The twelfth episode from the life of Napoleon Bonaparte... Flight of the Eagle. The twelfth episode from the life of Napoleon Bonaparte... Flight of the Eagle When Napoleon returned from Elba
Napoleon had been in exile on the island of Elba since May 3, 1814. There were also several generals loyal to him and part of the old guard on the island. Napoleon tried to keep abreast of events taking place in Europe and, especially, in France. The exiled emperor closely monitored the actions of the Bourbons, their mistakes and careless actions. With each passing month, the Bourbons and their entourage began to weaken their position more and more. Their threats and provocations deprived the entire political situation of stability. The village was especially excited. Most of the soldiers treated the Bourbons as a necessary evil imposed from outside, which must be endured silently and patiently. Napoleon was also very interested in news about the Congress of Vienna. He watched how sovereigns and diplomats divided his huge inheritance, how his conquests, taken from France, aroused greed and quarreled former allies.
By early February 1815, Napoleon became convinced that he needed to return to France and restore the empire. In mid-February, a young official, Fleury de Chaboulon, arrived in Elba with information from the former Napoleonic foreign minister, Marais, Duke of Bassano, who lived in France. De Chaboulon told Napoleon in detail about the growth of general discontent, about the fact that the army almost entirely considers in its heart only Napoleon to be its legitimate sovereign, and does not even want to know King Louis XVIII and other members of the Bourbon family. Napoleon himself knew a lot, but after this conversation he finally made up his mind. Napoleon called on his generals who followed him to the island of Elba: Bertrand, Drouot and Cambronne. Bertrand and Cambronne received the news with delight, Drouot with doubts about success.
Napoleon did not set out to conquer France with weapons, he simply intended to appear in France, land on the shore, announce his goals and demand the imperial throne back. It seemed to him that the country should have immediately, without a fight, without an attempt at resistance, fall at his feet. Under Napoleon there were 724 people, which were quite enough for the closest personal guard. Of these, 600 were grenadiers and foot rangers of the old guard and more than a hundred cavalrymen. Then he had at his disposal more than 300 soldiers of the 35th regiment located here for a long time, sent at one time by him to guard the island. He had several small ships for the move.
All preparations took place in deep secrecy. On the afternoon of February 26, 1,100 soldiers were suddenly, fully armed, sent to Portoferraio and boarded ships. They had no idea about the purpose of the trip. At seven o'clock in the evening the small flotilla sailed north with a fair wind.
Napoleon, without the slightest struggle, walked from the Mediterranean coast to Paris in 19 days, expelled the Bourbon dynasty and reigned again. But he knew that again, as in his first reign, he did not bring peace with him, but a sword, and that Europe, shocked by his sudden appearance, this time would do everything to prevent him from gathering his forces.
Napoleon understood that after 11 months of the Bourbon constitutional monarchy and some freedom of the press, the urban bourgeoisie expected from him at least some minimum of freedoms; he needed to quickly illustrate the program that he was developing, moving towards Paris and playing the revolutionary general. The class of French society that won during the revolution and whose main representative and strengthener of victory was Napoleon, that is, the big bourgeoisie, was the only class whose aspirations were close and understandable to Napoleon. It was in this class that he wanted to feel supported, and in his interests he was ready to fight. “I don’t want to be king of the jacquerie,” Napoleon said to the typical exponent of bourgeois aspirations at this moment, Benjamin Constant. The emperor ordered to call him to the palace to resolve the issue of liberal state reform, which would satisfy the bourgeoisie, prove the newly-minted freethinking of Emperor Napoleon and at the same time calm down the Jacobins who had raised their heads.
On April 6, Constant was brought before the emperor, and on April 23, the constitution was ready. Benjamin Constant simply took the charter, that is, the constitution given by King Louis XVIII in 1814, and made it a little more liberal. The electoral qualifications for voters and those elected were greatly lowered, but still, in order to become a deputy, you had to be a rich person. Freedom of the press was somewhat more ensured. Preliminary censorship was abolished, and crimes of the press could henceforth be punished only in court. In addition to the elected chamber of deputies (of 300 people), another was established - the upper chamber, which was to be appointed by the emperor and be hereditary. Laws had to pass through both houses and be approved by the emperor.
Napoleon accepted the project and the new constitution was published on April 23. Napoleon did not really resist the liberal creativity of Benjamin Constant. He only wanted to postpone the elections and the convening of the chambers until the question of war was resolved, and then, if there was a victory, it would be clear what to do with the deputies, and with the press, and with Benjamin Constant himself. For the time being, this constitution was supposed to calm minds. But the liberal bourgeoisie had little faith in his liberalism, and the emperor was very much asked to speed up the convening of the chambers. Napoleon, after some objections, agreed and appointed the “May Field” for May 25, when the results of the plebiscite to which the emperor subjected his new constitution were to be announced, the banners of the National Guard were to be distributed and the meetings of the chamber were to open. The plebiscite gave 1,552,450 votes for the constitution and 4,800 against. The ceremony of distributing banners (it took place not on May 26, but on June 1) was majestic. At the same time, on June 1, meetings of the newly elected chamber opened.
The people's representatives had only been meeting for a week and a half, and Napoleon was already dissatisfied with them. He was absolutely incapable of living with any limitation on his power or even with any sign of independent behavior. The Chamber chose as its chairman Languine, a moderate liberal, a former Girondin, whom Napoleon did not really like. It was also impossible to see any opposition in this - Languine definitely preferred Napoleon to the Bourbons - and the emperor was already angry and, accepting the most submissive and very respectful address from the Legislative Corps, said: “Let us not imitate the example of Byzantium, which, pressed on all sides by barbarians, became the laughing stock of posterity, engaging in abstract discussions at the moment when the battering ram smashed the city gates.” He hinted at a European coalition, hordes of which rushed from all sides to the borders of France. He accepted the address of the people's representatives on June 11, and the next day, June 12, he went to the army for the last battle with Europe in his life.
3 Battle of Ligny
Of the 198 thousand soldiers that Napoleon had on June 10, 1815, more than a third were scattered throughout the country. For the upcoming campaign, the emperor had directly in his hands about 128 thousand with 344 guns in the guard, five army corps and a cavalry reserve. In addition, there was an emergency army (national guard, etc.) of 200 thousand people, half of which were not uniformed, and the third were not armed. If the campaign had dragged on, then, using the organizational work of his Minister of War Davout, he could have collected about 230-240 thousand more people with the greatest efforts. The British, Prussians, Austrians, and Russians have already deployed about 700 thousand people at once, and by the end of the summer they could have deployed another 300 thousand.
