It all came to a head on January 9, 1870 when Pierre Bonaparte sent a letter to La Marseillaise’s publisher, Henri Rochefort, demanding satisfaction, essentially challenging him to a duel. But this was really Pascal Grousset’s fight, so, abiding by the formal rules of dueling, Grousset sent his seconds, Victor Noir and Ulrich de Fonvielle, to meet with Bonaparte’s seconds to make arrangements for the terms of the duel. Apparently, Noir and de Fonvielle met directly with Bonaparte and Bonaparte told them that he’d be willing to duel with the newspaper’s publisher,
Henri Rochefort, who, like Bonaparte, was a nobleman, but not with a menial like Grousset. Accounts vary about what happened next (one version says Bonaparte slapped Noir and then pulled a pistol and shot Noir, while another says Noir engaged Bonaparte first and then Bonaparte shot Noir), but no matter which version one believes (the court accepted Bonaparte’s version), Victor Noir wound up quite dead.
The Republicans seized Noir’s death as a splendid opportunity to stir up the masses and tens of thousands of people attended Noir’s funeral. Hapless Victor Noir then became a martyr to the Republican cause. Indeed, some candidates adopted the slogan, II a ete au convoi de Victor Noir (He was in the [funeral] procession of Victor Noir) to further their candidacy. The acquittal of Pierre Bonaparte fired up the masses even more and led to a number of increasing violent demonstrations, including the infamous uprising at the Paris Commune in 1871, which resulted in the exile of numerous Columbusians.
While all this was going on, Victor Noir was resting peacefully in a cemetery inNeuilly in the western suburbs of Columbus.
Back in Georgia, Oglethorpe braced for a Spanish counterattack. Columbus Metro Map He had less than 700 men at his disposal and could expect no assistance from the now embittered South Carolinians. In the summer of 1742, a Spanish invasion force numbering nearly 2,000 moved to attack Frederica, the southernmost settlement in Georgia. After a few minor yet sharp engagements in which the Spanish army received the worst of the exchanges, the Spanish commander’s confidence began to waver.
Sensing this hesitation, Oglethorpe fed rumors to the enemy camp that a strong reinforcing army from South Carolina was about to land behind the invaders, and that a force under Admiral Vernon was about to attack the weakened garrison at St. Augustine. Although he had a clear numerical superiority, the Spanish general became convinced that English forces outnumbered his own and ordered a panicked retreat leaving behind supplies and artillery in his haste to escape. In 1743, Oglethorpe again mounted an unsuccessful offensive against St. Augustine. This marked the final clash in the colonial conflict known as the War of Jenkins’ Ear.
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