1814
| 
| 
1 January 1814 Emperor Napoléon replies favorably to the allied offer of 15 December.
Prussian forces under Field Marshal Blücher cross the Rhine at Kaub.
3 January 1814 The four powers in Vienna ask the Swiss cantons to meet and write a constitution. Aristocratic cantons will meet in Lucerne. Democratic cantons will meet in Zürich.
4 January 1814 The response from Paris having not reached the allies in Frankfurt, they decide on an ultimatum that France must be reduced to its 1792 borders.
The Mexican insurgents who survived the action of 24 December attempt to regroup at Puruarán but are once again set upon and scattered by royalist forces.
5 January 1814 The Spanish Cortes returns to Madrid.
11 January 1814 Napoléon’s brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, King of Naples, defects to the Allies. He promises an army of 30,000 men for the Allies in return for an Austrian guarantee of his throne and an increase of territory.
14 January 1814 By the Treaty of Kiel, Denmark cedes Norway to Sweden in return for Pomerania and Rügen and gains all territory lost to Britain except Heligoland, along with 1,000,000 thalers. Denmark must produce 10,000 men for the Allies. Greenland is formally recognized as a possession of Denmark.
17 January 1814 Austrian and Russian forces reach the Langres Plateau, north of Dijon.
18 January 1814 British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh reaches Basel, three weeks out from London, the present residence of Tsar Alyeksandr, King Friedrich Wilhelm and Count von Metternich.
21 January 1814 Modena and Reggio are occupied by Neapolitan troops.
Emperor Napoléon orders that Pope Pius VII be moved from confinement at Fontainebleau to Savona, near Genoa.
22 January 1814 Prussian troops cross the Meuse.
Militia under Andrew Jackson are scattered by Creeks at Enotachopco, Alabama.
23 January 1814 Prussian troops cross the Marne.
25 January 1814 Napoléon leaves Paris to take command of its defense at Châlons-sur-Marne, 150 km east of the capital.
26 January 1814 Edmund Kean opens as Shylock at the Drury Land Theatre, London to enormous success.
27 January 1814 Creek Indians attack United States forces in Camp Defiance, Alabama. The attack fails but the Indians inflict heavy casualties.
28 January 1814 Ministers of the four most important allies meet together for the first time, in Basel.
Elena, a dramma eroicomico per musica by Johann Simon Mayr (50) to words of Tottola, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Fiorentini, Naples.
29 January 1814 French troops attack the Prussians at Brienne, 170 km southeast of Paris. Both of the opposing commanders, Napoléon and Blücher, narrowly escape capture. The fight leaves 7,000 casualties and the French are forced to retreat south.
1 February 1814 The Mt. Mayon volcano on Luzon erupts, killing 1,200 people.
A combined Allied force of Russians, Prussians, Austrians, Bavarians and other Germans attack the French at La Rothière in a driving blizzard. The weather and some Allied blunders allow Napoléon to make an orderly retreat. The fight causes 12,000 casualties.
Neapolitan troops occupy Tuscany.
On the day it is published The Corsair, a poem by Lord Byron, sells 10,000 copies.
L’oriflamme de Charles Martell, an opéra comique by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (50), Henri Montan Berton, Rodolphe Kreutzer, and Ferdinando Paer to words of Étienne and Baour-Lormian, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra. It will later be called L’oriflamme. It is produced as part of a government effort to rally support for the Emperor and nation as the Allies invade France.
2 February 1814 The Spanish Cortes passes restrictions on King Fernando VII should he be released by the French.
Luigi Cherubini (53) is named a lieutenant in the “corps de musique” of the National Guard in Paris.
3 February 1814 As Napoléon reaches Troyes, 145 km southeast of Paris, the citizens barricade their houses refusing to aid his army. Ministers of the four allies meet in Châtillon-sur-Seine.
5 February 1814 Preliminary peace talks between the French and the Allies begin at Châtillon-sur-Seine. The Allies offer the French their 1792 boundaries. The French find this unacceptable.
Der Götterbund, an allegorical drama by Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (22) to words of Kley, is performed for the first time, for the birthday of the composer’s mother.
9 February 1814 The Duchies of Modena and Reggio are restored to sovereignty under Duke Francesco IV.
10 February 1814 French forces attack the Russians at Champaubert, capturing General Olssufiev and allowing only one-fifth of his army to escape.
Peace talks at Châtillon-sur-Seine are suspended. The allies meet amongst themselves at Troyes.
11 February 1814 French troops clash with Russians and Prussians at Montmirail, 90 km east of Paris. The Allies are forced to retreat, leaving 6,000 total casualties.
12 February 1814 Bayard à Mézières, ou La siège de Mézières, an opéra comique with music by Luigi Cherubini (53), Adrien Boieldieu (38), and two others to words of Chazet and Dupaty, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.
