2025-10-05 Sunday: 2.1.14 ; Cosette / Waterloo / The Last Square (Cosette / Waterloo / Le dernier carré)
All quotations and characters names from 2.1.14: The Last Square / Le dernier carré
(Quotations from the text are always italicized, even when “in quotation marks”, to distinguish them from quotations from other sources.)
Summary courtesy u/Honest_Ad_2157: Reports of his death, / particularly Hugo's, / exaggerated.
Characters
Involved in action
- Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo, Victor Hugo, historical person and author of this book, b.1802-02-26 – d.1885-05-22, “a French Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician”. Breaking narrative wall in the chapter and addressing reader directly. Last seen doing this prior chapter.
Mentioned or introduced
- Battle of Waterloo (French Wikipedia entry), by the metonym Waterloo, historical event, 1815-06-18, Napoleon and forces of French Empire defeated by the Seventh Coalition, marking the start of the end of the Hundred Days. Last mentioned prior chapter.
- French Imperial Guard, Garde Impériale, historical institution, "the imperial guard formation of the French Imperial Army. Under the direct command of Napoleon, the formation expanded considerably over time and acted as his personal bodyguard and tactical reserve. The Imperial Guard was divided into a general staff and infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments along with battalions of sappers and marines. It distinguished between experienced veterans and less experienced members by being separated into three formations: the Old Guard, Middle Guard and Young Guard." The Old Guard was in reserve behind Napoleon. Last mention 2 chapters ago.
- Battles of Ulm, Wagram, Jena, Friedland, all French victories
- Pierre Jacques Étienne, 1st Viscount Cambronne (French Wikipedia entry), historical person, b.1770-12-26 – d.1842-01-29, "general of the First French Empire. A main strategist of the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, he was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo...The exact circumstances of his surrender to the British are disputed. At the battle's conclusion, Cambronne was commanding the last carré (section) of the Old Guard when General Colville called on him to surrender. According to a journalist named Rougement, Cambronne replied: "La garde meurt mais ne se rend pas!" ("The Guard dies but does not surrender!"). These words were often repeated and put on the base of a statue of Cambronne in Nantes after his death. Other sources reported that Colville insisted and ultimately Cambronne replied with one word: "Merde!" (literally, "Shit!", figuratively, "Go to hell!") This version of the reply became famous in its own right, becoming known as le mot de Cambronne ("the word of Cambronne") and repeated in Victor Hugo's account of Waterloo in his novel Les Misérables[3] and in Edmond Rostand's play L'Aiglon. The name Cambronne was later used as a polite euphemism ("What a load of old Cambronne!") and sometimes even as a verb, "cambronniser". Cambronne always denied both Rougement's account and the one-word response, stating that he could not have said such a thing and remained alive. A series of letters to The Times claimed that British Colonel Hugh Halkett, commanding the 3rd Hanoverian Brigade, captured Cambronne before he made any reply." The French Wikipedia contains much more detail, including a lawsuit that happened after the publication of Les Miserables by the family of the journalist who actually did write it, and the fact that Cambronne married the Scottish nurse who cared for him after he was injured. Colville Maitland
Prompts
These prompts are my take on things, you don’t have to address any of them. All prompts for prior cohorts are also in play. Anything else you’d like to raise is also up for discussion.
I suppose Hugo is taking the advice of the character Maxwell Scott in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." (video clip, imdb quote).
Chambronne himself, who survived the battle, denies saying it and says he could not have exclaimed, "Merde!" and lived.
Why is Hugo printing the legend?
Past cohorts' discussions
- 2019-03-24
- u/BarroomBard wrote a post that echoed my own thoughts, contrasting this mythical incidend with the well-documented "NUTS" reply of USA Gen McAuliffe to a German demand of surrender.
- 2020-03-24
- 2021-03-24
- No posts until 2.1.16 on 2022-03-26
- 2025-10-05
| Words read | WikiSource Hapgood | Gutenberg French |
|---|---|---|
| This chapter | 431 | 391 |
| Cumulative | 135,302 | 124,118 |
Final Line
Cambronne répondit: Merde!
Cambronne replied, “——.”
{EDITOR’S COMMENTARY: Another edition of this book has the word “Merde!” in lieu of the —— above.}
Next Post
- 2025-10-05 Sunday 9PM US Pacific Daylight Time
- 2025-10-06 Monday midnight US Eastern Daylight Time
- 2025-10-06 Monday 4AM UTC.
Posted Oct 5, 2025, 4:02 AM UTC