NAPOLEON BONAPARTE: BIOGRAPHY - ARTE - 2025

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821) was a French military man and statesman who carried out great campaigns with which he conquered most of Europe. He served the republican army during the French Revolution and then rose as the nation's emperor in 1804.

His figure continues to be one of the most prominent in the history of the West in the military field for his achievements, as well as in the political, since Napoleon managed to wrap on his head the crown of an empire that had just rebelled against absolutism.

Jacques-Louis David via Wikimedia Commons

He came from a noble family in Corsica. Despite the fact that Bonaparte was sent to France at age 9, locals used to view him as a foreigner. The destination chosen for him was that of arms and he graduated in 1785 from the Military Academy in Paris.

At the beginning of the French Revolution he was sent to Corsica together with Pascual Paoli. However, there he was not well received by the locals who also felt he was alien to their cause.

For Napoleon Bonaparte, the moment to stand out from the rest of the military of his time came with the siege of Toulon. His participation in the operation guaranteed peace in the south of France for the new Republic, in addition, it gave prestige as a soldier to the young Napoleon who was 24 years old.

In the mid-1790s, Napoleon Bonaparte's influence and renown spread throughout France. In 1795 he was in charge of defending Paris from the royalists and that placed him in a good position before the members of the Directory, the entity that governed the country at the time.

From there he was sent to the Italian Campaign, in which the victories and riches that came with the conquests made by Napoleon seemed unstoppable.

From that position he learned how to run a state, something that worried the members of the Directory, who later were content with the gold that Bonaparte sent and forgot how quickly he had achieved glory.

However, Napoleon did not want to take power immediately and decided to heed France's traditional agenda and launch a campaign in Egypt against Great Britain. It did not turn out in the way that Bonaparte expected, after the destruction of the French fleet.

With the support of Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès and the latent Russian and British threat, the coup d'état of the 18th Brumaire took place, which occurred in 1799. Thanks to this, France came to be governed by three consuls: Napoleon Bonaparte, Emmanuel Sieyès and Roger Ducos.

Three years later an amendment to the Constitution was made, in which it was established that Bonaparte would be first consul for life. On December 2, 1804, he was crowned Emperor of France in a pompous and extravagant ceremony that made him Napoleon I.

Although at Austerlitz he achieved a great victory and an important peace for his empire, he failed to emulate the results at the Battle of Trafalgar. Bonaparte lost Spain and Portugal, leading some to think that he was weakened.

Paul Delaroche via Wikimedia Commons

Russia stopped paying attention to the Treaties of Berlin, so Bonaparte decided to invade it in 1812. The operation had 600,000 French troops, but the Russians applied a strategy of attrition that worked very well for them.

Bonaparte returned to France after taking Moscow without resistance. Then winter took its toll on his army, which was practically destroyed.

On April 6, 1814, he decided to abdicate in favor of a member of the Bourbon house, Louis XVIII. At that time it was the only outlet available for Napoleon and for the country. So, Bonaparte went to exile on the island of Elba.

In March Bonaparte landed on French shores again. He ordered the creation of a new Constitution and was sworn in before it. However, he lost everything at Waterloo. In June 1815, Napoleon surrendered to the English and they sent him to Saint Helena until the end of his days.

Biography

Early years

Napoleone di Buonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica. Shortly before its birth, this island had become French territory. He was descended from a noble family in Tuscany.

His father, Carlo María di Buonaparte, was a lawyer and courtier to Louis XVI and his mother was María Letizia Ramolino. He was the second son of the couple, his older brother was José. Napoleon also had six younger siblings named Luciano, Elisa, Luis, Paulina, Carolina, and Jerónimo.

Carlo Bonaparte, by Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson via Wikimedia Commons

During the upbringing of the children, their mother was a very important figure for everyone. Napoleon himself claimed that a boy's destiny is shaped by his mother in the early years.

Because of the position their father had obtained, the two oldest sons, Joseph and Napoleon, were admitted to a school in Autun, in mainland France, when the latter was 9 years old. Since then the academic training of Napoleon Bonaparte began.

He was at the Collège d'Autun for a brief period in which he learned the language and customs, but then he moved to the Brienne Military College, where for five years he prepared for the arms race.

Letizia Ramolino, by Robert Lefèvre via Wikimedia Commons

In 1784 he graduated from the military college and was accepted by the École Royale Militaire de Paris where he trained in the artillery and from which he was received the following year as a second lieutenant, when Bonaparte was 16 years old.

