Friday, March 31, 2023

The Return

Napoléon Ier quittant l'île d'Elbe. 26 février 1815¹
Joseph Beaume (PD)
Sergent Nicolas Guilbert was leaning on his musket, watching the cavalry come ashore. Some of the other Guardsmen were cooking something nearby, his stomach was still queasy from the trip over from Elba. He was glad to be ashore, but whatever the lads were cooking made him want to vomit again.

The Emperor was in conference with his staff and what appeared to be a number of locals, probably officials from the town and the province. That latter fact made Guilbert wonder if the Emperor's return was such a surprise after all. The locals had seemed to be expecting him.

"Sergent Guilbert, is your file ready to move out?" Capitaine Philippe Pierlot had come up from behind him, which made Guilbert remind himself to stay more alert. This may be France, this may be home, but it was in the hands of the old regime again, so it was, until proven otherwise, enemy country.

"Oui, mon capitaine. Do we have time for a spot of breakfast? The lads have something brewing up at the moment."

"Anything a hungry officer of Chasseurs might find palatable?" Pierlot asked.

Guilbert grinned and said, "Come on Philippe, when did you get finicky? We were privates together in Egypt, I've seen what you'll eat when you're hungry enough. Grown finicky in your old age?"

Pierlot mocked a frown, then laughed, "Now I'm a captain and you're still a simple grognard², perhaps you should learn to be more finicky, Nicolas. We move within the hour, have the lads ready."

Guilbert nodded and said, "They'll be ready whenever le Tondu³, decides to move out."

Chevau legere polonais
Wojciech Kossak (PD)
Brigadier⁵ Tomasz Kasprowicz looked up from grooming his horse, Liliana, to see his squadron commander approaching.

"Good morning Major!" Kasprowicz genuinely liked his current commanding officer. It was only through Major Paweł Jerzmanowski's personal intervention that Kasprowicz had been allowed to follow the squadron to Elba.

"Good morning, Tomasz! How did Liliana do on the crossing?"

"She was a little nervous, Sir, but she managed. I will say though, that she and I are both happy to be back on dry land!"

"We'll be moving out shortly, the Emperor wants us up front, scouting the route to Grenoble."

"Grenoble?"

"The Emperor intends to avoid a direct confrontation with the Royalists for now. So we march on Grenoble, through some rough country, yes. But the Emperor feels that the people will rally to him along the way. It's also more defensible should Louis XVIII send a force to oppose us."

"What Frenchman would oppose his Emperor?" Kasprowicz asked.

"We don't know yet, Tomasz. But this whole thing is a gamble, we must proceed cautiously at first."

Kasprowicz nodded, "Wherever you lead, Major, we will follow."

"And I follow my Emperor!" Jerzmanowski exclaimed.


On 1 March 1815, on his return from Elba, Napoleon landed in Golfe-Juan with a small band of 1100 loyal soldiers. And from here he set out on the extraordinary adventure that was to lead to the return to power two and a half weeks later, 20 March, with his triumphal entry into the Tuileries palace which had been hastily abandoned by Louis XVIII. This was the beginning of the Hundred Days. (Source)

And so, it begins ...




¹ Napoleon I leaving the island of Elba. February 26, 1815
² Literally "grumbler," a common term for an old soldier in Napoléon's army.
³ Literally " the shorn one," one of the Imperial Guard's nicknames for Napoléon. The Guardsmen still wore their hair the old way, uncut and pulled back in a queue. The Emperor kept his hair short, hence, "the shorn one."
⁴ Polish light horse
⁵ Cavalry rank equivalent to a corporal.

24 comments:

  1. So it does. Glad to see you wanting to compose again, Sarge!
    Poor landlubbers! Course anyone who spends enough time at sea will be subject to mal d'mere sooner or later. Anyone who says he/she is immune is either lying ( to themselves as well) or just hasn't been underway enough. DAMHIK
    Boat Guy

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    1. Can't imagine being immune from motion sickness. Get that inner ear to tilt and WHAM, heaving over the side is in your future.

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    2. Just stay to leeward...
      BG

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  2. Huzzah! Thanks Sarge, hope Anya is hanging in there.

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    1. She's weak but she still loves being waited on hand and foot and returns our affections with purring. It's a wonder that she has hung in there this long, the subcutaneous fluids seem to be doing the trick.

      Thanks for asking, I'll tell her.

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    2. Had been wondering myself. Give her an extra pet and tell her people far away care about her too.

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    3. Thanks Don, I think she knows that many are thinking about her. Keeps her going.

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  3. Welcome Back (figuratively)!
    Good start to this section of the book. Piqued my interest quite nicely.
    juvat

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    1. The itch to write needed scratching. So here we go.

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  4. "Triumphant. Triumphant Return (At least for Sarge)"

    Yay! So much happiness on a Friday.

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    1. Now that doesn't stroke my ego, no, not at all. 😁

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  5. I join in your exclamation TB. Something to brighten our spirits today, while reading of men of the past also getting their spirts lifted. At least for the preset. OAFS is about to provide more history lessons.
    Franknbean

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    1. I've been studying this period of history for years. I've learned a few new things about it just recently. I hope to pass that along.

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  6. Learning and teaching are two of the most important things we can do. Good to see you writing again. (Please give Anya a stroke from me, too.)

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  7. You have to wonder about the machinations of all the people involved in the exile and return and how deep and layered the preps for the return were. How much backstabbing, bribing, betrayal and outright murder most foul?

    All for 100 days of trying to relive the glory days of the past.

    How many lives would have been spared, how much things would have been stable, if only he had remained on Elbe for the rest of his days and France had moved on from the Napoleonic Era and tried anything to step away. Would things have been worse? Better? Or even worse, stayed basically the same?

    A serious pondering is needed.

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    1. Some have argued that Europe would be better off had Napoléon succeeded. Not all of them French.

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  8. Fascinating, keep writing, I am learning a lot about that era. Thank you!

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  9. Here we go! Something new for me and I look forward to it. You gots a way of using them words good, Sarge! Every time I read these tales, I realize just how ignorant I am of the whole flow of history in this era. I know about impressionist art and the the history of France in that period, but the events leading up to changing of art and everything else French (my own hyperbole) - nothing. This is surely an exciting adventure for a yellow-headed brown-barred mindset in a world of exciting new missions.

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    1. Hope it works out! (Well, we know Napoléon loses in the end, but it's the journey that counts.)

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