14 February 1814 Russian troops capture Soissons, 90 km northeast of Paris, but are forced to retreat.
French troops attack and crush a combined Prussian-Russian force at Vauchamps leaving 7,600 total casualties. The Allies retreat west.
Austrians take Parma after it was abandoned by the French.
17 February 1814 French forces attack various German units at Mormant and Valjovan sending them reeling in disarray.
Peace talks at Châtillon-sur-Seine resume after a week hiatus.
18 February 1814 French forces attack the Prussians at Montereau, 70 km southeast of Paris, and force them to withdraw. The battle causes 8,500 total casualties.
21 February 1814 Emperor Napoléon, at Nogent-sur-Seine, writes a letter to Austrian Emperor Franz offering a separate peace. Nothing will come of it.
A man wearing a British uniform lands at Dover with the news that Napoléon is dead and the Bourbon monarchy restored. He spreads the news from Dover to London. Three men will be convicted of perpetrating the hoax to raise the prices of government bonds, although one of them, Lord Cochrane, will be pardoned in the 1830s.
24 February 1814 Napoléon reenters Troyes to general rejoicing.
27 February 1814 British forces defeat the French at Orthez, opening up southwest France to invasion.
Symphony no.8 by Ludwig van Beethoven (43) is performed for the first time, in the Redoutensaal, Vienna. The response is warm but not uproarious. One member of the violin section is Louis Spohr (29).
2 March 1814 French forces retake Parma after abandoning it to the Austrians.
3 March 1814 The French garrison at Soissons surrenders to Prussians and Russians.
5 March 1814 After pushing back the French, Allied forces take possession of Troyes.
7 March 1814 French troops engage a combined Prussian-Russian force at Craonne, 123 km northwest of Paris. After a battle marked by blunders on both sides, the Allies retreat north to Laon.
Luigi Cherubini’s (53) Chant guerrier is performed for the first time, as part of the patriotic play La Rançon de Du Guesclin by Arnault, in Paris.
9 March 1814 Russia, Austria, Prussia and Great Britain publish a joint treaty at Chaumont, 223 km southeast of Paris. They pledge to continue the war as long as necessary and never conclude a separate peace. The treaty is backdated to 1 March. It creates the four countries as arbiters of the future, to the exclusion of lesser powers.
Prussian troops make a surprise attack on the French at Laon and send them into headlong flight.
French forces in the south fall back to Lyons.
Austrians once again take Parma from the French.
A British force including Lord William Bentinck lands at Livorno and makes for Lucca.
Samuel Wesley’s Organ Concerto in C is performed for the first time, at Covent Garden. It was intended for a concert on 4 March but was not ready. Wesley finished it 5 March and he and Vincent Novello spent the night copying parts. The manuscript date is 8 March.
10 March 1814 Pope Pius VII is released from detention at Savona, near Genoa.
Die Eselshaut, oder Die blaue Insel, a feenspiel by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (35) to words of Geway, is performed for the first time, in the Theater-an-der-Wien, Vienna.
12 March 1814 British troops capture Bordeaux. Louis Antoine, Duc de Angoulême, nephew of Louis XVI, arrives in the city by sea from England.
The tiny Argentine navy captures Martín García Island in the Rio de la Plata.
13 March 1814 Russian forces make a surprise night attack on French positions at Rheims, 128 km northeast of Paris. The French repel the attack, inflicting heavy casualties.
14 March 1814 Lord William Bentinck, British Minister in Sicily, calls on all Italians to rise against the French.
17 March 1814 Lucca is occupied by Neapolitan troops.
Prussians defeat the French at Fismes.
19 March 1814 The peace conference at Châtillon-sur-Seine dissolves without result.
Pope Pius VII departs captivity in Savona, heading for Rome.
21 March 1814 Melodies of Different Nations for piano by Muzio Clementi (62) is published in London.
After two days of fighting, Allied troops force the French from the field at Arcis, 137 km east of Paris.
22 March 1814 A letter from Emperor Napoléon to Empress Marie Louise, in which he outlines his strategic plans, is captured by Russian troops.
French troops abandon Lyon.
24 March 1814 In an attempt to create divisions in Spain, Emperor Napoléon releases King Fernando VII at Báscara.
25 March 1814 The Allies force the French to retreat at La-Fère-Champenoise. Contact between Napoléon and Paris is cut off.
Prince Willem Frederik decrees the creation of the Netherlands Bank.
27 March 1814 United States forces defeat Creek Indians at Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River (Tallapoosa County, Alabama). Over 600 people are killed, 146 wounded, 300 native women and children captured. Chief Red Eagle surrenders thus ending the Creek uprising.
29 March 1814 As two Allied armies converge on Meaux, 40 km east of Paris, Empress Marie-Louise and her son, the King of Rome, quit the city, heading south, along with members of the court and the Regency Council.
King Frederik VI of Denmark allows Jews born in the country to live there legally and engage in any profession they choose.