Revolution

Upon completion of his studies, Napoleon served in Valence and Auxonne, but also took long periods of leave from the posts to which he had been assigned to return to the French capital and his native island.

When the French Revolution began in 1789, Napoleon stayed in Corsica for a time and became close to Pascual Paoli, a Corsican nationalist. Bonaparte and his family were traditionally supporters of the independence of Corsica and Napoleon supported the Jacobins in the area.

Bonaparte at the Tuileries 1892, by Maurice Réalier-Dumas via Wikimedia Commons

Both Corsicans had clashes in military decisions and that fight forced the Bonaparte family to leave the island and head for France in June 1793. Then, Napoleon returned to service in the ranks of the French army.

From 1793 he became a friend of Augustin Robespierre, brother of the leader of the Jacobins and of the Convention, Maximilien de Robespierre. It was around that time that he adopted the Frenchified form of his name and surname as it was recorded in the pages of history: Napoleon Bonaparte.

Siege of Toulon

Probably thanks to the influence of one of his friends, Napoleon managed to be promoted to commander of artillery. Thanks to Antoine Saliceti he was assigned to one of the operations that marked the brilliant start of his career: the siege of Toulon.

The royalists had taken up arms in the fortresses of the area in opposition to the Terror regime that was imposed throughout the country under Robespierre.

Napoleon decided that before entering the forts he should use a large artillery force, which was located on a hill that was the ideal position to weaken the enemy.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) as Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Battalion of Corsica, 1834 (oil on canvas) by Philippoteaux, Felix (c.1815-84)

Chateau de Versailles, France

via Wikimedia Commons

His plan was successful, since he was able to expel the British and Spanish troops who had been invited by the royalists.

After the republican army managed to take the city, Napoleon Bonaparte was promoted to brigadier general at the end of 1793, then he was 24 years old. His good performance made him the most important man in the operation, so many glances began to fall on him.

The end of Terror

After the fall of Maximilian Robespierre in mid-1794, and as a consequence of the friendship between Augustin and Napoleon, the latter was the subject of suspicion by those who had succeeded in power.

They found no reason to keep Bonaparte imprisoned or assassinate, so they released him. However, they tried to drive him away from the centers of power and sent him to positions that were below his capabilities.

The following year, Napoleon himself was in charge of gaining prestige among the new characters who had power in the Convention:

In October 1795 an armed protest was organized against the government, led by royalists and other parties that did not agree with revolutionary rule. So Bonaparte came to the rescue.

13 Napoleon Bonaparte grape harvest. Jebulon for scan. Dargent, gravure by V.Trouvé. Via Wikimedia Commons

Paul Barras entrusted Napoleon with the protection of the Tuileries Palace, where the Convention was in session. Joachim Murat was in charge of getting some cannons that on the 13th of the grape harvest of the year IV (October 5, 1795), were used to repel the royalist attack.

Then, the improvised army of Napoleon Bonaparte in favor of the Convention killed 1,400 royalists and the rest of them fled. This is how Napoleon won the favor of the Directory that ruled France ever since.

The Italian campaign

After his participation in the defense of Tuileries, Napoleon Bonaparte was promoted to commander of the interior and was entrusted with the campaign that was carried out in Italian lands. He became a protégé of Barras and took his former lover, Josefina de Beauharnais, as his wife.

Despite the fact that his troops were badly armed, Bonaparte managed to win the battles that were fought in Mantua, Castiglione, Arcole, Bassano and finally in Rivoli in 1797. With that victory against the Austrians, he managed to expel them from the Italian lands.

Napoleon Bonaparte, by Édouard Detaille via Wikimedia Commons

The French lost 5,000 men, while Austrian casualties amounted to 14,000. The Italians received the French troops as liberators. Napoleon managed to sign an agreement with Austria known as the Treaty of Campo Formio.

As agreed, France would take control of northern Italy, as well as the Netherlands and the Rhine, while Austria would host Venice. This was not respected by Napoleon, who took over the latter and implemented an organization that bore the name of the Cisalpine Republic.

As Bonaparte's political power grew in France, the members of the Directory felt threatened by the figure of the young military man. Despite this, he managed to appease them for a time thanks to the gold that the government received from the Italian campaign.

Fructidor Strike

The royalists who had been selected as members of the Council conspired to reinstate the monarchy in France. On Fructidor 18, September 4, 1797 in the Gregorian calendar, General Pierre Augereau appeared in Paris with his troops.

