The Fall of Napoleon: A Hero's Tragedy
From invading Russia to his exile to Saint Helena.
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In 1812, Napoleon made a fatal decision: to invade Russia. But this incursion into Eastern Europe would be his last. Even the mighty Bonaparte could not withstand the bitter cold of the Russian winter.
As he faltered in Spain and Russia, Napoleon would have to go face-to-face with an energized European alliance. But this time, his days were numbered. The French hero would now meet his tragic end.
Invading Russia
On June 24, 1812, Napoleon’s French forces flooded into Russia. His Grand Army numbered nearly half a million soldiers, commanded by the era’s greatest generals.
Using his speed marches, Bonaparte moved quickly toward Saint Petersburg and Moscow. Days into the invasion, the French Army was plagued by disease, such as typhus. Still, the French forces continued their ominous advance through July and August.
Battle of Borodino
The French confronted the Russians at the Battle of Smolensk. After seizing the town, Napoleon regrouped his men. By early September, Napoleon reached Borodino, just 125 miles from Moscow.
In just over two months, Napoleon’s Grand Army covered Russia’s distance. But they paid a high price: 100,000 men died or deserted. The Battle of Borodino became the final major clash with the Russians before Napoleon reached Moscow. It was the single bloodiest day of the entire Napoleonic Wars.
With just over 100,000 men, Napoleon clashed against 150,000 Russians. Bonaparte lost 30,000 of his troops, compared to 50,000 on the Tsar’s side. But Napoleon made a huge mistake: he failed to summon his Imperial Guard to finish off the fleeing Russians. This allowed the Tsar to fight on through the late autumn and early winter. Nevertheless, Napoleon eventually made his way to Moscow. His advance seemed unstoppable.
War of attrition
But the Russians did something crazy. Taking its population over over a quarter million people, the city of Moscow was abandoned. Only about ten or fifteen thousand people were left inside. All of Russia’s supplies were evacuated too. The Tsar was nowhere to be found, and completely unavailable for negotiations.
This was horrifying news to Napoleon! Bonaparte had counted on being able to resupply by pillaging the Russian countryside. Now, there was nothing left to seize. Moscow had already been burned to the ground by the Russians themselves. Only some residual Russians were left behind, who harassed the French forces in hit-and-run guerrilla attacks. Napoleon had no idea what to do!
But Bonaparte would face a much more threatening enemy than the Russians themselves: their bitter cold winter. Temperatures reached twenty degrees below zero Celsius. Starting in mid-October, he ordered a French withdrawal. But not before setting Moscow ablaze, which would later take half a century for the Russians to rebuild.
Napoleon headed west toward the Duchy of Warsaw, losing tens of thousand of troops along the way. Even in this sorry state, the mighty Bonaparte still prevailed over about 85,000 Russian soldiers. The Frenchman finally made his way to Lithuania in December of 1812. The great French conqueror had suffered one of history’s worst defeats. Of his half million army, only 100,000 men returned home.
Sixth Coalition
After seeing Napoleon’s defeat in Russia, the enemies of France organized another deadly alliance: the Sixth Coalition.
In the summer of 1812, war broke out between the United States against Britain. While America remained neutral in the Napoleonic Wars, the Brits began to capture US merchant ships doing business with France. To protect her merchant ships, America declared war on the British Empire.
Largely distracted by its invasion of North America, the British were unable to contribute much to the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon. Most of the fighting fell to Russia, Prussia, and Austria.
Battle of Leipzig
Napoleon fought against the European powers in a colossal battle at Leipzig. Known as the Battle of Nations, it was the largest battle in Europe’s history until the First World War.
Napoleon was decisively defeated, forcing him to retreat to France. The European Allies offered Bonaparte a chance to surrender: the Frankfurt Proposals. Under these terms, France would be pushed back to its borders from 1795. It was a fairly generous deal, but the British were obstinately opposed. Napoleon, not one for surrender, rejected these terms.
General Bonaparte turn his Grand Army and marched back home. Nearly all of his allies had given up on him, including the French territories of Holland and western Germany. The Coalition continued their invasion, dissolving the Rhine Confederation and advancing into France itself.
Six Days Campaign
But the fateful Bonaparte turned the tide against his enemies. Just like his glory days of old, the mighty French general won a series of four battles against the Prussian and Russian armies, under the command of Gebhard von Blücher. Despite being vastly outnumbered, Napoleon inflicted massive casualties on his European enemies.
Personally commanding the French Army, Napoleon routed the Prussians. Half of the Prussian forces were killed, while the French only suffered minimal losses. Although impressive, Napoleon’s victories were only able to delay the Allies for a few weeks. By this time, the Fall of Paris was inevitable.
Fall of Napoleon
The armies of Prussia, Russia, and Austria poured into the French capital. Its temporary leader, Joseph Bonaparte, was no match for an invasion force of over a hundred some thousand soldiers. Napoleon’s brother was forced to flee, even as Napoleon himself advanced into the suburbs of Paris with some reinforcements.
The situation was hopeless. Now, Napoleon had no choice but to stoically accept his grim fate. On April 4, 1814, he agreed to abdicate. But much to Bonaparte’s outrage, the European Coalition insisted on restoring the old Bourbon monarchy. King Louis XVIII was now king of France. The French Revolution had effectively been reversed!
