Was it due to the composition of the soil – benches of ochraceous clay mixed with quartz and flint? Unless it comes from local plants, whose names seem to be taken from a Lewis Carroll poem or a cruel dictation? Knotted timothy, creeping bugle, lupulin alfalfa, orchardgrass… Weary! The scientists drew a blank. To the great joy of Rennes farmers, who sent their golden wonders to Paris and even abroad. On the big tables, France had the taste of Brittany.
Revolt
In 1802, this delight was mixed up with a scandal which could have deviated from the history of France. Judging Napoleon more and more tyrannical (he is friends with the Church and is preparing to become Consul for life), part of the army growls and foments a revolt. Officers stationed in Brittany want to provoke an uprising in the army of Paris, supported as reinforcements by the army of the West, which has been bored since it was deprived of the planned invasion of England. . An anonymous pen writes inflammatory pamphlets, also called “libels”, and sends them by the thousands to the capital.
It is in fact two texts: “Appeal to the French armies by their comrades” and “Address to the armies to the various scattered and isolated reformed corps and soldiers”. Excerpts: “How long will you suffer being enslaved? » “Soldiers, you no longer have a homeland: the Republic no longer exists”, “A little tyrant dictates his laws to us”… Napoleon, “bastard embryo of Corsica”, is accused (rightly) of wanting to make himself emperor and threatened with the firing squad.
Investigation
The police are on edge. The “libels” would be transported in stoneware jars usually used to transport butter from La Prévalaye. The investigation traces the trail to a printing house in Rennes. Several officers were arrested, including the one presented as the author of the libels, General Édouard-François Simon. Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, leader of the Army of the West, is strongly suspected but is saved by Simon who takes all the responsibility.
Perhaps Napoleon did not want to give too much importance to the Republican opposition. Still, he minimizes the affair by calling it “the conspiracy of the little pots of butter” – he avoids making a big deal out of it, so to speak. The mutiny failed, the name stuck.
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