One of the conspirators, Lazare Carnot, left the capital, while Barthélemy was arrested. Most of the monarchists were destined for cells in French Guyana. In this way, the nation was purged of royalists and Paul Barras was back in control.

However, the true power lay in the strength of Napoleon Bonaparte, who returned to the capital in December 1797. It was then that he met Minister Talleyrand, who was very important throughout his rule.

Bust of Napoleon Bonaparte, by Corbet. Musée napoléonien via Wikimedia Commons

Although he could have taken control of the country, Bonaparte decided to wait. Meanwhile, the French felt identified with that character who had given them so many joys and victories and who represented a leader whom they could trust for his good results.

Egypt campaign

Napoleon Bonaparte knew that his naval force was not powerful, especially compared to that of the British Empire. However, he decided to move to Egypt to try to cut the passage of trade that the English had in the Mediterranean.

He arrived in Alexandria on July 1, 1798, there he defeated the Mamluks in the Battle of Shubra Khit and then in the Battle of the Pyramids, in which the French only lost 29 lives while the Egyptians about 2,000 men.

But the fury of victory ended when Horace Nelson destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile in mid-1798. The following year, Napoleon headed for Damascus, which was controlled by the Ottoman Empire.

Bonaparte in Egypt, by Jean-Léon Gérôme via Wikimedia Commons They conquered Jaffa, Haifa, Gaza and El Arish, but could not subdue Acre. This led Napoleon, whose numbers had dwindled, to return to Egypt, where he once again defeated the Ottomans who tried to invade the city of Abukir on that occasion.

The campaign did not achieve the success that Napoleon had planned; however, he managed to expand his influence to the other side of the Mediterranean. The army was left in the hands of Jean Baptiste Kléber, when Bonaparte decided to return to France in 1799.

consulate

France was ready to receive a new government. They did not want to continue under the Directorate, but neither did they want the royalists to return to power. This was the moment Napoleon Bonaparte had been waiting for.

On Brumaire 18 (November 9, 1799), Emmanuel Sieyès, José Fouché, Talleyrand, Napoleon, and his brother Luciano Bonaparte initiated a two-part coup. Getting the vote of the Five Hundred and of the Elders was necessary for the legitimacy that Napoleon craved.

18 Brumaire, by François Bouchot va Wikimedia Commons The Jacobins were not willing to pass the proposal for the creation of a Consulate that would suppress the power of the Directory, but Luciano Bonaparte took advantage of his position as head of the Five Hundred to have Murat and his men evict from the room to which they did not agree.

After the Jacobins were expelled from the compound by force, the remaining representatives, who were few, voted to ensure that three consuls would be in charge of power in France after the end of the Directory.

The chosen ones were Sieyès, Ducos and Napoleon Bonaparte, who from then on became the true ruler. In addition, the latter had the support of the French people who saw him as their hero.

Peace and unity

Both parties believed they saw in Napoleon Bonaparte what they wanted. In this way the royalists believed that he would support them and the republicans assumed the same. But for people nothing had changed.

However, the government of the Consulate brought tranquility to the country, that is, the merchants began to prosper. That was precisely what France, which had been bleeding for a long time, needed.

Meanwhile, Sieyès was preparing the Constitution of the year VIII. In the Magna Carta it was proposed that there should be the position of First Consul, which was taken by Bonaparte. A plebiscite was held in which the majority of the country voted favorably, despite the fact that transparency was in question.

Consulate Installation, by Auguste Couder via Wikimedia Commons On December 25, 1799, the end of the French Revolution was declared, since on that date the three consuls took power, with Bonaparte as the undisputed leader. So he took up residence in the Tuileries.

Bonaparte also insisted that the country should remain at peace internally: no one should be treated unfairly for past political leanings, and everyone should equally enjoy the glory that France earned in the name of.

Exterior

In 1800, when Austria returned to face the French, Napoleon fought a battle at Marengo, which he won with difficulty. The same thing happened at Hohenlinden. However, the troops were received with joy in their homeland and the following year signed the Treaty of Lunéville with Austria.

Later, Bonaparte proceeded to pacify the relationship with Great Britain. In 1802 the Treaty of Amiens was signed. That deal was good for France, as it ensured its colonial expansionist intentions, while allowing the continent to prosper.

Bonaparte, by François Gérard via Wikimedia Commons That was the right moment for France to turn to regain control of its possessions in America and so Napoleon decided. He sent General Leclerc to Santo Domingo, but the operation was a failure as yellow fever dwindled troop numbers rapidly.

