For Napoleon Bonaparte, the world-shattering campaigns, the iron-fisted subjugation of Europe, the massive armies ready to march at the nod of his head, and the giddy ascent to the peak of world power, all this was over, and yet the most remarkable part of Bonaparte’s story was just beginning.
It was Oct. 15, 1815. Napoleon stood gazing at the shimmering, glinting sea from a promontory on the tiny island of St. Helena—a 6-by-10-mile rock that stood squarely in the middle of nowhere, 1,200 miles from the nearest mainland, the African coast. Sweeping mountainsides careening toward the sea, patches of greenery on hillsides and valleys, and desert expanses marked by cactus combined to form the isle’s inhospitable landscape.
As he watched the ship that brought him to the island sail off toward the vanishing point of the cerulean horizon, an ocean-borne wind wafted over him, stirring the feather atop his hat. At last, the ship disappeared from view, and with it, any chance of Napoleon seeing Europe again.
The harbor in Jamestown on the isle of Saint Helena, in October 2017. The remote island was once accessible only by a week-long boat trip. Now flights reach the island weekly. Napoleon was exiled to this then barren green rock. Leon Neal/Getty Images
Rising to Power
For over a decade, Napoleon’s wars had wracked and battered, revolutionized and reshaped Europe in profound ways. He'd risen to fill the void of power in France following the chaotic years of the French Revolution and the French monarch’s execution.
A man of overwhelming ambition, brutal battlefield genius, and indefatigable energy, Napoleon set out to create an enlightened French empire that would spread the ideals of the Revolution. For a time, he succeeded.
At its peak, Napoleon’s empire included most of Europe. He ruled as emperor over more than 70 million people. In his domains, he enacted sweeping reforms of the political, legal, military, and social framework. These included a reworking of civil law (known as the Napoleonic Code), improvement of financial administrations, the establishment of a national bank, revamping of the educational system, reorganization of the military, and implementing public works such as street paving and sanitation. Napoleon’s effect on history is almost incalculable.
But no one is invincible, irrespective of Napoleon’s long string of victories during his military career. With the unsubdued forces of Europe ranged against him, notablyGreat Britain and Prussia, Napoleon suffered a cataclysmic defeat at Waterloo in June 1815. It was one of only a handful of defeats that Napoleon endured, but it proved decisive. He abdicated shortly thereafter.
He surrendered to the British, who sent him to the most forsaken and isolated place they could think of: Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. The decision was understandable, given that Napoleon had already escaped from exile once, when he was banished to the island of Elba after losing the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.
"The Battle of Austerlitz, 2nd December 1805," 1810, by François Gérard. Oil on canvas; 17 feet by 31 feet. Palace of Versailles, France. Public Domain
On the Island
The British governor of Saint Helena, Hudson Lowe, was determined to prevent a repeat of that nightmare. He restricted Napoleon’s movements, surveilled his communications, and frequently sent British officers to check on the prisoner. Napoleon reacted by creating sunken pathways in his garden to hide him from officers’ view and carving small peepholes in the window shutters of his house to spy out of without being seen.
The house that sported these shutters was a doleful contrast to the palaces Napoleon had once possessed. Longwood House, as it was known, had dwindled into disrepair by the time Napoleon inherited it. The damp, mold-ridden structure sheltered Napoleon and the 28 companions who followed him into exile, including the Comte de Las Cases, who described their home as “a wretched hovel, a few feet square.”
Of the island more broadly, another companion, Count de Montholon wrote, “The valley of Jamestown resembled an entrance to the infernal regions ... nothing was to be seen but rows of guns and black cliffs, built as if by a demon’s hand to bind together the rocky peaks.” If Saint Helena resembled hell, the demons were the rats that infested the island.
Still, the climate was temperate and healthful, and the island wasn’t without beauty. Napoleon added to its beauty by designing and planting elaborate gardens. In addition to gardening, Napoleon dictated his memoirs, wrote a book on Julius Caesar, studied English, read classics, and played cards. He kept up imperial appearances by demanding that men appear for dinner in military dress, and women in evening gowns and jewelry.
