Once he had decided to marry Josephine, Napoleon's first task was to get out of his engagement with Desiree. As soon as the thought of marriage entered his mind, he started distancing himself from Desiree. The ending of a letter to Joseph in November is eloquent: he merely sent his regards to Desiree, no longer referring to her as 'Eugenie'. Once his mind was definitely made up, in January 1796, he informed Desiree that unless she got the consent of her family immediately, they must end their engagement. This was Machiavellian, for he knew perfectly well that Madame Clary opposed the match on grounds of her daughter's youth and would withhold her consent while she was still a minor. The next Desiree knew was the announcement that her beloved was married.
Josephine needed a powerful protector and she needed money, and General Bonaparte proved to fit the bill under both circumstance. By this time, Barras was becoming tired of josephine and thought that an ingenious solution would be to get rid of her on to Napoleon, so that his two proteges would be bound to each other by sex and to him by gratitude. Yet it was Josephine who took the decision, and the deciding factor seems to have been her old lover Lazare Hoche.
Having defeated the Vendee rebels, Hoche returned to Paris to take over command of the projected invasion of Ireland - the one which came within an ace of success in 1796. Hoche stayed on in Paris, regretting about his intemperate outburst to Josephine the year before. He did not mind sharing her with the powerful Barras. Josephine seems, would have been willing to take Hoche back. Josephine made a false move by telling Lazare she would use all her arts and influence to get him a top command. Hoche On 3 January 1796 Hoche left Paris.
Once it became clear that Josephine could never become Madame Barras, Josephine decided to marry Napoleon. Josephine begged Barras not to tell Bonaparte the true situation. Josephine felt she had a hold over Napoleon, which she never had over Barras, and only fleetingly with Hoche. On 7 February 1796 the marriage banns between Napoleon and Josephine were announced and on 9 March the wedding took place - but not before Napoleon had kept the bride waiting three hours. Barras, Tallien and her lawyer acted as the witnesses on Josephine's side, and an eighteen-year-old Army captain, Le Marois, played the role for Napoleon. Although Napoleon was twenty-six and Josephine rising thirty-three, they both declared themselves to be twenty-eight: according to the marriage certificate Josephine had been born in 1767 and Napoleon in 1768. The mayor was not present, possibly because of the wedding's extreme lateness, and the ceremony was conducted by Le Marois his assistant, who had no legal authority to do so. Moreover, as a minor could not legally be a witness.
Having defeated the Vendee rebels, Hoche returned to Paris to take over command of the projected invasion of Ireland - the one which came within an ace of success in 1796. Hoche stayed on in Paris, regretting about his intemperate outburst to Josephine the year before. He did not mind sharing her with the powerful Barras. Josephine seems, would have been willing to take Hoche back. Josephine made a false move by telling Lazare she would use all her arts and influence to get him a top command. Hoche On 3 January 1796 Hoche left Paris.
Once it became clear that Josephine could never become Madame Barras, Josephine decided to marry Napoleon. Josephine begged Barras not to tell Bonaparte the true situation. Josephine felt she had a hold over Napoleon, which she never had over Barras, and only fleetingly with Hoche. On 7 February 1796 the marriage banns between Napoleon and Josephine were announced and on 9 March the wedding took place - but not before Napoleon had kept the bride waiting three hours. Barras, Tallien and her lawyer acted as the witnesses on Josephine's side, and an eighteen-year-old Army captain, Le Marois, played the role for Napoleon. Although Napoleon was twenty-six and Josephine rising thirty-three, they both declared themselves to be twenty-eight: according to the marriage certificate Josephine had been born in 1767 and Napoleon in 1768. The mayor was not present, possibly because of the wedding's extreme lateness, and the ceremony was conducted by Le Marois his assistant, who had no legal authority to do so. Moreover, as a minor could not legally be a witness.
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