Another Napoleon :: essays research papers

Most historians portray Napoleons return to France as anexample of his disregard for hundreds of thousands of livesin holy order to satisfy his outsized ambition. We at Napoleon onthe Net, however, view the Hundred Days as an exampleof the Emperors superior charisma and the love for him thatit inspired. The support of the common multitude of Francewas the basis of Napoleonic rule. The generals and thepoliticians did not rush to support Napoleons spick-and-spanadventure, but, as we will show, the front-line soldiers andthe common people were determined to uphold the basicprinciple the renewal that it is the peoples right to decidethe form of their government. Vincent Cronin, in hisacclaimed biography of Napoleon, entitled NapoleonBonaparte An Intimate Biography (William Morrow &Company, 1972, pp. 391-392), describes Napoleons firstmajor confrontation with French troops sent by the Bourbonregime to kill or capture him. "Napoleon had 1,100 menagainst about 700. But he did no t want bloodshed. The annoyance of civil war he had felt twenty years before inProvence remained as strong as ever and, on landing, he had stipulation Cambronne strict orders that not a shot was to befired. What he did now ws to order his hundred Polishlancers to advance slowly. At this Delessart withdrew hismen, in good order, to new positions. The Polish lancerswere told to wheel and come back. Napoleon then had thetricolour unfolded and told the Guards band to play theMarseillaise, which he had described in Elba as the greatestgeneral of the Revolution. interdict since the return of theBourbons, the stirring tune had the effect, said one observor,of electrifying the Grenoble soldiers. Napoleon startedriding towards the men of the 5th. At pistol-shot range hedismounted and walked towards the 700 loaded muskets.He was wearing his gray-headed campaigning overcoat, familiar toevery Frenchman. Captain Randon, twenty years old, ofGrenoble, called to his men, There he is Fire After ta kinga few steps, Napoleon stop and drew apart the lapels ofhis overcoat, exposing his white waistcoat. If you want tokill your Emperor, he called in loud voice, here I am Backcame a tremendous shriek of Long live the Emperor Themen of the 5th, waving their shakos on bayonets, rushedcheering towards him. Just see if we want to kill you,shouted one soldier, rakish his ramrod up and down thebarrel of his empty musket. In a matter of minutes thesoldiers had whipped from their haversacks the old tricolour