30 March 1814 Allied troops reach the outskirts of Paris. Joseph Bonaparte and other high notables flee the city, heading for Orléans.
31 March 1814 The French defenders of Paris agree to an armistice. Allied armies, led by Tsar Alyeksandr, enter the French capital. The Tsar takes up residence in the home of Charles Maurice de Talleyrand. There are rumors that the Elysée Palace is mined.
Emperor Napoléon takes up residence in Fontainebleau.
Fromental Halévy (14) interrupts his piano practice to join his brother watching Cossacks march past his home.
1 April 1814 The French Senate meets, called by Talleyrand. With 64 of the 140 members present, they vote to dethrone Napoléon and restore the Bourbons, naming a provisional government consisting of Talleyrand and four others.
The heirs of Ambrosius Kühnel (he died last 13 August) sell his Leipzig music publishing house, the Bureau de Musique, to a bookseller named Carl Friedrich Peters, who appends his name to the firm’s title.
2 April 1814 Empress Marie Louise and her son reach Blois, soon to be joined by three of her brothers-in-law, Joseph, Jérôme and Louis Bonaparte.
3 April 1814 Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, prince de Bénévent is named the leader of a provisional government for France following the deposing of Emperor Napoléon I.
The name of the Académie Impériale de Musique (Paris Opéra) is changed to the Académie de Musique.
4 April 1814 Emissaries from Emperor Napoléon travel from Fontainebleau to the Rue St. Florentin, Paris carrying his offer of abdication in favor of his son. They meet with Tsar Alyeksandr.
5 April 1814 After wavering for a while, Tsar Alyeksandr refuses the offer of Emperor Napoléon. The emissaries are told Napoléon must abdicate unconditionally. The Tsar offers him a kingdom. Early in the afternoon, Elba is decided upon.
The name of the Académie de Musique (Paris Opéra) is changed to the Académie Royale de Musique.
6 April 1814 Napoléon is informed of the decisions of yesterday. He agrees in principle to abdicate. The French Senate declares the throne vacant and invites Louis Stanislas Xavier, brother of Louis XVI to occupy it, thus restoring the Kingdom of France.
A unified diet of the Swiss cantons, both aristocratic and democratic, meets at Zürich to create a constitution.
7 April 1814 Lucca is occupied by Austrian troops.
10 April 1814 British forces capture Toulouse.
British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh and Austrian Foreign Minister Prince von Metternich arrive in Paris to represent their respective countries. They meet with Tsar Alyeksandr and work out the conditions of abdication. This is presented to Talleyrand and the provisional government who accept them.
11 April 1814 Emperor Napoléon I signs the instrument of abdication in the Palace of Fontainebleau. He renounces the throne in the name of all his family and descendants. The island of Elba is made a separate jurisdiction and he is given sovereignty over it. The Duchies of Parma and Piacenza are restored by Austria. Maria Luigia (former Empress Marie Louise of France) becomes Duchess.
The Piano Trio “Archduke” op.97 by Ludwig van Beethoven (43) is performed for the first time, in the Saal des Hotels zum Römischen Kaiser, Vienna, the composer at the keyboard.
“Germania,” the finale of a pasticcio called Die gute Nachricht, by Ludwig van Beethoven (43), is performed for the first time. The overture, a quartet, duet and trio are by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (35).
12 April 1814 Charles Burney dies in Chelsea at the age of 88.
13 April 1814 Napoléon attempts to poison himself, but although it causes great pain, the poison proves ultimately ineffective. He will survive.
14 April 1814 Charles-Philippe de France, comte d’Artois is named Lieutenant-general of the Kingdom, thus succeeding Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, prince de Bénévent as Head of State for France.
Royalist forces reoccupy Acapulco. The rebels holding it ran away after hanging 100 royalists and setting fire to the city.
15 April 1814 The Spanish National Guard, a citizen army, is created.
Prince Karl von Lichnowsky, Beethoven’s (43) first Vienna patron, dies of a stroke in Vienna.
Des Teutschen Vaterland for male voices and winds by Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (22) to words of Arndt is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
16 April 1814 Prince Eugène, French Viceroy of Italy, signs an armistice for the whole peninsula and departs Milan heading for France.
Gaspare Spontini (39) petitions King Louis XVIII for directorship of the king’s private music and the Théâtre-Italien.
The Treaty of Fontainebleau is ratified. Napoléon retains the title of Emperor and is given sovereignty over the island of Elba. He receives 2,000,000 francs per year and 600 soldiers. Empress Marie Louise receives the Duchy of Parma, to be passed on to her son.
18 April 1814 Viscount Wellington and Marshal Soult sign an armistice covering southwestern France.
20 April 1814 Napoléon takes leave of his Imperial Guard at Fontainebleau. He then joins a retinue of 14 carriages to transport him to the coast.
A mob attacks the Italian Senate in Milan, torturing the Finance Minister to give up the treasury to them.
