Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon was born in Corsica on the 15th August 1769 only a year after the island became property of France.  His family came from minor nobility.  This nobility allowed him to attend the military academy at Brienne-le-Château.  At the school he was subject to bullying due to his Corsican accent and his relatively poor background.  He later attended the  École Militaire in Paris.  It was here he trained to become an artillery officer.  He would graduate as a second Lieutenant.

At the outbreak of the French Revolution he spent time in Corsica fighting though he fell out with the nationalist leader Pasquale Paoli.  When he fell out with the Corsican he moved his entire family to France.  Having made acquaintance with Augustin Robespierre (brother to Maximillien) he was appointed commander of the artillery against Toulon which had revolted against Paris and sought help from the British Navy.  It was Napoleon’s seizing of a promontory overlooking the harbour that enabled the bombardment and subsequent withdrawal of the British Navy and the recapture of Toulon.  He was made a Brigadier General at the tender age of 24.

His career would stall somewhat when with the events of Thermidor it was not seen as fortuitous to be a friend of the Robespierres.  He would avoid a commission to fight in the war in the Vendée.  It appeared that his career had ground to a halt.  On October 3rd 1795 royalist rose against the National Convention.  Paul Barras turned to Napoleon to help save the Convention.  He quickly called on a young Joachim Murat to bring cannons and promptly fired on the rebels.  Over a thousand rebels were killed in what became known as the “whiff of grapeshot.” Napoleon was given command of the Army of Italy.  He married the ex mistress of Barras Joséphine de Beauharnais.

In Italy he took command of a force which was dispirited and lacking in supplies.  Immediately he went on the offence attacking the Austrian allies of Piedmont whom he quickly got to surrender.  He then confronted the Austrians beating them at Arcole and Rivoli.  It soon became clear to the Austrians and their commander the Archduke Charles that Napoleon meant to march on Vienna.  Austrian sought terms and with the Treaty of Camp Formio surrendered control of most of northern Italy to the French.  Napoleon would then march on Venice and capture much art work and treasure from that city as he had from across Italy.

Germaine De Staël on Bonaparte after his early Italian successes.  Taken from Considerations on the Principle events of the French Revolution, Germaine De Staël, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis(2008) p394

Bonaparte was already much talked of in Paris; the superiority of his capacity in business, joined to the splendour of his talents as a General, gave to his name an importance which no individual had ever acquired from the commencement of the Revolution.  But although in his proclamations he spoke incessantly of the republic, attentive men perceived that it was in his eyes a mean, and not an end.  It was in this same light that he viewed all things and all men.  A rumour prevailed that he meant to make himself King of Lombardy. One day I met General Augereau, who had just returned from Italy, and who was cited, I believed then with reason, as a zealous republican.  I asked him whether it was true that General Bonaparte was thinking of becoming a king. “No assuredly,” replied he; “he is young man of too good principles for that.”  This singular answer was in exact conformity with the ideas of the moment.  The sincere republicans would have regarded it as a degradation for a man, however distinguished he might be, to wish to turn the Revolution to his personal advantage.  Why had not this sentiment more force and longer duration among Frenchmen.

The Directory called for Napoleon to plan for an attack on Britain.  Napoleon however did not think this was entirely possible.  He set his sights further afield.  To hurt British interests in India Napoleon thought an attack on Ottoman Egypt (which was currently in Mamluk hands) was in order.  The possibility of Alexander the Great success and more treasure might well have been a motivation.  He set out for Egypt amongst the companies of many prominent scientists.  On the way he attacked and annexed independent Malta.  Having outfoxed the British Royal Navy under Lord Nelson he made landing at Alexandria on 1st July 1798.  He then marched on Cairo defeating the Mamluk forces at the Battle of Shubra Khit and at the Battle of the Pyramids.  It would appear that the French would be able to create their middle eastern Empire and march on India.

