February 1815, a small flotilla slips quietly across the Mediterranean west of Alba. Its most important passenger, a former emperor, now a fugitive, embarked on the greatest gamble of his astonishing career. Napoleon Bonapart was the greatest general of his age. His armies had once dominated Europe. But just 11 months earlier, at the end of a 10-year conflict that left millions dead, he'd finally been comprehensively disastrously defeated. The great powers of Europe had hoped to consign Napoleon to history, giving him the tiny island of Ela to rule and restoring France's Borbon monarchy. But the emperor of Elba soon became restless.

Whispers reach him that France's new king is despised and many wish for his return. that his enemies Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria have turned on each other and may have plans to move him to a more remote location. Napoleon will be no mere spectator to his own fate. His faith in his own destiny is unddeinished. Napoleon will act and roll the dice of fortune once more. He will make a daring bid to reclaim his throne and restore France to glory, even if it means plunging all Europe into war once more. But Napoleon's quest may be over before

it begins. A day after sailing from Elba, as the sun falls over the Mediterranean, Napoleon's vessel passes within shouting distance of Zepha, a brig of the French king's navy. But for an unknown reason, there is no attempt to question or search the suspicious vessel. Perhaps Napoleon's star of destiny still shines after all. On the 1st of March 1815, Napoleon lands at Gulan with 1,000 grenaders of his Imperial Guard. He's just 15 miles from Nice, where his glorious first Italian campaign began 19 years earlier. Napoleon has no illusions of the danger.

He must win support and turn the tables on his enemies before they trap and arrest him or worse. Therefore, he must travel fast, before they can organize. X on the main road is a royalist stronghold. So, Napoleon takes a more mountainous route to the east. He and his entourage travel 190 m in 6 days along narrow winding tracks. There is snow and ice and sheer mountain cliffs.

Napoleon now 45 years old has to travel on foot for much of the journey. Sometimes he stumbles and needs assistance. The contrast to the youthful first consul Bonapart of 1800 crossing these same mountains is stark. As he moves north, things start to improve. At Cesteron, Napoleon is welcomed by the mayor. At Gap, he is cheered by crowds. But then on the 7th of March outside Grenobyl, the road is blocked by French troops sent by the king.

The fifth line includes many veterans of the empire, men who have served under Napoleon's command. There is a standoff. The emperor's grenaders implore the fifth to join them. Then Napoleon himself steps forward, throwing open his gray coat. Soldiers of the fifth, if there is one among you who wishes to kill his emperor, he can do so. Here I am.

A royalist captain gives the command. Fire. There is silence. Then cries of Vivere ring through the regiment. They are one over. On my march to Grenobyl, I was an adventurer. Napoleon later recalled, "In Grenobyl, I once again became a sovereign At the court of King Louis V 18th in Paris, there is disqu but no great sense of alarm. An outlaw adventurer and his small band of followers are surely no threat to the French state.

The men who now draw up a plan to stop this escapade know the fugitive well. Marshall Sult, now Minister of War, joined by Marshalss Udino, Macdonald, and Nay. Men who had won titles, riches, and glory under Napoleon, but continue to hold senior roles under the Bobbins. Nay, in particular, whom Napoleon had once dubbed bravest of the brave, seems to have switched his loyalty with zeal.

I will seize Bonapart, he tells the king, and I will bring him to you in an iron cage. Nay marches south with 3,000 troops to arrest his former master. But everywhere there are signs that Bobbon authority is collapsing. In Lyon, Napoleon is welcomed with celebrations. Whole regiments are defecting to him. Nay hears grumbling within his own ranks. He's haunted by the prospect of civil war. Napoleon writes directly to Nay. I shall receive you as I did on the tomorrow of the battle of the Moscow. He tells him.

