Editing Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II

{{short description|French-American soldier (1830–1893)}}
{{Infobox military person
| name              = Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II
| image             = JeromeNapoleonBonaparteII.jpg
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1830|11|5}}
| birth_place       = [[Baltimore]], Maryland, U.S.
| death_date        = {{dda|1893|9|3|1830|11|5}}
| death_place       = {{nowrap|[[Prides Crossing, Massachusetts]], U.S.}}
| allegiance        = United States<br>France
| branch            = [[United States Army]]<br>[[French Army]]
| serviceyears      = [[United States Army]] (1847&ndash;1854)<br />[[French Army]] (1854&ndash;1871)
| rank              = [[Second Lieutenant]] (US)<br />[[Lieutenant Colonel]] (France)
| unit              = Regiment of Mounted Riflemen<br />[[3rd Cavalry Regiment (United States)|3rd US Cavalry]]<br />7th (French) Dragoons <br />1st [[Chasseurs d'Afrique|African Chasseurs]]<br />[[1st Carabinier Regiment|1st Carabiniers]]<br />[[3rd Cuirassier Regiment (France)|3rd Cuirassiers]]<br />Dragoons of the Empress 
| battles       = [[French conquest of Algeria]]<br />[[Crimean War]]<br />[[Second Italian War of Independence]]<br />[[Franco-Prussian War]]
| awards        = [[Crimea Medal]]. Officer of the [[Légion d'honneur]]
}}

'''Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II''' (November 5, 1830 – September 3, 1893)<ref name="JBObit1893"/> was a French-American military officer who served in the [[United States Army]] and later in the [[French Army]]. He was a member of the American branch of the [[Bonaparte family]].<ref name=bio>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbo11 |title=Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, Jr. |access-date=2017-10-29 |encyclopedia=[[Handbook of Texas]] }}</ref>

== Early life ==
He was born in [[Baltimore, Maryland]] 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]] and [[Secretary of the Navy]] under [[Theodore Roosevelt]].<ref name="JBObit1893"/>

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]].<ref name="Deutsch2016">{{cite book |last1=Deutsch |first1=Alexandra |title=A Woman of Two Worlds: Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte |date=2016 |publisher=[[Maryland Historical Society]] |isbn=9780996594431 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AR4ljwEACAAJ |access-date=10 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Through his grandfather, he was the grandnephew of Emperor [[Napoleon]], who died in 1821.<ref name=bio/>  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.<ref name="Lester1852">{{cite book |last1=Lester |first1=Charles Edwards |last2=Williams |first2=Edwin |title=The Napoleon Dynasty: Or, The History of the Bonaparte Family. An Entirely New Work |date=1852 |publisher=Cornish, Lamport & Company |url=https://archive.org/details/napoleondynasty00willgoog |access-date=10 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

Bonaparte entered the United States Military Academy at [[United States Military Academy|West Point]] in 1847 and graduated 11th in the Class of 1852.<ref name="JBObit1893"/>

==Career==
Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and served in [[Texas]] with the [[Regiment of Mounted Riflemen]].<ref name="JBObit1893"/>

Bonaparte resigned from the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] in August 1854 to serve in the army of his first cousin-once-removed, Emperor [[Napoleon III]].  A few weeks later, he was commissioned as a lieutenant of dragoons in the [[French Army]]. He fought in the [[Crimean War]], [[Algeria]], the [[Austro-Sardinian War|Italian campaign]], and the [[Franco-Prussian War]], rising to the rank of [[lieutenant colonel]].<ref>Allen Johnson (dir.), ''[[Dictionary of American Biography]]'', 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).</ref> For his services, he was the recipient of the decoration of the [[Turkish Crimea Medal|Medjidie Order]] from [[Abdulmejid I]], the Sultan of Turkey, the [[Crimea Medal]] from Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and was made a knight of the [[Légion d'honneur]].<ref name="JBObit1893"/>

Following the [[Siege of Paris (1870–71)|Siege of Paris]], Bonaparte left the French Army and returned home to the [[United States]].<ref name="Macartney1939">Macartney, Charles Edward, and Dorrance, Gordon, ''[[The Bonapartes in America]]'', Dorrance and Company, Philadelphia, 1939.</ref>

==Personal life==
Upon his return to the United States, he married [[Caroline Le Roy Appleton|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]].  Together, they were the parents of two children:<ref name="JBObit1893">{{cite news |title=JEROME BONAPARTE DEAD.; He Was a Grand Nephew of the Great Napoleon, and Was a Distinguished Soldier. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/09/05/109706192.pdf |access-date=10 June 2019 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 September 1893}}</ref>

* [[Louise-Eugénie Bonaparte]] (February 7, 1873–January 22, 1923), who married Count [[Adam Carl von Moltke-Huitfeld]] (1864–1944) (see [[Moltke family]]) in 1896 and had issue.
* [[Jerome Napoleon Charles Bonaparte (1878–1945)|Jerome Napoleon Charles Bonaparte]] (February 26, 1878–November 10, 1945), who married Blanche Pierce Strebeigh, daughter of Edward and Emily Pierce of [[Newtonville, Massachusetts]], and former wife of Harold Strebeigh of [[Hewlett, New York]], in 1914, no issue. He [[List of unusual deaths in the 20th century|died]] after tripping over his dog's leash in Central Park.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why Did So Much of Napoleon's Family Come to America? |first=Jesse |last=Greenspan |website=[[History Channel|HISTORY]] |url=https://www.history.com/news/bonaparte-family-in-america-napoleon |access-date=20 November 2024 |publisher=[[A&E Television Networks]] |date=11 August 2023 |orig-date=Originally published 13 July 2018}}</ref>

Had his family not been excluded, he would have been first in line to the Bonaparte succession from 1873 and would have succeeded in 1891.<ref name=bio/>

Bonaparte died on September 3, 1893, in [[Prides Crossing, Massachusetts]].<ref name="JBObit1893"/>

===Legacy===
His letters from [[Fort Inge]] and [[Fort Ewell]] have been preserved by the [[Maryland Historical Society]].

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Jérôme Napoleon Bonaparte II}}
*{{Handbook of Texas|id=fbo11|name=}}
*[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/1546*.html Career profile]

{{Bonaparte family}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonaparte, Jerome Napoleon Ii}}
[[Category:1830 births]]
[[Category:1893 deaths]]
[[Category:House of Bonaparte|Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:French military personnel of the Crimean War]]
[[Category:French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War]]
[[Category:Princes of France (Bonaparte)|Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II]]
[[Category:American people of Corsican descent]]
[[Category:American expatriates in France]]
[[Category:Officers of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Baltimore]]
[[Category:Patterson family (Maryland)]]
[[Category:Burials at Loudon Park Cemetery]]