Jean Baptiste Antoine Marcellin de Marbot a noted French light cavalry officer during the Napoleonic Wars..
The fictional Brigadier is not to be confused with the real Napoleonic officer Étienne Maurice Gérard
(1777–1852), who rose to become a Marshal
, and later Prime Minister
of France.
magazine between December 1894 and September 1903. They were later issued in two volumes as The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard in February 1896, and The Adventures of Gerard in September 1903. Some of the titles were changed on re-publication. The last story The Marriage of the Brigadier was published in September 1910. All the stories were published in The Complete Brigadier Gerard in 1995, which includes the story A Foreign Office Romance (1894) - a precursor to the stories, but not actually featuring Gerard.
Although rare, the Brigadier Gerard stories are still in print. Twin Engine Publishing HB, Barnes & Noble Books, Echo Library and The New York Review of Books
classics are some contemporary publishers. In May 2008, Penguin Classics will publish the complete short stories as The Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard as part of their Read Red series.
about Brigadier Gerard at NPR.
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
. The hero, Etienne Gerard, is a Hussar
Hussar
Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
in the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. Gerard's most notable attribute is his vanity - he is utterly convinced that he is the bravest soldier, greatest swordsman, accomplished horseman and gallant lover in all France. Gerard is not entirely wrong since he displays notable bravery on many occasions, but his self-satisfaction undercuts this quite often. Obsessed with honour and glory, he is always ready with a stirring speech or a gallant remark to a lady.
Conan Doyle, in making his hero a vain, and often rather uncomprehending Frenchman, was able to satirise both the stereotypical English view of the French, and - by presenting them from Gerard's baffled point of view - English manners and attitudes.
Biography
Gerard tells the stories from the point of view of an old man now living in retirement in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. We discover that he was born in Gascony
Gascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
in the early 1780s (he is 25 in "How the Brigadier Captured Saragossa
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
"); in "How the Brigadier Rode to Minsk" he attends a review of troops about to depart for the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
(1854-5), and this is the last identifiable date in his life, although "The Last Adventure" has a still later setting, with Gerard about to return to his Gascon homeland. He first joins the 2nd Hussars - the Hussars of Chamberan - around 1799, serving as a Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
and Junior Captain. He first sees action at Marengo
Battle of Marengo (1800)
The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1800. He transfers to the 3rd Hussars of Conflans in 1807 as a Senior Captain. He speaks somewhat idiosyncratic English, having learned it from an officer in the Irish Regiment of the French Army. By 1810 he is Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
of the 2nd Hussars. He serves in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Russia. He is awarded the Grand-Cross of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
by Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
in 1814. There are various discrepancies in the accounts of his life, not the least that in none of the stories except the last is he married.
Conan Doyle enthusiasts have noted that Gerard is modeled on the real life Baron Jean Baptiste Antoine Marcellin de Marbot a noted French light cavalry officer during the Napoleonic Wars..
The fictional Brigadier is not to be confused with the real Napoleonic officer Étienne Maurice Gérard
Étienne Maurice Gérard
Étienne Maurice Gérard, comte Gérard was a French general and statesman. He served under a succession of French governments including the ancien regime monarchy, the Revolutionary governments, the Restorations, the July Monarchy, the First and Second Republics, and the First Empire , becoming...
(1777–1852), who rose to become a Marshal
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
, and later Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of France.
The stories
The stories were originally published in The StrandStrand Magazine
The Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues, though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890.Its immediate...
magazine between December 1894 and September 1903. They were later issued in two volumes as The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard in February 1896, and The Adventures of Gerard in September 1903. Some of the titles were changed on re-publication. The last story The Marriage of the Brigadier was published in September 1910. All the stories were published in The Complete Brigadier Gerard in 1995, which includes the story A Foreign Office Romance (1894) - a precursor to the stories, but not actually featuring Gerard.
Although rare, the Brigadier Gerard stories are still in print. Twin Engine Publishing HB, Barnes & Noble Books, Echo Library and The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
classics are some contemporary publishers. In May 2008, Penguin Classics will publish the complete short stories as The Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard as part of their Read Red series.
