Born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, August 15, 1769. He was the eldest but one
of a family of thirteen children; and his father, who was poor, though
well descended, gladly embraced an opportunity of sending him to the
Military College at Brienne, in France. Here he was noted for aversion
to the society of his fellows, and to the amusements of boyhood. He was
fond of imitating the operations of war, and displayed an unusual taste
for the study of history and civil government; but he made no
extraordinary progress in any branch of his education, except
mathematics, in which he succeeded so well, that in his fifteenth year
he was selected for removal to the Royal Military School at Paris. There
he so zealously devoted himself to military studies, that on completing
his sixteenth year he received his commission as Lieutenant of
Artillery.
He remained unknown, and with little chance of promotion, until after
the overthrow of the French monarchy in 1793. In the excesses of the
Revolution he did not share; but his Jacobinical principles, which he
advocated in a pamphlet entitled the ‘Supper of Beaucaire,’ recommended
him to Robespierre and his colleagues, and, in conjunction with his
reputation as an engineer, procured him the command of the artillery at
the siege of Toulon, the capture of which was wholly owing to his skill.
He mainly contributed to the success of the French arms on the Italian
frontier; but the honour and the rewards were gathered by his superiors:
and, in 1794, on the downfall of Robespierre’s government, he was
deprived of his command as chief of battalion. For a time he remained in
a state of neglect and poverty; and, without prospect of immediate
advancement, indulged alternately in visionary schemes of greatness, and
sober plans for obtaining a moderate competency. In 1795, his fortunes
were suddenly advanced by the danger of the French Government, which, at
the suggestion of Barras, entrusted to him the defence of the Tuileries
against the National Guard and mob of Paris, on the 13th Vendémiaire
(October 4th). The authority of the Government was restored by the
successful exertions of Buonaparte; and, in requital for this service,
he was made General of the Army of the Interior. This office soon ceased
to afford scope for his abilities; and the Directory, aware of the
necessity of employing his ardent talents, appointed him General of the
Army of Italy, then opposed to the Austrians. A few days before his
departure from Paris he married Josephine, the widow of Viscount
Beauharnois, an amiable woman, who by her talents and graces assisted in
advancing his fortunes, and during some years exercised great influence
over him.
Buonaparte entered Italy early in 1796, passing between the Alps and the
Apennines. In the course of eighteen months he made six successful
campaigns, destroyed five Austrian armies, and conquered nearly the
whole of Italy. He obliged the Pope and other Italian sovereigns to send
their choicest treasures of art to Paris, a measure imitated from
ancient Rome, and savouring more of the spirit of ancient conquest, than
of the mitigated warfare of modern times. Among the more memorable
battles fought during this war, were those of Lodi, Roveredo, Arcole,
Rivoli, and Tagliamento. Buonaparte’s activity and skill counterbalanced
the numerical inferiority of his troops; and his personal courage, and
readiness of resources under difficulties, procured him a great
ascendency over the soldiery, by whom he was familiarly called the
“Little Corporal.” At the conclusion of this war, in 1797, the
territories of Venice were divided between France and Austria, the Pope
was deprived of part of his temporal dominions, and a number of the
conquered states were united to form the Cisalpine Republic. His
military talents being now no longer needed, Buonaparte was obliged to
resign his command. Hitherto he had professed a warm attachment to the
democracy, and even sided with that party in the revolution of the 18th
Fructidor (September 4, 1797), when the democratic members of the
Directory deposed their colleagues. His conduct in remodelling some of
the Italian governments threw a doubt on the sincerity of his democratic
principles, which was latterly increased by the assertion of the dignity
of his rank amongst his officers, and by his tenacious resistance to
every attempt made by the Directory to divide or control his power in
the command of the army.
He returned to Paris in January, 1798; and although keenly attentive to
the state of the various political parties, he maintained a prudent
reserve, adopting the appearance and pursuits of a private citizen.
Finding no immediate chance of obtaining a share in the Government, and
that he was daily incurring suspicion, he again sought military
employment. Being satisfied at this period of the impracticability of
invading England, he projected the conquest of Egypt. For this purpose,
in May, 1798, a splendid armament was equipped at Toulon, with every
requisite for colonizing the country and prosecuting scientific and
antiquarian researches. He reached Egypt in July, expelled, after
several hard-fought battles, the dominant military caste of Mamelukes,
and made subjects of the native Egyptians. His administration, except in
an absurd attempt to conciliate the natives by professing Mahometanism,
was that of a wise and politic statesman; and there was every prospect
that the French, although insulated from Europe by the destruction of
their fleet at Aboukir, would permanently establish themselves in Egypt.
