Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769 - 1821

Adapted from A Short History, an essay by David Lyon

It is almost impossible to write about Europe as it was at the end of the 18th Century and the start of the 19th Century without mentioning Napoleon Bonaparte. He is probaly the most written-about figure in world history, and later immortalised by the country he treated as his own although he died in relative obscurity on a remote British-controlled island a defeated and downcast man.

To find out why the world's greatest soldier died as a closely guarded British prisoner, let's take a look at the life of this extraordinary man.

The future French Emperor was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on l5th August 1769 and was the second son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. He later Gallicised (used the French version of) his surname, dropping the "u", but was always more at ease writing and speaking the strange Italian dialect of Corsican. Along with his seven brothers and sisters he was born into a troubled country and at a young age took the place as head of the family when his father died in 1785. In later years he made all his brothers and sisters except Lucien kings and queens.

One year before he was born, Genoa handed Corsica to the French.

In 1778 the young Napoleon was sent to serve in King Louis XVI's army to train in artillery at Brienne military school. Even at that early age Napoleon was noticed as an outstanding student, excelling at maths and geography but was often the object of jokes and sneers from some of his classmates who came from older and richer French families.

Graduating from the prestigious Ecole Militaire in Paris in 1786 - the main building is still much as the young Napoleon would have known it - he spent most of the next two years travelling to and from his Corsican homeland to visit and look after his family. As he was the main wage earner he handed over a large proportion of his meagre wage to his mother so she could feed and clothe the rest of her large family.

Being fiercely independent - the Corsicans hated French rule - the young Napoleon became involved in organising a series of Republican revolts against the French in 1789 (the same year Fletcher Christian seized control of the Bounty.) The uprisings were brutally crushed, and the Bonapartes were forced to flee, arriving in the French port of Marseille in 1793 as refugees.

In that year, the National Convention - the French government - had declared France a Republic, (the French King, Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette had been executed in 1792), and started The French Revolutionary Wars against Great Britain, Austria, Holland and Spain.

Also in that year, as a young artillery officer, Naploeon was instrumental in the taking of Toulon, driving the British navy from that vital port and securing it for French Republican forces. He continued to fight against the enemies of France so successfully that he was invited to work on a plan for the invasion of Italy in Summer 1795.

In October he quelled a Royalist uprising in the South of France so effectively he was promoted to Chief of the Army of the Interior. Assigned to command the Army of Italy, he met and fell in love with Josephine Beauharnais who was an elegant and sophisticated widow six years older than he with two small children called Eugene and Hortense.

He married Josephine on March 9th 1796 and came to love his two small stepchildren as his own but his family detested Josephine and were delighted to see her divorced by Napoleon in1810.

Just two days after marrying his pretty but empty-headed bride, Napoleon left to take command of the Army of Italy and won a series of brilliant victories, forcing the Austrians to sue for peace and leave Italy with the Treaty of Campo-Formio.

The military genius was, however, heartbroken to learn from both his family and friends that Josephine - bored with life at home - had fallen in love with a young officer called Hipployte Charles. Although Napoleon and Josephine made their peace and stayed together Napoleon never forgot how much he had been hurt by the situation.

Ordered by the Directory - the new name for the French government - to plan the conquest of Egypt, Napoleon first invaded and captured Malta on June 19th 1798, and then invaded Egypt, defeating the Mamelukes at the Battle of the Pyramids in that same year. However, his anchored fleet was discovered by Horatio Nelson after a long search, and was destroyed on August 1st 1798 in the Battle of Aboukir Bay.

Stranded in Egypt and with the political situation at home becoming more critical, Napoleon secretly left Egypt on August 24th 1799. He delegated General Kleber to take command although the General only found out about that detail after Napoleon had sailed! An able and likeable man, Kleber was later assassinated by a Turkish fanatic.

Arriving in France on October 9th 1799 to a great welcome from the ordinary people Napoleon overthrew the government on November 9th / 10th in a in a swift and bloodless action and was declared First Consul for 10 years in December. Later declared First Consul for life, Napoleon concluded the Treaty of Amiens in 1802 - effectively a breathing space to allow him to re-group his forces and prepare for more fighting.

