Billionaire Road
Napoleon standing in his study, in uniform

Born 1769. Died 1821.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Where the hours went: Over the map.

At nine he was sent to a military school in France.
At twenty six he had an army.

Napoleon on a rearing horse crossing the Alps
Jacques Louis David, Bonaparte Crossing the Great Saint Bernard Pass, 1802. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

In thirty seconds

His hours

Thirty seven years of letters, July 1784 to April 1821.

His rep

40,497 letters, about three a day.

It reached

His Civil Code still governs France and shaped the law of most of Europe and Latin America.

Most men think the titans got there on talent.
They got there on where the hours went.

01The school at nine

In 1779, at nine, he entered the military school at Brienne.
In 1785, at sixteen, he was commissioned a second lieutenant of artillery.[5]

02The guns at Toulon

In 1793 the port of Toulon was held against the French Republic.
He was a young artillery officer with a plan for the guns.
That December, at twenty four, he was made a brigadier general for his part in taking it.[6]

03The map on the floor

In March 1800 he had his secretary unroll a great map of Italy on the floor.
He lay on it and pinned the armies with wax heads, red for his, black for the enemy.
He put a red pin at San Giuliano and said that is where he would beat Melas.
That June he beat Melas at Marengo, on the plain by San Giuliano.[1][2]

04Sixty battles

Andrew Roberts counts sixty battles and sieges in his career.
He lost seven of them, most near the end.
Other counts run past eighty battles, because historians draw the line in different places.[11]

05Three letters a day

The Fondation Napoléon has published 40,497 of his letters.
The first is dated July 1784, the last April 1821.
That is about three letters a day for thirty seven years.[3][4]

06One law for France

In March 1804 France got its Civil Code.
He chaired many of the long Council of State sessions that argued it out, article by article.[7]

07The way back

In 1814 he lost his throne and was sent to the island of Elba.
On February 26, 1815 he sailed back to France with about a thousand men.
He reached Paris on March 20 without a shot fired.
Waterloo ended it that June.[8]

08The last hours

On Saint Helena he spent long hours dictating the story of his campaigns.
He died there on May 5, 1821, at fifty one.[9]

The legend vs. the reps

The legendHe won almost every battle he fought.

The repsSixty battles and sieges between Toulon and Waterloo, by Andrew Roberts's count.
Behind them, 40,497 letters, about three a day for thirty seven years.[3][4][11]

He lost seven of them, most near the end.
What carried him through the rest was the work before the fight, on the map and on the page.

His years

Every year the record allows, with its source.

1779At 9

He entered the military school at Brienne.[5]

1785At 16

He was commissioned a second lieutenant of artillery.[5]

1793At 24

He was made a brigadier general after Toulon.[6]

1796At 26

He took command of the Army of Italy and won at Lodi.[6][10]

1797At 27

He won at Rivoli and ended the war in Italy at Campo Formio.[10]

1798At 28

He landed in Egypt and won the Battle of the Pyramids.[10][12]

1799At 29

He lost the siege of Acre, his first defeat.[10][11]

1799At 30

He took power in Paris as First Consul.[10][12]

1800At 30

He was pinning armies on a map of Italy laid across his floor, then won at Marengo.[1][2]

1802At 32

He was made Consul for life.[10][12]

1804At 34

France got the Civil Code he had pushed through, article by article.[7]

1804At 35

He crowned himself Emperor of the French.[10][13]

1805At 36

He won at Austerlitz, his most famous victory.[10][13]

1806At 37

He broke Prussia at Jena.[10][13]

1807At 37

He beat Russia at Friedland and made peace at Tilsit.[10][13]

1808At 39

He led an army into Spain himself.[10][13]

1809At 39

He won at Wagram after a rare loss weeks before.[10][11]

1812At 42

He marched his army into Russia that June.[10][13]

1812At 43

He reached Moscow, then lost most of his army in the retreat.[10][13]

1813At 44

He lost at Leipzig, the Battle of the Nations.[10][13]

1814At 44

He gave up his throne and was sent to Elba.[8][10]

1815At 45

He sailed back from Elba with about a thousand men, then lost at Waterloo.[8]

1815At 46

He landed on Saint Helena, his last island.[9][10]

1821At 51

He died on Saint Helena, still dictating his campaigns.[9]

Jacques Louis David, The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, 1812. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Where his hours went

Over the map, before the battle.
On the page, about three letters a day.
Back on the road, the year after the fall.

See where your hours go.

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Sources

  1. Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne, Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, volume 3 (Project Gutenberg 3553): the map of Italy and the wax headed pins, March 17, 1800.
  2. Eric Niderost, Napoleon Bonaparte's Battle of Marengo, Warfare History Network: the map scene and the battle by San Giuliano.
  3. Fondation Napoléon, press release for volume 15 of the Correspondance générale (2018): 40,497 published letters, the last dictated April 25, 1821.
  4. Fondation Napoléon, La Correspondance générale in numbers: the first letter, July 5, 1784. Andrew Roberts, Napoleon: A Life (Viking, 2014), the first one volume life built on the new edition of his letters.
  5. Napoleon chronology 1769 to 1788, the Napoleon and Empire site, and the Napoleon timeline of the Brown University Library: Brienne in 1779, the commission in 1785.
  6. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Napoleon I, and Michael Haskew, Warfare History Network: Toulon and the promotion of December 1793, the Army of Italy in 1796.
  7. History.com, Napoleonic Code approved in France, and the Napoleon and Empire site, The Council of State: the Code of March 21, 1804 and his part in its sessions.
  8. Lumen Learning, World History, The Hundred Days, and the Napoleon and Empire site, chronology 1815: Elba, the landing, Paris on March 20, Waterloo.
  9. Fondation Napoléon, Napoleon in exile on Saint Helena, and History.com, Napoleon's exile and death: the dictation and May 5, 1821.
  10. Wikipedia, Napoleon: the campaigns year by year, from Montenotte and Lodi in 1796 to Saint Helena in 1815.
  11. Andrew Roberts, Napoleon: A Life (Viking, 2014), as summed up in Jeremy Jennings's review: he fought sixty battles and lost seven. Lumen Learning, World History, Napoleon's Military Record: he fought sixty battles and lost just seven, most at the end. Wikipedia, Military career of Napoleon, gives a wider count: more than eighty battles, eleven lost.
  12. Lumen Learning, World History, Napoleon's Military Record: Egypt and the Pyramids in 1798, the coup of November 1799, the Treaty of Amiens in 1802.
  13. Fondation Napoléon, timelines of the First Empire: the coronation of December 2, 1804, Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland and Tilsit, Spain, Wagram, Russia, Leipzig, the abdication of April 1814.