Napoleon I's exile to St. Helena encompasses the final six years of the deposed emperor's life, commencing with his second abdication[note 1] in 1815 and concluding with his military defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and the subsequent Hundred Days.
Upon reaching Rochefort, Napoleon I was unable to travel to the United States as he had wished. The British government had decided to imprison him and deport him to the island of Saint Helena, situated in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, with the intention of ensuring that he could no longer "disturb the peace of the world." He died[fr] there on May 5, 1821.
The final journey
Napoleon surrendering to the English and boarding one of their ships.Bonaparte's arrival on Saint Helena Island, engraving by Louis-Yves Queverdo[fr].
Following his abdication on June 22, 1815, Napoleon proceeded to the Atlantic coast, where the French government, under the leadership of Fouché, had arranged for two frigates to facilitate his departure for America. However, the English squadron's blockade of the La Rochelle and Rochefort region effectively prevented him from leaving.[1] On July 15, 1815, Napoleon surrendered to the British forces near the Île d'Aix and was subsequently transported to Torbay and then Plymouth on England's southwest coast aboard the HMS Bellerophon. He assumed the British government would permit him to reside in the English countryside.[2] Upon learning of his deportation to the island of Saint Helena on July 31, Napoleon was transferred on August 7, 1815, to the Northumberland, which took him on a journey lasting two months and one week.[note 2][3]
Saint Helena is a volcanic island situated 1,900km west of the African continent in the South Atlantic Ocean. With a population of approximately 5,000 to 6,000,[note 3] the island has only three access points to the sea. Its isolation and the steep black cliffs, which range from 200 to 300 meters in height, made it an easily monitorable and defensible location.[4] The island was under the possession of the British East India Company rather than the British state, which had to lease it for this purpose.[note 4]
On October 15, 1815, the Northumberland was anchored off Saint Helena.[6] On the following day, Napoleon disembarked.[2] Those in attendance included the Grand Marshal of the Palace, Henri Gratien Bertrand, and his wife Fanny; General Gourgaud; Emmanuel de Las Cases; General de Montholon and his wife Albine; Louis-Étienne Saint-Denis, also known as the Mameluke Ali; his maître d'hôtel Jean Baptiste Cipriani[fr]; his valet Marchand; and his usher Jean-Noël Santini[fr]. On October 17, Napoleon took temporary residence at The Briars Pavilion, hosted by the Balcombe family, while awaiting the preparation of his permanent detention site at Longwood, which would take seven weeks.[7]Longwood, situated on a plateau, allowed for easier surveillance but was constantly exposed to trade winds, often shrouded in fog and humidity, with sudden alternations between heavy rain and scorching sun. On December 10, 1815, Napoleon finally settled into his final residence under the supervision of the provisional governor, Admiral Cockburn.[8]
Solitude at Longwood
Anonymous, Fleshy (le ventripotent) life drawing of Napoleon at Longwood, June 5, 1820.
On December 10, 1815, a modest dwelling resembling a farmhouse was installed at Longwood House. Napoleon was under constant surveillance. Initially, Napoleon anticipated that he would be treated as a distinguished guest. However, he soon realized that this was not the case and was subjected to numerous humiliations at the hands of Hudson Lowe, the new governor of the island, whom he first met on April 17, 1816.[9] Tensions emerged between Napoleon and Lowe. According to instructions from the British government, Lowe declined to acknowledge Napoleon as an emperor or even as "General Bonaparte." Instead, he addressed him as Napoleon Bonaparte, deleting the "u" in Buonaparte, Napoleon's original name.[10]
His weapons were confiscated, his correspondence was opened (which prompted the French to devise strategies and enlist accomplices to send uncensored letters), and his freedom of movement was severely restricted. This forced exile intensified emotional distress and facilitated the emergence of disruptive behaviors among those who shared his circumstances, with the oppressive heat and humidity exacerbating the situation. The Emperor reflected on his life and reign, dictating his memoirs to his companions in misfortune. Meanwhile, travelers stopping over at Saint Helena persistently sought authorization from Napoleon's guards to catch a glimpse of the captive.[11] On July 18, 1816, foreign commissioners[fr] arrived on the island, charged with reporting back to their respective courts on the situation.[12] By the end of 1816, Emmanuel de Las Cases departed from Saint Helena (he would subsequently publish The Memorial of Saint Helena in 1823).
