Ajaccio, Corse, Corsica

( video 1997, Corse ). Ajaccio is located on the west coast of the island of Corsica, 210 nautical miles (390 km) southeast of Marseille. It occupies a sheltered position at the foot of wooded hills on the northern shore of the Gulf of Ajaccio. The harbour lies to the east of the foundation site at the original citadel on a hill overlooking a peninsula protecting the harbor on the south, where now are located the Quai de la Citadelle and the Jettée de la Citadelle. The modern city not only encloses the entire harbor but takes up the better part of the Gulf of Ajaccio and in suburban form extends for some miles up the valley of the Gravona River. The flow from that river is nearly entirely consumed as the city's water supply.
Ostensibly Napoleon Bonaparte (Nabulion Buonaparte) was born at Ajaccio in the same year as the Battle of Ponte Novu, 1769. The Bonapartes at the time had a modest four-story home in town (now a museum) and a rarely used country home in the hills north of the city (now site of the Arboretum des Milelli). The father of the family, attorney Charles-Marie Buonaparte, was secretary to Pasquali Paoli during the golden years of the republic.

After the defeat of Paoli the Comte de Marbeuf began to meet with some leading Corsicans to outline the shape of the future and enlist their assistance. Charles was among a delegation from Ajaccio in 1769, offered his loyalty and was appointed assessor.

Marbeuf also offered Charles-Marie one appointment for one of his sons to the Military College of Brienne, but the child must be under 10. There is a dispute concerning Napoleon's age because of this requirement; the emperor is known to have altered the civic records at Ajaccio concerning himself and it is possible that he was born in Corte in 1768 when his father was there on business. In any case Napoleon went to Brienne 1779-1784.[10]

At Brienne Napoleon concentrated on studies. He wrote a boyish history of Corsica. He did not share his father's views but held Pasquale Paoli in high esteem and was at heart a Corsican nationalist. The top students were encouraged to go into the artillery. After graduation and a brief sojourn at the Military School of Paris Napoleon applied for second-lieutenancy in the artillery regiment of La Fère at Valence and after a time was given the position. Meanwhile his father died and his mother was cast into poverty in Corsica, still having four children to support. Her only income was Napoleon's meagre salary.

The regiment was in Auxonne when the revolution broke out in the summer of 1789. Napoleon returned on leave to Ajaccio in October, became a Jacobin and began to work for the revolution. The National Assembly in Paris united Corsica to France and pardoned its exiles. Paoli returning in 1790 after 21 years kissed the soil on which he stood. He and Napoleon met and toured the battlefield of Paoli's defeat. A national assembly at Orezza created the department of Corsica and Paoli was subsequently elected president. He commanded the national guard raised by Napoleon. After a brief return to his regiment Napoleon was promoted to First Lieutenant and came home again on leave in 1791. The death of a rich uncle relieved the family's poverty.

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• Ajaccio
• Corsica
• Korsika

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