Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky listener discretion advised. With the
Speaker 1: end of the Napoleonic Wars, the gunpowder and smoke clearing
Speaker 1: from the battlefields of Central Europe, there came the rebirth
Speaker 1: of a tradition, the Grand Tour. It was something of
Speaker 1: an institution, the idea that wealthy and aristocratic young men
Speaker 1: would spend a year or so traveling the cultural centers
Speaker 1: of the continent to learn about art and music, and
Speaker 1: in the summer of eighteen fourteen, a young English colonel
Speaker 1: named Montgomery Maxwell was eager to see the world. The
Speaker 1: destinations for a young British boy were fairly well established Vienna, Venice, Florence,
Speaker 1: but like many boys on their Grand tours in a
Speaker 1: eighteen fourteen, Maxwell had added a slightly unusual stop to
Speaker 1: his itinerary, a small rocky island a day's sail from
Speaker 1: the western coast of Italy in the Mediterranean, called Elba.
Speaker 1: Maxwell wasn't coming to Elba for the pleasant Mediterranean climate
Speaker 1: or to investigate the moderately successful tin mining industry on
Speaker 1: the island. No, he was there for a single tourist
Speaker 1: attraction Napoleon Bonaparte. A few months prior, after Coalition forces
Speaker 1: invaded Paris, Napoleon had been forced to surrender and abdicate
Speaker 1: as Emperor of France, Prussia, Austria, Russia, and the United
Speaker 1: Kingdom had all gotten together to come up with the
Speaker 1: solution of what to do with this strange Corsican upstart
Speaker 1: who had brought Europe to its knees. The answer they
Speaker 1: came up with was Elba, exiled to an island that
Speaker 1: Napoleon would be allowed to rule still as an emperor,
Speaker 1: albeit an emperor of a much much smaller land mass.
Speaker 1: Montgomery Maxwell sailed to Elba in the hopes of getting
Speaker 1: to encounter, as he put it, quote, the man who
Speaker 1: had been the idol of my imagination for years. As
Speaker 1: it turns out, it wasn't too difficult for any Englishman
Speaker 1: who arrived to Porto Ferrao, the largest city and capital
Speaker 1: of Elba. It seemed like all you needed to do
Speaker 1: was hang out long enough, and eventually the man who
Speaker 1: had crowned himself at Notre Dame a decade prior would
Speaker 1: just amble by and lo and behold he did. Although
Speaker 1: as soon as Maxwell saw Napoleon out on a stroll
Speaker 1: with some of his men. He couldn't help but be disappointed.
Speaker 1: The idol of his imagination, he wrote, quote stood before
Speaker 1: me with a round, ungraceful figure, and with a most
Speaker 1: unpoetically perturbaned stomach. The countenance in which I expected to
Speaker 1: behold a unison of the demon and the soldier, appeared
Speaker 1: soft and mild. In the extreme. There was nothing striking
Speaker 1: in it. End quote, Could it be the man who
Speaker 1: had terrified Europe? The big bad of the British imagination was,
Speaker 1: in the end just a man. Maxwell was disappointed. He
Speaker 1: approached Napoleon here on Elba. Napoleon wasn't some distant gilded
Speaker 1: figure hidden behind imperial trappings, And he introduced himself. And
Speaker 1: in that moment, as the two men began to speak,
Speaker 1: Maxwell understood the Emperor's power. He wrote, quote, I now
Speaker 1: became enraptured with his lively, bewitching air, with his astonishing memory,
Speaker 1: his information, and the fertility with which he kept up
Speaker 1: an easy and agreeable conversation. No wonder French soldiers adore,
Speaker 1: for he instantly proved to us all how well he
Speaker 1: knew how to tickle the human heart. Napoleon was shockingly
Speaker 1: personable and funny. When one of Maxwell's friends mentioned that
Speaker 1: he was from Kent, right on the southeast coast of England,
Speaker 1: a thin strip of water away from France, Napoleon replied,
Speaker 1: we're neighbors. Napoleon had become an expert in playing the
Speaker 1: role that people wanted him to play on Elba, something
Speaker 1: of a genial mascot. Though he happily talked about his
Speaker 1: former military victories, he renounced war. He was retired, he said,
Speaker 1: and it seemed as though he were perfectly content about
Speaker 1: all of it. He would pour you a glass of wine,
Speaker 1: ask you about your family, and then happily chuckle about
Speaker 1: the fact that the old Napoleon was dead and what
Speaker 1: a run he had had. If there was one uncanny
Speaker 1: skill that Napoleon had, it was the ability to subsume
Speaker 1: himself into whatever narrative was the most effective at any
Speaker 1: given moment, like a good monarch or pop star or celebrity.
Speaker 1: He knew that his greatest power was in his symbolism,
Speaker 1: in what others could project upon him. And here on Elba,
Speaker 1: Napoleon had become the amiable retiree. Except that wasn't how
Speaker 1: Napoleon wanted the story of Napoleon to end, though he
Speaker 1: told taurists and visiting emissaries that he was more than
Speaker 1: content to spend his days puttering around his little island.
