Napoleon on Elba

Napoleon's departure from Elba on 26 February, 1815.

by Joseph Beaume

1815: The Return of Napoleon by Paul Britten Austin.

I'm reading it and like it a lot. It's a page-turner. From amazon:

"This unique and atmospheric volume presents the dramatic story of Napoleon's escape from Elba and his march on Paris in the words of eyewitnesses and participants. Drawing on hundreds of firsthand accounts by Napoleon's supporters and opponents, Paul Britten Austin recreates the drama of those tumultuous days of the spring of 1815: Napoleon's dramatic landing at Antibes in the south of France, the first heady days of his arrival after almost a year of exile, his almost miraculous march across France, his arrival in Paris, and the coup which led to the fall of the Bourbons.

"Paul Britten Austin's technique, so brilliantly presented in his earlier 1812 trilogy on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, brings historical events to life and gives a dramatic insight into the hopes and fears of the French nation in that spring of 1815."

In smoke and haze    -   Friedrich Kallmorgen, 1903.

German,  1856-1924

Oil on canvas,  132 x 116cm.

I just read something about when Napoleon was exiled in Elba:

He was so bored that he started taking up practical jokes: once he slipped a fish into Bertrand's pocket, then asked him for the loan of a handkerchief, so that the fish came slopping out on to the table.

WHAT. I need to know if the fish was dead or alive. Fish out of water abso-fucking-lutely terrifies me. I would be out of my mind if that happened to me. 😭

Ernest Neuschul - Boats on the Elbe, 1926

At The End Of The Rainbow von sheiruki-takes-photos Über Flickr: Capoliveri, Isle of Elba, Tuscany, Italy, 2015

The way I'm currently on Corsica, have been to the city Napoleon was born and will be on Elba in a week. I'm literally living Marius's dream.

Part of wreath sent by Napoleon from Elba to intimate the season at which he might be expected to make his escape, in ornate box.

France and Italy, 1814-15. Science Museum.

(Source)

The french government in 1814: Now that we’ve deposed our emperor, we just have to politely imprison him somewhere he won’t do any damage from! So we’ve made him the sovereign ruler of a large island located directly between his homeland and the country his brother is king of, let him build his own army and navy there, and given him access to the news that our own government is unpopular, especially among his veterans

That same government, 10 months later:

Napoleon at Elba by Alcide Joseph Lorentz

Couple of scenes on Elba

translation by google/me

This morning at breakfast, there was no one to give him a plate. Napoleon said coldly, “Please give me a plate.” [I don’t know to whom he said it.]

Napoleon was at his lodging very early. His plans for the work to be done aren’t fixed; they follow one another very quickly. I am obliged to resist a large number of his ideas and my opinion sometimes seems to hold him back. But the Emperor took advantage of my absence yesterday to tear down what I wanted to keep; he laughed as he said to the workmen: “Hurry up, because Vincent is coming to scold us.” On my return, the Emperor laughed a great deal at having destroyed the most pleasant enjoyment of the lodging, which he will not replace in winter. As I made my respectful reproaches to him, he replied: "In winter I will raise these walls, and I will say again: ‘Vincent was right.’ " On my observation that the enemy might disturb his quarters, he replied that it would not be the first time.

Mémoires de tous: collection de souvenirs contemporains tendant a établir la verité dans l'histoire., t.3. [by Général du génie Vincent]

The end of a summer day in Capoliveri, Elba.