On April 11, Napoleon met with diplomats from Russia, Austria, and Prussia. He formally abdicated under the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Even worse, all of Napoleon’s family was banned from ever ruling France. He also had to surrender his personal estates in France. Josephine was given a certain allowance from the French government, while Empress Marie Louise received some of Napoleon’s Italian territories. Those Italian lands would one day pass on to Napoleon’s legitimate son and heir, Napoleon Jr.
Napoleon was sent into exile on the small Italian island of Elba, off the coast of Tuscany, where the Bonaparte family came from centuries earlier. This small principality was Napoleon’s sole consolation for his lost empire. He was barred from ever stepping foot on mainland Italy or Europe again.
The angry Brits felt the treaty was not nearly harsh enough. But London had no choice but to follow the demands of its other European allies.
Exile in Elba
Now exiled to Elba, Napoleon ruled the small Mediterranean island like a mini France. As its ruler, he oversaw the construction of roads. He reformed taxes, and organized a state council. Bonaparte was kept company by his Polish mistress, a woman named Marie Walewska.
Shortly after arriving on Elba, Napoleon was shattered by news of his wife Josephine’s death. After trying to persuade the Russian Tsar to send her to Elba, Josephine died before she could be reunited with her estranged husband. Worse still, he learned of his beloved’s death from the newspaper. Napoleon, normally energetic, did not leave his room for two days upon hearing of his wife’s death.
When King Louis XVIII became France’s new ruler, he promised not to interfere with the gains made by the Revolution since 1789. He also agreed to a treaty with Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia. Under its terms, France returned to its borders in 1792, before the French Revolution.
Return of Napoleon
In November of 1814, the European powers met at Vienna to completely redraw the continent’s borders. But with Napoleon gone, the Coalition quickly turned against itself. Britain and Austria grew irritated by Prussia’s ambitions in the German lands, as well as Russia’s continental power.
Back in France, the people grew tired of their Bourbon king. Napoleon now seized his chance. Consulting his mother, who stood there with him in Elba, Napoleon assembled a small fleet of ships to set sail for the French Riviera. Napoleon’s awe-inspiring return is known as the Hundred Days, or the War of the Seventh Coalition.
When the mighty Napoleon set foot on French soil, the Bourbon King fled the country. In Vienna, the European Coalition prepared to wage war once against against Bonaparte. Hundreds of thousands of armed troops prepared for battle in Europe.
This became the Waterloo Campaign, which took place in mid-June of 1815.
Waterloo
On June 14, the great Napoleon delivered a charismatic speech to his French troops.
“Soldiers: This day is the anniversary of Marengo and Friedland, which twice decided the destiny of Europe. Then, as after the battles of Austerlitz and Wagram, we were too generous. We believed in the protestations and oaths of princes to whom we left their thrones. Now, however, leagued together, they strike at the independence and sacred rights of France. They have committed unjust aggressions. Let us march forward and meet them; are we not still the same men?…The honor and happiness of our country are at stake! And, in short, Frenchmen, the moment is arrived when we must conquer or die!”
Bonaparte prepared to defend France once more. His strategy normally consisted of picking off his enemies before they could reinforce each other. But this time, the other nations of Europe would use Napoleon’s own tactics against him.
On June 18, Napoleon waged a ferocious assault against the British forces under the Duke of Wellington. The Brits lost a staggering 15,000 casualties. But unfortunately for our French hero, the Prussians arrived quickly enough to launch a deadly surprise ambush. Now, the scales tipped in favor of the Allies.
Saint Helena
Now defeated, Napoleon scrambled to Paris, where he arrived on June 21. Ten thousand of his men deserted. Bonaparte tried to assemble a new French army, but this time he lacked the support of France’s government. Napoleon was forced to abdicate for the second time on June 22. He made one last attempt to save the situation, by demanding that his son be made the new king of France. But the Coalition refused to allow Napoleon’s lineage to ever again rule over France.
As the Allies closed in on Paris, Napoleon made a last-ditch attempt to flee to the United States. His brother Joseph had already done so successfully. But Napoleon was refused a passport by the French government. After seeing his mother one last time, Napoleon surrendered to the British Royal Navy in the English Channel. The Allies reinstalled King Louis XVIII to the French throne. The French Revolution was officially over.
General Bonaparte was escorted away to the remotest corner of Britain’s vast empire: the Atlantic island of Saint Helena. This time, it was impossible for Napoleon to escape.
For the next twenty years, Napoleon kept himself busy at his Longwood House. He loved to play cards, and cultivated gardens around his house. He wrote commentaries about Julius Caesar. To read the newspaper reports on Europe’s politics, he tried to learn the English language.
By the late 1810s, Napoleon’s health began to deteriorate. In his final years, he took a renewed interest in the Catholicism of his youth. He declared in his will, “I die in the apostolical Roman religion, in the bosom of which I was born, more than fifty years since.”
But was this a deathbed conversion? Not really. Napoleon’s religious views are debated by scholars, but he was probably a deist—both before and during his final statement of faith.
He died, probably of stomach cancer, in 1821. This cause of death was confirmed by a 2021 study by an international team of gastrointestinal pathologists. A death mask was made of his face. He was buried with military honors on the island. A few decades later, Bonaparte’s body was repatriated to France. The man was dead, but his immortal legacy continues to inspire the nation (and arguably the world) he gave so much to protect and defend.
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Great overview!