A Royalist bomb plot almost succeeded in killing Napoleon. That made him think about ways to ensure his family line would always rule the country so on December 2nd 1804 he crowned himself Emperor of the French. He was just 35 years old.

While famous for his military exploits, Napoleon also created the Napoleonic Code, giving France new laws. These new laws were so effective they still form the basis of the law structure of France, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Napoleon also created new Maritime, Commercial and Industrial laws, founded the state education system, including Universities, and drew up new civil laws. He gave Paris its first street lighting system and commenced a huge plan of demolition and rebuilding of the city, a task later completed by his nephew - Napoleon III.

Napoleon's fleets desperately tried to lure the British away from the English Channel so the invasion of England could commence, but they were finally intercepted by Admiral Nelson off Cape Trafalgar on 21st October 1805.

Although the British were triumphant, the cost was high on both sides and included the loss of the British Commander in Chief - Admiral Nelson himself. However, this stunning win assured British supremacy at sea for over 100 years. Frustrated at this setback, Napoleon went on to win spectacular victories against his Prussian / Austrian enemies, with Auserhtz, 1805, Friedland. Auerstadt and Jena amongst the most notable.

In 1807 he proclaimed himself King of Italy and appointed his stepson Eugene to reign on his behalf. In 1810, Napoleon divorced Josephine and married Marie-Louise, a young princess. She came from one of the greatest royal families, the Austrian Hapsburgs and no doubt Napoleon could see the benefit of joining with such a great family. They had a son who Napoleon hoped would carry on the family name and continue to rule France.

Unable to persuade the Tsar of Russia to fight with him Napoleon invaded in June 1812 with over 600.000 men. Beating the Russians at the Battle of Borodino, but scoring an indecisive victory, his enemy destroyed all food and shelter as they withdrew, forcing Napoleon to retreat. He entered France in December 1812 with just 40,000 men.

Russian farmers still find relics of the military disaster that sealed Napoleon's fate on their land to this day. Napoleon fought on, but was overwhelmed by the Allied forces. Forced to abdicate by his own Marshals and senior military personnel in favour of his son, Napoleon II, he was sent into exile to the Island of Elba near Corsica.

The brother of the executed French king assumed the throne as Louis XVIII, and attempted to restore France to pre-Revolutionary days. Meanwhile, although in exile, Napoleon learned through reliable sources that he would be welcomed back by the French people and with this in mind, he managed to escaped from his lightly guarded prison with 1000 followers, landing at Frejus in France and moving quickly to the capital.

The remaining 136 days of his short-lived reign ended at Waterloo in June 1815, where his army was overwhelmingly defeated. Exile followed once more, but this time to St.Helena, a remote island some 900 miles from the nearest land mass. Heavily guarded by both the Royal Navy and the Army, Napoleon lived on for another 6 years with his mini-court and various visitors. For the first time in his life reflected on his achievements and predicted the rise of the United States as World power, and Britain's equal demise, along with the emergence of the "Iron Curtain" - a political divide between East and West.

His death at ten to six in the evening of 5th May 1821 marked the start of the legend of this most extraordinary man and also sparked off doubts as to whether the death was a natural one or whether he was murdered.

Sadly, his family and descendants were unable to follow the course Napoleon had wanted for them and they were forbidden to live in France up to 1969. There were even American Bonapartes descended from his little brother Jerome who married a Baltimore actress called Betsy Patterson much against his brother's wishes. They are now an extinct line, with the current family tracing from Jerome's second marriage.

The natural heir, the son the Austrian Princess, Marie-Louise, died of consumption (Tuberculosis) at the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna in 1832 aged 21 years old.

Ironically, the son of Louis Napoleon III died fighting the Zulus whilst an officer of the British Army in 1879.

In 1848 Napoleon's body was brought back from St Helena and re-interred at L'Eglise Des Invalides in Paris on the instructions of his nephew, Napoleon III. His son is buried at his feet in a separate crypt. The Emperor, Napoleon I lies in a magnificent tomb surrounded by the nation and the people he loved so much and whom he led to glory - a fitting epitaph for the impoverished boy from Corsica.

This adaption has been used with the kind permission of the Author