Background
Jerome Bonaparte was born on November 5, 1830, at Baltimore, Maryland, United States, of Susan (Williams) Bonaparte and the elder Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, son of Jerome, King of Westphalia.
Jerome Bonaparte was born on November 5, 1830, at Baltimore, Maryland, United States, of Susan (Williams) Bonaparte and the elder Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, son of Jerome, King of Westphalia.
Jerome was educated in private schools, and for a short time was a student at Harvard, withdrawing upon his appointment to a cadetship at the Military Academy. He graduated at West Point in 1852, a classmate of Slocum, Crook, and Stanley.
After graduation Jerome Bonaparte was commissioned in the Mounted Riflemen (now the 3rd Cavalry). For the next two years he served in the United States army, and then, upon the invasion of the Crimea, resigned his commission, went to France, and was appointed a second lieutenant of dragoons in the army of his imperial cousin. He was assigned to duty as an aide to Gen. Morris, who commanded a cavalry division, and under him he served with credit throughout the war, seeing plenty of hard fighting at Balaklava and Inkermann, and during the siege.
At the end of the war, Bonaparte did not return to his native country, but settled himself to the permanent career of a French army officer, probably not without some calculations as to what the turn of events might some day bring to a Bonaparte of recognized military achievement. He had been promoted to first lieutenant in 1855; he was a captain in 1859, a major in 1865, and a lieutenant-colonel in 1870. During this time his service was active and varied, including a campaign in Algeria, and field service in the Austrian war. The death of his father in 1870 recalled him to America for a brief period, but the declaration of war against Prussia brought him back to France almost immediately. Moving to the front in August, in command of his regiment, he was turned back by the news of the surrender at Sedan. Accompanying the ex-Empress until she was placed in safety in England, he returned to Paris and served through the siege.
But Bonaparte was an imperialist rather than a Frenchman. The fall of the empire had put an end to any hopes he may have cherished, and he offered his resignation from the army which was no longer the Emperor's. Before he could leave Paris, the city was in the hands of the Commune, and as a Bonaparte he was of course proscribed. Barely escaping with his life, he returned to Baltimore. Thereafter he lived chiefly in Washington and Newport, with extended trips to Europe. He died at Pride's Crossing, Massachussets.
Jerome Bonaparte was married to Caroline Le Roy (Appleton) Edgar, widow of Newbold Edgar of New York.