Germaine De Staël on the reason for Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt .  Taken from Considerations on the Principle events of the French Revolution, Germaine De Staël, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis (2008) p414

Bonaparte has always sought to lay hold of the imagination of men, and in this respect he knows well how they ought to be governed by one who is not borne to the throne.  An invasion of Africa, war carried into Egypt, a country almost fabulous, could not fail to make an impression on every mind.  The French might easily be persuaded that they could derive great advantage from such a colony in the Mediterranean, and that it might one day furnish them with the means of attacking the English establishments in India.  These schemes possessed grandeur and were fitted to augment the brilliant reputation of Bonaparte.  Had he remained in France, the Directory, through all the journals which were at its nod, would have launched forth numberless calumnies and tarnished his exploits in the imagination of the idle:  Bonaparte would have been reduced to dust before the thunderbolt struck him.

On the 1st August 1789 Nelson caught up with Napoleon’s forces at Aboukir Bay.  The subsequent naval engagement saw the destruction of the French fleet and the severing of Napoleon’s connection to France.  Napoleon was forced to attack an oncoming Ottoman force by moving into Syria.  Initial success at Gaza and Jaffa (where many Ottoman prisoners were executed and plague broke out amongst the French soldiers) stopped at Acre.  Here the French broke against the walls of a crusader fortification commanded  by Jezzar Pasha who was ably assisted by Sidney Smith of the Royal Navy.  Napoleon’s forces were forced to retreat back to Egypt.  Back in Egypt he received news that his success in Italy had been reversed he set sail for France leaving his army behind.

Germaine De Staël on the Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt .  Taken from Considerations on the Principle events of the French Revolution, Germaine De Staël, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis (2008) p427

A reproach of a much graver nature is the total want of humanity which Bonaparte manifested in his Egyptian campaign.  Whenever he found any advantage in cruelty, he indulged in it, and yet his despotism was not sanguinary.  He had no more desire to shed blood than a reasonable man has to spend money without need.  But what he called necessity was in fact his ambition; and when this ambition was concerned, he did not for a moment allow himself to hesitate to sacrifice others to himself.  What we call conscience was in his eyes only the poetical name of deception.

Not only were the French suffering in Italy there was instability at home as the Directory turned on royalists and radicals.  On the 10th November Barras agreed (possibly with a financial incentive) to resign as a Director.  Abbé Sieyès and Roger Ducos both resigned as Directors.  The other two Directors who were less compliant were under guard in their apartments.  Lucien Bonaparte (President of the Council of 500 at the time) convinced the Councils to meet for their own safety at Saint Cloud as he insisted they were in imminent danger of a Jacobin coup.

On the following day at Saint Cloud the Council of 500 demanded a roll call for all those still loyalty to the Directory and the Council of Elders started to call for election of new Directors.  Napoleon started to shout out only to be surrounded by deputies Lucien pushed his brother out.  Napoleon then entered the Council of 500 and met an exceptionally hostile atmosphere and he was jostled by the irate deputies.  Lucien called on the grenadiers to protect the general.

Whilst inside the deputies debated as to whether declare Napoleon an outlaw.  Outside Lucien told the waiting soldiers that a Jacobin coup was underway and that his brother had been attacked by deputies with daggers.  The troops marched in under the command of Murat and dispersed the deputies.  The Council of Ancients passed a law declaring Napoleon, Sieyès, and Ducos provisional consuls.  The expected protests in the street did not materialise and the plotters were able to plan the future of France without the imminent threat of destruction.  Shortly afterwards the plotters created two commissions to oversee the transition to a new government.  It was decided to exile up to twenty Jacobin exiles and draw up a new Constitution.  The Constitution declared that the First Consul would have greater power than the other two consuls.  Napoleon would be that First Consul.