Before Napoleon were the British and Prussians, the first of all the allies to appear on the battlefield. The Austrians also hurried to the Rhine, but they were still far away. Wellington with the English army stood in Brussels, and the Prussian army under the command of Blucher was scattered on the Sambre and Meuse rivers, between Charleroi and Liege.
On June 14, Napoleon began the campaign by invading Belgium. He quickly moved into the gap that separated Wellington from Blucher and rushed at Blucher. The French occupied Charleroi and fought across the Sambre River. But Napoleon's operation on the right flank slowed down somewhat: General Bourmont, a royalist by conviction, long suspected by the soldiers, fled to the Prussian camp. After this, the soldiers became even more suspicious of their superiors. To Blücher, this incident seemed a favorable sign, although he refused to accept General Bourmont, who had betrayed Napoleon.
Napoleon ordered Marshal Ney to occupy the village of Quatre Bras on the Brussels road on June 15 in order to pin down the British, but Ney, acting sluggishly, was too late to do this. On June 16, a great battle between Napoleon and Blucher took place at Ligny. Victory remained with Napoleon; Blucher lost more than 20 thousand people, Napoleon - about 11 thousand. But Napoleon was not happy with this victory, because if not for the mistake of Ney, who unnecessarily delayed the 1st Corps, forcing him to take a vain walk between Quatre Bras and Ligny, he could have destroyed the entire Prussian army at Ligny. Blucher was defeated and thrown back (in an unknown direction), but not destroyed.
4 Battle of Waterloo
On June 17, Napoleon gave his army a break. Around noon, Napoleon separated 36 thousand people from the entire army, placed Marshal Grouchy over them and ordered him to continue pursuing Blucher. Part of Napoleon's cavalry pursued the British, who the day before tried to pin down the French at Quatre Bras. But the rain heavily washed out the roads, and the pursuit had to be stopped. Napoleon himself with the main forces united with Her and moved north, in a direct direction to Brussels. Wellington, with all the forces of the English army, took a position 22 kilometers from Brussels, on the Mont Saint-Jean plateau, south of the village of Waterloo. The forest of Soigny, north of Waterloo, cut off his escape route to Brussels. Wellington fortified himself on this plateau. He was going to wait for Napoleon in this very strong position and hold out, no matter the cost, until Blücher managed, having recovered from defeat and received reinforcements, to come to his aid.
By the evening of June 17, Napoleon approached the plateau with his troops and saw the English army in the distance in the fog. Napoleon had approximately 72 thousand men, Wellington 70 thousand when they faced each other on the morning of June 18, 1815. Both were expecting reinforcements and had a solid reason to wait for them: Napoleon was waiting for Marshal Grouchy, who had no more than 33 thousand people; The British were waiting for Blucher, who after the defeat at Ligny had about 80 thousand people left, and who could appear with 40-50 thousand ready for battle.
Already from the end of the night Napoleon was in place, but he could not launch an attack at dawn, because the rain had loosened the ground so much that it was difficult to deploy the cavalry. The emperor toured his troops in the morning and was delighted with the reception he received: it was a completely exceptional outburst of mass enthusiasm, not seen on such a scale since the time of Austerlitz. This review, which was destined to be the last review of the army in Napoleon's life, made an indelible impression on him and everyone present.
Napoleon's headquarters were first at the farm du Caillou. At 11 o'clock in the morning, it seemed to Napoleon that the soil was dry enough, and only then did he order the battle to begin. Strong artillery fire from 84 guns was opened against the left wing of the British and an attack was launched under the leadership of Ney. At the same time, a weaker attack was launched by the French for the purpose of demonstrating at the castle of Hougoumont on the right flank of the English army, where the attack met the most vigorous resistance and encountered a fortified position.
The attack on the British left wing continued. The murderous struggle lasted for an hour and a half, when suddenly Napoleon noticed, in a very great distance in the northeast near Saint-Lambert, the vague outlines of moving troops. At first he thought it was Grouchy, who had been sent orders early in the night and then several times during the morning to hurry to the battlefield. But it was not Grouchy, but Blucher, who had escaped Grouchy’s pursuit and, after very skillfully executed transitions, had deceived the French marshal, and was now rushing to the aid of Wellington. Napoleon, having learned the truth, was still not embarrassed; he was convinced that Grushi was following on the heels of Blucher and that when both of them arrived at the battlefield, then although Blucher would bring more reinforcements to Wellington than Grushi would bring to the emperor, the forces would still be more or less balanced, and if before Blucher’s appearance and If he manages to deliver a crushing blow to the British, then the battle will be finally won after Grusha’s approach.
Having sent part of the cavalry against Blucher, Napoleon ordered Marshal Ney to continue the attack on the left wing and center of the British, which had already experienced a number of terrible blows since the beginning of the battle. Here four divisions of d’Erlon’s corps advanced in dense battle formation. A bloody battle began to boil along this entire front. The British met these massive columns with fire and launched a counterattack several times. One after another, the French divisions entered the battle and suffered terrible losses. The Scottish cavalry cut into these divisions and cut down part of the composition. Noticing the collapse and defeat of the division, Napoleon personally rushed to the heights near the Belle Alliance farm, sent several thousand cuirassiers of General Milhaud there, and the Scots, having lost an entire regiment, were driven back.
This attack upset almost the entire d'Erlon corps. The left wing of the English army could not be broken. Then Napoleon changed his plan and transferred the main attack to the center and right wing of the English army. At 3 o'clock the La Haye-Saint farm was taken by the left flank division of d'Erlon's corps. But this corps did not have the strength to develop its success. Then Napoleon handed over to Ney 40 squadrons of the cavalry of Milhaud and Lefebvre-Denuette with the task of striking the right wing of the British between the castle of Hougoumont and La Haye-Saint. The castle of Hougoumont was finally taken at this time, but the English held out, falling in hundreds and not retreating from their main positions.
Napoleon sent more cavalry into the fire, 37 Kellermann squadrons. Evening came. Napoleon finally sent his guards to the British and himself directed them to attack. And at that very moment, screams and the roar of shots were heard on the right flank of the French army: Blucher with 30 thousand soldiers arrived on the battlefield. But the attacks of the guard continued, since Napoleon believed that Grouchy was coming after Blucher. Soon, however, panic spread: the Prussian cavalry fell on the French guard, who found himself between two fires, and Blucher himself rushed with the rest of his forces to the Belle Alliance farm, from where Napoleon and the guard had previously set out. Blucher wanted to cut off Napoleon's retreat with this maneuver. It was already eight o'clock in the evening, but still quite light, and then Wellington, who had been under continuous murderous attacks from the French all day, launched a general offensive. But Grushi still didn’t come.