Rebel vessels begin a blockade of the royalist garrison in Montevideo.
21 April 1814 A five-man provisional government takes over in Lombardy.
23 April 1814 Representatives of Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Spain sign a full armistice with France.
24 April 1814 After an exile of 23 years, King Louis XVIII arrives in France from Britain at Calais. He is greeted by cheering throngs and a service of thanksgiving at the cathedral.
25 April 1814 The Principality of Piedmont is restored to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
26 April 1814 The Most Serene Republic of Genoa is restored by the Allies. Girolamo Francesco Luciano Serra becomes President of the provisional government.
27 April 1814 The Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Principality of Piombino are restored to sovereignty. Ferdinando III returns to become Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Napoléon’s retinue arrives at Fréjus.
28 April 1814 HMS Undaunted sails from the Mediterranean port of St.-Raphaël with Napoléon aboard. Fearing retribution from the French navy, he opts for a British vessel.
3 May 1814 King Louis XVIII arrives in Paris and takes the throne of France.
The Sovereign Principality of Elba is created, to be ruled over by Napoléon.
4 May 1814 Napoléon arrives in his new domain, Elba, to cheering crowds.
King Fernando VII of Spain abolishes the constitution of 1812. He appoints José Miguel de Carvajal Vargas y Manrique, duque de San Carlos as First Secretary of State.
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen is published.
6 May 1814 04:00-05:00 Georg Joseph Vogler dies of a stroke in Darmstadt, aged 64 years, ten months and 21 days. At the time of his death he is penniless, having been ruined by his attempt to construct the Triorganon.
9 May 1814 Georg Martin Adolf von Henselt is born in Schwabach, Bavaria, the son of a cotton manufacturer.
Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia enter into a conference in Paris to deal with the postwar world.
10 May 1814 Spanish liberal leaders are arrested in Madrid.
11 May 1814 Forces of King Fernando VII enter Madrid to restore absolutism.
Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington is created the Duke of Wellington.
13 May 1814 Pierre Louis, Duc de Blacas d’Aulps becomes Prime Minister of France.
14 May 1814 A service takes place in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, in memory of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. All the allied leaders attend except Tsar Alyeksandr.
Royalist warships sail out from Montevideo to attack blockading rebels. The battle, which lasts for three days, results in a rebel victory and the blockade continues.
16 May 1814 A Sinfonia in F by William Crotch (38) is performed for the first time, in London.
17 May 1814 A national convention at Eidsvoll proclaims a constitution for Norway and Prince Christian-Frederik of Denmark is elected King. However, the country will soon be forced to accept union with Sweden. One of the delegates present is Edvard Hagerup, grandfather of Edvard Hagerup Grieg.
Austrian troops enter and occupy Fort-Hercule (Monaco).
20 May 1814 King Vittorio Emanuele of Sardinia reenters Turin for the first time in 16 years. He attempts to replace everyone in his administration in their old posts. The laws of 1770 are reinstituted and everyone of French descent is ordered out of the country.
21 May 1814 Adrien Boieldieu’s (38) opéra comique Le béarnais, ou Henri IV en voyage to words of Sewrin is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.
23 May 1814 The third version of Fidelio oder Die eheliche Liebe, an opera by Ludwig van Beethoven (43) to words of Sonnleithner, reworked by Treitschke, is performed for the first time, at the Kärntnertortheater, Vienna. The overture used is from Beethoven’s music for The Ruins of Athens. The Fidelio overture will not be used until 26 May. This time, the opera is a success. Franz Schubert (17) is in the audience. See 20 November 1805 and 29 March 1806.
24 May 1814 The Papal States are returned to the Pope. They were annexed by Napoléon in 1809. In return, the Pope recognizes the French annexation of Avignon. Pope Pius VII enters Rome after four years of confinement by Napoléon.
28 May 1814 A royalist army marching towards Caracas is defeated by rebels under Simón Bolívar on the Plains of Carabobo.
29 May 1814 Former Empress Josephine dies in Paris of natural causes at the age of 50.
30 May 1814 The First Treaty of Paris is signed, placing the French boundaries at those of 1 January 1792 and restoring the Bourbon dynasty. France renounces all claims to the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Tobago, Saint Lucia, and Île de France are ceded to Britain. Santo Domingo is granted to Spain. Austrian rule is reestablished in Istria. The twelve-year dispute over the possession of Malta ends in favor of Great Britain. It becomes a crown colony. A secret clause calls for the independence of the German states and their union in a federation. It is agreed to hold a Congress in Vienna starting 1 October. Signatories are Austria, France, Great Britain, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Spain, and Sweden.
31 May 1814 The independence of the City of Hamburg is restored for a second time.
4 June 1814 King Louis XVIII issues the Constitutional Charter claiming hereditary right to the throne of France with a permanent bicameral parliament.