In 1804, the island's slaves proclaimed their independence under a republican government that they christened Haiti.

Then Talleyrand, with Napoleon's approval, sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States for $ 15 million. Thus the American nation doubled its territory instantly.

First Consul Bonaparte, by Antoine-Jean Gros via Wikipedia Commons However, in the face of a possible war against Great Britain it was impossible for France to defend its American dominions, so that sale was the most advantageous solution that Napoleon Bonaparte could find.

Empire

There was no shortage of someone plotting the assassination of Napoleon during his time at the Consulate. First, the conspiracy of the daggers in 1800, then the Infernal Machine. The attacks were planned by both Republicans and royalists.

In 1804 a conspiracy was discovered in which England was directly involved, as were the French royalists, who would try to restore the Bourbons to the crown. Napoleon decided to act first and ordered the assassination of the Duke of Enghien.

Coronation of Napoleon I, by Jacques-Louis David via Wikimedia Commons He neutralized his enemies with this action and had the free path to be able to ascend to the position he had long longed for: that of Emperor of France.

On December 2, 1804 Napoleon was crowned before Pope Pius VII in Notre Dame Cathedral. Then, he united in his person the tradition with the essence of the revolutionary spirit by swearing that he would maintain French equality, property and territory, while building an empire.

From that moment he decided to create his own court, as well as distributed noble titles everywhere to his supporters and tried to impose all his brothers as kings in different parts of the continent.

Portrait of the Emperor Napoleon I of France, by François Gérard via Wikimedia Commons Bonaparte wanted to establish connections with French history to ensure his place at the head of the Empire.

War of the Third Coalition

Since 1803 the Treaty of Amiens between Great Britain and France had been broken, after the declaration of war from the first to the second. The Swiss were the first to ally with the English, followed by the Russians and then the Austrians.

At Boulogne, in northern France, Napoleon decided to set up six camps. The men who remained in them were to be the ones who took England in the name of the Empire. The Great French Armada had 350,000 units in 1805.

Given England's superiority at sea, Bonaparte thought that a Franco-Spanish attack on the Antilles could be faked to divert attention. That way at least 200,000 men could cross during the division of the British forces.

The operation did not go as planned. It ended in failure and Pierre Villeneuve took refuge in Cádiz immediately.

Then the French troops headed for the Rhine, as Austria planned an invasion. Before the Russians reached Ulm, Napoleon decided to besiege the area and a battle ensued that resulted in a quick and sure victory for the French.

Simultaneously, the Battle of Trafalgar was a complete disaster that left France practically without naval power.

Battle of Austerliz, by François Gérard via Wikimedia Commons The Russians joined the Papal and Austrian armies to confront Bonaparte. Then the battle of Austerlitz took place, on December 2, 1805. That was a great victory that buried Austria's chances of recovering what was lost to France.

Conqueror of Europe

After achieving peace with Austria on December 26, 1805 in Pressburg, the Campo Formio and Lunéville agreements were affirmed: France would gain the territory that Austria had occupied in Italy and Bavaria, as well as some German lands under the control of Francis I of Austria, who promised to cancel 40 million francs.

On the other hand, the Russians were not plundered after their defeat, but rather they were guaranteed passage to their lands without any resistance, since at that time getting the friendship of the Tsar was very important to Napoleon.

José Bonaparte, by Jean-Baptiste Wicar via Wikimedia Commons As for the Bourbons of Italy, he replaced them with his brother José Bonaparte, Louis was appointed as King of Holland and Jerome arranged a marriage for him with Princess Catherine of Wurtemberg.

Luis Bonaparte, by Charles Howard Hodges via wikimedia Commons He placed his relatives in the highest positions expecting at least some gratitude and fidelity towards him, while with the old nobles he would have had to always be prepared for betrayal.

Hannover was offered to England and Prussia arose as it did not fulfill the promises made to them by Bonaparte. In the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, Napoleon finished off the Prussian forces.

Russia

As Bonaparte advanced towards Russia he served as a kind of liberator for the Polish people. In February 1807 the battle of Eylau occurred and the French won, but with heavy casualties. Months later came the Battle of Friedland and there Russia lost most of its troops.

On June 19, Napoleon Bonaparte and Tsar Alexander I decided to sign a peace agreement. They met in Tilsit. Then the Russian seemed to have been very impressed by Napoleon, who revealed his friendlier side.