The guard, having formed a square, slowly retreated, desperately defending itself through the close ranks of the enemy. Napoleon rode at a pace among the battalion of guards grenadiers guarding him. The desperate resistance of the old guard delayed the victors. In other areas, the French troops, and especially at Plancenoit, where the reserve - the Lobo corps - fought, resisted, but ultimately, exposed to attacks by fresh Prussian forces, they scattered in different directions, fleeing, and only the next day, and then only partially began to gather into organized units. The Prussians pursued the enemy all night long.
25 thousand French and 22 thousand British and their allies lay dead and wounded on the battlefield.
5 Paris. Renunciation
The defeat of the French army, the loss of almost all artillery, the approach of hundreds of thousands of fresh Austrian troops to the borders of France, the imminent prospect of the appearance of even more hundreds of thousands of Russians - all this made Napoleon’s position completely hopeless, and he realized this immediately, moving away from the Waterloo field. Outwardly, Napoleon was calm and very thoughtful throughout the journey from Waterloo to Paris, but his face was not as gloomy as after Leipzig, although now everything was really lost for him.
With Napoleon a drastic change immediately took place. He came to Paris after Waterloo not to fight for the throne, but to surrender all his positions. And not because his exceptional energy disappeared, but because he, apparently, realized that he had done his job - whether badly or well - and that his role was over. He had lost all interest and taste for activity, he was simply waiting for what future events would do to him, in the preparation of which he had already decided not to take any part.
Napoleon arrived in Paris on June 21 and immediately convened his ministers. Carnot proposed to demand from the chambers the proclamation of Napoleon's dictatorship. Davout advised simply to adjourn the session and dissolve the chamber. Napoleon refused to do this. The Chamber also met at this time and, at the suggestion of Lafayette, who had reappeared on the historical stage, declared itself indissoluble.
Throughout June 21, almost the entire night from June 21 to 22, throughout the day of June 22, in the Saint-Antoine and Saint-Marseille suburbs, in the Temple quarter, processions walked through the streets shouting: “Long live the Emperor!” Down with traitors! Emperor or death! No need for renunciation! Emperor and defense! Down with the ward! But Napoleon no longer wanted to fight and did not want to reign.
On June 22, 1815, Napoleon abdicated the throne for the second time in favor of his young son. His second reign, which lasted one hundred days, ended. A huge crowd then gathered around the Elysee Palace, where Napoleon stayed after returning from the army. “No need for renunciation! Long live the Emperor!” - the crowd shouted. Having learned on the evening of the 22nd that Napoleon had left for Malmaison, and that his abdication had been decided irrevocably, the crowds began to slowly disperse.
On June 28, the abdicated emperor left Malmaison and headed to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. He wanted to board one of the frigates stationed in the port of Rochefort and go to America. But it was impossible to go to sea: the English squadron closely blocked the harbor. After some thought, Napoleon decided to entrust his fate to England. On July 15, 1815, he boarded the brig Hawk, which transported him to the English ship Bellerophon. Napoleon became a prisoner of the British and was then sent to the remote island of St. Helens in the Atlantic Ocean. There, in the village of Longwood, the former emperor spent the last six years of his life.
...Straight from the Elbe to Lyon! Taking cities
While walking, he approached the Parisian walls...
On Napoleon's flight from the island of Elba
George Gordon Byron
Domenico MASTROIANI
On February 26, Napoleon's tiny flotilla, who had been in exile for nine months and 21 days, left the island of Elba and headed for the continent, despite all dangers. The fact is that English and French royal military frigates were constantly scurrying around the island, keeping it under constant surveillance. To lull their vigilance the crew fickle I even repainted the ship's skin a different color.
Return of Napoleon from Elba
Jules VERNET
The soldiers settled on the ships; there were about three hundred grenadiers directly with Napoleon on the brig. The voyage lasted about three days due to weakened tailwinds.
Return of Napoleon Bonaparte from Elba on February 28, 1815.
The brig Inconsistent with the Emperor on board intersects with the royalist brig Zephyr
Louis Ambroise GARNERE
Return from Elba Island. February 28, 1815
Engraving from a painting by Gargnere
February 27 past Napoleonic fickle a sailboat passed Partridge, in which the English Colonel Campbell was returning to Porto Ferraio after a romantic date. In the afternoon the flotilla met the French royal frigates Fleur de lis And Melpomene, and near the island of Gorgone Fickle crossed paths with the royalist Zephyr. The hatches on the imperial brig were quickly closed, the grenadiers, taking off their high headdresses, lay down on their backs on the deck. It was decided to board the ship if the ship was not allowed through without inspection. But everything worked out, no one noticed anything from the royal frigate. When the ships caught up, the captains only exchanged a few phrases:
- Where are you going?- they asked Zephyr.
- In Livorno. And you?
- To Genoa.
- How is the great man doing?
- Perfect!(According to legend, Napoleon himself answered the last question...).
So, the flotilla happily passed all the patrol ships plying between Corsica and Italy, and on March 1, around noon, dropped anchor in Juan Bay on the southern coast of France. A small army landed without hindrance and bivouaced in an olive grove, between the sea and the road from Cannes to Antibes. The customs guards, seeing the emperor, loudly and enthusiastically greeted him, baring their heads.
Napoleon's landing at Juan Bay near Antibes
Karl Heinrich RAL
Even on Elba, the emperor decided which way to advance to Lyon. He perfectly remembered the humiliation and bitterness that he experienced during the journey into exile, which he suffered in the ultra-royalist regions of Provence and understood that here he could be attacked by units of the National Guard, so he preferred the steep Alpine paths to the high road.
Having replenished supplies, Napoleon moved with his detachment north through the province of Dauphiné. At dawn the column set off. On March 2, she quickly marched along mountain paths through Cannes and Grasse, the inhabitants of the latter presented violets to the emperor. Although it should be noted that at first the crowds came running more to look at the emperor out of curiosity and anxiety than enthusiasm. On the evening of March 2, the column reached the village of Sernon, at an altitude of 1373 meters. In twenty hours, a small detachment in single file, along paths covered with snow, traveled more than fifty kilometers, performing a kind of miracle. The guard then passed Castellane, Barrem, Diné, from where General Loverdo withdrew the garrison to avoid a clash. With each new settlement, the indifference of the population was replaced by enthusiastic greetings to the emperor and wishes for victory to his enterprise.
