Napoleon / Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), emperor of the French 1804-1815: christened Napoleone on his birth in Corsica, he entered the French army at 16 and rapidly rose through the ranks, despite his lack of height!; following remarkable victories as general of the Republican armies, he overthrew the Directory government on 1799-11-09 and was made First Consul (for life from 1802); the military victories continued throughout Europe until the Russian winter of 1812-1813 defeated his attempt to take Moscow; he was forced to abdicate on 1814-04-11 and was exiled to Elba, although he escaped in 1815-02 and again ruled as Emperor; his final defeat was at the battle of Waterloo on 1815-06-18 and he died on St Helena as a prisoner of war; his marriage (1796) to Josephine Beauharnais ended in divorce, without any children, but through his second marriage, to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, he had a son, whose own son later became Emperor Napoleon III

throughout most of his life Henry James had a strong interest in Napoleon, avidly reading biographies of the man and histories of the French Revolution; during his own final illness James had delirious periods when he claimed to be Napoleon and dictated letters to the Emperor’s sister