Many improvements, by which the country has since derived signal
benefit, were introduced by him; and to the scientific department of the
expedition we are indebted for the foundation of our present knowledge
of the natural history and antiquities of Egypt. Early in 1799,
Buonaparte apprized Tippoo Saib of his design of marching against the
British in India. The hostilities of the Ottoman Porte induced him,
however, to invade Syria. After crossing the desert, and taking
El-Arish, Jaffa, and Gaza, he was repulsed at Acre by Sir Sidney Smith,
and compelled to make a disastrous retreat on Egypt. Jaffa is remarkable
for two occurrences which have deeply affected the fame of Buonaparte.
One of these is the massacre of a large body of Turkish prisoners, who
were shot under the pretext that they had previously been liberated at
El-Arish upon parole not to serve against the French. The other is his
ordering some of his own soldiers, who were incurably sick of the
plague, to be poisoned with opium, rather than abandon them to the
enemy, or endanger the rest of the army by transporting them with it.
The suggestion was certainly made; but it appears equally certain that
it was not acted on, in consequence of the remonstrances of the medical
officers. The retreat was closed by a battle at Alexandria, in which the
Turkish army was totally defeated.
The French rule being established in Egypt, Buonaparte became very
anxious to return to France, where circumstances seemed to favour his
ambition. He left his army secretly in August, and arrived in Paris in
October, having by singular good fortune escaped the British cruisers,
and evaded the impediments imposed by the quarantine laws. He was
received with joy by the people, now weary of the feeble administration
of the Directory, which, having lost all the late conquests, could
preserve their country neither against invasion from abroad, nor from
anarchy at home.
Three weeks after his return, Buonaparte overthrew the existing
Government by a conspiracy, in which he was assisted by all men of
military or political eminence, with very few exceptions: and, with a
general concurrence, he was invested with the supreme executive
authority, under the title of First Consul of France. His nominal
colleagues soon became the mere instruments of his ambition. Although he
left France only the semblance of a free government, it cannot be denied
that Buonaparte was, in some respects, a real benefactor to the state.
Social order was maintained. The public exercise of religion was
restored, and a treaty, termed the Concordat, was concluded with the
Pope, by which the French Church was released from the supremacy
hitherto claimed and exercised by the Holy See. A uniform code of laws,
which recognised no adventitious distinctions, henceforth afforded equal
protection to the whole community; office and power were fairly opened
to the competition of merit, and the Legion of Honour was instituted for
the reward of talent and worth in every class of life. Buonaparte
restrained the contentions of parties, and rendered their leaders, such
as Talleyrand, Carnot, Fouché, Moreau, and Bernadotte, subservient to
his interests; whilst the people, enjoying the benefit of an able and
safe administration, were indifferent to their ruler’s schemes for
personal aggrandizement.
Having restored peace and security at home, Buonaparte sought to gratify
the national thirst for glory by foreign victories. In 1800, he marched
an army across the Alps by the route of the Great St. Bernard, descended
unexpectedly on the rear of the Austrians, and, June 14, gave them a
complete overthrow at Marengo. Having recovered nearly all the former
conquests of the French by this battle, he returned to Paris to avail
himself of this triumph to advance his power. But the rejection of the
overtures of the Bourbons, and the obvious design of Buonaparte to
appropriate the crown to himself, led to a union between the Royalists
and Jacobins; and plots were formed against his life, from one of which
he narrowly escaped. In November he resumed hostilities against Austria;
and the battle of Hohenlinden, gained by Moreau, December 2, concluded
the war. Austria then acknowledged the Cisalpine Republic, and permitted
France to possess the boundary of the Rhine, and to annex Holland to her
dominions. The war, continued by England, was distinguished for the
battle of Copenhagen, fought April 2, 1801, by which the Northern
Maritime Confederacy was broken up; and for the recovery of Egypt from
the French by the army of Abercrombie: it was ended in 1802, by the
Treaty of Amiens. A short interval of peace ensued, during which
Buonaparte strengthened his personal power by becoming First Consul for
life, with the right of naming his successor. He also constituted
himself President of the Italian and Helvetian Republics, by which these
states became in fact provinces of France.