Meeting at Laffre 7 March 1815
Joseph Louis Hippolyte BELLANGE
In the Laffre Gorge, Napoleon's detachment was blocked by royal troops, and he found himself face to face with the 5th line infantry battalion sent by General Marchand, who commanded the troops in Grenoble. The battalion commander, Major Delessard, in agreement with Marchand's adjutant, Captain Randon, decided to detain the emperor here. At first, the royal soldiers remained steadfast. They did not side with the emperor and refused to accept the proclamations that the peasants offered them. The critical moment has arrived. Then Napoleon ordered Colonel Mallet to give his soldiers the order to shift their guns under their left hands, turning their muzzle into the ground, and commanded Mallet to object: Forward! And one, at the head of his veterans, led essentially unarmed soldiers to approach the advanced battalion of the royal army.
Confusion arose in the ranks of the dumbfounded soldiers: they were trembling, their guns were shaking in convulsively clenched hands at the sight of a lone figure in a gray frock coat and a familiar cocked hat approaching them with a firm step... Approaching the distance of a pistol shot, Napoleon asked:
- Soldiers of the fifth regiment! Do you recognize me?
- Yes Yes Yes!!!
Bonaparte went for broke, he opened his coat and exposed his chest:
- Which of you wants to shoot your emperor? I stand under your shots. Shoot!
Unable to endure such a test, the soldiers, breaking up their ranks and tearing off their white cockades, waved their shakos mounted on bayonets and shouted joyfully Long live the Emperor! rushed to their idol. Many fell to their knees in front of him, hugged him, kissed his hands, and cried. In the blink of an eye, the royal and Napoleonic soldiers mingled and fraternization began. The road to Grenoble was clear.
Colonel Labedoyer in the ranks of the 7th Line Regiment runs to throw himself into the hands of Napoleon
Carl August Guillaume STEUBEN (Charles Auguste STEUBEN)
Engraving by Jean-Pierre-Marie JAZET
At this time, the 7th line regiment, stationed in Grenoble itself, under the command of Colonel Charles de Labedoyere, former adjutant of Marshal Jeanne Lanna, did not wait for the arrival of the emperor and with the same cry Long live the Emperor!, leaving the city, went to meet the soldiers who had arrived from the Elbe.
Portrait of Charles Angélique Huche Labedoyere
Jean-Urbain GUERIN
By the way, after the second restoration, already as a brigadier general, 29-year-old Charles Labedoyère was found guilty of treason and rebellion and sentenced to death, becoming the first victim of royal repression. He bravely accepted death on August 19, 1815.
General Marchand tried to take the remaining troops with him. But in the evening, crowds of peasants with torches, armed with pitchforks and ancient guns, approached the Bonn Gate of Grenoble, mingling with Napoleon's soldiers. They crowded in front of the fortress, proclaiming Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!. And from the bastions, curtains, and city streets they were echoed by gunners, infantrymen and city residents. Grenoble rejoiced!
Emperor Napoleon at the walls of Grenoble. Soldiers and townspeople open the Bonn Gate to the emperor.
Carl Vernet
Napoleon's entry into Grenoble
Carriage workers from the suburb of St. Joseph used a huge oak board to mark the city gates. Accompanied by crowds of peasants, artisans and townspeople at the head of several regiments who went over to his side, Bonaparte entered Grenoble, through the streets of which an enthusiastic crowd carried him in their arms. This is how Count Emmanuel Augustin de Las Cases described it: In no battle did Napoleon face such danger as when entering Grenoble. The soldiers rushed at him with fury; they thought it would be torn apart; but it was an intoxication of love and joy; he was lifted into the air along with the horse.
To the balcony of the Hotel of the Three Dauphins, where the emperor decided to stay, workers dragged fragments of the Bonn Gate with the words: We do not have the keys to your faithful city of Grenoble, so we brought you its gates. The next day, city authorities and senior officials came to Napoleon for a reception, and a review was given to the local garrison. Napoleon later recalled: Before Grenoble I was an adventurer; in Grenoble I became sovereign...
Napoleon Road
The French Minister of War, Marshal Soult, received a report from General Massena about Napoleon's landing on March 5 and urgently convened a council of ministers, which held two meetings, which decided to send a real army against the emperor. In addition, at the meeting a royal order was drawn up, declaring Bonaparte a traitor and rebel and ordering every military man, every soldier of the national guard, every citizen help chase him.
Resistance of troops to the Count of Artois in Lyon, who must exclaim: Long live the king!
Next on Napoleon's path was the second French city after Paris, Lyon. In order to keep him, Louis XVIII's brother Count D'Artois, (the future King Charles X), the Duke of Orleans (the future King Louis Philippe) and Marshal J. E. Macdonald went there. The Marshal even intended to review the royal troops, but the rebellious garrison, every single person, came under the banner of Napoleon.The royals and MacDonald, sent to defend Lyon, barely had time to retreat from the city. I left Lyon, or rather, I fled from there, after witnessing the withdrawal of the entire garrison, who came under the banner of Napoleon with cries of Long live the Emperor! - shouts that were echoed from the Faubourg Guillotiere to the Quai de Lyon by the crowds of people crowding along both banks of the Rhone(from the Marshal's report to the Minister of War).
Napoleon's triumphal entry into Lyon, March 10, 1815
Illustration for the book by Adolphe Thiers History of the Consulate and Empire Volume 4
Accompanied by crowds of people with torches in their hands, the vanguard of the imperial troops entered Lyon, followed by Napoleon himself. He settled down in the apartments of Count D'Artois, issued decrees returning to him all the power that he had lost by abdicating the throne. Having finished with his affairs, Napoleon decided to have a little fun with the local beauty Madame Pellapra, who had a captivating body and delicate skin, which, if believe Baron Meneval, he demonstrated that exile did not diminish his fiery passion and did not change his taste for pleasure... At the same time, Bonaparte also did not forget to write an ardent and sincere letter to his wife Marie-Louise in Vienna.
Having escorted Napoleon to the residence, crowds of people, singing the Marseillaise, dispersed throughout the city. Workers stopped in front of royalist houses and broke out windows with stones. A cafe was destroyed on Place Bellecour Bourbon, known as a gathering place for expats. All night the streets were filled with enthusiastic greetings and threatening cries: Down with the priests! Death to the royalists! To the Bourbon scaffold! It seemed as if time had gone back to 1793...