Germaine De Staël on the planning of Brumaire .  Taken from Considerations on the Principle events of the French Revolution, Germaine De Staël, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis (2008) p430

I learned that during the five weeks which Bonaparte had spent at Paris since his return, he had been preparing the public mind for the Revolution which had just taken place.  Every faction had presented itself to him, and he had given hopes to all.  He had told the Jacobins that he would save them from the return of the old dynasty; he had, on the contrary, suffered the royalists to flatter themselves that he would re-establish the Bourbons; he had insinuated to Sieyes that he would give him an opportunity of bringing forth into light the constitution which he had been keeping in darkness for ten years; he had above all, captivated the public, which belongs to no faction, by general proclamations of love of order and tranquillity.  Mention was made to him of a woman whose papers the Directory had caused to be seized; he exclaimed on the absurd atrocity of tormenting women, he who, according to his caprice, has condemned so many of them to unlimited exile; he spoke only of peace, he who has introduced eternal war into the world.  Finally, there was in his manner an affectation of gentleness, which formed an odious contrast with what was known of his violence.  But, after ten years of suffering, enthusiastic attachment to ideas had given way in revolutionary characters to personal hopes and fears.

Napoleon would return to Italy and win the the Battle of Marengo on the 14th June 1800.  Once again the Austrians would agree to leave Italy.  The Austrians were slow to come to terms with the French and were beaten once again before they signed the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801.  A year later in 1802 France and Britain at war since 1793 signed the Treaty of Amiens.  Under a new plebiscite the Consulate was made permanent making its first Consul ruler for life. With peace reigning in Europe Napoleon turned his eyes to the troublesome colony of Saint Domingue (now Haiti).  The colony had seen a series of revolts which had led eventually to the control of the island being seized by former slaves and was now independent in all but name.  On May 20th 1802 Napoleon passed a law calling for the return of slavery to her Caribbean possessions.  Napoleon sent his brother in law General LeClerc to regain control.  The resulting battles were bloody and saw atrocities committed on both sides.  An increasingly concerned LeClerc sent a torrent of letters to France complaining about the lack of supplies and rampant disease.  He would die of yellow disease.  Despite capturing Toussaint L’Ouverture in a brief moment of peace the French would have to withdraw in 1803 leaving Haiti to declare its full independence in 1804.  With the death of his Caribbean Empire Napoleon sold off the Louisiana area of America to the new USA.

Bonaparte at this point First Consul writes to Toussaint L’Ouverture writes to the Directory on the 25th December 1799.  Taken from  The Haitian Revolution (Revolutions series) [selected letters & other writings by Toussaint L'Ouverture], Verso, London (2008) p37

The Consuls of the Republic, in announcing to you the new social pact, declare to you the new social pact, declare to you that the SACRED principles of the freedom and equality of blacks will NEVER SUFFER among you the least attack or modification.

If there are ill-intentioned men in the colony, if there are those who still have relations with enemy powers, remember BRAVE BLACKS, that the French people alone recognise your freedom and the equality of your rights.

The First Consul BONAPARTE

Bonaparte at this point First Consul writes to Toussaint L’Ouverture writes to the Directory on the18th November 1801.  Taken from  The Haitian Revolution (Revolutions series) [selected letters & other writings by Toussaint L'Ouverture], Verso, London (2008) p63-64

Assist the General with your counsels, your influence and your talents.  What could you wish for?  Freedom for blacks?  You know that in all countries we’ve been we have given it to people who didn’t have it.  Consideration, honour, fortune?  After the services you have rendered us, that you can yet render us, and the particular sentiments that we have for you, can you possibly be unsure about your fortune and the honours that await you?

And, General, think that if you are the first of your colour to have arrived at such a great power, and to have so distinguished himself for his bravery and military talents, you are also before God and ourselves principally responsible for the conduct of the people of St-Domingue.

If there are evil ones who say to the individuals of St Domingue that we arrive to investigate what they did during the time of anarchy, assure them that we are informing ourselves only of their conduct in those circumstances, and that we are only investigating the past in order to learn of the traits that distinguished them in the war they carried out against the English and the Spanish, who were our enemies.

Count without any reservation on our esteem, and conduct yourself as should one of the principal citizens of the greatest nation in the world.

