The Life of Napoleon I

The Life of Napoleon I (Volumes,
1 and 2)
by John Holland Rose

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Title: The Life of Napoleon I (Volumes, 1 and 2)
Author: John Holland Rose
Release Date: December 8, 2004 [EBook #14300]
Language: English
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LONDON: G. BELL & SONS, LIMITED, PORTUGAL STREET,

KINGSWAY, W.C. CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON, BELL & CO. NEW
YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO. BOMBAY: A.H. WHEELER & CO

THE LIFE OF NAPOLEON I
INCLUDING NEW MATERIALS FROM THE BRITISH OFFICIAL
RECORDS

BY JOHN HOLLAND ROSE, LITT.D. LATE SCHOLAR OF
CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

"Let my son often read and reflect on history: this is the only true
philosophy."--Napoleon's last Instructions for the King of Rome.

LONDON G. BELL AND SONS, LTD. 1910
POST 8VO EDITION, ILLUSTRATED First Published, December
1901. Second Edition, revised, March 1902. Third Edition, revised,
January 1903. Fourth Edition, revised, September 1907. Reprinted,
January 1910.
CROWN 8VO EDITION First Published, September 1904. Reprinted,
October 1907; July 1910.
DEDICATED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD ACTON,
K.C.V.O., D.C.L., LL.D. REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MODERN
HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, IN
ADMIRATION OF HIS PROFOUND HISTORICAL LEARNING,
AND IN GRATITUDE FOR ADVICE AND HELP GENEROUSLY
GIVEN.

PREFACE
An apology seems to be called for from anyone who gives to the world
a new Life of Napoleon I. My excuse must be that for many years I
have sought to revise the traditional story of his career in the light of
facts gleaned from the British Archives and of the many valuable
materials that have recently been published by continental historians.
To explain my manner of dealing with these sources would require an
elaborate critical Introduction; but, as the limits of my space absolutely
preclude any such attempt, I can only briefly refer to the most
important topics.
To deal with the published sources first, I would name as of chief
importance the works of MM. Aulard, Chuquet, Houssaye, Sorel, and
Vandal in France; of Herren Beer, Delbrück, Fournier, Lehmann,
Oncken, and Wertheimer in Germany and Austria; and of Baron
Lumbroso in Italy. I have also profited largely by the scholarly
monographs or collections of documents due to the labours of the
"Société d'Histoire Contemporaine," the General Staff of the French
Army, of MM. Bouvier, Caudrillier, Capitaine "J.G.," Lévy, Madelin,
Sagnac, Sciout, Zivy, and others in France; and of Herren Bailleu,
Demelitsch, Hansing, Klinkowstrom, Luckwaldt, Ulmann, and others
in Germany. Some of the recently published French Memoirs dealing
with those times are not devoid of value, though this class of literature
is to be used with caution. The new letters of Napoleon published by M.
Léon Lecestre and M. Léonce de Brotonne have also opened up fresh
vistas into the life of the great man; and the time seems to have come
when we may safely revise our judgments on many of its episodes.
But I should not have ventured on this great undertaking, had I not been
able to contribute something new to Napoleonic literature. During a
study of this period for an earlier work published in the "Cambridge
Historical Series," I ascertained the great value of the British records
for the years 1795-1815. It is surely discreditable to our historical
research that, apart from the fruitful labours of the Navy Records
Society, of Messrs. Oscar Browning and Hereford George, and of Mr.
Bowman of Toronto, scarcely any English work has appeared that is

based on the official records of this period. Yet they are of great
interest and value. Our diplomatic agents then had the knack of getting
at State secrets in most foreign capitals, even when we were at war with
their Governments; and our War Office and Admiralty Records have
also yielded me some interesting "finds." M. Lévy, in the preface to his
"Napoléon intime" (1893), has well remarked that "the documentary
history of the wars of the Empire has not yet been written. To write it
accurately, it will be more important thoroughly to know foreign
archives than those of France." Those of Russia, Austria, and Prussia
have now for the most part been examined; and I think that I may claim
to have searched all the important parts of our Foreign Office Archives
for the years in question, as well as for part of the St. Helena period. I
have