NAPOLEON’S DOWNFALL
After his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon was exiled to a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean. Closely monitored by his captors, the former Emperor fought a last battle for posterity
On 21 June 1815, three days after his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon left his army for Paris. As a letter written from Philippeville to his brother Joseph demonstrates, the Emperor believed that his position was not entirely compromised:
“All is not lost. I suppose that if I gather my armies I will have 150,000 men. Federates and National Guards can also provide 100,000 men. Depot Battalions, 50,000. I should therefore have 300,000 men to oppose the enemy. I will carry the artillery with luxurious horses and raise 100,000 conscripts. I will give them royalist weapons and the muskets of the weak National Guards. I will launch mass conscription in the Dauphiné, the Lyon region, Burgundy, Lorraine, Champagne. I will harass the enemy but I need to be helped and not distracted. I will travel to Laon. I will probably find other men. I have not heard from Grouchy. If he is not captured as I fear, I could have another 50,000 men in three days. With them, I will keep the enemy busy and will gain time to let Paris, as well as France, do its duty. Austrians are slow. Prussians fear peasants and dare not go forward. Everything can still be fixed.”
Although desperate, this letter should be read in the light of the many incredible events that had happened in just four months. The Emperor, vanquished and abandoned on the island of Elba, had landed with a handful of soldiers at Golf-juan on 1 March 1815. Soldiers sent by King Louis XVIII to intercept him had defected and rallied to the Corsican. On 20 March 1815, he had reached Paris, where he had been welcomed as a hero. Napoleon had hoped that the European governments would see his return as a fait accompli. He was wrong. Negotiation was not an option and he had immediately been branded an outlaw. Having exhausted all diplomatic options, Napoleon had once again gone to war. However, the French army was not in the same state as it was in 1814. Soldiers were largely in favour of the Emperor but the Marshals, the same who had refused to fight and had forced his abdication, had defected and followed Louis XVIII in exile. Civilians were not unanimously happy with this comeback either. If Parisian workers had largely been in favour of his return, others were actively waiting for peace. Royalist revolts had erupted in Vendee. To guarantee middle-class support, Napoleon had agreed on an elected parliamentary assembly. But all of this had not prevented the defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.
After the military defeat at the end of June 1815, Napoleon quickly lost his illusions. An opposing front led by the fierce Police Minister Joseph Fouché, who was convinced that Louis XVIII’S return was inevitable, unified various political tendencies. First, he tried to convince Napoleon to abdicate in favour of his son Napoleon II. The minister also managed to pass a motion stating that any attempt to dissolve the parliament was an offence constituting high treason. Napoleon, shaken, agreed to abdicate and proclaimed:
“French citizens! I started the war to support national independence. I had hoped for the reunion of all efforts, of determination, and the cooperation of all national authorities. I was right to hope for success and had defied enemy
“I OFFER MYSELF AS A SACRIFICE TO THE HATRED OF FRANCE’S ENEMIES. MAY THEY BE SINCERE IN THEIR DECLARATIONS AND HAVE HOSTILITY AGAINST MY PERSON ONLY!”
declarations against me. Circumstances have changed. I offer myself as a sacrifice to the hatred of France’s enemies. May they be sincere in their declarations and have hostility against my person only! My political life is over and I proclaim my son under the name Napoleon II Emperor of the French. […] Unite for common good and to remain an independent nation.” But his attempt to promote his son failed – the little boy was in Vienna with his mother under the authority of the Austrian Emperor.
Napoleon tried to find a place to take refuge. He thought about the United States of America, especially since Joseph Fouché had him believe that the British had agreed to let him embark. But once he reached Rochefort on 3 July 1815, he discovered that he had been fooled. After contemplating a secret attempt to force the British naval blockade, the ex-emperor asked the British for asylum and embarked on 15 July on board the HMS Bellerophon, commanded by Captain Maitland. “I place myself under the protection of your prince and your laws,” declared Napoleon to the British officer. Once again, the French leader was misguided. The British prime minister, even before hearing about the surrender, had decided to ship him far away from Europe, either to Cape Town or St Helena.
On 31 July 1815, while on board the Bellerophon, Napoleon learned from two British officers that he was to be sent to St Helena. He exploded. On 4 August 1815, he wrote a protest against this decision: “I solemnly protest against the violence imposed upon me, against my person and my freedom. I came on board the Bellerophon as a free man. I am not a prisoner, I am England’s host. I call on history. It will state that an enemy, who waged war against the English people for 20 years, came freely and miserably seeking asylum and laws. What better proof could he give of his esteem and trust? But how did England respond to such magnanimity? They faked