Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II (November 5, 1830 – September 3, 1893) was a French-American military officer who served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and later in the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

. He was a member of the American branch of the Bonaparte family.

Early life

He was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

on November 5, 1830. He was the eldest son of the French-American Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte (1805–1870) and his wife, the former Susan May Williams (1812–1881). His younger brother was Charles Joseph Bonaparte, who served as the

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

and

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

under

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. His paternal grandparents were Jérôme Bonaparte, who reigned as King of Westphalia from 1807 to 1813, and his first wife, the American socialite and successful businesswoman Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte. Through his grandfather, he was the grandnephew of Emperor

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, who died in 1821. His maternal grandparents were Sarah ( née Copeland) Morton Williams and Benjamin Williams, who helped found the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first railroad company in the United States. Bonaparte entered the United States Military Academy at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

in 1848 and graduated 11th in the Class of 1852.

Career

Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and served in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

with the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen. Bonaparte resigned from the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

in August 1854 to serve in the army of his first cousin-once-removed, Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

. A few weeks later, he was commissioned as a lieutenant of dragoons in the

. He fought in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, the Italian campaign, and the Franco-Prussian War, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.Allen Johnson (dir.), ''

Dictionary of American Biography The ''Dictionary of American Biography'' was published in New York City by Charles Scribner's Sons under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). History The dictionary was first proposed to the Council in 1920 by hi ...

'', Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 10 + 1 + 1 volumes, 1937–1964, volume 1 (Abbe — Brazer), 660 pages + 613 pages, entry « Bonaparte, Jerome Napoleon » (1830–1893) page 429 (part 2 of volume 1 : Barsotti — Brazer) by T. M. S. (Thomas Marshall Spaulding). For his services, he was the recipient of the decoration of the Medjidie Order from

Abdulmejid I Abdulmejid I ( ota, عبد المجيد اول, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i evvel, tr, I. Abdülmecid; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the r ...

, the Sultan of Turkey, the

Crimea Medal The Crimea Medal was a campaign medal approved on 15 December 1854, for issue to officers and men of British units (land and naval) which fought in the Crimean War of 1854–56 against Russia. The medal was awarded with the British version of th ...

from the Queen of England, and was made a knight of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. Following the Siege of Paris, Bonaparte left the French Army and returned home to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

.Macartney, Charles Edward, and Dorrance, Gordon, '' The Bonapartes in America'', Dorrance and Company, Philadelphia, 1939.

Personal life

Upon his return to the United States, he married Caroline Le Roy Appleton Edgar (1840–1911), daughter of Samuel and Julia Appleton, and widow of Newbold Edgar. Caroline was also the granddaughter of American statesman,

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison ...

. Together, they were the parents of two children: * Louise-Eugénie Bonaparte (1873–1923), who married Count Adam Carl von Moltke-Huitfeld (1864–1944) in 1896 and had issue. * Jerome Napoleon Charles Bonaparte (1878–1945), who married Blanche Pierce Strebeigh, daughter of Edward and Emily Pierce of

Newtonville, Massachusetts Newtonville is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Geography Newtonville is a predominantly residential neighborhood. It is divided into two parts by the Massachusetts Turnp ...

, and former wife of Harold Strebeigh of

Hewlett, New York Hewlett is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 6,819 at the 2010 census. Hewlett is usually included as one of the Five Towns in th ...

, in 1914, no issue. Had his family not been excluded, he would have been first in line to the Bonaparte succession from 1873, and would have succeeded in 1879. Bonaparte died on September 3, 1893, in Prides Crossing, Massachusetts.

Legacy

His letters from

Fort Inge Fort Inge was a frontier fort in Uvalde County, Texas, United States. History Established as Camp Leona on March 13, 1849, Fort Inge was garrisoned intermittently until March 19, 1869. The fort served as a base for United States Army troops assign ...

and Fort Ewell have been preserved by the

Maryland Historical Society The Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC), formerly the Maryland Historical Society (MdHS), . founded on March 1, 1844, is the oldest cultural institution in the U.S. state of Maryland. The organization "collects, preserves, and inte ...

References

External links

*
Career profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonaparte, Jerome Napoleon Ii 1830 births 1893 deaths Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II United States Army officers French military personnel of the Crimean War French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II American people of Corsican descent American expatriates in France Officiers of the Légion d'honneur United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Baltimore Patterson family of Maryland