Then everything went according to the established scenario. One after another, the rebel garrisons voluntarily went over to the side of the emperor: on March 13, Napoleon, setting out from Lyon, spent the night in Macon; on March 14, he was already in Chalons; on March 16, in Autun and Avallon.
Return of Napoleon from the Island of Elba
Pierre Marie Joseph Vernet
Things were more complicated with Napoleonic marshals and generals, since many of them, on the advice of Napoleon himself, swore allegiance to the Bourbons and were in active service (Berthier, Marmont, Soult, MacDonald, Jourdan, Rey, Pactot, Ney and others). By his actions, the emperor put them in an awkward position: they had to either break the oath given to the king, or shoot Napoleon. This irritated the military leaders and caused natural indignation.
Marshal Michel Ney was especially determined, summoned to the king from his estate Coudrot, who promised Louis XVIII to deliver the prisoner in an iron cage. He sincerely believed that the return of Napoleon would unleash a civil war in the country, so he threw out to his comrades right and left: If we meet him, he will be destroyed; Bonaparte must be hunted down like a predator or a rabid dog; The troops will fight. If necessary, I will fire first with a gun or carbine, and pierce the doubting soldier with my sword, and the hilt will serve as a plaster.
Portrait of Marshal Michel Ney
William Marshall CRAIG
Doubts crept into the heart of the bravest marshal when he saw the state of affairs and the ferment of minds in the troops entrusted to him, the delay of the promised reinforcements, the chaos and lack of unified leadership, as well as information about the real progress of the emperor. Napoleon's spies were not asleep either: agents were sent to the troops of Prince Moskvoretsky to agitate among the soldiers, and early in the morning of March 14, several of Napoleon's emissaries came to the marshal himself with a letter from Bertrand and a note from Bonaparte: My cousin, my chief of staff is sending you orders. I have no doubt that upon receiving the news of my arrival in Lyon you had already forced your troops to fly the tricolor flag. Follow Bertrand's orders and join me in Chalons. I will receive you the same way I received you the day after the battle of Moscow. Napoleon. In addition, the envoys claimed that the king had already left Paris.
Marshal Ney's troops enthusiastically join Napoleon's project
Illustration for the book by Adolphe Thiers History of the Consulate and Empire Volume 4
Ney spent the whole night in thought, turning over various options in his mind, but when he realized that his soldiers would not go against the emperor, he decided to go over to Bonaparte’s side. Having gathered his troops, he addressed them with an appeal, which they accepted with Hurray! Officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers, the Bourbon cause is lost forever. The legitimate dynasty that the French nation has chosen for itself is about to ascend the throne again. Only Emperor Napoleon, our sovereign, should reign over our beautiful country. The nobility of the Bourbons, who decided to leave their homeland again or let them live among us - what is more important to us? The sacred cause of freedom and our independence can no longer tolerate their disastrous influence. They wanted to humiliate our military glory, but they were mistaken. This glory is the fruit of deeds too noble for us to forget about it forever. Soldiers!.. Freedom finally triumphs, and Napoleon, our august Emperor, is going to strengthen it forever. Let from now on this wonderful cause become not only ours, but also that of all the French! Let all the brave men whom I have the honor to command be imbued with this noble truth! Soldiers, I have often led you to victory. Now I want to lead you to that immortal phalanx that Emperor Napoleon leads to Paris... and there our hope and our happiness will be realized forever! Long live the Emperor!
To the reproaches of one of the officers who remained faithful to the oath to the king, Ney replied: What do you think should have been done? Can I stop the movement of the sea with my two hands?
On March 17, 1815, in Auxerre, Emperor Napoleon was joined by the bravest of the brave, Marshal Ney
Carl Vernet
Meeting of Napoleon and Marshal Ney in Auxerre
Illustration for the book by Adolphe Thiers History of the Consulate and Empire Volume 4
Then Marshal Ney submitted a report addressed to the emperor, in which he wrote: I am not joining you out of respect or affection for your person. You were the tyrant of my homeland. You brought mourning to all families and despair to many. You have disturbed the peace of the whole world. Since fate brings you back, swear to me that from now on you will devote yourself to correcting the evil that you have caused to France, that you will make people happy... I demand that you recruit armies for nothing more than to protect our borders and you will no longer march with them for unnecessary conquests... Under these conditions, I will not interfere with your plans. I give myself only to save my country from the division that threatens it.
After arriving in Paris on March 23, Ney was sent on a mission as emergency commissioner to the northern border of France, and then returned to his Coudrot estate, where he remained until Napoleon summoned him to his headquarters in Avens in mid-June.
Bonaparte tightens the rope around the neck of Louis XVIII
Meanwhile, in Paris, real panic began. In the city center, some joker put up a huge poster on the Place Vendôme: From Napoleon to Louis XVIII: King, my brother, do not send more troops, I have enough of them. The ghosts of the executed Louis XVI and the Duke of Enghien wandered around the palace in the Tuileries, striking fear into the royal family. The very thought of a shameful escape depressed Louis XVIII, but he was not going to surrender to the mercy of the usurper.
Escape of Louis XVIII from the Tuileries on March 19, 1815
Antoine-Jean GRO
On March 19, Napoleon Bonaparte was already in the town of Pont-sur-Yonne. Napoleon continued on his way. His army grew at the expense of the royal troops. Throughout the emperor’s entire journey, there was not a single fatal rifle shot from the ranks of the royal troops that could have stopped his advance. This did not happen either in Cannes and Grasse, or in the Laffre Gorge, or on the bastions of Grenoble, or in Lyon, where Marshal Macdonald never found a performer (even for money) in the ranks of the police, royal volunteers or local residents. And he himself, like other military leaders, did not make up his mind, although he gave his word.
Departure of Louis XVIII King of France
Francois-Joseph HAYM
On the night of March 19-20, Napoleon Bonaparte and his vanguard entered Fontainebleau. And almost at the same time, the king with his entire large family fled from Paris to Lille, further towards the Belgian border, intending to then settle in Ghent under the protection of English bayonets.
Jump from Paris to Lille, 1815
The poor French king, suffering from gout, limps, flees from Napoleon
Louis XVIII fled so quickly that in his haste he forgot important documents on the table in the Tuileries Palace
(but we'll talk about that later).
