Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte born on August 15, 1769. He was born into a very wealthy and
noble family. His family lived in Corsica for a little over 200 years and many were very
successful lawyers. Napoleon was born during the Feast of the Assumption on a couch in the
living room of his parent's lavish house. He was the second of eight living children. He was
named Napoleon after an Egyptian religious figure. Napoleon was a very small, fiery, and hot
tempered. He retained this fiery temper throughout his life. He also retained his small size.
Napoleon formed many habits and routines as a child that he continued throughout his life even
when he was in battle. He bathed daily. As Emperor he bathed for an hour each morning before
dressing. He was also very generous; as a child he shared his toys with other playmates and
continued to exhibit these characteristics by giving awards and honors to many as Emperor and
First Consul of France. (2)
Napoleon started school at the age of five. He was enrolled in a school run by nuns in
1774. In 1778, his father decided his oldest boys were ready for different schooling and decided
to enroll them in a distant military school. Napoleon was left in a foreign land and did not know
the French language. For four months he spent much of his time trying to master French and
understand what he was being taught. He became good enough in French to speak and
understand the basics of the language, but was unable to completely master the language even by

the time of his death. After attending the Autun Academy, Napoleon left for a more prestige
military school at Brienne.(1) Here he spent nearly six years. In one of the two schools for
French nobility, Napoleon, it was decided, should become a soldier. At the age of sixteen
Napoleon was commissioned a second lieutenant in the French army. (2) While still a lieutenant
Napoleon served in Valence, Douai, and Auxonne where he spent much of his time reading about
the tactics He soon was promoted again and found himself in command of the Army of Italy at
the age of twenty-six. Between 1794 and 1797 Napoleon fought a series of campaigns in Italy.
He suffered several defeats and narrowly won many battles.
After nearly four years as Consul Napolon became Emperor. He was crowned in the
Notre Dame de Paris on December second, 1804. He crowned Josephine de Beauharnais, his
wife, empress. She was a Creole woman and was the widow of General Alexandre de
Beauharnais (guillotined during the Reign of Terror).(1) Napoleon genuinely loved her but she
thought he was a bore. She was much older than Napoleon thought and, although she said she
was still of child bearing age, he knew that she was barren and had been so for some time. As
soon as Napoleon had gone to Italy, she began playing around on him. As time went on she had a
string of lovers. She pretended to miss Napoleon very much in response to his daily love letters
and did everything in her power to avoid going to join him in Italy as he was constantly urging.
She even went so far as to pretend she was pregnant and couldn't travel. All this time she was
attending balls and parties and committing adultery. Finally, it got to the point where Napoleon

was getting so edgy that he ordered Josephine to go to come to him. She did. Napoleon expected
a pregnant Josephine. When she arrived she explained to him that she had had a miscarriage. He
was torn with grief over losing his "son." (3) Napoleon had learned of his wifes ways and no
longer loved her but still stayed married to her. They remained husband and wife but from that
point onward he was not a faithful husband. Strangely, she had become a faithful wife. The tables
had turned. Napoleon had mistress after mistress. Now, although Napoleon didnt love
Josephine, he did hold a deep devotion to her two children and he respected her abilities as a
hostess and her persuasiveness in getting people to do things for him. He knew that while he was
married to Josephine he could not produce a legitimate heir of his own, so eventually his brother
Louis had a son, Napoleon named him his heir. Now that Napoleon had an heir he felt that he
could divorce Josephine. Napoleon went back into battle where he won many battles and his
confidence was up.(1)
Napoleon was overzealous and mismanaged his troops, which resulted in the Battle of
France, a series of small battles and skirmishes in France which caused Napoleons abdication
from the throne and his exile to Elba in 1814.(1) In 1815, Napoleon returned to France and
marched upon Belgium. However, the British and Prussians narrowly beat him at Waterloo on
June 18, 1815 causing his second exile to St. Helena. On the island he was guarded night and day
until his death on May 5, 1821.(2)Napoleon had many contributions that we still use today. We

use much of the code he created as well as many tactics and war strategies. He may have died but
he left behind a great legacy.
Works Cited
1. "Napoleon I." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, Web. 11 Dec. 2016.
2. "The Emperor's Youth." The Emperor's Youth. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.
3. "Napoleon and Josephine." Napoleon and Josephine. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.