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Re: Les Forceurs de blocus

From: Jan Rychlík <jan.rychlik~at~seznam.cz>
Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 22:22:33 +0200 (CEST)
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Cc:

No less acurately Verne described the US warship Iroquois, and well presented General Beauregard as the military commander of Charleston (Beauregard is well known for the bombardement of Ft. Sumter at the beginning of the American Civil War but then he disappears from general knowledge). Still, Verne is mistaken in attributing a mission in European seas to USS Iroquois ("I think I saw the ship several times near Liverpool" says Mathew in the Chapter V. of LES FORCEURS DE BLOCUS).

If Verne's sources for geographic description were accurate, it is much different in the case of facts from history. But European newspapers (the only possible souurce for LES FORCEURS DE BLOCUS) were usually imprecise (see the vaste number of killed soldiers by "one" artillery projectile in chapter I of DE LA TERRE A LA LUNE). However, later books could not have

been that much better. We know that Verne read two, in NORD CONTRE SUD he gives his source as Louis Philippe Albert d'Orléans, Comte de Paris' (aide-de-camp of General McClellan) "Histoire de la Guerre civile en Amérique" (1874-1889, eight volumes!) and he also delivered a speech reviewing "Histoire de la Guerre civile, 1861-1865" (1867) by L. Cortambert and F. de Tranaltos.

The latter perhaps provided source for the initiating plot of L'ILE MYSTERIEUSE. Then it could not be considered too reliable. The truth is, that it to say, that the ballon was unnecessary in escaping Richmond, because the city was never besieged. (General Lee with his army, the President of CSA with his cabinet as well as many citizens evacauated the city on April 3, two weeks after Cyrus Smith's party escape.)

I would like to reveal more about Verne's sources for the Civil War history. Therefore I ask, whether the 1868 speach on the books by Cortambert and Tranaltos is available from Nantes of Amiens archives. Thanks for information.

Jan Rychlik


================= Původní zpráva =================
Od (From): "Ian Thompson" <ithompson~at~geog.gla.ac.uk>
Komu (To): "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Kopie (Cc):
Předmět (Subject): Les Forceurs de blocus
Datum (Date): 20. 8. 2004 10:40
==================================================

> Having checked out Verne's description of Glasgow in les Forceurs de blocus,
> I recently visited Charleston, South Carolina, to verify the "other end" of
> the adventure i.e. Charleston Harbour. As usual, Verne's account of both the
> physical and man-made features is totally accurate. Only in one respect
> would Verne have to alter the plot if he were writing now. James Playfair
> shakes off the pursuers of the Dolphin by heading towards the Morris Island
> Channel (South of Fort Sumter) and then at the last minute diverted to the
> Sullivan Island Channel to the North of Fort Sumter. This ruse could no
> longer be employed. In order to improve access to Charleston Harbour for
> military purposes during the First and Second World Wars, the Main Channel
> was dredged and the sand deposited between Morris Island and Fort Sumter. As
> a result, the Morris Island Channel no longer exists as a navigable route
> and at low tide Fort Sumter is joined to Morris Island by a sand bar.
> Most of the features included by Verne are still evident...the main
> exception is that the Citadel in which Jonathan Halliburtt was imprisoned
> was abandoned and repositioned further inland on the peninsula. Given the
> accuracy of Verne's account of the setting of the novel it would be
> fascinating to know what sources (almost certainly including maps) he
> employed. At present I am constructing a map of Charleston as presented in
> the novel drawing on materials from the 1860s. Incidentally,
> as our American colleagues will know, Charleston is well worth a visit
> irrespective of the Verne connection.
> Ian Thompson.
>

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Received on Sat 21 Aug 2004 - 23:22:41 IDT

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