The First Consul Bonaparte.

Toussaint L’Ouverture writes to Napoleon having been captured and taken to a French prison Fort De Joux.  Taken from The Haitian Revolution (Revolutions series) [selected letters & other writings by Toussaint L'Ouverture], Verso, London(2008) p79

17th September 1802

From Fort De Joux

I have had the misfortune to incur your wrath, but as to fidelity and probity, I am strong in my conscience, and I dare affirm that among all the servants of the state no one is more honest than myself.  I was one of your soldiers, and the first servant of the Republic in St Domingue; but now I am wretched, ruined, dishonoured, a victim of my own services; let your sensibility be moved at my position.  You are too great in feeling and too just not to pronounce a judgement as to my destiny.

Peace between France and Britain did not last as both sides sought to bend the terms of the Treaty.  In May 1803 Britain declared war.  Napoleon in the wake of a series of attempts on his life and his desire to be seen as a legitimate ruler not an usurper saw him ask France again this time whether they would accept him as their Emperor.  The plebiscite came back with a resounding yes so on December 2nd 1804 Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French.

Britain under William Pitt created a Third Coalition against the French Empire.  Napoleon installed an invasion camp at Boulogne in anticipation of an invasion of Britain.  Napoleon waited while his Admiral Villeneuve sought to lure Nelson to the Caribbean and then dash back to the channel and escort the Emperor’s troops across.  The plan failed and the combined French and Spanish fleet were destroyed by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.  Removing the threat of invasion for some time.

Napoleon realised however that a threat lay elsewhere as the Austrians and Russians were moving against him.  He moved at devastating speed through Europe and surrounded the Austrian General Mack’s forces at Ulm leading to a short battle and the subsequent surrender of 60,000 troops.  Napoleon then marched and capture Vienna.  On the 2nd December 1805 Napoleon fought the Russian and Austrian armies under the watching eyes of Tsar Alexander and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II at Austerlitz.  The crushing of the Coalition armies led the Austrians to immediately to sue for peace.

Napoleon now sought to reshape central Europe ending centuries of the Holy Roman Empire with the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806.  Prussia seeing their position as the dominant north German power under threat declared war against Napoleon.  At two battles Jena and Auerstedt the Prussians were heavily defeated.  Although the Battle of Eylau was not decisive in February 1807 the Battle of Friedland was in June.  The Russians sued for peace and Alexander and Napoleon met near Tilsit to conclude a treaty.  The resulting peace was harsh on Prussia removing much of their territory but kind to the Russians. It also introduced the Continental System were no countries in Europe were to trade with Frances implacable foe the British.

Not all Europeans shared in Napoleon’s desire to bring the nation of shopkeepers to its knees.  The Portuguese continued to trade with the British so Napoleon sent an army of 24,000 to occupy their nation in October 1807.  In February 1808 Napoleon decided to help the Spanish deal with their bickering royal family by sending in Marshal Murat with an army of 120,000 to occupy Madrid.  Revolt soon broke out leading to a bloody war with the Spanish using guerilla forces to harry and harass French troops and supply lines.  The British would assist the Spanish with regular troops and munitions.  The British faced some reverses notably when Sir John Moore lost his life in retreat to Corunna in 1809.  Over time however under the new British commander Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington) the French were to suffer a string of defeats.   As the Peninsular War became known as the Spanish ulcer to Napoleon.

In 1809 the Austrians decided to try once again for revenge against the French.  The attack surprised Napoleon but Napoleon fought back and once again seized Vienna.  In May the Austrians and French fought at the Battle of Aspern-Essling.  The Battle lasted several days and Napoleon was eventually forced to withdraw.  He has not however defeated at the Battle of Wagram the Austrians were.  The Treaty of Schönbrunn in October 1809 that followed was unsurprisingly harsh on Austria with France annexing much of their land.  Napoleon also decided to to take an Austrian Princess in the hopes of gaining a child something Josephine had not been able to provide and future peace.  Archduchess Marie Louise would provide him with a son.  

