Napoleon Bonaparte Escapes from Elba

26th February 1815

On this day, with a small fleet of ships and 1,150 people, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the island of Elba, where he had been exiled less than a year earlier, and made his return to France. Although his defeat and exile had been seriously humiliating for Napoleon, he negotiated his exile well and was allowed to retain the title of Emperor, albeit of a small island nation. Ruling Elba gave him an acceptable excuse to build a military force: an army of 2,000, a 600-man Imperial Guard, and a small navy. His ‘babysitter’, the British office Neil Campbell, noticed his lack of interest in the fate of the islanders but did not realise that he was planning to evade until it was too late. Napoleon was greeted in Paris as a hero although his second reign would only last 100 days.

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