Table Of ContentNapoleon’s Empire of Elba
As part of the general settlement of European affairs after Napoleon's
abdication in April of 1814, he was granted the right to select among the
islands of Corsica, Corfu, and Elba as a place of exile, which would be his
in full sovereignty, with the title "Emperor." Probably reasoning that even
he couldn’t tame his unruly fellow Corsicans, and not being able to speak
Greek, thus making Corfu moot, Napoleon settled upon Elba, a modest-
sized island between Italy and his native Corsica. He arrived at Porto
Ferraio, the capital of the island, aboard a the British frigate H.M.S.
Undaunted on May 3, 1814, accompanied by a small staff and
representatives of the various Allied powers. Napoleon's new domain was
quite small, little more than 90 square miles, and included a number of
nearby tiny islets, among them the later fictionally famous Monte Cristo.
The whole “empire” had perhaps 12,000 inhabitants.
Almost as soon as he settled in, requisitioning a modest residence for
himself, Napoleon set about managing his new empire. Displaying his
characteristic energy and curiosity, Napoleon made personal inspections
of the famous iron mines and salt works which provided most of island's
revenues, and proposed various improvements in the works. He also
planned to establishment of a number of model farms, on which he would
settle some of his veterans, proposed the introduction of several new
industries, notably orchards, silk, and horse breeding, and thoroughly
reformed the island's finances. These measures brought some increased
prosperity to the island, not least because Napoleon's arrival brought a
good deal of new money into the local economy: he had about five million
francs when he landed. The Emperor's arrival also wrought a considerable
change in the social life of the sleepy little island, notably so after he was
joined by his sister Pauline, subject of the famous nude by Canova. Later
their mother joined them, and most loyal lover, Madam Walweska,
showed up for a short visit, bringing with her their "love child," who later
served as Foreign Minister to Napoleon III. There were regular balls,
receptions by the foreign representatives (who were really there to keep
an tabs on Boney), and fetes for visiting dignitaries, while the Royal Navy
made it a point to make regular port calls, just to keep an eye on the
exile.
Being a soldier, Napoleon paid particular attention to the state of his
defenses, on the one hand out of concern that his enemies in Europe
might attempt a coup against him, and, on the other hand, that the
Barbary pirates, who had become increasingly active during the long
wars, might raid the island as they had so often done in the past. He
directed that existing fortifications be improved and selected sites for new
ones, including several on the outlying islet of Pianosa. Napoleon also
began to acquire a small fleet. He would eventually have eight vessels, of
which three were armed and suitable for coast defense and anti-piracy
patrol, while two were small merchant vessels, and three were oared
barges suitable for pleasure outings.
Principal Vessels of The Imperial Elban Navy
Ship
Type
Tons
Guns
Caroline
aviso
26
1
Etoile
sloop
83
6
Inconstant
brig
300
18
Of course it was on his army that Napoleon lavished the most attention.
The powers permitted him to have an army of 300 men, provided he
could afford it. Naturally, Napoleon paid no attention to this limitation. He
began with about 800 veterans of the Garde Imperial, men who arrived
on Elba at the end of May, with Vicomte Pierre Cambronne at their head.
These troops, veterans all, formed the core around which Napoleon built
his army, which was under the immediate command of Comte Antoine
Drouot.
The Corsican and Elban battalions were supposedly militiamen recruited
from local personnel. All of the engineers were locally recruited, aside
from two or three regularly trained officers, and served primarily as a fire
brigade. Including a small staff, the total paper strength of the army was
somewhat more than 2,000 men. However, the militia units were never
properly organized, so that in practical terms the army does not seem to
have exceeded about 1,200. Moreover, since he had a shortage of horses,
and in any case Elba was unsuited to cavalry (or horse raising), being
very rugged, Napoleon dismounted most of his troopers, turning them
into fortress artillerymen, retaining only 22 Polish lancers as a mounted
escort.
By the winter of 1814-1815 Napoleon was well-settled on Elba.
Superficially he appeared happy. As one of his staff observed, "The
Emperor lives very contentedly on his island. He seems to have forgotten
the past." But Napoleon was growing restless. The island was too small to
occupy his energies, too confining for his ambitions, and too exposed to
his enemies. Moreover, he was slowly going broke. Although his
resources were now severely limited, Napoleon could not break the habit
of lavish spending acquired whilst master of Europe. He spent prodigally;
for example, Henri Bertrand, former Chief Marshal of the Imperial
Household and head of the civil government of Elba, had an annual salary
of 80,000 francs! So Napoleon’s personal fortune was rapidly diminishing,
as was an enormous sum his sister Pauline brought with her, and the
revenues from Elba were insufficient to make up the difference.
Moreover, the Bourbons, newly restored to the throne of France, were
showing signs of reneging on their pledge to provide him an allowance of
Order of Battle
The Imperial Elban Army
Formation
Troops
Battalion Napoleon
607
(6 coys)
Chasseurs
300
(3 Coys)
Grenadiers
300
(3 Coys)
Battalion Corse
400
(4 Coys)
Battalion Elba
400
(4 Coys)
Light Cavalry
460
(6 Sqns)
Chasseurs
380
(5 Sqns)
Polish Lancers
76
(1 Sqn)
Artillery
100
(1 Btty)
Engineers
25
Total
1992
a million francs a year, not that it would have lasted long, given the way
he spent money. Soon Napoleon began making various economies in his
lifestyle and curtailing development projects. With his usual attention to
detail, he even specified the amounts to spent on chairs to be purchased
for his dinning suite, noting that the price ought not to exceed five francs
apiece, and quibbled about 280 francs requested by his Stores
Department for petty cash. This sort of penny-pinching saved some
money, but not enough. Finally Napoleon he had to make reductions in
his armed forces, not a good idea in view of the fact that the Bourbons
were quietly offering considerable sums for his head.
Meanwhile, Napoleon was keeping in touch with events in France and
Europe at large through a complex network of agents, friends, and family
members. By winter he sensed that the time was ripe to return to power.
So on February 26, 1815, he took ship with his little army for France. Just
110 days later he met his Waterloo.
