Summary
Somewhat hypocritically, the defeated Napoleon wrote one
last letter to Josephine, in which he said, "Never forget him who
has never forgotten you and will never forget you." On April 20,
1814, the dethroned Emperor left France for the isle of Elba, where
he was exiled under the terms of the Treaty of Fontainebleau.
Napoleon would be allowed to rule Elba, which had 12,000 inhabitants.
Perhaps cruelly, the treaty allowed him to retain the title "Emperor."
On May 4 1814, Napoleon, now 45 years old, arrived at Elba's capital,
Portoferraio. Saying, "I want to live from now on like a justice of
the peace," Napoleon actually worked hard to improve Elba, and
to all observers, it seemed as though Napoleon was content to a
life of relative retirement. All the while, however, he was plotting his
return to Europe.
On Elba, Napoleon was under the constant watch of Austrian and
French guards. Nonetheless, he was not isolated: he received thousands
of letters from all over Europe and read major newspapers that
kept him abreast of events throughout the world. It was probably
via these sources that he learned of Josephine's death on May 29,
1814.
On February 26, 1815, Napoleon managed to sneak past his guards
and somehow escape from Elba, slip past interception by a British
ship, and return to France. Immediately, people and troops began
to rally to the returned Emperor. French police forces were sent
to arrest him, but upon arriving in his presence, they kneeled before
him. Triumphantly, Napoleon returned to Paris on March 20, 1815.
Paris welcomed him with celebration, and Louis XVIII, the new king,
fled to Belgium. With Louis only just gone, Napoleon moved back
into the Tuileries. The period known as the Hundred Days had begun.
Napoleon, trying to increase his support, started making
minor reforms, promising a more liberal, democratic society. His
major action was the hollowly worded "Additional Act to the Constitution
of the Empire." However, people were quick to discern the half-hearted
spirit of the reforms this act provided for, and Napoleon's support
base began to decline. Meanwhile, in Western France, pro-Bourbon
Royalists remained active.
At the Congress of Vienna, where the European powers were meeting
to discuss how to rearrange Europe in the aftermath of Napoleon's
conquests, news of Napoleon's escape from Elba delivered an intense
shock to all. On March 13, 1815, the nations represented there
declared Napoleon an outlaw.
While at Elba, Napoleon worked to improve the island's
infrastructure, ordered hospitals built, and tried to increase
the availability of drinking water. He also spent time drilling
the 400 continental soldiers who had volunteered to follow him
there. After so many years of dominating nearly all of Europe,
it is impressive that he actually seemed to care about the welfare
of the tiny island's inhabitants, and that he did not simply "give
up" while in exile. Napoleon's emotional stability and optimism
was doubtless greatly aided by the presence of his mother and his
sister Pauline who joined him in exile. (His mistress, the Countess
Marie Walewska, also came for a visit, bringing the couple's illegitimate
son along. His wife Marie Louise, however, was appalled that Napoleon
would ask her to join him on Elba. Instead, Napoleon was forced
to write her letters asking for news of her health, or the health
of their son.)