Nay is one over. The cause of the Bbons is lost forever. He tells his troops, "Only the Emperor Napoleon is entitled to rule over our beautiful country." There are cheers amongst his men as he orders them to turn around and march on Paris. Nay's defection is the final straw for King Louie. On the 20th of March, he flees the Tulery Palace, heading for safety in the Netherlands. That evening, Napoleon enters Paris. At the tulery, he is acclaimed by former ministers, dignitaries, and soldiers, many of whom are now out of work.

Marshall Davu is there to welcome him. He had been ostracized by the Bongs for his loyalty to Napoleon. Even Joseph Fushcher, the wy minister of police for the last 16 years, is on hand to offer his services which are quickly accepted. In these first weeks in Paris, Napoleon is a whirlwind of activity. He appoints new ministers, prefects, and mayors. He promises a new liberal constitution on the British model that will limit his powers.

He lifts censorship and restarts public works. Whether such measures are long-term commitments or mere populism to win support will never be tested. Bonapart loyalists across France burst into activity. But many others are more cautious, preferring to wait out events. Because across Europe, there is the confident expectation that Napoleon's return can only mean war. The previous year 1814 had seen Napoleon defeated by a giant coalition of his enemies after a decade of war. After their victory and Napoleon's exile to Elba, these powers met in one of history's first great international

summits, the Congress of Vienna, to decide Europe's future. But without the threat of Napoleon to bind the coalition together, old rivalries and suspicions soon reemerge. There are bitter disputes about territory and sovereignty. A break between them, even war, seems a distinct possibility. But when the Allied monarchs hear that Napoleon has landed in France, they do not hesitate. They put aside their differences to form a seventh coalition and declare war not on France, but on Napoleon, an enemy and disturber of the world.

They planned to raise four massive armies. The Austrian Prince Schwartzenberg's army of the upper Rine, the Prussian Prince Blucer's army of the lower Rine, the British Duke of Wellington's multinational army of Flanders and Barklay Dali's Russian Reserve Army. They will be supported by smaller contingents from Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Their total strength, on paper, nearly a million men. Napoleon has just 200,000 troops. Thousands of veterans have flocked to the colors, but the nation is exhausted.

The return of conscription is dreaded and Napoleon's war chest is a fraction of what is required. Parts of France are already in revolt. Royalist insurrections in the Midi and the Vondi force Napoleon to dispatch troops he cannot easily spare. Napoleon himself is still capable of prodigious bursts of energy and works 15 hours or more in a day. But years of exertion have taken their toll. Count Molyang, his finance minister, observes, "He found himself confined in a narrow

space. His meditations became labored and distressing. He withtood less well the strains that were within him. After several hours of work, a certain latitude came over him that he had never known before. Napoleon knows he has one chance. It will take his enemies months to assemble and organize their armies. If he strikes first and wins a sudden victory, he will throw their plans into chaos and may even split the coalition. He begins planning a lightning offensive against the targets within closest reach. The coalition armies of Blucer and Wellington just across the frontier in Belgium, part of the new United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The stage is set for war, but the first shots have already been fired. While Napoleon was still marching on Paris, on the 15th of March 1815, Joasham Mura, King of Naples, former marshal of Napoleon's Empire, and his brother-in-law had declared war on the seventh coalition. Mura had loyally served Napoleon as a brilliant cavalry commander from Italy and Egypt to Russia. But in 1814, he betrayed Napoleon, defecting to join his enemies. He only later realized that the coalition had no intention of letting him keep the throne Napoleon had given him.