Speaker 1: Less than ten months after arriving on Elba, Napoleon decided
Speaker 1: that his retirement was over. With a tiny fleet and
Speaker 1: a ragtag group of loyal soldiers, Napoleon sailed from Elba
Speaker 1: to the French coast, where he marched to Paris, and,
Speaker 1: without firing a single bullet, reclaimed the throne he had
Speaker 1: less than a year earlier been forced to abandon. The
Speaker 1: Elban exile is a strange interlude in Napoleon's story, dwarfed
Speaker 1: by the drama of what would come next, his final
Speaker 1: defeat at Waterloo and then his permanent, much more restrictive
Speaker 1: exile on Saint Helena. But those strange ten months on
Speaker 1: Elba fascinate me. The period during which Napoleon was forced
Speaker 1: to stop and take stock of both himself and his narrative.
Speaker 1: And of course, Napoleon realized that the story of Napoleon
Speaker 1: required a coda, a dramatic comeback, a heroic gambit. As
Speaker 1: Montgomery Maxwell had seen, Napoleon the man was merely human,
Speaker 1: but Napoleon wasn't interested in being a man. He self
Speaker 1: mythologized in real time, and he wanted to become a legend,
Speaker 1: no matter the cost. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is
Speaker 1: noble blood. I'm no scholar of military history, but you
Speaker 1: don't really need to be in order to understand that
Speaker 1: Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia was, in short a disaster.
Speaker 1: As he retreated, his numbers dwindled. In just three weeks,
Speaker 1: sixty thousand of Napoleon's men died from cold, disease, hunger,
Speaker 1: and thirst, and so the stage was set for a
Speaker 1: new coalition of European powers Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Russia, Great Britain, Spain,
Speaker 1: and Portugal to come together to rid the continent of
Speaker 1: the Bonaparte problem. Facing an army twice his size, Napoleon
Speaker 1: lost at the Battle of Leipzig in October of eighteen thirteen.
Speaker 1: A few months later, the coalition forces invaded France. Napoleon,
Speaker 1: still racing towards Paris, attempted to gather enough support to fight,
Speaker 1: but citizens were already waving white handkerchiefs of surrender out
Speaker 1: of their windows. They were simply done with fighting. Too
Speaker 1: many boys had died, and Paris had no interest in
Speaker 1: sustained warfare in its streets. Napoleon made it as far
Speaker 1: as Fontainebleau, a chateau about seventy kilometers south of Paris,
Speaker 1: where he got word that the city had fallen. The
Speaker 1: provisional government, backed by the Foreign Coalition, deposed Napoleon as emperor,
Speaker 1: and in his place they decided on the next leader
Speaker 1: of France. The revolution had toppled the monarchy and beheaded
Speaker 1: King Louis the sixteenth, but France somehow needed to figure
Speaker 1: out a way to wipe out the Napoleonic era to
Speaker 1: go back to the country they had been before the
Speaker 1: Corsican general had painted the nation with his imperial symbols.
Speaker 1: The coalition would ultimately determine that France would revert back
Speaker 1: to its seventeen ninety two borders, and so why not
Speaker 1: return as well to its eighteenth century systems of belief.
Speaker 1: The provisional government decided to reinstate a king to invite
Speaker 1: back to France the brother of the beheaded king, who
Speaker 1: had been living in exile since the French Revolution, so
Speaker 1: that he could rule, albeit as a constitutional, not absolute monarch.
Speaker 1: He would take the title Louis the eighteenth. A few
Speaker 1: decades prior, the French Revolution had toppled the monarchy and
Speaker 1: beheaded King Louis the sixteenth, and the republic that had
Speaker 1: replaced the monarchy had hardly been stable. Now France somehow
Speaker 1: needed to figure out a way to wipe out the
Speaker 1: Napoleonic era to go back to the country they had
Speaker 1: been before the Corsican general had painted over the nation
Speaker 1: with his imperial symbols. The coalition determined eventually that France
Speaker 1: would revert back to its seventeen ninety two borders, and
Speaker 1: so why not return as well to its eighteenth century monarchy.