6 June 1814 The Duchy of Guastalla is returned to sovereignty by the allies under Duchess Maria Luigia (former Empress Marie Louise of France).
Tsar Alyeksandr, King Friedrich Wilhelm and Prince von Metternich arrive at Dover for an official visit to England in celebration of the defeat of Napoléon.
9 June 1814 At a dinner with the Prince-Regent in Carlton House, King Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, the Earl of Liverpool and Viscount Castlereagh are invested as Knights of the Garter.
12 June 1814 Emperor Franz I of Austria is proclaimed King of Lombardy, which he annexes.
13 June 1814 Angéla ou L’atelier de Jean Cousin, an opéra comique by Adrien Boieldieu (38) to words of Montcloux d’Epinay, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.
15 June 1814 A joint Austrian-Bavarian administration takes over in Birkenfeld.
Ministers meeting in London decide to move the meeting of the Congress of Vienna from 1 July to 15 August.
Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s (35) singspiel Die Rückfahrt des Kaisers to words of Veith is performed for the first time, in the Theater-an-der-Wien, Vienna.
A royalist army destroys the rebels at La Puerta, southwest of Caracas. Surviving rebels retreat to the city.
16 June 1814 Emperor Franz I returns to Vienna amidst joyful festivities and a public holiday.
17 June 1814 The Principality of Monaco is restored by the Allies, protected by France. Honoré IV is Prince of Monaco.
23 June 1814 The royalist garrison surrenders to besieging Argentine rebels.
24 June 1814 Un lieto brindisi, a cantata campestre by Ludwig van Beethoven (43) to words of Bondi, is performed for the first time, in Vienna, to honor the name day of Giovanni Malfatti.
25 June 1814 Austria regains sovereignty over Tirol.
26 June 1814 Tsar Alyeksandr departs Britain, at Dover.
27 June 1814 Johann Friedrich Reichardt dies of a stomach ailment in Giebichenstein, near Halle, aged 61 years, seven months and two days, his work largely forgotten.
3 July 1814 American forces and their Indian allies cross the Niagara River and capture the British garrison of Fort Erie.
5 July 1814 US troops defeat British forces at the Chippawa River near Niagara.
6 July 1814 The Quadriga is restored to its place on the Brandenburg Gate. This symbol of the Prussian state was removed by Napoléon in 1806 and brought back to Berlin by Marshal Blücher.
Rebels under Simón Bolívar are defeated outside Caracas. Citizens of the capital begin fleeing the city to Barcelona.
7 July 1814 Austrian sovereignty is reestablished over Voralberg.
King Friedrich August I of Saxony returns to Dresden to resume his rule.
By order of the Regent, today is proclaimed a day of “General Thanksgiving to Almighty God” throughout the United Kingdom, for the end of the war with France.
Sir Walter Scott publishes his novel Waverley; or, ‘Tis Sixty Years Since anonymously. He fears that publishing a novel will damage his reputation as a poet.
9 July 1814 Carl Maria von Weber (27) arrives in Bad Liebenwerda, north of Dresden, for a cure. He has been struck recently with unexplained vomiting.
Royalist forces capture Valencia, Venezuela.
13 July 1814 King Vittorio Emmanuele I of Sardinia creates the Royal Carabinieri.
18 July 1814 Austrian Foreign Minister Prince von Metternich returns to Vienna from London. Singers and players from the city’s theatre perform a cantata beneath his office window, along with the overture to The Creatures of Prometheus by Ludwig van Beethoven (44).
20 July 1814 British and Indians capture Fort Shelby, near Prairie du Chien (Crawford County, Wisconsin).
21 July 1814 By order of King Ferdinand VII, the Inquisition is restored in Spain.
22 July 1814 The United States makes peace with several Indian nations (Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnee, Senecas, and Miami), former British allies, at Greenville, Ohio.
25 July 1814 Tsar Alyeksandr arrives back in St. Petersburg from London. He has banned any secular celebrations of his return.
George Stephenson demonstrates the first working steam locomotive, Blücher, at Killington, England. It hauls coal trucks.
British and American forces clash at the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, west of Niagara Falls. Heavy losses are incurred on both sides, but no victory can be claimed by anyone. The Americans quit the field by the British and colonials do not pursue them.
29 July 1814 William Wordsworth dedicates his poem The Excursion at Rydal Mount, Westmoreland.
31 July 1814 Carl Maria von Weber (27) arrives in Berlin and finds the city in a state of nationalistic excitement with the defeat of Napoléon.
1 August 1814 A great celebration in honor of the Duke of Wellington takes place at Carleton House hosted by the Prince Regent.
2 August 1814 Liberals revolt in Cuzco calling for the implementation of the 1812 Spanish constitution. Soon, masses of Indians rally to their cause in what becomes the Pumacahua Rebellion.