The tsar had to close all his ports to England, and gained some perks in Turkey and Sweden. Napoleon was not so generous to Prussia, which lost almost all of its territories.

Poland passed into the hands of the Duchy of Warsaw and most of the western territory became Westphalia, ruled by Jerome Bonaparte.

Jerónimo Bonaparte by François Gérard via Wikimedia Commons

Spain and Portugal

Despite the fact that England had been blockaded to the north and east, it was still supported economically by the ports of the Iberian Peninsula with which it could establish commercial treaties and which maintained the consumption of British products.

So 30,000 men were sent to Portugal by Napoleon, but the Portuguese court was in Brazil when Juanot and his men arrived in Lisbon.

In Spain, Carlos IV apparently remained an ally of the French Empire, but frequently broke its agreements, especially under the influence of Godoy, the prime minister. When in 1808 the mutiny of Aranjuez happened, the king abdicated in favor of Fernando VII.

Bonaparte by Robert Lefèvre via Wikimedia Commons Later, Charles IV retracted having given up his crown. Napoleon saw an open opportunity in the conflict and offered himself as a mediator. Father and son appeared in Bayonne and there they became prisoners of the emperor.

When the Spanish throne was vacant, it was assigned to José Bonaparte. Napoleon thought that the entire continent was already under his direct rule or influence, as his family became the ruling class.

However, the popularity of Napoleon was not the same, people were resentful as the Bonapartes everywhere stripped titles and status to establish kingdoms of newcomers. Since then the fragility of the French Empire only increased.

Decline

Napoleon's dream began to fade in Spain. When José arrived, the people took up arms. The guerrilla war began. They thought they could control the population with police tactics, but this was not the case.

In Bailén, General Dupont de l'Etang had to surrender to the guerrillas, despite the fact that he had more than 17,000 soldiers under his command. That defeat was one of the most worrying for Bonaparte throughout his life.

He knew that he would not have the means to keep the population calm while José remained in Spain, so he had to withdraw. However, the confrontations between the French and the Spanish continued and then the Iberians were supported by the English.

Napoleon decided to attack Austria once more in 1809 and the French quickly won, but with less advantage than at Austerlitz. Then it was possible to arrange a marriage between the French ruler and María Luisa, daughter of Francisco I.

Maria Louise of Austria and Napoleon, King of Rome, by François Gérard via Wikimedia Commons Bonaparte and the young Habsburg had a son named Napoleon during the first year of marriage, the title given to the boy was that of King of Rome.

Russia

Tsar Alexander I realized that by applying a strategy of attrition he could defeat the French Army by drawing it to his own ground.

In addition, Austria and Prussia made a pact with Russia to fight Napoleon when their forces were not in their best shape. The time for the expulsion of the French had come.

In 1811 Alexander I stopped complying with the continental blockade of England and France sent a warning to the Tsar, who no longer feared Bonaparte's warlike actions and knew himself strong enough, along with his allies, to defeat him.

In May 1812 the invasion of Russia began. Napoleon found only victories in his wake. It occupied cities, practically without resistance. At Smolensk a small number of Russian troops faced the French, but then withdrew.

Food was scarce, but Bonaparte was getting closer to Moscow. In September, they reached Borodino and about 44,000 Russians were killed in a confrontation, while among the French there were approximately 35,000 casualties from the army with 600,000 units.

Moscow

The French occupied the main city of the Russian Empire, but found it totally empty. There were not enough provisions for the men to endure the winter and Alexander I did not respond to Napoleon's offers of peace.

Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow, by Adolph Northen (1828–1876) via Wikimedia Commons Bonaparte waited for several months for some sign from the Tsar. On December 5, he decided to return to Paris. Almost the entire army died in the Russian winter. Together with Napoleon about 40,000 units of the Grand Armée returned.

Nationalism

All the nations that had felt offended by Napoleon Bonaparte's forces decided to unite against him. Russia, Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Sweden, Spain and Portugal were the main allies against him.

Napoleon increased the army numbers rapidly to 350,000 and achieved some great victories against his enemies. In 1813 there was the Battle of Dresden which was won by the French despite being outnumbered by the coalition.

But France was invaded on all fronts and later, in Leipzig, Bonaparte did not have the same luck. He was offered a peace agreement in which France would retain its natural borders, cease to have control of Spain, Portugal, the eastern bank of the Rhine, Holland, Germany and most of Italy.