Speaker 1: The provisional government decided that, for a sense of national
Speaker 1: unity and cohesion, that they would reinstate a king, and
Speaker 1: so they invited back to France the brother of the
Speaker 1: beheaded Louis the sixteenth, who had been living in exile
Speaker 1: since the French Revolution, so that he could rule, albeit
Speaker 1: as a constitutional not absolute monarch, under the title Louis
Speaker 1: the eighteenth. In the early morning hours of April thirteenth,
Speaker 1: eighteen fourteen, still at Fontainebleau, Napoleon pulled a poison lozenge
Speaker 1: from the silk sachet he had kept around his neck
Speaker 1: since the Moscow campaign. He swallowed it. A valet had
Speaker 1: heard a commotion in the other room and called a doctor,
Speaker 1: who hastened to Napoleon's side. Fortunately, the poison, a combination
Speaker 1: of opium belladonna and white helbor, had degraded in the
Speaker 1: two years since Napoleon had had it, and after being
Speaker 1: induced to vomit by eating ashes from the fireplace, Napoleon
Speaker 1: was left with nothing more serious than a sharp pain
Speaker 1: in his stomach to contend with. He had survived his
Speaker 1: suicide attempt, which meant that now he would have to
Speaker 1: face the ignimity of his defeat. The question remained, what
Speaker 1: was the world going to do with Napoleon. In the
Speaker 1: spring of eighteen fourteen, the coalition of European powers gathered
Speaker 1: together to try to figure it out. The terms would
Speaker 1: be generous. After all, Napoleon famously inspired loyalty among his
Speaker 1: soldiers and his followers. There was no need to make
Speaker 1: him a martyr or induce a civil war in France. Besides,
Speaker 1: he was a former emperor. As Mark Brode writes in
Speaker 1: his book The Invisible Emperor, quote Europe's sovereigns still thought
Speaker 1: of themselves as a band of equals, cousins, as he
Speaker 1: liked to call them, bound despite intern seen conflicts by blood,
Speaker 1: history and protocol, they alone understood the heavy task of ruling,
Speaker 1: and they alone understood that a defeated emperor must be
Speaker 1: treated with the deferent due to his title, even if
Speaker 1: in this case the ruler in question had invented that
Speaker 1: title for himself end quote. It was Tsar Alexander of
Speaker 1: Russia who decided on Elba, a tiny island with no
Speaker 1: real economic value, even though it was only a quick
Speaker 1: sail over from Italy. The fact that it was an
Speaker 1: island surrounded on all sides with water provided a comforting
Speaker 1: mental barrier to Napoleon's confinement. Plus, he would be close
Speaker 1: enough for them to keep an eye on. And even
Speaker 1: though the rest of the European powers might have had
Speaker 1: their own thoughts and opinions on how to deal with
Speaker 1: the Napoleon problem, they also understood that time was of
Speaker 1: the essence. The longer that Napoleon stayed in France, the
Speaker 1: longer his followers might have to rally support around him.
Speaker 1: They needed him gone, and so the treaty of Fontainebleau
Speaker 1: set the terms. He would be Emperor of Elba, its
Speaker 1: own principality and receive a pension from the French government
Speaker 1: of two million francs, and permitted four hundred veterans from
Speaker 1: his old guard, one corvette worship and a tiny fleet
Speaker 1: in order to protect himself and the island from assassins
Speaker 1: or barbary pirates. Napoleon would be going from a household
Speaker 1: staff of three thousand people to forty. Reluctantly, Napoleon signed
Speaker 1: the terms of his exile, and after a final salute
Speaker 1: to the men at Fontainebleau, he allowed himself to be
Speaker 1: escorted by coalition representatives toward his forced retirement. The representative
Speaker 1: from the United Kingdom joining the escort was an English
Speaker 1: colonel named Neil Campbell. Campbell had, to put it mildly,
Speaker 1: a rough go getting there. He had been fighting as
Speaker 1: part of the Coalition forces invading France. An Englishman fighting
Speaker 1: alongside Russian soldiers, Campbell knew French, and so he shouted
Speaker 1: out to a group of enemies surrender, speaking in French,
Speaker 1: but the Russians that he was fighting alongside got confused
Speaker 1: and assumed he was on the opposing side, and a
Speaker 1: Russian soldier lanced him through the back. Fortunately for Campbell,
Speaker 1: he also knew a little bit of Russian, just enough
Speaker 1: to say anglisky polkovnik English colonel. Otherwise the Russians probably
Speaker 1: would have killed him. He received medical treatment in time,
Speaker 1: but then, truly adding insult to injury, while he was
Speaker 1: recovering from his wounds, his luggage was stolen. Still. When
Speaker 1: Campbell coalesced and made it to Paris, the British Foreign
Speaker 1: Minister Castlereagh assigned him a unique task quote to attend
Speaker 1: the late chief of the French government end quote on
Speaker 1: his way to Elba. I like Castlereagh's phrasing there revealing
Speaker 1: that no one was quite sure yet exactly what Napoleon's
Speaker 1: new official title was. Campbell was also told to remain
Speaker 1: on Elba until further notice. Quote if Napoleon should consider
Speaker 1: the presence of a British officer can be of use
Speaker 1: in protecting the island and his person against insult or attack.
Speaker 1: But Campbell's presence wasn't just altruistic. He was also delicately
Speaker 1: instructed to quote use discretion as the mode of communicating
Speaker 1: with His Majesty's government meaning that there was some spying
Speaker 1: going on as well. But the vagueness of the diplomatic
Speaker 1: language meant that no one seemed quite to understand what
Speaker 1: exactly Campbell was supposed to be doing on Elba, including
Speaker 1: cam Was he there to protect Napoleon, to flatter him
Speaker 1: with a sense of importance by granting his little island
Speaker 1: the diplomatic recognition of the United Kingdom. Was Campbell just
Speaker 1: there to spy or was he meant to be Napoleon's jailer.
