Exile to Elba
Under the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Napoleon arrived at the Mediterranean island of Elba on 4 May 1814 as its sovereign ruler, with a guard of 600 Old Guard volunteers and a small navy. He threw himself into administration with characteristic energy: redesigning the island's mines and iron foundries, improving roads, reorganising the small army, and planning agricultural reforms for a population of roughly 12,000. To those who saw only a diminished Bonaparte, the energy was startling; to those who knew his temperament, it was a warning. His exile was monitored but porous. Napoleon maintained contacts with agents on the mainland, followed French political developments closely, and was acutely aware of two things: the growing unpopularity of the restored Bourbon monarchy among soldiers, Bonapartists, and the peasantry who feared losing revolutionary land reforms; and the failure of the Allied powers at the Congress of Vienna to honour his pension, leaving him financially strained. After nine months, convinced that France would receive him and that the Allies were too divided to respond quickly, Napoleon sailed on the night of 26 February 1815 with approximately 1,100 soldiers, landing at Golfe-Juan near Antibes on 1 March.
- Year: 1814 CE
- Category: Political
