Lets Trail

Napoleons Hundred Days

by

Pier Kuipers

Lets Trail Travel Guides to travel in the

paths of great lives

Timeline

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Timeline 15 August 1769 Napoleon born in Ajaccio, Corsica 18 May 1804 Emperor of the French 11 April 1814 Abdication and exile to Elba

TRAIL PART I ELBA

4 May 1814 Exile in Elba begins 26 February 1815 Napoleon escapes from Elba

TRAIL PART II ROUTE NAPOLON

1 March 1815 Landing at Golfe-Juan and bivouac in Cannes 2 March 1815 Journey via Grasse, Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey and

Escragnolles to Sranon 3 March 1815 Through Castellane and over the Col des Lques to

Barrme 4 March 1815 Trek through the mountains via La Clappe and

Digne to Malijai 5 March 1815 Through Volonne and Sisteron to Gap 6 March 1815 Late start through Les Baraques to Corps 7 March 1815 Mass defection of soldiers who join Napoleon at

Laffrey; Entry into Grenoble 8 March 1815 Day of rest and troop review in Grenoble

TRAIL PART III PARIS TO GRENOBLE

9 March 1815 Departure from Grenoble 10 March 1815 Entry into Lyon 11-12 March 1815 Stay in Lyon for troop reviews and administrative

tasks 13 March 1815 Napoleon declared an outlaw by the Allies. Arrival

at Villefranche-sur-Sane, overnight at Mcon 14 March 1815 Tournus, overnight at Chalon-sur-Sane 15 March 1815 Arrival at Autun 16 March 1815 Overnight at Avallon at the Hostellerie de la Poste 17 March 1815 Arrival and overnight at Auxerre 18 March 1815 Reunited with Marshal Ney at Auxerre 19 March 1815 Joigny, Sens; Overnight at Pont-sur-Yonne 20 March 1815 Passing through Montereau-Fault-Yonne and

Moret

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TRAIL PART IV PARIS

20 March 1815 Arrival at Fontainebleau; Late night entry into Paris and arrival at the Tuileries

25 March 1815 Start of the War of the Seventh Coalition April 1815 Napoleon moves into the lyse palace 8 April 1815 Start of general mobilisation 1 June 1815 Champ de Mai festivities on the Champ de Mars

PART V INVASION OF BELGIUM

3 June 1815 Napoleon issues orders to prepare for attack to the North

12 June 1815 Napoleon leaves the lyse for Soissons; Overnight at Laon

13 June 1815 Overnight at Avesnes 14 June 1815 Overnight at Beaumont 15 June 1815 Capture of Charleroi 16 June 1815 Battle of Quatre Bras; Battle of Ligny

PART VI WATERLOO

18 June 1815 Napoleon defeated at Battle of Waterloo 19 June 1815 Battle of Wavre

EPILOGUE

21 June 1815 Return to Paris 25 June 1815 Move to Malmaison 29 June 1815 Move to Rochefort 15 July 1815 Transport to England October 1815 Exiled to St. Helena 5 May 1821 Napoleon dies on St. Helena

Overview of Trail

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Napoleons Hundred Days Trail There is no sacrifice, not even that of life, which I am not ready to make for the interests of France. With those words, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated the throne of his French Empire on 11 April 1814. After the disastrous retreat of his Grande Arme from Russia with heavy losses and the invasion of France by Allied troops, his generals revolted and forced his abdication at Fontainebleau.

Born on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, Napoleon had worked his way up through the ranks of the French army to become the leader of his adoptive country, ultimately crowning himself Emperor of the French in 1804. He established a vast empire that spanned most of Europe and his influence is felt to this day. After years of wars and French conquests, the Allied forces of his enemies in Europe finally got the better of him.

Following his abdication, Napoleon was sent into exile to the island of Elba, off the coast of Italy. How could a man like Napoleon be content with ruling a small island of only 12,000 inhabitants, an island he referred to as a pebble? It would be impossible for someone who had crowned himself emperor and dominated almost all of Europe for many years to accept such a sedate and quiet retirement at the age of just 45. The absence of power after years of celebrity and adulation would have been a torture for him to accept and his enemies would have been wise to understand that.

Napoleon also feared that his opponents were planning to send him further afield St. Helena had already been mentioned. So while he worked to improve Elba, closely watched over by his English guard, he also spent his time plotting his escape and planned his return to France in triumph; it must have been intoxicating and gratifying to be welcomed as a returning hero. Some historians claim that his invasion of Belgium was planned while he was still on Elba.

The remarkable sequence of events that saw Napoleon escape from Elba, return triumphantly to Paris and finally meet his destiny at Waterloo were to become known as The Hundred Days and that is where we pick up the trail in this title of the Lets Trail series.

Elba Napoleon arrived on the tiny island of Elba on 4 May 1814 to commence his life in exile. He kept a close eye on developments back home in France and soon became aware of the publics growing dissatisfaction

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with their new King Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI who had famously fallen victim to the guillotine, along with his queen Marie Antoinette.