Speaker 1: All of that uncertainty would come later. In the early
Speaker 1: spring of eighteen fourteen, Campbell knew exactly what his job
Speaker 1: was gets Napoleon to Elba. The problem was Napoleon was
Speaker 1: perfectly content to take his sweet time. He was probably
Speaker 1: biding his time, hoping that the volatile political landscape might
Speaker 1: swerve in his favor if he waited long enough. But
Speaker 1: eventually enough was enough, and Campbell and representatives from Austria,
Speaker 1: Russia and Prussia all joined Napoleon down from Fontainebleau to
Speaker 1: the French coast. The south of France was more Catholic
Speaker 1: and old fashioned than Paris and more royalist. Napoleon's tariffs
Speaker 1: had hit Port cities, especially hard, which meant that as
Speaker 1: they all rode through the small towns, Napoleon saw himself
Speaker 1: hanged in effigy and swinging from a tree. Angry French
Speaker 1: citizens climbed onto his carriage to try to physically attack him.
Speaker 1: After Avignon, Napoleon chose to borrow a tattered jacket from
Speaker 1: one of the Austrian soldiers and a greatcoat from one
Speaker 1: of the Russians. He also wore a hat with a
Speaker 1: bourgon white rosette to complete the ruse. He rode ahead
Speaker 1: of the entourage pretending to be a courier. The disguise
Speaker 1: was so convincing, apparently, that when Napoleon stopped at an inn,
Speaker 1: the innkeeper asked if he had come across the scoundrel
Speaker 1: Bonaparte on the ride down. Napoleon shook his head, and
Speaker 1: the innkeeper continued, I hope he drowns on the way
Speaker 1: to Elba. Napoleon left the inn without eating. Finally, the
Speaker 1: group made it down to the coast unharmed. There in
Speaker 1: the harbor was the small French ship, the Inconstant, that
Speaker 1: Napoleon was supposed to take to Elba. The Inconstant would
Speaker 1: also remain with him there as his defensive navy. The
Speaker 1: ship was admittedly run down and worse for wear, and
Speaker 1: Napoleon declared that it would be beneath his dignity to
Speaker 1: sail on it. Instead, he said he wanted to sail
Speaker 1: on the British ship the Undaunted, that was going to
Speaker 1: escort the Inconstant to Elba. Campbell said that was fine,
Speaker 1: and then likely still stalling for time, Napoleon made another
Speaker 1: demand as an emperor, he would only board the ship
Speaker 1: if he got a twenty one gun salute. Campbell called
Speaker 1: his bluff and gave him the twenty one gun salute,
Speaker 1: and so Napoleon had no other choice but to step
Speaker 1: off French soil for what was posed to be the
Speaker 1: last time ever a master of messaging. Before Napoleon arrived
Speaker 1: on Elba, he had the island's biggest city plastered with
Speaker 1: his official greeting, claiming that he had decided to come
Speaker 1: to Elba for his sojourn because of its kind people
Speaker 1: and mild climate. Before he disembarked, Napoleon had a new
Speaker 1: flag designed for his island, white with a red stripe
Speaker 1: and three golden bees. Bees had been his emblem when
Speaker 1: he had been Emperor of France and ever the overachiever.
Speaker 1: Even before Napoleon had officially disembarked, he snuck onto the
Speaker 1: island on a small rowboat to scope it out. When
Speaker 1: he did finally make his official landing, Napoleon was presented
Speaker 1: with a key to the city. In the crowd, he
Speaker 1: recognized a face a soldier who had once fought for him,
Speaker 1: and Napoleon called him out. That famous Bonaparte charm and
Speaker 1: memory at work. The new Emperor of Elba was given
Speaker 1: temporary rooms on the top floor of the city's town hall,
Speaker 1: which was a former bakery that was still known as
Speaker 1: the Biscoturia. Napoleon wasted no time in trying to whip
Speaker 1: the island into imperial shape, waking up early to scope
Speaker 1: out sites for not only his permanent residence but also
Speaker 1: a country house. As Campbell wrote, quote, I have never
Speaker 1: seen a man in any situation of life with so
Speaker 1: much personal activity and restless perseverance. He appears to take
Speaker 1: so much pleasure in perpetual movement and in seeing those
Speaker 1: who accompany him sink under fatigue, as has been the
Speaker 1: case on several occasions. I do not think it is
Speaker 1: possible for him to sit down to study on any
Speaker 1: pursuits of retirement, as proclaimed by him to be his intention,
Speaker 1: so long as his state of health permits corporeal exercise.
Speaker 1: Napoleon was not going to be the type of retiree
Speaker 1: to take up painting or tai chi. His days were
Speaker 1: long and grueling, and he had no shortage of ideas
Speaker 1: for improvements that he wanted to make on Elba, from
Speaker 1: widening streets to planting trees, to resuming taxes and reorganizing
Speaker 1: the tin mines, and his addiction to conquest continued. Napoleon
Speaker 1: had Elba conquer an island even smaller than Elba, which
Speaker 1: was basically just an uninhabited rock called Pianosa, seemingly just because,
Speaker 1: as Talleyrand once famously equipped, what a pity, the man
Speaker 1: wasn't lazy, and work began quickly on the palace Napoleon wanted,
Speaker 1: overlooking Porto Ferrao with rooms for Napoleon and optimistically also
Speaker 1: rooms for his wife, Mary Louise, whom Napoleon still hoped
Speaker 1: would join him in exile. One evening, Elbin were shocked
Speaker 1: and delighted to see Mary Louise and the son she
Speaker 1: shared with Napoleon coming onto the beach secretly by rowboat
Speaker 1: their empress. People could not stop talking about her mysterious arrival.