The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard
| Title | Published | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| How The Brigadier Won His Medal (The Medal Of Brigadier Gerard) | December 1894 | France, March 1814. Brigadier Gerard is sent by Napoleon Napoleon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815... with an important message, via enemy territory, and only narrowly avoids capture by marauding Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... n and Prussian Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire... troops. |
| How The Brigadier Held The King | April 1895 | Spain, July 1810. Brigadier Gerard is captured by Spanish partisans Partisan (military) A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity... , but is saved from certain death by the British. |
| How The King Held The Brigadier | May 1895 | England, August 1810. Brigadier Gerard mounts an escape from Dartmoor Prison Dartmoor (HM Prison) HM Prison Dartmoor is a Category C men's prison, located in Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. Its high granite walls dominate this area of the moor... , and is initiated in the mysteries of pugilism Boxing Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds... . |
| How The Brigadier Slew The Brothers Of Ajaccio Ajaccio Ajaccio , is a commune on the island of Corsica in France. It is the capital and largest city of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud.... |
June 1895 | Paris, late 1807. Brigadier Gerard assists Napoleon in a vendetta Feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another... . |
| How The Brigadier Came To The Castle Of Gloom | July 1895 | Poland, February 1807. While on a mission to procure horses Brigadier Gerard becomes involved in an affair of honour. |
| How The Brigadier Took The Field Against The Marshal Millefleurs | August 1895 | Spain, March 1811. Brigadier Gerard finds himself temporarily allied with the English against a notorious brigand. |
| How The Brigadier Was Tempted By The Devil | September 1895 | Paris, April 1814. Brigadier Gerard and Napoleon carry out a secret mission. |
| How The Brigadier Played For A Kingdom | December 1895 | Germany, March 1813. Germany. Brigadier Gerard encounters German nationalists and a deceitful woman. |
The Adventures of Gerard
| Title | Published | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| How The Brigadier Slew The Fox (The Crime Of The Brigadier) | January 1900 | Portugal, December 1810. While on a reconnaissance behind British lines Brigadier Gerard inadvertently joins a fox-hunt Fox hunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current... with unpardonable results. |
| How The Brigadier Bore Himself At Waterloo (The Brigadier At Waterloo) | ||
| I. The Adventure of the Forest Inn | January 1902 | Belgium, 18 June 1815. While delivering an important message Brigadier Gerard finds himself trapped in enemy territory. |
| II. The Prussian Horsemen | February 1902 | Belgium, 18 June 1815. On the retreat from Waterloo Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands... Gerard decoys the enemy allowing Bonaparte to escape. |
| How Brigadier Gerard Lost His Ear | August 1902 | Venice, c.1805. Colonel Gerard gets involved with a lovely lady and some murderous Italians. |
| How The Brigadier Saved The Army | November 1902 | Spain, March 1811. Brigadier Gerard has another unpleasant encounter with Spanish partisans Partisan (military) A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity... . |
| How The Brigadier Rode To Minsk | December 1902 | Russia, November 1812. On the retreat from Moscow Brigadier Gerard is sent collect food from a depot. A lovely woman and a murderous Cossack intervene. |
| How The Brigadier Triumphed In England (The Brigadier In England)" | March 1903 | England, October 1810. Brigadier Gerard shows the English how to box and fight a duel Duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among... . |
| "How The Brigadier Captured Saragossa Zaragoza Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain... (How The Brigadier Joined The Hussars Of Conflans)" |
April 1903 | Spain, 1807. Lieutenant Gerard infiltrates a besieged town carry out a dangerous mission. |
| The Last Adventure Of The Brigadier (How Etienne Gerard Said Goodbye To His Master) | May 1903 | 1821. Brigadier Gerard takes a sea-voyage and hatches a plan to rescue Napoleon from St. Helena. |
Other stories
| Title | Published | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Marriage Of The Brigadier | September 1910 | France, 1802. Gerard has an unfortunate encounter with a fierce bull which results in a proposal of marriage. (This story was too late to be included in the first two collections but is included in The Complete Brigadier Gerard.) |
| A Foreign Office Romance | November 1894 | England, October 1801. A resourceful French agent ensures that the Treaty of Amiens Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended hostilities between the French Republic and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 , by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"... is signed on favourable terms. (This is not a Gerard story but clearly prefigures the series in structure, character and theme, for this reason it is included in The Complete Brigadier Gerard.) |
| Uncle Bernac | 1897 | France, 1805. Gerard appears as a major character in this short novel, which deals with the return of an exiled French aristocrat. Its details, however, are not consistent with those of other Gerard stories; for instance, Gerard is a lieutenant of the 1st Hussars, a regiment in which none of the other stories describe him as having served. It is stated at the end that Gerard married Sibylle, daughter of the eponymous Uncle Bernac, many years after the events described in the novel, but this is not referred to in other stories. Uncle Bernac does not appear in The Complete Brigadier Gerard. |
Sources
- The Complete Brigadier Gerard, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with an Introduction by Owen Dudley Edwards, Canongate Books Ltd., Edinburgh. 1995. ISBN 0-86241-534-9
- The Great Shadow: Arthur Conan Doyle, Brigadier Gerard and Napoleon, Clifford Goldfarb, Calabash Press. Ashcroft, BC, Canada. 1997. ISBN 1-889562-30-3
External links
Michael ChabonMichael Chabon
Michael Chabon born May 24, 1963) is an American author and "one of the most celebrated writers of his generation", according to The Virginia Quarterly Review....
about Brigadier Gerard at NPR.
- The Adventures of Gerard at Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
- The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard at Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...