In the opening months of 1818, Gourgaud was compelled to take his leave of Longwood, having become estranged from Napoleon. Subsequently, in July 1819, his mistress, Madame de Montholon,[13] returned to Europe with all her children. As Longwood gradually emptied, the atmosphere became anticipation and a pervasive sense of lethargy. In September 1819, a small cohort of new companions, predominantly Corsican individuals relocated from Italy by the Bonaparte family, arrived, briefly disrupting the prevailing monotony. However, the newcomers did not meet Napoleon's expectations or his other companions.
The factors of boredom, the curfew, and the unhealthy climate led Napoleon to gradually limit his walks, whether on foot, horseback, or by carriage. Subsequently, he relocated entirely to Longwood, where he enforced imperial etiquette and maintained a high standard of living, estimated at 19,000 pounds per year. This was later reduced by half by the governor.[14] He spent the majority of his time in his bedroom or bathroom, rather than in his study, contributing to his increasing obesity. Notwithstanding the circumstances, the former emperor clung to the possibility that a shift in the British government might facilitate his ability to reside in peace in England or join his brother Joseph in America. He was gratified by the support of the Whig Party, which regarded him as a successor to the Revolution. Furthermore, he was no longer perceived as a threat by the Holy Alliance. However, Napoleon's aspirations were dashed following the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in November 1818, when the Allies resolved to detain him on the island until his demise. Upon learning of this decision, his spirits plummeted.[15]
The death of Napoleon
St. Helena - Death of Napoleon. Painting by Steuben.
In his final years, Napoleon was largely inactive, though he retained a keen interest in his customary reading. He remained confined to Longwood for an extended period, spanning multiple months. His physician, François Antommarchi, recommended that he receive more fresh air, a suggestion that Napoleon disregarded due to his negative opinion of the doctor. He is quoted as saying, "One has the right to be ignorant, but not to lack heart." Antommarchi consulted with Hudson Lowe, who dismissed Napoleon's condition as merely a "diplomatic illness",[16] despite the emperor's frequent complaints of sharp pain in his right side. Antommarchi diagnosed only simple constipation and prescribed a high dosage of calomel, a potent laxative that exacerbated Napoleon's existing gastric ulcer.[17] On April 11, 1821, Napoleon, confined to bed, began dictating his will to General de Montholon.[note 5] He also added codicils related to events from his life that resurfaced in his memory. He continued until April 27, after which he descended into agony. Suffering from a stomach ulcer,[19] Napoleon refused assistance from British doctors. After eight days of agony, he took his last breath on May 5, 1821, at 5:49p.m. His final words were reportedly "Army", "Head of the Army", or possibly "Josephine."
The autopsy, performed on May 6, 1821, has been the subject of considerable controversy ever since, due to the multiplicity of reports, both official and unofficial, including at least three distinct versions from Dr. Antommarchi alone.[20]
Napoleon was interred on May 9 in the Valley of the Geranium, as per his final instructions, if his remains were not repatriated to Europe. His tomb was inscribed with no epithet, as Governor Lowe forbade any mention of either "Napoleon" or "Emperor Napoleon." Meanwhile, his death certificate, independently recorded in the parish register of St. James in Jamestown, the capital of Saint Helena, listed him on the same date as "Napoleon Buonaparte, late Emperor of France."[note 6]
In 1840, at the behest of Louis-Philippe I and with the assent of the British, Napoleon's mortal remains were repatriated to France by Prince de Joinville, the son of King Louis-Philippe I. He now rests at Les Invalides.[21] In 1940, the remains of Napoleon II, son of Napoleon I, were transferred to Les Invalides at the behest of Adolf Hitler. Longwood was ceded to France in 1858 by Queen Victoria under the rule of Napoleon III and is now part of the French domains on Saint Helena.
St. Helena - Imperial residence at Longwood in 1858.
↑ Several witnesses have documented the journey, notably Emmanuel de Las Cases in The Memorial of Saint Helena and Denzil Ibbetson, the British commissary officer responsible for military supplies, who kept a journal that remained unpublished until it was put up for sale in late 2010.
