Strolling in the beautiful small Lubéron village of Cadenet, one will get to the small plaza and notice the statue of the drummer of Arcole.
André Estienne (1777-1838) was the hero of the Napoleon war that took place on November 17, 1796 against the Austrians in Arcole, province of Veronna, Italy.
Born in Cadenet, this courageous young man joined at the age of 14 the regimen of the Lubéron. In 1796, he followed the Napoleon troups to Nice for the Campaign in Italy. In Arcole, the troups were blocked by the Alpone river.
The little drummer boy, along with a few soldiers, swam accross the river with the drum on his head. Once on the other side of the river, he beat the drum so loudly that the enemies thought they were surrounded and they retreated allowing the Napoleon armies am easy win. André Estienne received the silver sticks of honor from Napoleon personally.
A statue in Bronze was erected in the plaza of his village.
During World War II, the statue was hidden by one of the villagers on the night of September 4 to 5, 1943 in order to protect it from the German founderies.
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