The Waterloo Campaign, 1815

via PBS.ORG: Napoleon: Napoleon at War.

During the last months of 1814, Napoleon grew bored playing at Emperor of Elba. He never took his eye off France, where the Allies had made the mistake of restoring an eager but weak Bourbon king to the throne. King Louis XVIII had neither Napoleon’s charm nor his charisma. France had a constitutional monarchy now, but with royalists threatening to abolish the gains of the revolution, and the economy floundering, the King soon became unpopular.

WOLOCH: The Bourbons basically blow it. If the Bourbons had performed more effectively and shrewdly I think Napoleon would have stayed on Elba.

For ten months, Napoleon watched and waited. Then, on February 26, 1815, he slipped off of Elba with a handful of soldiers and eluded the British fleet. “After making a mistake or suffering a misfortune,” he said, “the man of genius always gets back on his feet.”

Once ashore, only the King’s army would stand between Napoleon and Paris. Six days after landing in France, he confronted a regiment of infantry ordered to bar his way. Napoleon advanced alone to meet them: “Soldiers,” he cried, “if there is one among you who wants to kill his general, his Emperor, here I am.” Suddenly, the soldiers began cheering wildly, “Long live the Emperor. Long live the Emperor.”

CASTELOT: The soldiers welcomed him as a god. “The glory is going to start again. We’re going to fight again. We’re going to be happy.”

“In ten days, Napoleon said, “we will be in Paris… The eagle will fly from steeple to steeple until it reaches the towers of Notre Dame.” Two weeks later, Napoleon was in the French capital, and Louis XVIII had fled. The news hit Europe like a bombshell. “The Devil,” his enemies said, “has been unchained.”

HORNE: Again, the mystique of Napoleon. Here’s the Emperor. “Vive la Emperor,” they shouted all the way to Paris. But it was really sort of crazy. He hasn’t got a hope.