While planning his escape, Napoleon managed to leave an indelible mark on Elba and although he only stayed for 9 months, his presence can still be felt today. On our trail, we will visit several locations in and around the old town of the capital Portoferraio associated with Napoleon, including his Mulini palace overlooking the bay, his country residence San Martino located outside the town and even his love nest Madonna del Monte near the village of Marciana. The ancient Sea Gate at the pier in Portoferraios old harbour sets the scene for Napoleons embarkation on 26 February 1815, when he finally took the gamble to re-conquer his throne with a miniscule army of just 1,000 men.

The Route Napolon Napoleon landed on 1 March 1815 at Golfe Juan on the French Rivira between Antibes and Cannes. To avoid a confrontation with those loyal to the newly restored royal family and also to increase the element of surprise, Napoleon decided not to travel on the main road to Paris, but to take a treacherous path through the Alps instead. This path became one of Europes first tourist trails in 1932, and we can now follow in Napoleons footsteps from Golfe Juan to Grenoble along the Route Napolon, a 325km stretch of what is todays N85.

The Route will take us through small towns and villages, over mountain tops and along river gorges, all part of some of the most beautiful landscapes in France. Most of us will do the journey by car but we should try and remember that Napoleon and most of his followers covered the entire distance on foot, having sailed from Elba without bringing any horses. They arrived in Grenoble after a gruelling six-day march, which amounts to more than 50 kilometers per day.

For the more adventurous trailers among us, some stretches of the route can still be travelled on foot, where the track has remained largely unchanged since 1815. Places where Napoleon rested or dined are marked along the way we can take a break in lAuberge La Vie Est Belle in Escragnolles just like Napoleon did, enjoy a pizza in the Pizzeria Napolon in Tavernolles, or dine in style in the Auberge Napolon in Grenoble.

Overview of Trail

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Grenoble to Paris The journey becomes easier for Napoleon and his growing army. Passing through Lyon, we will visit several other noteworthy cities and villages, some as part of Napoleons journey back to Paris, some because of other connections with his life and times. In Avallon we can stay in the same hotel where Napoleon stayed and take a look in the room where he spent the night. In the tiny hamlet of Annoux we can see how the news of Napoleons return was transmitted over long distances without electricity.

Paris Of course no other city bears the signs of Napoleons influence more than Paris. King Louis fled before him as the Emperor reclaimed his throne on 20 March 1815 - the official start date of the Hundred Days. Responsible for the construction of some of the most famous landmarks in the French capital the Arc de Triomphe and the column on the Place Vendme among them there are countless other buildings and monuments linked to Napoleon.

The Chateau of Fontainebleau outside Paris and Napoleons tomb at les Invalides are well known must-see attractions on this trail but there are numerous other sites to visit that may not be so familiar, such as the statue of Marshal Ney on the Boulevard Montparnasse and Josephines mansion at Malmaison.

The Invasion of Belgium The leaders of Europe were assembled at the Congress of Vienna to discuss the post-Napoleonic shape of their continent when the news reached them that the Monster had escaped from Elba. They declared him an outlaw and rejected his half-hearted peace offers and before long Europe was once again preparing for war. Rather than wait for an inevitable Allied attack, Napoleon decided to strike first and invade Belgium, where troops from various nations were gathering at the border.

Like Napoleon before us, we swiftly move from Paris through Northern France. The famous Battle of Waterloo should not be seen as an isolated clash between two armies, but rather as the climax of four days of drama that began when Napoleon crossed the border into Belgium at Charleroi on 15 June 1815. We visit the sites of the bloody battles of Ligny and

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Quatre Bras that preceded Waterloo, encountering countless reminders of Napoleons passing.

Waterloo On Sunday, 18 June 1815, Napoleon famously met his destiny at Waterloo. More than 150,000 men fought a ferocious battle on an area of just a few square kilometers, with 40,000 casualties in a single day. As one of the best preserved battlefields in Europe, and benefiting from activities surrounding the bicentenary commemorations in 2015, there is lots to see and do in this final section of our trail.

We can walk around Napoleons last headquarters in Le Caillou, climb the landmark Lion Mound with fantastic views of the battlefield, or even dance the night away in La Belle Alliance where the victorious commanders supposedly shook hands after Napoleons defeat.

The town of Waterloo itself is where our trail ends. Napoleon rushed back to Paris where he abdicated for a second and final time, ending up banished to Saint Helena where he died in 1821. Pondering the monuments of British, Dutch, German and many other nationalities in the Church of Saint Joseph, we remember Victor Hugos description of the battlefield of Waterloo in Les Misrables as we spot the solitary French memorial:

There is no French tomb. The whole of that plain is a sepulchre for France.

Overview of Trail

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Fig. 1. Trail map: Elba to Waterloo