3 August 1814 Argentine rebels reoccupy Jujuy.
5 August 1814 Ludwig van Beethoven’s (43) Elegischer Gesang “Sanft wie du lebtest” is performed for the first time, in the house of Baron Johann von Pasqualati, Vienna.
7 August 1814 During celebrations for the return of the King of Prussia in Berlin, Carl Maria von Weber (27) is thrown by the crush of the crowd under the wheels of an oncoming carriage. He is saved just in time by his friend Ludwig Tieck.
The papal suppression of the Society of Jesus of 1773 is rescinded by Pope Pius VII.
8 August 1814 Peace negotiations between Great Britain and the United States begin at Ghent.
9 August 1814 General Andrew Jackson imposes a treaty ending the Creek uprising. Most of the Creek tribal lands (9,300,000 hectares) are ceded to the United States government.
13 August 1814 A treaty between Great Britain and the Netherlands is signed in London. All Dutch colonies taken by the British since 1803 are restored, except the Cape Colony and the South American provinces of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice (Guyana).
14 August 1814 By the Convention of Moss, Sweden recognizes the Norwegian constitution but in union with the Swedish throne.
Revolutionary forces in Mexico levy the country’s first income tax, in areas they hold.
Il turco in Italia, a dramma buffo by Gioachino Rossini (22) to words of Romani after Mazzolà, is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
15 August 1814 British troops assault Fort Erie (opposite Buffalo, New York) but are repulsed.
16 August 1814 British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh departs Britain to attend the Congress of Vienna.
17 August 1814 In hot pursuit of Simón Bolívar, royalists catch up with his army at Aragua, Venezuela and crush it.
19 August 1814 Franz Schubert (17) passes his final examination at the Imperial teachers’ training college, Vienna.
4,000 British troops disembark at Benedict, Maryland.
23 August 1814 Pélage, ou Le roi et la paix, an opéra by Gaspare Spontini (39) to words of Jouy, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
24 August 1814 Viscount Castlereagh reaches Paris where he will meet with King Louis and Talleyrand before traveling on to Vienna.
British forces defeat the hastily assembled defenders of Washington at Bladensburg, Maryland, just north of the capital. The British reach Washington in the evening.
25 August 1814 Simón Bolívar boards ship in Cumaná, Venezuela and flees the country.
British troops burn Washington, the White House, Capitol and other important buildings, then return north.
27 August 1814 Viscount Castlereagh departs Paris for Vienna.
28 August 1814 Johanna Rosine (Pätz) Wagner, a widow with nine children, marries Ludwig Heinrich Christian Geyer, a portrait painter, actor and poet, in Dresden. Geyer will be Richard Wagner’s (1) mentor and de facto father.
29 August 1814 A cantata in honor of King Louis XVIII by Luigi Cherubini (53) to words of de Millevois is performed for the first time, in Paris.
30 August 1814 The British troops that burned Washington board ship at Benedict.
1 September 1814 2,500 British troops from Nova Scotia arrive at Castine, Maine. The US defenders blow up their fort and run away. The British thereupon sail up the Penobscot, investing it as far as Bangor.
6 September 1814 A British and colonial force captures Plattsburgh, New York, the Americans having retreated across the Saranac River.
Governor Caleb Strong of Massachusetts calls up the state militia for the defense of Maine.
8 September 1814 Royalists under José Tomás Bores force Bolívar and the Second Republic out of Caracas, reasserting Spanish power.
9 September 1814 King Louis XVIII appoints Gaspare Spontini (39) as director of the King’s Private Music and the Théâtre-Italien.
10 September 1814 British troops occupy Machias, Maine District.
11 September 1814 An American fleet under Commodore Thomas Macdonough defeats British forces under Sir George Prevost near Plattsburg on Lake Champlain. The British are forced to retreat to Canada.
12 September 1814 The Swiss Diet accepts the cantons of Geneva, Valais, and Neuchâtel to the confederation.
British troops disembark at North Point, Maryland with the intention of taking Baltimore. Their advance is halted by the Maryland militia. British commander Major General Robert Ross is killed.
13 September 1814 British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh, his wife and her sister arrive in Vienna to attend the Congress.
British warships begin bombarding Fort McHenry at Baltimore.
British forces take Machias, Maine, giving them control of 160 km of the coast of Maine. Many locals welcome them because it means renewed commerce with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
14 September 1814 Tsar Alyeksandr departs Moscow for Vienna.
After bombarding Ft. McHenry, Baltimore for 25 hours, British forces break off their attack, the expected land attack not having occurred. While viewing the fight, Francis Scott Key pens The Star-Spangled Banner.
15 September 1814 Russian State Secretary Count Karl Nesselrode arrives in Vienna to attend the Congress.
British gunboats and Creek Indians assault Fort Bowyer (Mobile County, Alabama) unsuccessfully.
16 September 1814 Grand Duke Konstantin, brother of Tsar Alyeksandr, is placed in charge of a Polish military commission in Warsaw.