In 1803, Great Britain, provoked by the restlessness of Buonaparte’s
ambition, again declared war against France. The First Consul answered
this declaration by imprisoning about ten thousand English subjects, who
were travelling in his dominions. He also seized the Electorate of
Hanover, and made vast preparations for invading England. Early in 1804,
the Royalist and Jacobin parties again endangered his life. Amongst the
conspirators were Pichegru and Moreau; the latter, however, was not
privy to any design of assassination. These plots also proved abortive,
and, in crushing them, Buonaparte increased the stability of his power.
He established a special commission for the trial of all persons
suspected of political crimes, without resorting to the ordinary courts
of judicature. He believed, or affected to believe, that the recent
plots were promoted by the Bourbons and the British ministers, and
resolved to retaliate. By his orders the Duc d’Enghien was carried off,
in March, 1804, from the neutral state of Baden, and, after an informal
trial, put to death. He seized the British minister at Hamburgh, and
confined him for a short period in the Temple. Captain Wright, a British
naval officer, was also confined in the Temple, upon pretext that his
ship had been captured while in the service of the Bourbon conspirators:
he was said to have been murdered in prison; but there is no proof of
this improbable crime. It was asserted that Pichegru perished in the
same way.
In December, 1804, the First Consul assumed the titles of Napoleon,
Emperor of the French and King of Italy. The Pope assisted in the
ceremony of his coronation at Notre Dame: but Napoleon placed the crown
on his own and his consort’s head with his own hand. In like manner, in
May, 1805, he crowned himself King of Italy at Milan. In this year,
Austria, Russia, and Sweden formed an alliance with England against
France. In the same year, October 21, the naval power of France was
destroyed by the battle of Trafalgar. But on the other hand, in a single
campaign, which was concluded, December 2, by the battle of Austerlitz,
Napoleon overthrew the fabric of the German empire, and obliged the
other members of the coalition to separate from England and sue for
peace. He then associated Bavaria, Wirtemberg, the Grand Duchy of Berg,
and several smaller German states, under the title of the Confederation
of the Rhine, of which he constituted himself Protector, receiving in
return the services of about sixty thousand soldiers. Venice was added
to the kingdom of Italy; while Joseph and Louis Buonaparte were
appointed respectively kings of Naples and Holland. At the conclusion of
this war Napoleon created a new order of nobility; many of whom bore
foreign titles, and received extended grants in the territories recently
conquered by France. He was now surrounded by men of the most opposite
character and principles, yet all so well chosen for aptitude to their
several offices that he was devotedly and efficiently served. He had a
keen perception of talent in others, and judgment in giving it a
suitable direction: not a few of his ablest followers, among them,
Lannes, Junot, Murat, Victor, Augereau, and Soult, were of humble
origin. Napoleon usurped the entire control of the civil and
ecclesiastical polity, and by means of compulsory laws for military
service, and the suppression of public opinion by an inquisitorial
police and an enslaved press, established a complete despotism in
France. In arrogating the style and pretensions of the Emperor
Charlemagne, he desired to bury all remembrance of the late dynasty, and
of his own origin. He had a strong tendency to fatalism, and believed
that his career depended on destiny. This weakness was often manifested
in those inflated bulletins, which announced his deeds in a manner
calculated to impress the belief of his infallibility, and never
acknowledged the occurrence of reverses.
Prussia had been induced to remain neutral during the war of which we
have just spoken, by a promise of the cession of Hanover. Instead of
fulfilling this engagement, Napoleon, by a series of injuries, provoked
a declaration of war in 1806. Prussia was subjugated by the battle of
Jena, fought October 14th: and Napoleon then marched into Poland against
the Emperor of Russia; whom, after several battles, at Pultusk,
Preuss-Eylau, and Friedland, he compelled to sue for peace. By the
treaty of Tilsit, Prussia was dismembered, her sovereign retaining but a
scanty portion of his dominions. Jerome Buonaparte received the kingdom
of Westphalia, which was formed from the Prussian and Hanoverian
territories, whilst the Prusso-Polish provinces were formed into the
Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and bestowed on Napoleon’s ally the Elector of
Saxony, who was also gratified with the title of King.
