

The Secret Plot to Rescue Napoleon by Submarine - davidroberts
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2013/03/the-secret-plot-to-rescue-napoleon-by-submarine/

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jlgreco
My favourite story about Napoleon is the start of Napoleon's Hundred Days,
following his escape from his initial exile:

> _The 5th Regiment was sent to intercept him and made contact just south of
> Grenoble on 7 March 1815. Napoleon approached the regiment alone, dismounted
> his horse and, when he was within gunshot range, shouted, "Here I am. Kill
> your Emperor, if you wish."[131] The soldiers responded with, "Vive
> L'Empereur!" and marched with Napoleon to Paris; Louis XVIII fled._

As the name of the period suggests, this state of affairs only lasted for 100
days before he was defeated at Waterloo and surrendered. Still pretty badass
though.

~~~
guylhem
The wisdom of sending a full regiment to catch a single man, who previously
was a military dictator after a successful coup-d'état, is not exactly evident
to me.

There might have been good reasons, besides providing him with some fresh
troops to start anew for a hundred days.

Also, I have a problem with the global idea of rescuing the man who spilled
blood all over Europe, became a defacto king giving up on the revolutionary
ideals, then committed great treason towards his state (Louisiana purchase was
a great deal for the US, for Napoleon own fortune - now imagine Obama selling
Alaska to Canada and keeping the money!) - no really, I just don't see it.

The submarine thing might have been a nice technical feat for the time, but
still the man was a bloody dictator.

~~~
devindotcom
He did indeed have a loyalist guard that came with him to Elba and would have
fought for him and been annihilated if there had been a battle at that moment.

As for his being a dictator, that wasn't exactly uncommon at the time. Europe
was a playground for dictators, and Napoleon was a successful one who
challenged some existing, ver bad ones (although he did not infrequently
change them for the worse). And he did introduce some major and lasting
changes with the Code, though of course not all of it was welcome.

As for the Louisiana purchase, it's more likely he was considering it a favor
to take it off his hands. The French holdings over there were not in the best
position to be used, had hardly any people or settlements, and so on. He
chucked it for a bit of cash because it made sense at the time.

He was a complicated guy, and they were complicated times. If you want a good
biography to read, try "The Age of Napoleon" by J. Christopher Harold. It did
a good job of explaining the context for Napoleon's rise and why exactly he
was welcomed by the people - but also is very clear about his shortcomings.