During his exile from 1815 to 1821 on St. Helena Island, Napoleon Bonaparte and his entourage lived at Longwood. Antanana/CC-BY-SA 2.0
Still, the restrictions, the solitude, and the inactivity of the island must have grated deeply on Napoleon, whose boundlessly active mind was ever whirring. He who had ruled over nations now ruled only over a tiny, ramshackle estate. He whose eyes had swept over vast, smoke-wreathed battlefields of Europe were limited now by craggy cliffs and barren hilltops. Beyond them there were only miles upon miles of ocean. Everywhere, he was hemmed in. He could have explored more of the island, but pridefully refused to do so because he would have been accompanied by a British officer at all times.
Perhaps it was Napoleon’s lack of exercise and the poor living conditions that caused him to fall ill. Perhaps it was the psychological strain of captivity. Or perhaps it was the fact that his wife, Marie-Louise, sent no word. He had no news of his son, either. Whatever the cause, his health began to deteriorate in late 1817. He suffered from a malady of the stomach, possibly an ulcer or cancer. By March 1821, he was confined to bed. He knew he was dying.
A Change of Heart
As is so often the case when men face the looming doorway into another life, Napoleon began to reflect on eternal realities. Napoleon realized that even he was not above certain unchanging laws of the universe, including the mortal lot of humanity.
When a young doctor laughed at Napoleon’s growing religiosity, he replied, “Young man! You are perhaps too clever to believe in God; I am not so advanced as that. Not all can be atheists.” The sentiment deepened with time, and eventually Napoleon wished to reconcile with the Church of his childhood, Roman Catholicism.
This was remarkable not only because Napoleon had lived a life of loose morals, had directly and indirectly caused the deaths of thousands or even millions of people, and had long been personally indifferent to religion, but also because he had fought an ugly political battle with the Catholic Church.
"Pope Pius VII," 1805, by Robert Lefèvre. Oil on canvas; 28 3/4 inches by 22 3/4 inches. Apsley House, London. Public Domain
Napoleon had recognized the importance of the Catholic Church as a force in French society and culture and initially sought to make it an ally through the Concordat of 1801. But the relationship between Napoleon and the Church, particularly its head, Pope Pius VII, broke down as the years progressed. It reached a low point when Napoleon annexed papal territories and was excommunicated by Pope Pius VII as a result. In retaliation, Napoleon kidnapped the pope and held him for six years until he was eventually rescued by Hussars.
Now, on the barren outpost of St. Helena, with his life slipping away like the tide, Napoleon wrote in his will, “I die in the bosom of the Apostolic and Roman Church,” and he requested that he be buried according to Catholic rites.
Napoleon’s old enemy, Pope Pius VII, heard of Napoleon’s wish to reconcile with the Church. He told one of his cardinals, “It would be to my heart a joy like nothing else, if I could help in lessening Napoleon’s sufferings. He can no longer be dangerous to anyone. I could only wish that he may not cause anybody remorse.”
With this in mind, he sent a priest, Abbé Vignali, to Napoleon’s island in the midst of the endless sea. Vignali came to Napoleon in April of 1821, and Napoleon said to him, “I was born in the Catholic religion. I wish to fulfil the duties it imposes, and receive the succour it administers.” He spoke favorably of Pius VII and lamented their falling-out.
On April 29, in the wind-battered house at the edge of the world, Napoleon made his confession to Vignali and received absolution. John Abbot wrote in “Napoleon at St. Helena” that Count Montholon was “struck with the placid and peaceful expression of the countenance of the Emperor” after his confession.
A little wooden altar was also set up in the room next to Napoleon’s and Mass was offered there. Finally, on the evening of May 5, as a tropical storm clamored against the outcrops of the island and the walls of Longwood, Napoleon’s followers offered the prayers for the dying in front of the little altar. As they did so, Napoleon silently passed away. His retinue covered the body with a cloak he had worn in battle. They placed his sword next to his body and a crucifix on his chest.
The great conqueror had been conquered.
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Walker Larson
Author
Prior to becoming a freelance journalist and culture writer, Walker Larson taught literature and history at a private academy in Wisconsin, where he resides with his wife and daughter. He holds a master's in English literature and language, and his writing has appeared in The Hemingway Review, Intellectual Takeout, and his Substack, The Hazelnut. He is also the author of two novels, "Hologram" and "Song of Spheres."
