Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba on February 26, 1815

One of the Romantics

Bonaparte on the Bridge of Arcole here by Antoine-Jean Gros

The little Emperor was a romantic in an uncomplimentary sense, for he by defying calm judgment and ignoring a reasonable view of things squander his ideal chasing God only know what.

And here again by Antoine-Jean Gros

He was the first and most famous of the romantic self-deceivers of the Regency era. He had almost all of Western Europe safely in his grasp when he allowed Supreme Power and his restless insatiable ambitions to clouding his judgment. Still, by then he was already more sluggish in mind and body than he had been but a decade before when he came to power.

Napoleon Bonaparte Crossing the Alps by Delaroche

One of his oldest friends, Marmont, said of him: ‘Napoleon was at this period living in a non-existent world, created by his own imagination. He built structures in the air, he took his desires for realities, and gave his orders as if he was ignorant of the true state of affairs and as if the actual facts had been hidden from him on purpose.’

NAPOLEON painted by Horace Vernet

Had he been attending to the realities of his situation, before attempting anything else he would have gone down into Spain himself, collected 200,000 of his veterans, and swept Wellington and his British Expeditionary Force into the sea. As it was, now half in dreamland, he pulled out some of his best troops from Spain in order to take Russia.

We all know now how it would end but we don't think any less of the little dear now do we?

A lovely weekend to all,

Simone