17 September 1814 Prussian Chancellor Prince Karl August von Hardenberg arrives in Vienna to attend the Congress.
Americans in Fort Erie (opposite Buffalo, New York) attack out of the fort and make significant gains against their besiegers before they are driven back into the fort.
18 September 1814 The first meeting is held in Vienna between the representatives of the four victorious powers: Austrian Foreign Minister Prince von Metternich, Prussian Chancellor Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh, and Russian State Secretary Count Karl Nesselrode.
20 September 1814 Representatives of the four allies agree on a procedural scheme for the Congress of Vienna. The Quadruple Alliance (Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia) will make all decisions concerning disposition of territories. Their decisions will first be transmitted to France and Spain, thence to the entire Congress. Five German powers will devise a scheme for German federation. Other arrangements will be decided by the Quadruple Alliance, France and Spain.
Tsar Alyeksandr reaches the estate of Prince Adam Czartoryski at Pulawy. He tells a large gathering of Polish leaders that he intends to create an enlarged Polish state by adding conquered provinces to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.
22 Swiss cantons agree on a new confederation.
21 September 1814 British and colonial troops raise the siege of Fort Erie.
23 September 1814 Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord arrives in Vienna to represent France at the Congress.
25 September 1814 Tsar Alyeksandr I of Russia and King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia make a ceremonial entry into Vienna to attend the Congress, accompanied by Emperor Franz I of Austria who met them outside the city.
Franz Schubert’s (17) Mass in F D.105, composed for the centennial of the Liechtental Church, is probably performed, for the first time, directed by the composer.
29 September 1814 Ministers of the four powers hold their first official meeting at Vienna. They agree on a statement of procedure.
30 September 1814 Talleyrand induces the four powers to throw out the agreement of yesterday and include France and Spain (at least) in the deliberations.
1 October 1814 Spanish troops make three furious attacks on the besieged Chilean defenders of Rancagua, 75 km south of Santiago. All are repulsed.
2 October 1814 A grand ball takes place in the Hofburg to celebrate the opening of the Congress of Vienna.
The Spanish succeed in dislodging the Chilean defenders of Rancagua. Only a few hundred Chileans, under Bernardo O’Higgins, escape. The Spaniards then wreak vengeance on the wounded and non-combatants.
3 October 1814 British forces leave Madeira, which they have held since 1807.
5 October 1814 Royalist forces enter Santiago and reestablish colonial rule.
6 October 1814 Thousands of people join the crowned heads of Europe in food and entertainment at the Augarten park in Vienna.
8 October 1814 The General Court of Massachusetts votes to summon a convention to get “security against conscription, taxes & the danger of invasion.” It is the stirrings of separatism in the New England states against the War of 1812.
12 October 1814 By agreement of the powers at the Congress of Vienna, the Electorate of Hannover is made the Kingdom of Hannover under King Georg III (George III of Britain).
The eight signatories to the Treaty of Paris issue a joint communiqué stating that all sessions of the Congress of Vienna are postponed until 1 November.
14 October 1814 A “German Committee” is formed at the Congress of Vienna made up of Austria, Bavaria, Hannover, Prussia and Württemberg to discuss the future of Germany.
17 October 1814 A massive vat at a brewery in St. Giles, London explodes, sending 1,224,000 litres into the surrounding streets in a wave five meters high. Eight people are killed.
18 October 1814 The crowned heads of Europe, 20,000 Austrian soldiers and thousands of citizens of Vienna celebrate a Festival of Peace to mark the first anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig.
19 October 1814 Franz Schubert (17) composes his first great work, Gretchen am Spinnrade.
25 October 1814 The Roman Catholic Church begins the process to restore the Index.
26 October 1814 Pursuant to the decision of 12 October, King George III, formerly Elector of Hannover, is named King of Hannover.
28 October 1814 By command of Emperor Franz, Ludwig van Beethoven’s (43) Fidelio is performed for delegates to the Congress of Vienna and their wives.
29 October 1814 Demologos, the first steam-powered warship, is launched in New York harbor. It will be finished and delivered to the US Navy in 1816. Unfortunately, the inventor and namesake, Robert Fulton, will die next February after which the ships will be called USS Fulton.
30 October 1814 Antonio Salieri (64) directs a concert of 40 pianists and 20 pianos in the riding school, Vienna, attended by members of the Congress of Vienna.
1 November 1814 The British Governor-General of India, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Earl of Moira, declares war on the Gurkhas of Nepal.
The official opening of the Congress of Vienna, planned for today, is put off due to the disagreements of the members.
4 November 1814 The Norwegian Storting adopts amendments to the 17 May constitution which allow for the personal union of Norway and Sweden. With this accomplished, the Norwegians are allowed to keep their constitution.
5 November 1814 Rhode Island joins Massachusetts in calling for a regional convention.
Their troops having withdrawn across the Niagara River, the Americans destroy Fort Erire.