French allegiance: Paris March 19, 1815 and Paris March 20, 1815
Friedrich KAMP
Bonaparte enters Paris
On March 20, Napoleon, surrounded by his comrades, entered the capital in a carriage. Joyful and jubilant Parisians poured into the streets of the city, the imperial cortege was accompanied by crowds of thousands. Even in the afternoon, the white royal flag was torn from the Tuileries Palace and replaced with a revolutionary tricolor one, and the palace carpets with the image of lilies of the Bourbon dynasty were replaced with imperial ones with golden bees.
Napoleon reenters the Tuileries on March 20, 181
Illustration for the book by Adolphe Thiers History of the Consulate and Empire Volume 4
At 9 o'clock in the evening, Napoleon Bonaparte was carried into the palace in triumph and carried up the main staircase to the second floor apartments. So, Napoleon and his team covered the path from the Mediterranean coast to Grenoble in 7 days, after which, constantly replenishing the army with enemy troops, he triumphantly entered Paris, fulfilling his promise to like-minded people in such a short time: Soldiers! An eagle with the national banner will fly from one bell tower to another to the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris!. Thus, without firing a single shot, the emperor expelled the Bourbon dynasty and again took the French throne. Despite the many resounding victories and brilliant campaigns that occurred in his long career, Paris never greeted Napoleon with such enthusiasm as this time.
Return of Napoleon I to the Tuileries
Francois-Joseph HAYM
This triumph became possible thanks to the unification of the French peasants, who hated the old feudal regime and made up the majority of the country's population, and the soldiers who had not lost faith in their emperor. And Napoleon understood this perfectly: Selfless people brought me to Paris. The non-commissioned officers and soldiers did everything. I owe everything to the people and the army... ...They followed me from city to city, and when they could not go further, they were replaced by others to escort me, and so on to Paris. After the Provencals - the Dauphins, after the Dauphins - the Lyons, after the Lyons - the Burgundians made up my cortege, and the true conspirators who prepared all these friends for me were the Bourbons themselves.
And this is how the tone of the headlines of one of the government Parisian newspapers changed during Napoleon's advance:
- The Corsican monster landed in Juan Bay
- The ogre goes to Grasse
- The usurper entered Grenoble
- Bonaparte occupied Lyon
- Napoleon approaches Fontainebleau
- His Imperial Majesty is expected today in his faithful Paris
Dominico MASTROIANI
And ahead we are waiting One Hundred Days of Napoleon...
pro100-mica.livejournal.com
Defeat in the Franco-Russian War of 1812 led to the collapse of Napoleon's empire and in 1814, after the entry of the anti-French coalition troops into Paris, Napoleon abdicated the throne and was exiled to the island of Elba.
During his exile on Elba, Napoleon I closely followed the events in France and the progress of the Congress of Vienna, which summed up the victorious wars of the anti-French coalition. Knowing the dissatisfaction of the French with the rule of Louis XVIII and the disputes between the victorious powers, Napoleon tried to seize power again.
On February 26, Napoleon, together with a group of comrades, sailed to France and five days later landed in the south of the country. King Louis XVIII sent an army against Napoleon, which, however, went over to the side of the ex-emperor. On March 13, Napoleon issued a decree restoring the Empire and on March 20 entered Paris victoriously. The king and his court moved from the capital to Ghent in advance. From March 20, 100 days of Napoleon's re-rule begin.
The Allies, frightened by the news of Napoleon's return to power, created the seventh anti-Napoleonic coalition. On June 18 at Waterloo, Napoleon's army was defeated, and on June 22 he abdicated the throne again. After leaving France, Napoleon voluntarily arrived on the English warship Bellerophon in the port of Plymouth, hoping to receive political asylum from his old enemies - the British.
However, Napoleon was arrested and spent the last six years of his life in captivity on the island of St. Helena, where he died in 1821. In 1840, Napoleon's remains were transported to France and reburied in the Les Invalides in Paris.
Soviet historian Evgeny Tarle wrote with inimitable irony: “The government and Parisian press close to the ruling spheres moved from extreme self-confidence to complete loss of spirit and undisguised fear. Typical of her behavior during these days was the strict sequence of epithets applied to Napoleon as he advanced from south to north.
The first news: “The Corsican monster has landed in Juan Bay.”
Second news: “The cannibal is coming to Grasse.”
Third news: “The usurper has entered Grenoble.”
Fourth news: "Bonaparte occupied Lyon."
Fifth news: “Napoleon is approaching Fontainebleau.”
Sixth news: “His Imperial Majesty is expected today in his faithful Paris.”
This entire literary gamut fit into the same newspapers, with the same editors, for several days.”
"The Devil Pays or Bonnino Returns from Hell from the Island of Elba." Caricature from 1815
Caricature of Louis XVIII (the king tries to pull on Napoleon Bonaparte's boots)
"Jump from Paris to Lille." The ill-fated French king Louis XVIII, suffering from gout, limps, flees from Napoleon. Caricature from 1815
“Indigestible pie” (Louis XVIII is lying under the table, at the table from left to right is the Prussian King Frederick Film III, Alexander I, Wellington, the Austrian Emperor Franz I. Napoleon crawls out of the pie). Caricature from 1815
"Sunset". Climbing out, Napoleon tilts the cap to extinguish the candles, on which the French king sits. Louis XVIII loses his balance, dropping the Constitutional Charter, and his crown is stolen by the imperial eagle. Caricature from 1815
"Great maneuvers or the Rascal marches to the island of Elba." 1815 cartoon depicting Napoleon's exile on the island of Elba
"Robinson of the Island of Elba". Caricature from 1815
Caricature of Napoleon on the Elbe
"Swing". On the left are the Prussian, Austrian and Russian monarchs sitting on a swing, on the right is Bonaparte. He weighs more than all the monarchs of the anti-Napoleonic coalition. The French king Louis XVIII fell from a swing. Caricature from 1815
"The Barber of the Elbe" A French soldier shaves Louis XVIII and exclaims: "It's finished! You're shaved!" The king bleats: “What soap!” (The soap says "Imperial Essence"). Beneath Louis' feet lies the Constitutional Charter. Caricature from 1815
"The Fate of France" The Order of the Legion of Honor weighs more than all the monarchs of the anti-Napoleonic coalition combined. Caricature from 1815
"Napoleon returned from Elba." Author Karl Karlovich Steuben (1788–1856). E. Tarle: “On the morning of March 7, Napoleon arrived in the village of Lamur. Troops in battle formation were visible in the distance ahead... Napoleon looked through a telescope for a long time at the troops advanced against him. Then he ordered his soldiers to take the gun under their left hand and turn the muzzle into the ground. “Forward!” - he commanded and walked ahead right under the guns of the advanced battalion of the royal troops lined up opposite him. The commander of this battalion looked at his soldiers, turned to the adjutant of the garrison commander and said to him, pointing to his soldiers: “What should I do? Look at them, they are pale , like death, and tremble at the mere thought of having to shoot at this man." He ordered the battalion to retreat, but they did not have time. Napoleon ordered 50 of his cavalrymen to stop the battalion preparing to retreat. “Friends, don’t shoot!” the cavalrymen shouted. “Here is the emperor ! The battalion stopped. Then Napoleon came close to the soldiers, who froze with their guns at the ready, not taking their eyes off the lone figure in a gray frock coat and triangular hat approaching them with a firm step. “Soldiers of the fifth regiment!” was heard among the dead silence. “Do you recognize me?” » - "Yes Yes Yes!" - they shouted from the ranks. Napoleon unbuttoned his coat and opened his chest. “Which of you wants to shoot your emperor? Shoot!” Eyewitnesses to the end of their days could not forget those thunderous joyful cries with which the soldiers, having disrupted the front, rushed to Napoleon. The soldiers surrounded him in a close crowd, kissed his hands, his knees, cried with delight and behaved as if in a fit of mass insanity. With difficulty it was possible to calm them down, form them into ranks and lead them to Grenoble."
