Brigadier Gerard is the hero of a series of comic short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The hero, Etienne Gerard, is a Hussar in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Gerard's most notable attribute is his vanity - he is utterly convinced that he is the bravest soldier, greatest swordsman, accomplished horseman and gallant lover in all France. Gerard is not entirely wrong since he displays notable bravery on many occasions, but his self-satisfaction undercuts this quite often. Obsessed with honour and glory, he is always ready with a stirring speech or a gallant remark to a lady.
Conan Doyle, in making his hero a vain, and often rather uncomprehending Frenchman, was able to satirise both the stereotypical English view of the French, and - by presenting them from Gerard's baffled point of view - English manners and attitudes.
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Gerard tells the stories from the point of view of an old man now living in retirement in Paris. We discover that he was born in Gascony in the early 1780s (he is 25 in "How the Brigadier Captured Saragossa"); in "How the Brigadier Rode to Minsk" he attends a review of troops about to depart for the Crimea (1854-5), and this is the last identifiable date in his life, although "The Last Adventure" has a still later setting, with Gerard about to return to his Gascon homeland. He first joins the 2nd Hussars - the Hussars of Chamberan - around 1799, serving as a Lieutenant and Junior Captain. He first sees action at Marengo in Italy in 1800. He transfers to the 3rd Hussars of Conflans in 1807 as a Senior Captain. He speaks somewhat idiosyncratic English, having learned it from an officer in the Irish Regiment of the French Army. By 1810 he is Colonel of the 2nd Hussars. He serves in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Russia. He is awarded the Grand-Cross of the Légion d'honneur by Napoleon in 1814. There are various discrepancies in the accounts of his life, not the least that in none of the stories except the last is he married.
Conan Doyle enthusiasts have noted that Gerard is modeled on the real life Baron Jean Baptiste Antoine Marcellin de Marbot a noted French light cavalry officer during the Napoleonic Wars.[1].
The fictional Brigadier is not to be confused with the real Napoleonic officer Étienne Maurice Gérard (1777–1852), who rose to become a Marshal, and later Prime Minister of France.
The stories were originally published in The Strand magazine between December 1894 and September 1903. They were later issued in two volumes as The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard in February 1896, and The Adventures of Gerard in September 1903. Some of the titles were changed on re-publication. The last story The Marriage of the Brigadier was published in September 1910. All the stories were published in The Complete Brigadier Gerard in 1995, which includes the story A Foreign Office Romance (1894) - a precursor to the stories, but not actually featuring Gerard.
Although rare, the Brigadier Gerard stories are still in print. Twin Engine Publishing HB, Barnes & Noble Books, Echo Library and The New York Review of Books classics are some contemporary publishers. In May 2008, Penguin Classics will publish the complete short stories as The Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard as part of their Read Red series.
| Title | Published | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| How The Brigadier Won His Medal (The Medal Of Brigadier Gerard) | December 1894 | France, March 1814. Brigadier Gerard is sent by Napoleon with an important message, via enemy territory, and only narrowly avoids capture by marauding Russian and Prussian troops. |
| How The Brigadier Held The King | April 1895 | Spain, July 1810. Brigadier Gerard is captured by Spanish partisans, but is saved from certain death by the British. |
| How The King Held The Brigadier | May 1895 | England, August 1810. Brigadier Gerard mounts an escape from Dartmoor Prison, and is initiated in the mysteries of pugilism. |
| How The Brigadier Slew The Brothers Of Ajaccio | June 1895 | Paris, late 1807. Brigadier Gerard assists Napoleon in a vendetta. |
| How The Brigadier Came To The Castle Of Gloom | July 1895 | Poland, February 1807. While on a mission to procure horses Brigadier Gerard becomes involved in an affair of honour. |
| How The Brigadier Took The Field Against The Marshal Millefleurs | August 1895 | Spain, March 1811. Brigadier Gerard finds himself temporarily allied with the English against a notorious brigand. |
| How The Brigadier Was Tempted By The Devil | September 1895 | Paris, April 1814. Brigadier Gerard and Napoleon carry out a secret mission. |
| How The Brigadier Played For A Kingdom | December 1895 | Germany, March 1813. Germany. Brigadier Gerard encounters German nationalists and a deceitful woman. |
| Title | Published | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| How The Brigadier Slew The Fox (The Crime Of The Brigadier) | January 1900 | Portugal, December 1810. While on a reconnaissance behind British lines Brigadier Gerard inadvertently joins a fox-hunt with unpardonable results. |
| How The Brigadier Bore Himself At Waterloo (The Brigadier At Waterloo) | ||
| I. The Adventure of the Forest Inn | January 1902 | Belgium, 18 June 1815. While delivering an important message Brigadier Gerard finds himself trapped in enemy territory. |
| II. The Prussian Horsemen | February 1902 | Belgium, 18 June 1815. On the retreat from Waterloo Gerard decoys the enemy allowing Bonaparte to escape. |
| How Brigadier Gerard Lost His Ear | August 1902 | Venice, c.1805. Colonel Gerard gets involved with a lovely lady and some murderous Italians. |
| How The Brigadier Saved The Army | November 1902 | Spain, March 1811. Brigadier Gerard has another unpleasant encounter with Spanish partisans. |
| How The Brigadier Rode To Minsk | December 1902 | Russia, November 1812. On the retreat from Moscow Brigadier Gerard is sent collect food from a depot. A lovely woman and a murderous Cossack intervene. |
| How The Brigadier Triumphed In England (The Brigadier In England)" | March 1903 | England, October 1810. Brigadier Gerard shows the English how to box and fight a duel. |
| "How The Brigadier Captured Saragossa (How The Brigadier Joined The Hussars Of Conflans)" | April 1903 | Spain, 1807. Lieutenant Gerard infiltrates a besieged town carry out a dangerous mission. |
| The Last Adventure Of The Brigadier (How Etienne Gerard Said Goodbye To His Master) | May 1903 | 1821. Brigadier Gerard takes a sea-voyage and hatches a plan to rescue Napoleon from St. Helena. |
| Title | Published | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Marriage Of The Brigadier | September 1910 | France, 1802. Gerard has an unfortunate encounter with a fierce bull which results in a proposal of marriage. (This story was too late to be included in the first two collections but is included in The Complete Brigadier Gerard.) |
| A Foreign Office Romance | November 1894 | England, October 1801. A resourceful French agent ensures that the Treaty of Amiens is signed on favourable terms. (This is not a Gerard story but clearly prefigures the series in structure, character and theme, for this reason it is included in The Complete Brigadier Gerard.) |
| Uncle Bernac | 1897 | France, 1805. Gerard appears as a major character in this short novel, which deals with the return of an exiled French aristocrat. Its details, however, are not consistent with those of other Gerard stories; for instance, Gerard is a lieutenant of the 1st Hussars, a regiment in which none of the other stories describe him as having served. It is stated at the end that Gerard married Sibylle, daughter of the eponymous Uncle Bernac, many years after the events described in the novel, but this is not referred to in other stories. Uncle Bernac does not appear in The Complete Brigadier Gerard. |
In 1915 a silent film Brigadier Gerard was made, directed by Bert Haldane with Lewis Waller in the title role. In 1970 the The Adventures of Gerard was directed by Jerzy Skolimowski with Peter McEnery playing Gerard.