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A connection exists between the death of Napoleon Bonaparte and the city of New Orleans. The link is a medical doctor named Dr. Francis Antommarchi. When Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena (see stories below), he was assigned a medical staff by the British. Napoleon never trusted the British doctors, and relied instead on his own physician from Corsica named Dr. Francis Antommarchi. (Napoleon, of course, was also from Corsica originally.)
The death of Bonaparte is a controversy. While most historians believe he died of natural causes (stomach cancer), some suspect that he was slowly poisoned -- most likely by the British who feared his possible escape and re-emergence to power as he did after his first exile to Elba in the Mediterranean.
As was common in those days when a "great man" died, Dr. Antommarchi made a cast of Napoleon's face from which a "death mask" was made. This death mask was carried by the doctor, on one of his travels, to the city of New Orleans -- which was then decidedly pro-French -- and donated to the city. The mask eventually made its way to the Cabildo which was once a functioning government building -- the Louisiana Purchase was signed there-- and then a museum.
The death mask of Napoleon Bonaparte is still at the Cabildo today, and it reveals the strong ties between New Orleans and France.
(Note: In the photos we see the death of Napoleon on St. Helena, a portrait of Dr. Antommarchi, a photo of the death mask of Napoleon, and a photo of the Cabildo in New Orleans. All of the photos are in public domain from Wikimedia commons except the one of the Cabildo which I took pre-Katrina.)
--Adrian