Speaker 1: Who had been the man rowing her, was at her
Speaker 1: step son, Prince Eugene, and who had been the other
Speaker 1: lady on the boat? What had she been wearing? Was
Speaker 1: she wearing dazzling jewels? A local mayor attempted to pay respects,
Speaker 1: and when people heard that Napoleon and his wife were
Speaker 1: spending time in the little hermitage he used as his
Speaker 1: country retreat, the people hiked up to try to get
Speaker 1: a glimpse of their empress, Except there was one problem.
Speaker 1: It was a woman and the son she shared with
Speaker 1: Napoleon who had arrived on the island, But it wasn't
Speaker 1: his wife. It was Napoleon's Polish mistress, Marie Walashka, and
Speaker 1: their son Alexander. Once Napoleon got word that people thought
Speaker 1: that she was the Empress, Napoleon sent Marie away after
Speaker 1: only two evenings. Back when he was Emperor of France,
Speaker 1: Napoleon had divorced his much more famous first wife, Josephine,
Speaker 1: though he still loved her, because she hadn't provided him
Speaker 1: a male heir, and so to that end he had
Speaker 1: married the eighteen year old Marie Louise, daughter of the
Speaker 1: Austrian Emperor Francis. Francis had reluctantly married his daughter to
Speaker 1: a non blood royal because he had been the Emperor
Speaker 1: of France. Now four years later, his daughter was locked
Speaker 1: in a political alliance that was completely useless. When Napoleon
Speaker 1: surrendered back at Fontainebleau, Marie Louise had gone with their
Speaker 1: infant son back to Vienna to be with her family
Speaker 1: for safekeeping, and though she wrote loving letters to her
Speaker 1: exiled husband during those first few weeks, Marie Louise almost
Speaker 1: certainly never received the sweet lets Napoleon was sending back.
Speaker 1: Though Marie Louise's feelings for Napoleon, a man only two
Speaker 1: years younger than her father, were fairly negative when the
Speaker 1: marriage was first arranged, whether out of wifely duty or
Speaker 1: genuine affection, it seemed that something like love had grown
Speaker 1: over the years, and though her Austrian family had made
Speaker 1: it very clear that they had no intention of sending
Speaker 1: her to Elba to be with her groom, there was
Speaker 1: a part of Marie Louise that thought she really should.
Speaker 1: When Marie Louise made plans to travel to a spa
Speaker 1: town in the south of France for a vacation, where
Speaker 1: ostensibly it might be easy to take a boat ride
Speaker 1: to Elba. The Austrian Foreign Minister sent along as her
Speaker 1: escort a general named Adam von Kniperg, who was given
Speaker 1: a simple task to quote turn the Duchess away from
Speaker 1: all ideas of a journey to Elba, a journey which
Speaker 1: would greatly upset the paternal feelings of his Majesty, who
Speaker 1: cherishes the most tender wishes for the well being of
Speaker 1: his well loved daughter. He must not fail, therefore, to try,
Speaker 1: by any means whatsoever, to dissuade her from such a project.
Speaker 1: It was no accident that von Kniberg was incredibly handsome,
Speaker 1: and though he can't be certain what his methods of
Speaker 1: persuasion were, in the end, Marie Louise did not travel
Speaker 1: to Elba, and later, after Napoleon's death, he would become
Speaker 1: her lover, and so the rooms on Elba that had
Speaker 1: initially been designed for the empress gradually began to be
Speaker 1: talked about as the rooms for Napoleon's sister, who did come. Josephine,
Speaker 1: Napoleon believed was the wife who would have joined him
Speaker 1: on Elba, and he was devastated that spring when he
Speaker 1: got word that Josephine died back in France before her
Speaker 1: fifty first birthday. She had been ill, but the more
Speaker 1: tabloid version of her demise was that she had taken
Speaker 1: a scandalous walk with Czar Alexander the First and had
Speaker 1: worn just a thin muslin wrap that didn't protect her
Speaker 1: from the cold. Napoleon's final letter to Josephine, which he
Speaker 1: had sent a few months earlier, had ended with the
Speaker 1: lines quote goodbye, my friend. Let me know you're well.
Speaker 1: They say you're fattening up like a good Norman farm wife. Napoleon.
Speaker 1: The Treaty of Paris, actually signed the day after Josephine's death,
Speaker 1: officially ended the war and restored Paris to its seventeen
Speaker 1: ninety two borders. Napoleon was settled on Elba, with a
Speaker 1: garrison of guards and the feeble but passable ship the
Speaker 1: Inconstant for his protection. Technically, Campbell's job should have been done.
Speaker 1: Napoleon had early treated him like a friend or diplomat.
Speaker 1: Now that Napoleon was settled into his Mannor home with
Speaker 1: his sister and mother and guards, he didn't really see
Speaker 1: a need to hang out with Campbell, and so Campbell
Speaker 1: was stuck on Elbaw like a vestigial limb unsure exactly
Speaker 1: what it was that he was supposed to be doing.