"Brought by Freedom, Napoleon was greeted with enthusiasm by both the people and the army." Caricature from 1815
Return from Elbe. Illustration from the book "Life of Napoleon Bonaparte" by William Milligan Sloane (Sloane, William Milligan, 1850-1928)
Jules Vernet. Return of Napoleon from Elba
Joseph Beaume. Napoleon leaves Elba and returns to France on February 26, 1815
Pierre Vernet. Return of Napoleon from Elba. 1815
English caricature of Marshal Ney, who went over to Napoleon's side. Ney was convicted by the Bourbon court and executed in December 1815. E. Tarle: “Coming out in front of the front, he [Ney] grabbed the sword from its sheath and shouted in a loud voice: “Soldiers! The Bourbon cause is forever lost. The legitimate dynasty that France has chosen for itself ascends to the throne. The Emperor, our sovereign, must henceforth reign over this beautiful country." Shouts of "Long live the Emperor! Long live Marshal Ney!" his words were drowned out. Several royalist officers immediately disappeared. Ney did not interfere with them. One of them immediately broke his sword and bitterly reproached Ney. "What do you think should have been done? “Can I stop the movement of the sea with my two hands?” Ney answered.
Caricature of Napoleon's escape from the island of Elba
A caricature of Napoleon standing up and King Louis XVIII turning upside down. 1815
More about how it all looked 200 years ago (again according to Tarla):
"On March 20, 1815, at 9 o'clock in the evening, Napoleon, surrounded by his retinue and cavalry, entered Paris. A countless crowd was waiting for him in the Tuileries Palace and around the palace. When, from a very long distance, they began to reach the palace square, intensifying every minute and finally turning In a continuous, deafening, joyful cry, the cries of the countless crowd running behind Napoleon's carriage and the retinue galloping around the carriage, another huge crowd, waiting at the palace, rushed towards. The carriage and retinue, surrounded on all sides by a countless mass, could not move further. The guards tried in vain to clear the way. “People screamed, cried, rushed straight to the horses, to the carriage, not wanting to listen to anything,” the cavalrymen surrounding the imperial carriage later said. The crowd, like a madman (according to witnesses), rushed to the emperor, pushing aside the retinue, she opened the carriage and, amid incessant screams, carried Napoleon into the palace and up the main staircase of the palace to the apartments on the second floor. After the most grandiose victories, the most brilliant campaigns, after the most enormous and rich conquests, he was never greeted in Paris as on the evening of March 20, 1815. One old royalist later said that this was real idolatry. As soon as the crowd was hardly persuaded to leave the palace and Napoleon found himself in his old office (from where the fleeing King Louis XVIII had emerged 24 hours earlier), he immediately set about the affairs that surrounded him on all sides. The incredible has happened. An unarmed man without a shot, without the slightest struggle in 19 daysmarched from the Mediterranean coast to Paris, expelled the Bourbon dynasty and reigned again."
"Napoleon's Hundred Days" is a short period from his return from exile on the island of Elba to Paris until his final defeat. This happened on March 20, 1815, and a day earlier, the panic-stricken Bourbons, led by Louis XVIII, fled from the French capital...
Defeat in the Franco-Russian War of 1812 led to the collapse of Napoleon's empire and in 1814, after the entry of the anti-French coalition troops into Paris, Napoleon abdicated the throne and was exiled to the island of Elba.
During his exile on Elba, Napoleon I closely followed the events in France and the progress of the Congress of Vienna, which summed up the victorious wars of the anti-French coalition. Knowing the dissatisfaction of the French with the rule of Louis XVIII and the disputes between the victorious powers, Napoleon tried to seize power again.
On February 26, Napoleon, together with a group of comrades, sailed to France and five days later landed in the south of the country. King Louis XVIII sent an army against Napoleon, which, however, went over to the side of the ex-emperor.
Triumphant arrival in Paris of Napoleon. Caricature by Venetsianov.
On March 13, Napoleon issued a decree restoring the Empire and on March 20 entered Paris victoriously. The king and his court moved from the capital to Ghent in advance. From March 20, 100 days of Napoleon's re-rule begin.
The Allies, frightened by the news of Napoleon's return to power, created the seventh anti-Napoleonic coalition. On June 18 at Waterloo, Napoleon's army was defeated, and on June 22 he abdicated the throne again.
After leaving France, Napoleon voluntarily arrived on the English warship Bellerophon in the port of Plymouth, hoping to receive political asylum from his old enemies - the British.
However, Napoleon was arrested and spent the last six years of his life in captivity on the island of St. Helena, where he died in 1821.
The translation is: Bonaparte's triumphant arrival in his new kingdom. The inhabitants of St. Helena flee at the sight of their new ruler.
In 1840, Napoleon's remains were transported to France and reburied at Les Invalides in Paris.
Soviet historian Evgeniy Tarle with inimitable irony he wrote:
« The government and Parisian press close to the ruling spheres moved from extreme self-confidence to complete loss of spirit and undisguised fear.
