THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO
It was with his ally, Russia, that the first break came. That Napoleon was startled by the idea of war with Alexander and sought to prevent it, is certain; but Alexander refused to yield to his demand that the embargo against English goods be enforced. The embargo he had set down as the “fundamental law of the Empire.” There was nothing to do but settle it by arms, and in the summer of 1812, with an army of over half a million men, he began a reluctant and hesitating march against Russia. It was a campaign of terrible disasters. The Russians retreated before him, letting cold and hunger do the work of battles. So effectively did they work that the French army was practically destroyed. The Russian campaign is one of the most appalling in history. It was but the beginning of his overthrow. Alexander raised the cry “Deliver Europe!” Stein and other liberal minds rallied the youth of the German states into a league, pledged to fight for national freedom. His allies and dependences began to demand the return of lost territories as a price of loyalty. France revolted at the prospects of continued bloodshed. The campaigns thrust upon him by all these forces were fought; but frequently without his old genius.
It was June of 1812 when Napoleon began the Russian campaign. Twenty-one months later Paris capitulated to his allied enemies, and a few weeks later he had lost the greatest empire modern Europe had seen gathered under one man, and was an exile in the little island of Elba.
LONGWOOD
Napoleon’s residence during his captivity at St. Helena.
AN EXILE’S GRAVE
The spot where Napoleon was buried in May, 1821. His body was removed to Paris in 1840.