Corps de Napoleon
Location: Metairie, Jefferson Parish
Date: February 11, 2018
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Year Founded: 1980
Website: www.corpsdenapoleon.com
Corps de Napoleon
The Corps de Napoleon was established in 1980 to give Jefferson Parish an excitingly different approach to Mardi Gras. From its inception, the Corps de Napoleon's goal has been to honor the French heritage of New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. Unlike other organizations who chose Greek or Roman mythological figures as their namesakes, the Corps de Napoleon instead looked to France for its roots and selected Napoleon, France's greatest hero.
The Corps de Napoleon parade is organized similar to the manner by which Napoleon organized his armies during his reign. After Napoleon conquered a country, a new army would be formed and be referred to as a "Corps", combining with other units from different countries to form Napoleon's Grand Army. Similar to the French army, this Carnival organization is made up of Corps, or float groups, each headed by a Lieutenant.
As this "army" of bead, cup and doubloon-throwing revelers roll through Metairie on the Sunday evening before Mardi Gras Day, the Corps are led by its Captains and Officers (representing military figures). The Captains and Officers float feature a sculpture which depicts David's (Dah-veed's) painting of Napoleon crossing the Alps during the Italian campaign. The Emperor Napoleon and Empress Josephine are also depicted by the royal monarchs as they reign over the parade, Coronation Celebration, and After-Parade festivities. The Emperor's float depicts the "Arc de Triomphe" in Paris and is pulled by a team of four white horses.
The Corps de Napoleon designed and built the following floats:
- Captain & Officers
- Emperor Napoleon
- Empress Josephine
- Title Float - and Tandem (Waterloo)
- 4 Maid Carriages
All of the other floats featured in the parade were designed for the use by the Corps de Napoleon by McKinley Cantrell. All member and Court costumes, as well as the maids plumed collars are designed and fabricated by D&D Creations, owned by Diane and Ray Barrilleux.
About the Book Never before has the history of the Mardi Gras celebration been looked at this way. Errol Laborde focuses on the first 60 years of the organized celebration in New Orleans, a period that bridges the premiere parade of the Mistick Krewe of Comus and the founding of the Zulu organization. Along the way he discovers fascinating characters; including a poetic journalist who survived a bloody attack, an archduke looking for fun and a would-be king finding religion. Laborde also links an African War with Custer¹s Last Stand and disproves some of the conventional wisdom about Carnival¹s early history. This is the most important contemporary book on early Carnival history. And it fun to read too.
about Errol Laborde Errol Laborde is the Editor-in-Chief of Renaissance Publishing Company. In that capacity he serves as Editor/Associate Publisher of New Orleans Magazine and Editor/ Publisher of Louisiana Life Magazine.He also oversees several other company publications, including St. Charles Avenue and New Orleans Homes & Lifestyles.
Laborde is producer and a regular panelist on Informed Sources, a weekly news discussion program broadcast on public television station WYES-TV, Channel 12.
Laborde's
most recent books are Krewe: The Early Carnival from Comus to Zulu and Marched the Day God. a history of the Rex organization. He also wrote the text for a pictorial book, Mardi Gras- A Celebration and has published two compilations of his Streetcar local color columns, The Buzzard Wore A Tutu and I Never Danced With An Eggplant. BUY THE BOOK