Speaker 1: With no other British diplomats posted nearby, no friends, no
Speaker 1: one to talk to, and the Foreign Office seemed to
Speaker 1: be ghosting him. He sent letters requesting a formal extension
Speaker 1: to his stay with no reply. Eventually, the Foreign Minister
Speaker 1: sent a note telling Campbell to basically keep on keeping
Speaker 1: on and also stop bothering him. He informed Campbell that
Speaker 1: he the Foreign Minister, was going to the Peace conference
Speaker 1: in Vienna, but don't bother to update your address book,
Speaker 1: keep sending your dispatches to London unless something really important
Speaker 1: comes up. To Campbell, it didn't really seem like anything
Speaker 1: important to at all was happening, though. Napoleon was busy
Speaker 1: with seemingly endless half finished ideas for improvements on Elba
Speaker 1: and new properties he wanted to develop for himself. He
Speaker 1: was living in what Campbell called quote perfect bourgeois simplicity,
Speaker 1: spending his evenings playing dominoes or cards with his family
Speaker 1: and playing piano before bed. In a scene that strikes
Speaker 1: me as almost adorably domestic. Napoleon was playing cards with
Speaker 1: his mother when she called him out. Napoleon, you're cheating,
Speaker 1: she said, mother, You're rich, he retorted. But peaceful as
Speaker 1: that scene is, the political situation back in France was
Speaker 1: a little less stable than the European powers probably wanted.
Speaker 1: The new King Louis the eighteenth wasn't making a dazzling
Speaker 1: first impression. He traveled through London on his way back
Speaker 1: to Paris, and here's the Lord Byron cameo. Lord Byron
Speaker 1: commented on the scene, writing quote at this present, writing,
Speaker 1: Louis the Goudi is wheeling in triumph into Piccadilly. In
Speaker 1: all the pomp and rabblement of royalty and the new king.
Speaker 1: Louis made perhaps one very early pr error when he
Speaker 1: signed the document agreeing to the Constitution and by cameral legislature,
Speaker 1: he dated it the nineteenth year of his reign. The
Speaker 1: implication was, of course, that he had been king that
Speaker 1: entire time, albeit in exile. Complicated as Napoleon was as
Speaker 1: a figure, there was a significant amount of civic pride
Speaker 1: that he had inspired among the French people. His military victories,
Speaker 1: his conquests. The pomp and symbolism Napoleon wielded so well
Speaker 1: had had an effect, and effectively erasing all of that
Speaker 1: had the effect of embarrassment and a bit of shame,
Speaker 1: especially considering that the restored Bourbon dynasty had obviously been
Speaker 1: installed by foreign troops. There was a growing sense of dissatisfaction,
Speaker 1: especially among veterans who had fought for Napoleon. As broad
Speaker 1: points out, there was an irony that soldiers, the men
Speaker 1: who would have sacrificed the most for Napoleon and his
Speaker 1: endless wars, remained the most loyal to him. Napoleon got
Speaker 1: the sense that a comeback might be possible. He was
Speaker 1: also hearing rumors that the European powers were planning on
Speaker 1: sending him further afield to a more distant exile on
Speaker 1: Saint Helena off the coast of Africa, which would make
Speaker 1: any escape impossible. And with the end of the War
Speaker 1: of eighteen twelve, Europeans would no longer need to have
Speaker 1: ships around America, which meant that more ships would be
Speaker 1: patrolling the Mediterranean. All of that meant Napoleon understood that
Speaker 1: if he wanted to pull off an escape, he would
Speaker 1: need to do it quickly. The English officer Campbell, feeling
Speaker 1: as though he were the one in exile, began to
Speaker 1: spend more and more time off the island proper and
Speaker 1: on the Tuscan coast. He justified his sojourns with the
Speaker 1: nineteenth century equivalent of someone saying they're taking a mental
Speaker 1: health day, writing that it would quote believe my mind,
Speaker 1: and prove a very acceptable release from the sultry confinement
Speaker 1: of Elba. Of course, it didn't hurt that Campbell had
Speaker 1: also met an Italian noble woman named Contessa Miniacci, whose
Speaker 1: origins and background were mysterious enough that she's invited speculation
Speaker 1: that she was secretly a spy, either on Napoleon's behalf
Speaker 1: or someone else's. If she was, she was incredibly subtle
Speaker 1: about it, but she and Campbell did become lovers. Campbell
Speaker 1: wrote to his superiors about the possibility of Napoleon absconding,
Speaker 1: but he hedged his bets quote, I think he is capable
Speaker 1: of crossing over to Piombino with his troops, or of
Speaker 1: any other eccentricity. But if his residence in Elba and
Speaker 1: his income are secured to him, I think you will
Speaker 1: pass the rest of his life there in relative tranquility. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: Napoleon's income was not secure. Napoleon wasn't receiving the stipend
Speaker 1: that he was promised in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, which
Speaker 1: was supposed to be paid by the French Bourbons. Apparently
Speaker 1: they decided funding the man they saw as their enemy
Speaker 1: was an expense they could put on the back burner,
Speaker 1: And though later in his writings Napoleon would assure the
Speaker 1: reader that taxes and the elbin mining industry would have
Speaker 1: paid for his expenses, the reality was funds were insecure
Speaker 1: and rapidly diminishing. When his ship, the Inconstant, needed repairs,
Speaker 1: Napoleon took the opportunity to use that as cover to
Speaker 1: outfit it for his invasion of France. After nine months
Speaker 1: and twenty one days, Napoleon was done with retirement and
Speaker 1: he was going to reconquer the nation he loved. On
Speaker 1: February twenty sixth, eighteen fifteen, a small fleet comprised of
Speaker 1: the Inconstant, four transports and two Feluccas set sail for
Speaker 1: the south of France. There were a few reasons Napoleon
Speaker 1: chose to land directly in France first, and perhaps most importantly,
Speaker 1: it would cause confusion and delay because the European powers
Speaker 1: assumed that any escape attempt Napoleon might make would be
Speaker 1: through Italy. His brother in law was King of Naples,
Speaker 1: and it seemed logical that Napoleon would take the short
Speaker 1: boat ride rendezvous with him to bolster his troops, and
Speaker 1: then march on land through Italy back to France, adding
Speaker 1: troops along the way. But France was also a symbolic
Speaker 1: landing point for Napoleon. Napoleon wouldn't be invading with his army.