Tensions started to bubble in other areas of Europe.  In Russia there was increased pressure from merchants and the nobility for trade with Britain and revenge on the French.  Alexander started to mobilise his forces.  Napoleon wanted to teach the Russians a lesson for their impertinence so on the 24th June 1812 he invaded.  This Grande Armée numbered more than 450,000 men.  The war initially appeared to go well for Napoleon as the Russians retreated. Smolensk fell and still the Russians would not stand and fire as they preferred to torch their land rather than let the supplies land in French hands.  Eventually The Russians under Kutuzov stood and fought. The ensuing Battle of Borodino on the 7th of September was a bloody affair with close to 80,000 died.  The Russians yielded the field the French marched on Moscow.  Napoleon believed that in capturing the city the war would be over was vexed to find his attempts to send diplomatic feelers to Tsar Alexander were rebuffed.  Napoleon sat in a deserted city which was then set on fire by the Russians themselves.  He took his time to realise he did not have the supplies to stay in Moscow and he must retreat.  The subsequent retreat saw the fighting strength of the Grande Armée destroyed with barely 40,000 making it back due to severe winter weather and Russian counter attacks.  At Vilnius Napoleon raced back to Paris in a sledge fearing his throne was under threat leaving his army.

Europe realised that Napoleon could be defeated and soon a coalition was assembled with Austria, Prussia and Sweden entering the fray.  At the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813 Napoleon was decisively defeated.  Napoleon fought  series of stunning victories but he could not turn the tide of the war.  Paris surrendered to the allies and Napoleon was met by Ney and the Marshals who called for him to abdicate.  With the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Napoleon was exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba shortly after the Bourbon monarchy was restored to France in the shape of Louis XVIII the brother of the executed KIng.  The jubilant allies met at Vienna to decide the future of Europe.

Napoleon believed he still had a future on the continent.  He feared that he might be assassinated or that he would be sent to some far flung island in the Atlantic.  He missed his son and wife.  Most of all he thought that the star of destiny still shone on him.  So he escaped from Elba.  On landing in Southern France with a meagre force Louis XVIII sent Ney to capture him.  Ney however would on meeting Napoleon join him.  Louis fled Paris and panic swept Vienna.  

On arriving in Paris Napoleon quickly dispatched dozens of letters across Europe explaining how he merely wanted peace.  In response the other powers of Europe declared war on Napoleon the man rather than France the nation and sought quickly to establish their forces.  Napoleon believed that to win this war, preserve his throne and secure his destiny he would need to move quickly.  While there were British and Prussian armies in nearby Belgium the armies of Russia and Austria would take awhile to mobilise.  If he could deliver a quick double blow to the armies in Belgium it is possible he could get individual nations to sue for peace.

With this in mind he entered Belgium and marched on Brussels seeking out his opponents.  The British under the Duke of Wellington and the Prussians under Gebhard Von Blucher realised the threat and began moving their troops together.  Both Blucher and Wellington committed to stand and fight as long as the other supported them.  On the 16th June 1815 French forces under Marshal Ney met British forces at Quatre Bras.  A bloody fight ensued in which neither side gained ensued.  On the same day Napoleon bear the Prussian force under Blucher at Ligny.  As the British left Quatre Bras they moved towards a small village called Waterloo.  The Prussians moved towards Wavre.  On the 17th June the French army united to pursue the British on a day of heavy rain.  Napoleon sent Marshal  Grouchy to pursue the Prussians.  On the 18th June the British and their allied army of Dutch, Belgian and German troops faced Napoleon’s army across the plain.  The ensuing battle was bloody as Napoleon sent waves of troops to occupy the farm buildings of Hougoumont, La Haye Sainte and Plancenoit which had been fortified by the British.  Cavalry charges surged across the battlefield as the British formed squares.  It appeared that the British might lose the battle if the Prussians did not come to their aid.  Blucher however was as good as his word and the Prussians began to appear on the battlefield forcing Napoleon to dilute his attack on the British.  With one last throw of the dice Napoleon sent his Imperial Guard to break the British line.  It was however the Guard that broke as they were faced with a still defiant British line.  A general retreat ensued as Napoleon found himself fleeing to Paris leaving his army behind.

