Empire's Eagles: The Fate of the Napoleonic Elite in America

The never-before told story of how Napoleon's top brass escaped to America after Waterloo. Empire's Eagles is colorful, new, and an effectively unknown chapter in American history. In its center is the mystery of whether Napoleon's "Bravest of the brave," Marshal Ney, cheated a firing squad to escape under an alias and reinvent himself in America. At sunset on June 18, 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte was in desperate flight from the battlefield at Waterloo. Racing to reach Paris, he abandoned on the road his armored coach and Imperial necessaire containing a fortune in precious gems and cash. Would he stand and fight again or flee to the United States of America? On the run and with his options dwindling by the day, Napoleon came within one hour of secretly slipping to America on a Baltimore privateer with the active collusion of the United States consul in Bordeaux. Empire's Eagles tells the details of this story for the first time ever.

About the Author :
Thomas E. Crocker is the author of Braddock's March: How the Man Sent To Seize a Continent Changed American History, which received the 2011 Distinguished Book Award from both the New York and District of Columbia Societies of Colonial Wars. Mr. Crocker is currently a member of the Cox Book Prize committee of the Society of the Cincinnati and of the Distinguished Book Prize committee of the General Society of Colonial Wars. In addition to being a published historian, the author is an honors graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School. For over 40 years he was a partner in a major national law firm and a U.S. diplomat. He lives in Washington, DC.

Review :
“A long-overdue look at the fate of the great French high command after their humiliation at Waterloo. Of particular interest is the little-known effort of Napoleon I to flee to America—to found a new state! Crocker has fashioned a must-read tale of intrigue and adventure for all Franco-American history lovers.” —Harlow Giles Unger, author of Thomas Paine and the Clarion Call for American Independence "Crocker’s Empire's Eagles is a gripping, eye-opening account of a little-known but important consequence of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo: the surprisingly large number of high-ranking military men and other Bonapartists who came to the United States—and the mystery surrounding the fate Marshal Michel Ney, one of Napoleon’s top generals. This is an engagingly written, deeply researched and valuable story of the Early American Republic. Highly recommended.” —Marc Leepson, author of Lafayette: Idealist General, Flag: An American Biography, and Saving Monticello “Empire’s Eagles vividly reassembles the lives of great men whose world shattered at Waterloo. Tom Crocker follows them as they flee the cordite haze of the battlefield, elude vindictive Bourbon agents, and venture into the dank forests of frontier Alabama and the contested wilds of Texas. His bold story sheds new light on connections between the fall of the Napoleonic empire and the rise of the American empire.” —Gregory May, author of Jefferson’s Treasure: How Albert Gallatin Saved the New Nation from Debt "Gripping. Crocker’s case on Marshal Ney/Peter Stuart Ney is well done." —Dr. Larrie D. Ferreiro, author of the 2017 Pulitzer finalistBrothers at Arms