The want of a navy rendering Napoleon unable to contend with England, he
endeavoured to separate her from the European world. In 1806, by certain
decrees issued at Berlin and Milan, and acknowledged at the Treaty of
Tilsit by every continental power, England was declared in a state of
blockade, and all articles of English growth and manufacture were
excluded from their ports. But as the rigid enforcement of these decrees
was prevented by the access of the English to the Peninsula, Napoleon
devised a scheme for rendering this part of Europe also amenable to his
authority. In 1807 a treaty was concluded with Spain; and, by a joint
invasion of the Spanish and French forces, Portugal was subdued and the
House of Braganza expelled. But under pretext of supporting this
invasion, Napoleon filled the most important military stations in Spain
with his own troops. The royal family were enticed into France, and
compelled by threats of violence to renounce all claims to their
hereditary throne. Joseph Buonaparte, resigning the kingdom of Naples to
Murat, repaired to Madrid, and was crowned king of Spain. But a fierce
war breaking out between Joseph and his new subjects, the French, who
had already been driven from Portugal by Sir Arthur Wellesley, seemed on
the point of losing the whole Peninsula. Napoleon, in a campaign which
he conducted in person, re-established his power in the Peninsula; but a
declaration of war by Austria recalled him in mid-conquest. He hurried
to the German frontier, and, after beating the Austrians at Abensberg,
Landshut, and Eckmuhl, and taking Vienna, concluded the war by the
battle of Wagram, fought July 6, 1809. A treaty was signed at Schoënbrun
in October, by which Austria made great sacrifices of territory and
population. At Schoënbrun Napoleon narrowly escaped death by the hand of
a young German enthusiast, named Stabbs. During this war, Rome was
annexed to France, as the second city of the empire; and the Pope, thus
entirely stripped of his temporal dominions, was soon after removed to
Fontainebleau, where he was confined as a prisoner.
Desirous of an heir to succeed to his vast empire, Napoleon, on his
return from Schoënbrun, divorced his empress, and, in accordance with
one of the articles of the late treaty, married Maria Louisa, daughter
of the Emperor of Austria, in March, 1810. This marriage was followed,
in 1811, by the birth of a son, who was styled King of Rome. Although
Napoleon remained in Paris in attendance on his new consort, his plans
of ambition suffered no interruption. In 1810 he deposed his brother
Louis, who thought too much of the welfare of his own subjects; and
annexed Holland, together with the Hanse Towns and the whole sea-coast
of Germany, to the French empire. The election of the French Marshal
Bernadotte to the crown of Sweden seemed to place all Europe, except
England, Russia, and the Peninsula, in the power of France. On the
departure of Napoleon from Spain, in 1809, England again attempted to
deliver the Peninsula; and, during the two succeeding years, Wellington
did much towards effecting this object. The Emperor of Russia, who, at
the treaty of Tilsit, was supposed to have agreed with Napoleon on the
division of the European world, now found the power of the latter
dangerous to his own kingdom, which also suffered greatly from the
prohibition of commerce with England. Napoleon, perceiving that his
brother Emperor designed to avail himself of the reverses in the
Peninsula to insist on a more liberal course of policy, and security
against future aggression, determined on war. In 1812 he invaded Russia,
with the largest army that had ever been assembled under one European
leader. After beating the Russians at Smolensko and Borodino, he took
possession of Moscow, September 14. But the approach of winter, the
burning of the city, and the consequent want of food and shelter,
rendered it impossible to remain there; and the Czar refusing to listen
to proposals for peace, Napoleon, after five weeks’ residence at Moscow,
was obliged to withdraw. In the celebrated retreat which followed, the
French army was utterly destroyed, more by the climate than by the
enemy; the Emperor himself escaped with difficulty.
The spirit of the French people was roused by this disaster, and
Napoleon speedily found himself at the head of another vast army. But
Prussia and Sweden now joined the league against him, and experience had
made his enemies more fit to cope with him; and though, in 1813, he won
the battles of Lutzen and Bautzen in Saxony, he derived no material
advantage from them. Having refused to accede to the terms proposed
through the mediation of Austria, which would have restricted France to
her ancient power and boundaries, this state also took part with the
allies against him. After gaining the battle of Dresden, in August,
Napoleon was compelled, by the successive defeat of four of his
Marshals, to abandon his position on the Elbe, and retire on Leipsic. In
October was fought the great battle of Leipsic, where, in three days,
the French lost upwards of fifty thousand men. The Emperor then
retreated across the Rhine. The Rhenish Confederacy was forthwith
dissolved, and the Pope and Ferdinand were permitted to return to their
respective dominions.