Mura's Neapolitan forces sweep through the Papal States and enter Bolognia. But when the Austrians finally muster their forces, the tide quickly turns. Mura suffers a string of defeats. And in May 1815, as Austrian troops enter Naples, he flees to France. On arriving in Tulong, Mura appeals to Napoleon, offering to fight at his side once more. Napoleon is not interested. It was doubtful whether the troops could surmount the disgust and horror which they felt for the man who had betrayed and lost France, he would later say. In Belgium, meanwhile, the aggressive

72-year-old Field Marshall Blucer wants to strike into France immediately, but a mutiny among his 10,000 Saxon troops throws everything off. He must divert 14,000 reliable Prussians to watch them, a force that will be sorely missed in the weeks ahead. The 46-year-old Duke of Wellington is also in a tricky situation. He had achieved stunning success, leading a joint Anglo Spanish Portuguese army against the French in the Peninsula War, but his old army of veterans has been widely dispersed. Now he commands a mixed force of British, Dutch,

Hannavarian, Brunswick, Nassau, and Belgian units. A few are reliable, but most are untested. Some are even suspected of loyalty to France. These troops are now spread thinly, watching the many possible routes into Belgium. But the coalition does have one strength on this front. Since their first correspondence, Wellington and Bla have developed a sense of mutual respect and understanding.

Each feels that the other can be counted on. It will prove crucial in the coming campaign. By early June, reinforcements have brought their combined strength to 230,000 and a joint invasion is being discussed. Neither expects that they are about to be attacked. Along the Belgian frontier, the French have imposed strict secrecy.

Civilians are not permitted to cross the border. French troop movements are hidden. Misinformation is spread. On the 12th of June, Napoleon makes a conspicuous public appearance in Paris, then quietly slips away and races off to join the army. The French Arme Dunor is 128,000 strong, divided into five core, a cavalry reserve, and the Imperial Guard. Though it includes many veterans of Napoleon's campaigns, it's a far cry from the Grand Army of 1805. Supplies are scarce, hard cash even more so. The cavalry and artillery arms have recovered somewhat from the desperate days of 1814, but officers have been assigned to unfamiliar units, and discipline is lacking even within the ranks of the

Imperial Guard. Above all, Napoleon faces a crisis in leadership. Of the 26 marshals he'd created under the Empire, three have been killed in action. Four have switched allegiance or disavowed Napoleon. Four stand by new oaths of loyalty to the Borbons. 10 are either too old for field command or prefer to remain politically neutral. This leaves Davu, Guusi, Nay, Sult, and Sushé.

All excellent battle tested commanders, but too few for the struggle ahead. Noticeably absent is the man often described as the indispensable marshall, Bertier. As Napoleon's chief of staff for two decades, Bertier had performed the vital role of overseeing the emperor's headquarters and turning his words and thoughts into orders. But in March 1815, he fled to the Netherlands with King Louie. Napoleon is astonished and outraged. I have been betrayed by Bertier who was just a gossling transformed by me into some kind of eagle. Then on the eve of war, Bertier falls from a high window.

An accident seems most likely, but foul play cannot be ruled out. As Bertier's replacement, Napoleon picks Marshall Sult, thus giving an administrative role to one of his best battlefield commanders. Sushé, another brilliant general, is sent to the south to hold the frontier. While perhaps the best of all, Marshall Davu will remain in Paris as Napoleon's new minister of war with the added responsibility of defending the capital. These are important roles that Napoleon wants to entrust to loyal, experienced commanders, but his decisions will keep three of his best generals far from the action with grave consequences. And there are soon signs that all is not

well within the army. On arriving at headquarters, Napoleon discovers Marshall Sult has bungled his orders. Still settling into his new post, Sult has mistakenly concentrated the whole army west of where Napoleon had intended. While Marshall Grusi's cavalry corps is far behind schedule, General Gerard's fourth core is also inexplicably delayed. Then one of its division commanders defects to the enemy. Throughout his life, Napoleon has believed in destiny, omens, and lucky dates.

Few are more special to him than the 14th of June, the anniversary of his victories at Moreno and Freedelland. He has chosen that providential date to launch this the most highstakes campaign of all. But in an operation that depends above all on speed, perhaps the real omen comes when he is forced to delay the start by 24 hours. At 2:00 a.m. on the 15th of June, 1815, French drums beat the call to arms. As dawn approaches, the first battalions cross the frontier at Charawa.

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