↑ During Napoleon's exile, the island's population experienced a significant increase, reaching twice its original size. The Saint Helena garrison also underwent fluctuations, with numbers ranging between 1,500 and 2,000 men across different periods.
↑ "A provisional transfer agreement was hastily concluded on July 26, 1815, between the Company and the London government. While the former retained the island’s 'commercial' management, its civil and military administration was transferred to the latter."[5]
↑ This document consists of three parts: The political will, featuring famous phrases like, "I desire that my ashes rest on the banks of the Seine, among the French people whom I have loved so much... I die prematurely, murdered by the English oligarchy and its hireling." The personal will, which allocates 7 million francs to his relatives and companions. Finally, nearly 204 million francs, according to an amount Napoleon estimated to have saved from his civil list—28 million per year, meant to be distributed to cities and all soldiers of the Grand Army. The royal government refused this, leading to numerous lawsuits filed by these heirs until 1857, when Napoleon III established the Saint Helena medal and a small pension for all of the Emperor's former comrades-in-arms.[18]
Gaspard, Baron Gourgaud, also known simply as Gaspard Gourgaud, was a French soldier, prominent in the Napoleonic wars.
Charles Tristan, Marquis de Montholon was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars. He chose to go into exile on Saint Helena with the ex-emperor after Napoleon's second abdication.
Emmanuel-Augustin-Dieudonné-Joseph, comte de Las Cases was a French atlas-maker and author, famed for an admiring book about Napoleon, Le Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène.
Sir Hudson Lowe, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Saint Helena from 1816 to 1821. Seeing service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, he is best known for serving as the de facto jailor of Napoleon when he was in exile on Saint Helena.
Barry Edward O'Meara was an Irish surgeon and founding member of the Reform Club who accompanied Napoleon to Saint Helena and became his physician, having been surgeon on board HMS Bellerophon when the emperor surrendered himself. He was a medical graduate of Trinity College Dublin.
Henri-Gatien Bertrand was a French general who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Under the Empire he was the third and last Grand marshal of the palace, the head of the Military Household of emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, whom he followed in both the exiles to Elba and Saint-Helena.
Longwood House is a mansion in St. Helena and the final residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, the former Emperor of the French, during his exile on the island of Saint Helena, from 10 December 1815 until his death on 5 May 1821.
Briars is the small pavilion in which Napoleon Bonaparte stayed for the first few weeks of his exile on Saint Helena in late 1815 before being moved to Longwood House.
Gilbert Martineau was a French naval officer, author of books on Napoleon and his family, honorary consul, and curator 1956-1987 of the French properties on St Helena, where Napoleon had been in exile.
The Memorial of Saint Helena, written by Emmanuel de Las Cases, is a journal-memoir of the beginning of Napoleon Bonaparte's exile on Saint Helena. The core of the work transcribes Las Cases' near-daily conversations with the former Emperor on his life, his career, his political philosophy, and the conditions of his exile.
The Saint Helena Medal was the first French campaign medal. It was established in 1857 by a decree of emperor Napoleon III to recognise participation in the campaigns led by emperor Napoleon I.
Lucia Elizabeth Balcombe Abell was a friend of Napoleon Bonaparte during his exile at Saint Helena. She was also an author and a landowner in New South Wales, Australia.
Reverend Richard Boys MA was a Church of England clergyman and author, most notable for his tenure as Chaplain on St. Helena at the time of Napoleon Bonaparte's exile there. A controversial figure during his time there, he also played a part in the mystery surrounding Napoleon's death mask.
François Carlo Antommarchi was Napoleon's physician from 1819 to his death in 1821.
The French domains of Saint Helena is an estate of 14 ha, in three separate parts, on the island of Saint Helena within the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
The Saint Helena Journal of General Baron Gourgaud is a private journal written down by Gaspard Gourgaud as a result of his conversations with Napoleon I of France between June 1815 and March 1818 during the former's exile on Saint Helena.
Michel Dancoisne-Martineau is the director of the French domains of Saint Helena. Since October 1990, he has been Honorary French Consul on the island.