Speaker 1: This was to be a glorious homecoming. Later, Campbell would
Speaker 1: be blamed for allowing Napoleon to escape, especially considering before
Speaker 1: and during the actual departure he was off in Tuscany,
Speaker 1: but he justified himself later in his writing with every
Speaker 1: possible rationale. Quote, no part of Napoleon's plan for quitting
Speaker 1: Elba could have increased my general suspicions, even if I
Speaker 1: had been there from the sixteenth to the twenty sixth,
Speaker 1: nor could have authorized me to report to the British
Speaker 1: government any fact which could be considered as certain proof.
Speaker 1: He adds, quote, there's no criminality in the act previous
Speaker 1: to his embarkation of the troops and actual departure. Campbell
Speaker 1: finishes with the conclusion that it's actually a good thing
Speaker 1: that he and his ship weren't in the harbor at
Speaker 1: the time, because then Napoleon could have captured his ship
Speaker 1: and and added it to his invading fleet. From Napoleon's
Speaker 1: landing on the southern coast of France, it was an
Speaker 1: almost comically easy and heroic march up to Paris. Later,
Speaker 1: Napoleon would say that the march was the happiest time
Speaker 1: in his life. To me, it reads as a perfect
Speaker 1: moment of Napoleon's self mythologizing manifesting in real time. Napoleon
Speaker 1: was a master of his own story, and what could
Speaker 1: make a man like that happier than living through its
Speaker 1: dramatic climax, a come from behind victory in which he
Speaker 1: escapes exile from under the noses of the European powers
Speaker 1: in order to reclaim his nation. The most dramatic and
Speaker 1: famous incident on Napoleon's march came outside Laffry, where a
Speaker 1: troop of eight hundred French infantrymen, who had sworn an
Speaker 1: oath to protect the Bourbon government, stood brandishing their weapons
Speaker 1: and blocking Napoleon's way. Napoleon didn't attack. Instead, he ordered
Speaker 1: his musicians to play the patriotic song Marcias, and he
Speaker 1: walked in front of the enemy soldiers alone. He thrust
Speaker 1: open his jacket an open target and shouted, soldiers, I'm
Speaker 1: your emperor. Do you not recognize me? With his chest exposed,
Speaker 1: he called, if any of you will shoot his emperor, here,
Speaker 1: I am Among the eight hundred infantrymen, someone shouted fire,
Speaker 1: but no one did, and then someone shouted something else,
Speaker 1: long live the Emperor. The shout became joyful cheers as
Speaker 1: the men embraced their exiled leader. Rather than stopping Napoleon's invasion,
Speaker 1: the royal infantrymen joined him. Word reached Paris of Napoleon's
Speaker 1: incoming invasion, but the mood was strangely unbothered and relaxed.
Speaker 1: No one actually considered that Napoleon might succeed in reclaiming
Speaker 1: the government, and it was partly how strange and how
Speaker 1: shocking the whole thing was that gave Napoleon the advantage.
Speaker 1: The audacity of Napoleon's escape stupefied his opponents into numb surrender.
Speaker 1: Before Napoleon even made it to Paris, King Louis the
Speaker 1: eighteenth had fled, and when Napoleon reclaimed his palace, the
Speaker 1: carpets that the Bourbon king had installed were pealed back
Speaker 1: to reveal that Napoleon's symbols, the Imperial Bees, were still
Speaker 1: there beneath. Napoleon's escape from Elba had happened so quickly
Speaker 1: after his exile began that the Congress of Vienna, where
Speaker 1: world leaders were meeting to try to figure out what
Speaker 1: to do in the power vacuum of post Napoleonic Europe,
Speaker 1: was still meeting when Napoleon landed back in France. Early
Speaker 1: Napoleon recognized that all of those leaders in one geographical
Speaker 1: location would allow them to plan their countermove against him
Speaker 1: far more efficiently than they otherwise could have via exchanging letters.