Typical of her behavior during these days was the strict sequence of epithets applied to Napoleon as he advanced from south to north.
The first news: “The Corsican monster has landed in Juan Bay.”
Second news: “The cannibal is coming to Grasse.”
Third news: “The usurper has entered Grenoble.”
Fourth news: "Bonaparte occupied Lyon."
Fifth news: “Napoleon is approaching Fontainebleau.”
Sixth news: “His Imperial Majesty is expected today in his faithful Paris.”
This entire literary gamut fit into the same newspapers, with the same editors, for several days.”
"The Devil Pays or Bonnino Returns from Hell from the Island of Elba." Caricature from 1815
Caricature of Louis XVIII (the king tries to pull on Napoleon Bonaparte's boots)
"Jump from Paris to Lille." The ill-fated French king Louis XVIII, suffering from gout, limps, flees from Napoleon. Caricature from 1815
“Indigestible pie” (Louis XVIII is lying under the table, at the table from left to right is the Prussian King Frederick Film III, Alexander I, Wellington, the Austrian Emperor Franz I. Napoleon crawls out of the pie). Caricature from 1815.
"Sunset". Climbing out, Napoleon tilts the cap to extinguish the candles, on which the French king sits. Louis XVIII loses his balance, dropping the Constitutional Charter, and his crown is stolen by the imperial eagle. Caricature from 1815.
"Great maneuvers or the Rascal marches to the island of Elba." An 1815 cartoon depicting Napoleon's exile on the island of Elba.
"Robinson of the Island of Elba". Caricature from 1815
Caricature of Napoleon on the Elbe
"Swing". On the left are the Prussian, Austrian and Russian monarchs sitting on a swing, on the right is Bonaparte. He weighs more than all the monarchs of the anti-Napoleonic coalition. The French king Louis XVIII fell from a swing. Caricature from 1815.
"The Barber of the Elbe" A French soldier shaves Louis XVIII and exclaims: "It's finished! You're shaved!" The king bleats: “What soap!” (The soap says "Imperial Essence"). Beneath Louis' feet lies the Constitutional Charter. Caricature from 1815.
"The Fate of France" The Order of the Legion of Honor weighs more than all the monarchs of the anti-Napoleonic coalition combined. Caricature from 1815.
E. Tarle:
“On the morning of March 7, Napoleon arrived in the village of Lamur. Troops in battle formation were visible in the distance ahead... Napoleon looked through a telescope for a long time at the troops advanced against him. Then he ordered his soldiers to take the gun under their left hand and turn the muzzle into the ground.
Return from Elbe. Illustration from the book “Life of Napoleon Bonaparte” by William Milligan Sloane (Sloane, William Milligan, 1850-1928).
"Forward!" - he commanded and walked ahead right under the guns of the advanced battalion of the royal troops lined up against him. The commander of this battalion looked at his soldiers, turned to the adjutant of the garrison commander and said to him, pointing to his soldiers: “What should I do? Look at them, they are pale as death and trembling at the mere thought of having to shoot this man.”
He ordered the battalion to retreat, but they did not have time. Napoleon ordered 50 of his cavalrymen to stop the battalion preparing to retreat. “Friends, don’t shoot! - the cavalrymen shouted. “Here is the emperor!”The battalion stopped.
ThenNapoleon came close to the soldiers, who froze with guns at the ready, not taking their eyes off the lone figure in a gray frock coat and triangular hat approaching them with a firm step. “Soldiers of the fifth regiment! - rang out amid the dead silence. “Do you recognize me?” - "Yes Yes Yes!" - they shouted from the ranks.Napoleon unbuttoned his coat and opened his chest. “Which of you wants to shoot your emperor? Shoot!
Until the end of their days, eyewitnesses could not forget those thunderous joyful cries with which the soldiers, having upset the front, rushed to Napoleon. The soldiers surrounded him in a close crowd, kissed his hands, his knees, cried with delight and behaved as if in a fit of mass insanity. With difficulty it was possible to calm them down, form them into ranks and lead them to Grenoble."
"Brought by Freedom, Napoleon was greeted with enthusiasm by both the people and the army." Caricature from 1815.
English caricature of Marshal Ney, who went over to Napoleon's side. Ney was convicted by the Bourbon court and executed in December 1815.
E. Tarle:
“Coming out in front of the front, he [Ney] grabbed his sword from its scabbard and shouted in a loud voice: “Soldiers! The Bourbon cause is forever lost. The legitimate dynasty that France has chosen for itself ascends to the throne. The Emperor, our sovereign, must henceforth reign over this beautiful country."
Shouts of "Long live the Emperor! Long live Marshal Ney!" drowned out his words. Several royalist officers immediately fled. Ney did not interfere with them. One of them immediately broke his sword and bitterly reproached Ney. “What do you think should be done? Can I stop the movement of the sea with my two hands?” - answered Ney."
A caricature of Napoleon standing up and King Louis XVIII turning upside down. 1815.
More about how it all looked 200 years ago (again according to Tarla):
“On March 20, 1815, at 9 o’clock in the evening, Napoleon, surrounded by his retinue and cavalry, entered Paris. A countless crowd was waiting for him in the Tuileries Palace and around the palace.
When, from a very distant distance, the cries of the countless crowd, running behind Napoleon’s carriage and the retinue galloping around the carriage, began to be heard on the palace square, intensifying every minute and finally turning into a continuous, deafening, joyful cry, another huge crowd, waiting at the palace, rushed towards .
The carriage and retinue, surrounded on all sides by a countless mass, could not move further. The Horse Guards tried in vain to clear the way. “People screamed, cried, rushed straight to the horses, to the carriage, not wanting to listen to anything,” the cavalrymen who surrounded the imperial carriage later said.
The crowd, as if maddened (according to witnesses), rushed to the emperor, pushing aside the retinue, opened the carriage and, with incessant screams, carried Napoleon into the palace and along the main staircase of the palace to the apartments on the second floor.
After the most grandiose victories, the most brilliant campaigns, after the most enormous and rich conquests, he was never greeted in Paris as on the evening of March 20, 1815. One old royalist later said that this was real idolatry.
As soon as the crowd was hardly persuaded to leave the palace and Napoleon found himself in his old office (from where the fleeing King Louis XVIII had emerged 24 hours earlier), he immediately set about the affairs that surrounded him on all sides.
The incredible has happened. An unarmed man, without firing a shot, without the slightest struggle, walked from the Mediterranean coast to Paris in 19 days, expelled the Bourbon dynasty and reigned again."