War. The Exile and the Rock Limpet is an oil painting of 1842 by the English Romantic painter J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851). Intended to be a companion piece to Turner's Peace - Burial at Sea, War is a painting that depicts a moment from Napoleon Bonaparte's exile at Saint Helena. In December 1815, the former Emperor was taken by the British government to the Longwood House, despite its state of disrepair, to live in captivity; during his final years of isolation, Napoleon had fallen into despair. Turner's decision to pair the painting with Peace was heavily criticized when it was first exhibited but it is also seen as predecessor to his more famous piece Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway (1844).
The Valley of the Tomb is the site of Napoleon's tomb, on the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena in the south Atlantic Ocean, where he was buried following his death in exile on 5 May 1821. The valley had been called the Sane Valley, but Napoleon had taken walks there and referred to it as the Valley of the Geraniums.
Jacques Jourquin is a French publisher, writer and historian, specialist in Napoleonic studies. He notably headed Éditions Tallandier during the 1980s.
References
↑ Lentz, Thierry (2017). Napoléon en 100 questions[Napoleon in 100 questions] (in French). Tallandier. p.154.
1 2 Lentz, Thierry (2013). Napoléon[Napoleon] (in French). Éditions La Boétie. p.82.
↑ Boudon, Jacques-Olivier (2004). Napoléon Ier et son temps[Napoleon I and his time] (in French). Vuibert. p.247.
↑ Lentz, Thierry; Macé, Jacques (2009). La mort de Napoléon: Mythes, légendes et mystères[Napoleon's death: Myths, legends and mysteries] (in French). Librairie Académique Perrin. p.15.
↑ Lemaire, Jean (1975). Le Testament de Napoléon. Un étonnant destin, 1821-1857[Le Testament de Napoléon. An astonishing destiny, 1821-1857] (in French). Plon.
↑ Benhamou, Albert (2010). L'autre Sainte-Hélène: la captivité, la maladie, la mort, et les médecins autour de Napoléon[The other St. Helena: captivity, illness, death and the doctors around Napoleon] (in French).
Tulard, Jean (1981). Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène[Napoleon on St. Helena] (in French). Bouquins.
Ganière, Paul (1957). Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène[Napoleon on St. Helena] (in French). Amiot-Dumont.
Martineau, Gilbert (1981). Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène 1815-1821[Napoleon on St. Helena 1815-1821] (in French). Éditions Tallandier.
Kauffmann, Jean-Paul (1997). La Chambre noire de Longwood[Longwood's Dark Room] (in French). Éditions de la Table ronde.
Boudon, Jacques-Olivier (2000). Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène: de l'exil à la légende[Napoleon on St. Helena: from exile to legend] (in French). Éditions Fides.
Chevallier, Bernard; Dancoisne-Martineau, Michel; Lentz, Thierry (2005). Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène: daSainte-Hélène. Île de mémoiree l'exil à la légende[Sainte-Hélène. Island of memory] (in French). Fayard. ISBN978-2213626451.
Dancoisne-Martineau, Michel (2011). Chroniques de Sainte-Hélène: Atlantique sud[Saint Helena Chronicles: South Atlantic] (in French). Perrin.
Dumont, Hervé. Napoléon, l'épopée en 1000 films: Cinéma et Télévision de 1897 à 2015[Napoleon, the epic in 1000 films: Cinema and Television from 1897 to 2015] (in French).
Vial, Charles-Éloi (2018). Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène: l'encre de l'exil[Napoleon on St. Helena: the ink of exile] (in French). Paris: Perrin. ISBN978-2-262-06680-2.
Branda, Pierre (2021). Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène[Napoleon on St. Helena] (in French). Paris: Perrin. ISBN978-2-262-06995-7.
Jourquin, Jacques (2021). La dernière passion de Napoléon. La bibliothèque de Saint-Hélène[Napoleon's last passion. The Saint-Helena library] (in French). Passés / Composés. ISBN978-2-379-33732-1.
FIlmography
In his study of representations of the emperor on screen, Hervé Dumont[fr] notes that directors of films dealing with this period are fascinated by the ruler's twilight, employing either an adequate or a freer vision. The majority of cinematic productions, including those in the English language, portray Hudson Lowe in a negative light.
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