With Prussian troops seeking revenge for their treatment at the hands of the French previously.  Napoleon once again found himself abdicating as Emperor.  This time Napoleon realised he could not rely on the general good will of the allies with rumours that the Prussians wanted him shot.  Instead he found himself at Rochefort with the port blockaded by British warships.  He realised that this time he was not going to escape the Royal Navy and instead surrendered to them rather than try to run for America.  He was taken first to Plymouth leading Napoleon to hope he would be able to live in a private seclusion in the country.  The British government decided to send him somewhere he could not escape from.  He was taken on the Bellerophon to St Helena an island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.  Here he would live out his days with a small group of followers.  He died on the 5th May 1821 it is believed from stomach cancer.  Although initially buried on the island his body was returned to France in 1840. King Louis Philippe I of France had his body interned in the St Jérôme's Chapel until in 1861 his tomb was completed and he was laid to rest under the  dome at Les Invalides.

Edmund Burke makes a bold prediction of what will happen to the French Revolution.  Taken from Reflections on the Revolution in France, Penguin Classics, London (2004) p342

In the weakness of one kind of authority, and in the fluctuation of all, the officers of an army will remain for some time mutinous and full of faction, until some popular general, who understands the art of conciliating the soldiery, and who possesses the true spirit of command, shall draw the eyes of all men upon himself.  Armies will obey him on his personal account.  There is no other way of securing military obedience in this state of things.  But the moment in which that event shall happen, the person who really commands the army is your master; the master (that is little) of your king, the master of your assembly, the master of your whole republic.

Germaine De Staël on Napoleon.  Taken from Considerations on the Principle events of the French Revolution, Germaine De Staël, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis (2008) p408

Bonaparte made himself remarkable by his character and capacity as much as by his victories, and the imagination of the French were beginning to attach itself warmly to him.  His proclamations to the Cisalpine and Ligurian Republic were quoted.  In the one this phrase was remarked: You were divided, and bent down by tyranny; you were not in a situation to conquer liberty. In the other, True conquests, the only conquests which cost no regret, are those which we make from ignorance.  In his style there reigned a spirit of moderation and dignity, which formed a contrast with the revolutionary bitterness of the civil leaders of France.  The warrior then spoke like a magistrate, while magistrates expressed themselves with military violence.  In his army, General Bonaparte did not enforce the laws against emigrants.  He was said to be much attached to his wife, whose character was full of gentleness; it was asserted that he was feeling alive to the beauties of Ossian; people took delight in ascribing to him all the generous qualities which place his extraordinary talents in a beautiful light.  Besides, the nation was weary of oppressors who borrowed the name of liberty, and of oppressed persons who regretted the loss of arbitrary power, that admiration did not know what to attach itself to, and Bonaparte seemed to unite all that could seduce it.

Germaine De Staël on Napoleon’s character.  Taken from Considerations on the Principle events of the French Revolution, Germaine De Staël, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis (2008) p409

Far from recovering my confidence in seeing Bonaparte more frequently, he constantly intimidated me more and more.  I had a confused feeling that no emotion of the heart could act upon him.  He regards a human being as an action or a thing, not as a fellow-creature.  He does not hate more than he loves; for him nothing exists but himself; all other creatures are ciphers.  The force of his will consists in the impossibility of disturbing the calculations of his egoism; he is an able chess-player, and the human race is the opponent to whom he proposes to give checkmate.  His successes depend as much on the qualities in which he is deficient as on the talents which he possesses.  Neither pity, nor allurement, nor religion, nor attachment to any idea whatsoever could turn him aside from his principle direction.  He is for his self-interest what the just man should be for virtue; if the end were good, his perseverance would be noble.