Claude cracks Napoleon III's private telegraph code unsolved since 1916
apples_jimmy · x · 2026-10-05
A user, with help from Astra and Claude Opus 4.5, broke the private telegraph code used by Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie in June 1859, around the battle of Solferino. The coded telegrams have sat in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF NAF 11355) since 1916 with no published key, and as far as the author can find have never been published in decoded form.
The recovered messages are domestic rather than military: the Empress wrote "I'm so sorry to have caused you pain. It was not my intention. Don't worry about the little one, he is doing wonderfully." The Emperor, on the eve of Solferino, replied: "One must think twice before hurting those who love… I'm anxious about our son's health; tell me frankly how he is."
Related event: AI Cracks Napoleon III's 166-Year-Old Encrypted Letters(2 posts)→
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