Napoleon in Holland

In late September 1811, French Emperor Napoleon I visited the former Kingdom of Holland; he explained to Armand-Augusti-Louis de Caulaincourt his goals: a blockade of trade with Britain, to form a government, and ordering the "Routes impériales".

[1] Napoleon wanted to control every seaport in the area and on 16 March 1810 Bouches-de-l'Escaut and Bouches-du-Rhin became part of the First French Empire.

King Louis Bonaparte opposed his older brother when Napoleon's troops were not only occupying the coast but went more inland.

The Dutch departments were incorporated in the French Empire by decree on 9 July;[2] "with Imperial coastguards, customs and police allowed to operate the smuggling staunched at last.

Until 17 November 1813, Charles-François Lebrun served as governor-general of Holland, reorganising its departements to be more efficient and law impartial.

The latter was responsible for the "Aperçu sur la Hollande", published in the end of April 1813, full with statistics and details.

He was accompanied with 75 people and by General Dirk van Hogendorp, who would later become governor of Königsberg, Vilnius, Breslau, and Hamburg (and mentioned as one of the few in Napoleon's will).

Vice-Admiral Jan Willem de Winter, who later would be buried in the Panthéon, accompanied him to Texel, and discussed the possibilities to keep the British away from the Dutch coast.

In The Hague he met with Cornelis Felix van Maanen, the president of the Imperial High Court and responsible for introducing the Napoleonic Code in the Netherlands.