Speaker 1: But the advantages to Napoleon acting quickly had outweighed that.
Speaker 1: A week before Napoleon reached Paris, the Congress of Vienna
Speaker 1: officially declared that he was an outlaw, breaking the terms
Speaker 1: of his surrender in exile, and Austria, Prussia, Russia, and
Speaker 1: the UK all committed men to bring him down again,
Speaker 1: this time for good. Despite her loving letters at the
Speaker 1: start of Napoleon's exile, when his wife Marie Louise got
Speaker 1: word of his reclamation, she said that you would rather
Speaker 1: join a convent than join her husband. They would never
Speaker 1: see each other again. Napoleon's second act, cinematic as it was,
Speaker 1: was also brief. One hundred days audacity would allow him
Speaker 1: to grab power, but it wasn't enough to hold it,
Speaker 1: and when the European forces finally defeated Napoleon at Waterloo,
Speaker 1: this time they wouldn't be making the same mistake twice.
Speaker 1: Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena, far too remote and
Speaker 1: under far too much guard to even entertain the notion
Speaker 1: of anything but full retirement. Napoleon died there, likely of
Speaker 1: stomach cancer, not too long after. If you're wondering what
Speaker 1: happened to poor Campbell, the lone English officer who, in
Speaker 1: the minds of the British public, had one job. After
Speaker 1: Napoleon's flotilla sailed off, he scrambled trying to figure out
Speaker 1: where Napoleon was off to, which he incorrectly assumed would
Speaker 1: be Italy. All of Campbell's efforts came too late. He
Speaker 1: did not stop Napoleon, and once again adding insult to injury.
Speaker 1: As Campbell was traveling along the Lagreen coast, he was
Speaker 1: accosted by high wayman and had all of his possessions robbed.
Speaker 1: It was a fitting and terrible bookend to his miserable
Speaker 1: Alba assignment. That's the story of Napoleon's exile to Elba.
Speaker 1: But keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear
Speaker 1: a little bit about two different outlaws who became entangled
Speaker 1: with Napoleon's history. An American professor of history named John
Speaker 1: William Rooney was working in the French National Archive when
Speaker 1: he decided to take home a very unique souvenir. Rooney
Speaker 1: walked out of the archives with a woven paper treaty
Speaker 1: more than one one hundred and fifty years old, sealed
Speaker 1: with a red wax and tied with a green cord.
Speaker 1: Rooney had stolen the last remaining French copy of the
Speaker 1: Treaty of Fontainebleau, the document with which Napoleon accepted the
Speaker 1: surrender of his role as Emperor of France and his
Speaker 1: new life as Emperor of Elba. It wasn't until nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety six that a National Archive employee was looking through
Speaker 1: a Sotheby's catalog when he noticed something peculiar, a long
Speaker 1: missing treaty up for auction. With the investigation under way,
Speaker 1: it was discovered that dozens of other important French documents
Speaker 1: were missing, including thirty letters, conveniently with the National Archives
Speaker 1: stamp sliced off. Most of the letters were concerning Louis
Speaker 1: the eighteenth and the Restoration Government, which were found by
Speaker 1: the FBI in a search of Rooney's home in two
Speaker 1: thousand and one. The documents and the Treaty of Fontainebleaue
Speaker 1: were return to France, but with no extradition agreement, the
Speaker 1: punishment was light. Rooney, seventy one years old, was charged
Speaker 1: with customs violations and find one thousand dollars. His friend
Speaker 1: Marshall Pierce, a novelist, had been the one to actually
Speaker 1: put the documents up for sale on Sotheby's, and he
Speaker 1: was fined ten thousand dollars. Though France attempted to prosecute
Speaker 1: Rooney in two thousand and five, the statute of limitations
Speaker 1: on the robbery had expired and America was not going
Speaker 1: to extradite a citizen. As far as I can tell,
Speaker 1: Rooney if he is still alive, never returned to France
Speaker 1: to stand trial. Rooney maintained that he bought the items
Speaker 1: and did not know they were stolen, though in an
Speaker 1: interview he said, if you were to stand in front
Speaker 1: of the Pyramids of Egypt, you might pick up a
Speaker 1: chip too. I have to say there is something about
Speaker 1: the bald audacity with which Rooney and Pierce attempted to
Speaker 1: pull off their robbery that frankly Napoleonic. During Napoleon's conquests
Speaker 1: of Egypt and Italy, he stole countless works of art,
Speaker 1: sculptures by Michelangelo, the Venus de Medici, sculpture paintings by Vasari, Varone,
Speaker 1: Sei Giojo and Moore. Some were returned to Italy after
Speaker 1: Napoleon fell from power, but some are still in the Louver.
Speaker 1: An audacious act of international thievery of items related to
Speaker 1: Napoleon might even be considered an homage. Noble Blood is
Speaker 1: a production of iHeart Radio and Grimm and Mild from
Speaker 1: Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted by me Danish Forts,
Speaker 1: with additional writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Court,
Speaker 1: Zany Sender, Julia Milani, and Armand Cassam The show is
Speaker 1: edited and produced by Noemi Griffin and rima Il Kaali,
Speaker 1: with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Mankey,
Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.