Napoleon having thus lost all his allies and foreign possessions, still
refused the reasonable terms of peace which were offered to him, and
prepared to defend France against invasion. Wellington crossed the
Pyrenees in 1814, and about the same time the Russian and German armies
passed the Rhine. During this campaign Napoleon showed wonderful energy
in encountering his numerous enemies, but still adhered, with obstinate
arrogance, to what he considered due to his own personal glory, and
refused to treat for peace. After losing the battles of Brienne and La
Rothière, in February, he entered on a negotiation with the Allies;
during the discussion of which he attacked and defeated the Prussians on
the Marne: and, on the 17th and 18th, with a perfect knowledge that his
minister had signed the preliminaries of peace, he assaulted the
Austrians and defeated them at Nangis and Montereau. These successes
were useless, and only served to exasperate his foes. In March he was
beaten at the battles of Craonne and Laon, and finding the Allies
getting the superiority, he skilfully marched on their rear with the
view of inclosing them between his own army and the capital. But the
Allies obtained possession of Paris, and finding the people alienated by
the tyranny of the Emperor, declared they would no more treat with
Napoleon Buonaparte. The weakened state of his army, and the defection
of most of his ministers and generals, left him without resources. On
the 11th of April Napoleon renounced, for himself and his heirs, the
thrones of France and Italy. He was allowed to retain the title of
Emperor, and received the sovereignty of the island of Elba.
He reached his miniature kingdom May 4; and for a time appeared to
occupy himself as intently with its affairs as if they had equalled in
importance those of his late empire. But perceiving that the Bourbon
government caused great discontent, he suddenly returned to France, and
landed at Cannes, March 1, 1815, accompanied by about seven hundred
soldiers. He reached Lyons on the 10th, and resumed the functions of
sovereignty. On the 17th he was joined by Marshal Ney and a large body
of men, and on the 19th by the army of Macdonald. The following day he
entered Paris. He was immediately declared an outlaw by the Allied
Powers, who, with upwards of a million of soldiers, prepared to dethrone
him. Although he made many specious promises of freedom and good
government, the feelings and interests of the people were opposed to
him; and, after the decisive battle of Waterloo, he was again obliged to
abdicate. Being foiled in attempting to escape to America, he took
refuge in a British ship of war. The British Government rejecting his
proposal to reside in England, it was determined that the rest of his
life should be passed in the island of St. Helena, with the observances
of etiquette due to a general officer. He arrived at St. Helena, October
15, 1815. A few courtiers and domestics attended him in his exile, and
by them the form and ceremony of a court were always maintained. His
ambition was not corrected by past experience, and he was continually
forming plans for returning to Europe. His escape from the island was
strictly guarded against. This exposed him to an unpleasant degree of
superintendence, which he did not bear with the calmness of a great
mind. Of the Governor’s conduct it is unnecessary to speak: but
Napoleon’s constant and undignified disputes with that officer
concerning the regulations for his personal treatment, lowered his
character, while they added to the bitterness of his captivity. In the
last year of his life Napoleon lost all his cheerfulness and disposition
for active employment. He died, May 5, 1821, of a cancerous affection of
the liver, and was borne, by a party of British grenadiers, to his grave
in a secluded valley on the island.
Napoleon Buonaparte was short in stature, but handsome and well formed,
and capable of enduring great fatigue and great vicissitudes of climate.
We abstain from offering a summary of his character, as we have
abstained for the most part from passing judgment upon his actions. The
time is not yet come for him to be judged dispassionately. A multitude
of books have been written concerning him, with the more important of
which most readers are familiar.
The picture from which our engraving is taken was formerly in the
collection at Malmaison, from whence it was purchased, on the
restoration of the Bourbons, by Mr. Hamlet.
[Illustration:
[Statue of Napoleon, by Canova.]
]
[Illustration:
_Engraved by C. E. Wagstaff._