Today in HistoryâFebruary 26: Napoleonâs Escape from Exile
On this evening in 1815, a man boarded a ship and attempted one of historyâs most audacious comebacks. It ended with his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.
The man, of course, was Gen. Napoleon Bonaparte, exiled emperor of France.
Napoleon had been hell-bent on expanding Franceâs territory during his reign. But the decision to invade Russia in 1812 was his undoing. Winter, hunger, and war on too many fronts shattered his army and spelled the beginning of the end, eventually forcing his abdication on April 6, 1814.
The Treaty of Fontainebleau, signed days later, banished him to Elba, an idyllic island off the Tuscan coast with about 12,000 inhabitants. The treaty granted him ownership of the island, an annual income of two million francs, and a small guard and fleet of ships.
From the start, some of Napoleonâs detractors felt it wasnât far enough away (a compliment, really). They were right.
Napoleon bided his time that year. He waited until sentiment turned against Louis XVIII back home and the British officer in charge of his guard went to Italy. He lied to get his ships ready, including the Inconstant.
He didnât exactly creep away under cover of darkness. He gave a speech to a tearful crowd at the dock as he departed. (Apparently, when you start painting your ship to disguise it, people figure out youâre up to something.)
He sailed back to France and headed for Paris. Troops sent to stop him joined him instead, so by the time he reached the city on March 20, his force had swelled to nearly 1,500.
Napoleon and his men once lost an organized rabbit huntâŠto the rabbits.
It didnât matter. The French Army he returned to was in tatters. France was war-weary, broke, and politically divided under a monarchy few trusted. In the ensuing campaign, the Hundred Days, Napoleon commanded, at most, 200,000 men, against nearly 1 million allied troops. Not even Napoleonâs military genius could overcome those odds. The Battle of Waterloo resulted in a crushing defeat, and he abdicatedâagain. Louis XVIII was restored to the monarchy.
Napoleon intended to sail for America, but, unable to secure a passport, he threw himself on the mercy of the British.
They sent him farther away this time, to St. Helena, a remote British island in the Atlantic. Under the governorâs watchful eyeâand a guard force of 3,000 menâthis exile stuck.
- 600+: Books Napoleon brought to exile
- 17 Ă 11 miles: Size of Elba
- 9 weeks: Length of his journey from Plymouth, England, to St. Helena
- 1917: Denali National Park (then Mount McKinley National Park) is established
- 1919: Grand Canyon National Park is created
- 1929: Grand Teton National Park is established as a national monument