The peace offer was rejected by Napoleon and the next proposal made to him in 1814 was more humiliating, since he also had to give up control over Belgium. Bonaparte also did not accept the new agreement with the coalition.

Abdication

On April 4, 1814, a group of French marshals, led by Michel Ney, asked him to hand over the Empire to the house of the Bourbons. Then, Napoleon proposed giving his crown to his son, leaving Maria Luisa as regent, who was then on her way to his father's house in Austria.

Abdication 1814, by After François Bouchot via Wikimedia Commons That proposal was rejected and two days later Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated without imposing any conditions. King Louis XVIII then took the reins of France and the entire population received him with open arms.

France signed a treaty with the Russian Tsar, Alexander I, by means of which it returned to be in possession of the borders that it had maintained until 1790.

Elba island

Napoleon Bonaparte was sent into exile on the island of Elba, over which he was given sovereignty. It is even said that he became interested in the history of the small territory of 20 km ² and 12,000 inhabitants.

At that time he tried to commit suicide, but the poison had partially lost its effect since it had been stored for a long time and it was not enough to end Bonaparte's life.

He was in charge of building a fleet on Elba, in addition to exploiting the minerals that the island had. He promoted agriculture and, in addition, Napoleon modernized the educational and legal system that governed the territory.

Soon after, he learned that Josefina had died and realized that Maria Luisa and her son Napoleon, the King of Rome, would not come to accompany him during his forced exile, which ended his optimism to face the fate that had him touched.

100 days

The desolation of Napoleon Bonaparte was joined by rumors that did not stop arriving from the continent. They informed him that Louis XVIII had failed to win over the French people and it was a matter of time before someone decided to depose him, no one better than the emperor for that task.

To make Napoleon's situation worse, the monthly payments that had been promised him in the Treaty of Fontainebleau never came.

On February 26, 1815, along with 700 men, Bonaparte decided to abandon his exile and return to take what had once been his.

Napoleon's Return, by Karl Stenben via Wikimedia Commons When he landed on the mainland they sent the 5th Regiment to intercept him. Napoleon Bonaparte approached the troops and uncovered his chest to the men while shouting "Here I am, if there are any of you who wish to kill your emperor."

No one tried anything against him, instead they shouted "Long live the emperor!" Later, Ney set out to capture Bonaparte, but when he saw him he kissed him and again joined the ranks of Napoleon against King Louis XVIII.

On March 20 Napoleon arrived in Paris and the Bourbon had already left the city. Then Bonaparte's 100-day rule began. He had to face international powers who did not want to see him again at the head of France.

Waterloo

On June 18, 1815, half a million men under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte faced more than a million units belonging to, among others, Great Britain, Holland, Hanover, and Prussia.

Napoleon knew that the only chance he had for a victory with his numbers was to attack first. He did so, and at first it worked, but then Wellington was assisted by numerous Prussian troops arriving as relief, which wore down the few French troops.

Battle of Waterloo, by William Sadler via Wikimedia Commons Then, Bonaparte abdicated a second time. He stayed a few days in Paris, taking refuge in the house of Hortensia, Josefina's daughter. He surrendered to the English, expecting to be treated with the respect that a man like him deserved from his enemies.

st. Helen

In December 1815 the English moved Napoleon to what would be his last residence: Longwood House on the island of Saint Helena, a volcanic island located 1,800 km off the coast of Angola.

During the time he remained there he frequently complained about the living conditions that were provided for him. In addition, he was a constant victim of various diseases. That exile under such harsh conditions only served to increase his hero image in the popular imagination.

Death

Napoleon Bonaparte died on May 5, 1821 on the island of Saint Helena. His doctor had warned that Napoleon's state of health deteriorated due to the bad treatment he was given and Napoleon himself had confirmed it.

Death of NApoleon, by Popular Graphic Arts via Wikimedia Commons His last words were "France, the army, Josefina." It was his wish to be buried on the banks of the River Seine. Luis Felipe I asked the British government in 1840 to allow the repatriation of Napoleon's remains.

References

1. Maurois, A. and Morales, M. (1962). History of France. Barcelona: Surco, pp. 366 - 416.
2. En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Napoleon. Available at: en.wikipedia.org.
3. Godechot, J. (2019). Napoleon I - Biography, Achievements, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: britannica.com.
4. History.com Editors (2009). Napoleon Bonaparte. HISTORY. A&E Television Networks. Available at: history.com.
5. BBC Timelines. (2019). Napoleon Bonaparte: The Little Corporal who built an Empire. Available at: bbc.com.