7 November 1814 United States forces capture Pensacola (Spanish Florida) from British forces manning it.
Le due duchesse, ossia La caccia dei lupi, a dramma semiserio per musica by Simon Mayr (51) to words of Romani, is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
8 November 1814 The British in Fort Barrancas at Pensacola destroy it and depart. General Andrew Jackson leaves a garrison at Pensacola to ensure Spanish neutrality.
9 November 1814 Trois Nocturnes for piano by John Field (32), lately published in Leipzig, is reviewed in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung.
10 November 1814 Russian commander Prince Repnin turns over administration of Saxony to Prussia, hoping to get Poland in return. Russian troops begin to evacuate the kingdom.
11 November 1814 King Carl XIII of Sweden is elected to the Norwegian throne.
12 November 1814 A “Swiss Committee” is constituted at the Congress of Vienna.
14 November 1814 In Vienna, Tsar Alyeksandr of Russia ratifies the Treaty of Kiel.
15 November 1814 Pedro Cevallos Guerra replaces José Miguel de Carvajal Vargas y Manrique, duque de San Carlos as First Secretary of State of Spain.
16 November 1814 The representative of Württemberg walks out of the “German committee” at Vienna. 29 small German states demand equality for all states within a proposed German union, led by the Emperor of Austria.
17 November 1814 Seen as a Revolutionary institution, the Paris Conservatoire begins to feel official displeasure from the new regime. Bernard Sarrette is suspended as director.
24 November 1814 Due to considerable differences in the German-speaking delegations at the Congress of Vienna, the “German Committee” is suspended for five months.
27 November 1814 Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel donates a device he calls a cronometer to the Royal Dutch Institute of Sciences, Letters, and Arts in Amsterdam. Next year, Johann Maelzel will make small improvements and patent the device in Britain as a “metronome.”
29 November 1814 The Times of London becomes the first newspaper to be printed by means of steam power.
A concert of music by Ludwig van Beethoven (43) is given for the participants in the Congress of Vienna in the Redoutensaal. This performance features the Symphony no.7, Wellington’s Victory, and the premiere of his cantata Der glorreiche Augenblick to words of Weissenbach. Attenders include Tsar Alyeksandr, the King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, and the Prince of Sicily. Also attending is Jan Vaclav Tomásek (40), who is particularly displeased with Wellington’s Victory.
2 December 1814 Donatien-Alphonse-François, the Comte de Sade (aka the Marquis de Sade) dies in the asylum of Charenton at the age of 74.
5 December 1814 A rebel army engages royalists at Urica, Venezuela and is totally defeated, but the Spanish commander is killed.
7 December 1814 British forces evacuate Guadeloupe, having held it for over four years.
Luigi Cherubini (54) is named a Chévalier of the Legion of Honor by King Louis XVIII.
10 December 1814 At the Congress of Vienna, a committee of the Eight Powers is constituted to investigate the total abolition of slavery.
11 December 1814 The overture to Louis Spohr’s (30) unperformed opera Faust is performed for the first time, in Vienna. See 1 September 1816.
15 December 1814 The Hartford Convention meets in the chamber of the State House. It includes official and unofficial delegations from the New England States to discuss separatism.
British forces begin to assemble on Isle aux Pois, northeast of New Orleans.
22 December 1814 Christian missionaries arrive at the Bay of Islands New Zealand at set up a mission.
The advance of the British invasion force land east of New Orleans.
23 December 1814 American forces attack the British advance guard at New Orleans but are unable to dislodge them in confused fighting.
24 December 1814 Muzio Clementi (62) is elected to the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm.
A treaty ending war between the United Kingdom and the United States is signed in Ghent. Almost all territory is returned status quo ante. Other issues are put off or ignored. All POWs and impressed seamen are to be returned.
Meanwhile, a convention of New England states meeting in Hartford calls for changes in defense and federal taxation and issues a list of proposed constitutional amendments.
The territorial government in Kaskaskia (Illinois) authorizes a prize of $50 for every male Indian killed or female or child captured.
26 December 1814 King Friedrich I of Württemberg departs Vienna, deciding to boycott the negotiations as Germany heads towards some kind of union.
Gioachino Rossini’s (22) dramma Sigismondo to words of Foppa is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice. It is greeted with mass yawning.
28 December 1814 The Royal Philharmonic Society of London votes to commission Luigi Cherubini (54) for a symphony, an overture and an Italian vocal piece.
31 December 1814 The Vienna palace of Russian ambassador Count Andrei Kyrillovich Razumovsky is destroyed by fire. Hundreds of art works, meticulously collected by him, are forever lost. Two people, trying to save embassy documents, are killed. The count will return to Russia, thus depriving Ludwig van Beethoven (44) of one of his most important patrons.
©2004-2014 Paul Scharfenberger
7 April 2014
Last Updated (Monday, 07 April 2014 05:34)