FONTAINBLEAU & THE ELBA EXILE
In 1814, Napoleon experience exile for the first time
On 11 April 1814 Napoleon abdicated the throne and, as a result of the Treaty of Fontainebleau, was exiled to the small Mediterranean island of Elba. A mere two years earlier he had launched an Invasion of Russia, which had ended in disaster when his troops were forced to flee from Moscow. The treaty (signed by Russia, Prussia, Austria and France) dictated that Napoleon should abdicate and be sent into exile, but thinking that the Emperor might not respond well to such a suggestion, Napoleon was offered a ‘retreat’. Several possibilities arose, with Corfu, Corsica, Ferreira and Elba all being proposed. Finally, after some deliberation, Elba was chosen.
Despite his requests, the allies prevented both his wife and young son from joining him on the island. Napoleon initially attempted suicide rather than sign the abdication forms, but the exile was generous – offering him sovereignty and an income of two million francs a year (though it soon became clear that the king had no intention of paying this). After all the arrangements were made, four commissioners (representatives of Russia, Austria, Prussia and England) were sent to accompany him.
Bizarrely, for a form of punishment, Napoleon was not stripped of his power or titles (he retained the moniker of ‘Emperor’) and was instead given authority over the small island. Not only this, but he was also allowed to keep a staff, a small army and navy, and a personal guard. Napoleon organised a personal court and almost immediately set about improving the island, cutting new roads, raising taxes and converting the ancient church of the Carmine into the island’s first court theatre.
During his exile, he was visited by
William Crackanthorpe for an interview. Despite being mostly in good spirits (at one point teasing one of the ladies for being unpatriotic and wearing a French silk dress), Crackanthorpe noted that “at intervals, though, he seemed to relapse into a kind of reverie” and in these moments “I doubt not that he breathed vengeance within himself against us for having come to see him in his humility”. Crackanthorpe also referred to Napoleon as a “wild beast in a cage”.
After just under a year on the Island, Napoleon decided the time was right to flee and was able to slip away from his British guards. While certain elements of this escape remain shrouded in mystery, we know that his return famously lasted only 100 days – during which he raised a new army to wage renewed war in Europe.
“NAPOLEON INITIALLY ATTEMPTED SUICIDE RATHER THAN SIGN THE ABDICATION FORMS, BUT THE EXILE WAS GENEROUS – OFFERING HIM SOVEREIGNTY AND AN INCOME OF TWO MILLION FRANCS A YEAR”
a helping hand but when he was delivered in good faith, he was burned to the stake.”
The decision to exile Napoleon to St Helena was not taken lightly. This island was not a Crown possession but belonged to the East India Company. British rights were therefore not applicable and it was possible to keep a prisoner without being judged by a tribunal. However, Napoleon was allowed to bring others with him. His companions, all volunteers, were composed of three officers, a doctor, a secretary, and a dozen servants. The oldest was General Bertrand. Fanny, his wife, followed. Two other generals were accounted for: Gourgaud and Montholon. Gourgaud was entirely devoted to the Emperor, while Montholon had not often been with Napoleon before the exile. He also took his wife Albine with him. Among other notable figures were Mameluke Ali, whose real name was Louis Étienne Saint-denis, and Bellerophon’s Irish doctor O’meara, who had decided to follow the Emperor in exile to replace Louis Pierre Maingualt, who had no desire to follow on a remote island.
Napoleon and his modest court were transferred on the HMS Northumberland on 7 August. The ship left on 9 August, and on 15 October 1815, they reached St Helena. All were impressed by what was described as a sinister place. The location was ideal for the task. A strategic point in the South Atlantic, thousands of kilometres from any continent, hard to access, naturally defended by rocks and garnished by hundreds of cannons: it was a fortress. Moreover, the British Government had transferred 2,000 soldiers to guard the famous prisoner and a naval squadron was always stationed in the area.
