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 polonais⁴
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.