Napoleon’s home was not yet ready and he was assisted to the Briars, a property belonging to William Balcombe, an agent of the East India Company. On 10 December 1815, Napoleon and his followers were transferred to Longwood, his last home. The place was not very big. Fifty people lived permanently with the Emperor in this location battered by strong winds, humid and infested by rats. Napoleon wanted to live with a small court as an Emperor. However, in April 1816 the new governor, Sir Hudson Lowe, met Napoleon. The men took an instant dislike to each other. Lowe had been instructed by his government to treat Napoleon harshly. For the governor, there was no Emperor, simply a general, one that he had to prevent from escaping at all cost. Lowe tried to make life for his charges as complex as possible.
The little French colony of St Helena rapidly found life monotonous. Napoleon’s followers, understanding that they were living in unusual times, wrote down every single fact and word pronounced by the famous man. French historian Jean Tulard noted that no less than 38 British and French testimonies were written by various witnesses. Napoleon, as he had intended as soon as he had learned that he was to be exiled, worked on his memoirs and other texts. Despite being monitored by his captors, he managed to bribe passing sailors in order to send mail. He spent more than a million francs doing this, hoping to influence public opinion in Britain, where his popularity never ceased to rise. In England, he published two pamphlets and three books anonymously. In them, he justified his leadership and criticised his captivity.
These writings were a source of acute embarrassment for the British government. In March 1817, the House of the Lords debated Napoleon’s situation following a “call to the British nation”, published anonymously. One of Napoleon’s companions, General Gourgaud, who had been asked to leave St Helena by the
Emperor himself, told a
British minister that the captive was better than ever and that his complaints were an act. Following this indiscretion, the British government refused to improve the situation. The fate of Napoleon was again debated at the Congress of Aachen at the end of 1818. The European monarchs once again turned down any attempt to better the Corsican’s fate based on Gourgaud’s testimony.
Napoleon also published anonymous books in France. Once again, he was quickly recognised as the author, especially after trying to explain his last campaign’s failure.
Napoleon’s companions continued to write down every word. Four of them were particularly important to understanding life at St Helena: Emmanuel de las Cases, his secretary; and Generals Gourgaud, Montholon and Bertrand. The first was particularly important. In November 1816 Las Cases was arrested and expelled from St Helena after having tried to sneak two letters from the island without asking the governor. He had written systematically what the Emperor had told him beforehand. When put on a ship, his manuscript was confiscated by the British and only given back in 1823 after Napoleon’s death. In 1824, Las Cases published his Mémorial de
Sainte-hélène, one of the most influential books of the 19th century in France and Europe. In it, the writer presented Napoleon as a liberal who had managed to unify Germany and Italy. It can be said that this publication made the Emperor, who was hated in 1815, a popular figure again. As a consequence, the Imperial regime was rehabilitated and Louis-napoléon Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon, was elected President of the French Republic, which soon became the Second Empire. In 2019, the original manuscript was located at the British Library and published by the Fondation Napoléon.
The comparison with the published versions demonstrates that Las Cases probably made up several anecdotes.
Life at St Helena was not easy. Tensions and personal problems were common among the French. The most unbearable figure was probably General Gourgaud, who was jealous of those that the Emperor liked. He was particularly angry at Montholon, whose wife had become Napoleon’s mistress with her husband’s blessing. Things became such that the Corsican was forced to order Gourgaud to leave in February 1818. This departure was the cause of several problems for Napoleon. Montholon sailed away from the island in July 1819, leaving her lover in a state of depression.
During the campaign of 1815, Napoleon’s health was already poor. In April 1816, he frequently felt faint. From 1819, Napoleon was seen less and less, suffering from various afflictions. Ulcers and small haemorrhages weakened the captive. At the end of 1820, he was unable to move without help from others. However, Lowe was convinced that his prisoner was faking his ailments. Realising the seriousness of his condition, Napoleon wrote his testament in April 1821. Finally, he died on 5 May 1821.
The news of his death took weeks to spread. At the time, Napoleon was still a disliked figure. His former minister, the clever Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, upon learning about Napoleon’s death, told his guests that “this is not an event, merely a piece of news”.