My main curiosity is how he would have spent his days and in what conditions. From what I was taught in high school was everything leading to his exile but that was it. I wondered what freedoms he would of had and what he'd have done on a daily basis.
I wrote a paper on his exile, specifically in Elba, a year and a half ago for a history course.
His exile in Elba wasn't as terrible as it seems, with him came 62 lancers, 600 guardsmen and his a massive amount of supplies. He left both his wife and son behind though. He was terrified on his trip to Elba that he would be killed in the process of making the voyage, he mentions not wanting to eat food at local restaurants for fear of being poisoned, though there were a number of actual attempts on his life. He finally gets to Frejus and is set to take a French warship to Elba, but he knew that his former military did not have cozy feelings for him. He finally gets on the HMS Undaunted, a British vessel, and sets sail for Elba. He arrives in Portoferraio and almost immediately the Elbans try to revolt. This revolt is easily suppressed by Napoleon's lancers and his small number of guardsmen.
His home on the island was a palace called I Mulini (the mills). After he has been there for a while he establishes a court, just as he had in France. Napoleon's life on Elba was almost as luxurious as it had been when he was in France. He even had a horse stable that had 27 carriages, as well as his favorite horses, with a team of 35 men working in the stable alone.
On Elba Napoleon set out to do many things that he had done as Emperor in France, such as infrastructure, a hospital, and a new school. Though these goals were never met, Napoleon ruled over the small island just as he had in France. Finally the island runs out of money as there is no way for Napoleon to enforce his taxes without spending his money to get those taxes, and the island is disloyal to him. He grew bored on the island and stopped holding receptions with his court and spent a lot of time reflecting on his time in France. It becomes apparent to Napoleon that his most trusted allies (Fouche, Talleyrand, and Murat) had all betrayed him at some point or another. Through this time of reflection he realized what had gone wrong (to some extent) and what he could do to fix it. He also saw the issues with the Bourbons back in France.
The Bourbons were ordered to pay 2m Francs by the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Napoleon was starting to run out of money on Elba, there was no industry on this small island, and he wanted to get back into in France. As soon as Napoleon started to run out of money he realizes that he will not have any protection if he cannot pay his guardsmen and lancers. Napoleon starts toying with the idea of returning to France, and his peers are mixed in their response. Napoleon knew that the Bourbons were not liked by the people of France, the peasants could barely afford their bread; many notables and soldiers were also displeased. Napoleon decided to return to France.
His exile in Elba was largely used a reflection of what had gone wrong in his empire and what could be done to change it. The biggest thing he decided while on Elba, obviously, was to return to France. As he sought to return to France his support had been bolstered. His return featured 650 guardsmen, over 100 lancers now, and the support of many volunteers from both Corsica (Napoleon's home), and Elba. As Napoleon returned to France he told his men that came with him, now over 1000 men, 40 horses, and a couple cannons, that no shots would be fired and no bloodshed on this return to Paris. Police and other members of the new Bourbon government were sent to detain Napoleon and many of them were persuaded and joined his cause. Napoleon continues his march and encounters a small group of men under the command of Major Delessart. If you have not heard of this confrontation, Napoleon reveals his white coat, tells the men that he is emperor and they may shoot if they wish. Of course, they didn't shoot, and joined Napoleon's force. Even Marshal Ney, who had just recently sworn allegiance to the king found himself allying himself with Napoleon on his return. Napoleon arrived in Paris on 3/20/1815, without any bloodshed. Louis XVIII fled, just as the Bourbons had at the beginning of the revolution, and Napoleon was embraced by his empire with love.
The only hold-up was that the Allies were still holding council in Vienna and quickly sent an army to stop him. Napoleon ruled for just 100 Days (known as Napoleon's Hundred Day Rule) The defeat at Waterloo is one of Napoleon's most embarrassing as he faced the largest army he ever had. The response was to exile Napoleon to St. Helena, an island that was smaller than Elba and significantly worse. It was damp, cold, basically a desolate rock in the middle of the ocean. His exile in St. Helena would be the final straw, his health had been deteriorating since his days in Elba (he had two attempts on his life, as well as the stress of a lifetime on him), and finally he succumbed to stomach cancer, just as his father had.
Sources: McLynn, Frank. Napoleon: A Biography. New York: Arcade Pub., 2002. Print.
Schom, Alan. Napoleon Bonaparte. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1997. Print.
I recently read Robert Andrew's "Napoleon" so that is my source material. Im mearly a fan of Napoleon and If I get anything wrong someone who knows more about the subject please do correct me.
Napoelon in his exile on Elba was granted domain of the small island, 1000 (if i recall correctly) men from his old guard regiment. A handsome stipend to use on the island and a few brigs to protect the island from Barbary corsairs.
However as the situation in France deteriorate with the old dynasty restored Napoleon felt compelled to return to France and remove the new Bourbon king. The 100 days, one of the greatest comebacks in history follow.
At Napoleons defeat at Waterloo he is exiled to St. Helena, as Napoleon himself wrote in his schoolbook about the small British possession "Small island in the middle of nowhere." The island IS small, the condition was to cold and damp for Napoleon which caused his health to deteriorate. And not to mention they picked the worst possible man to "guard" Napoleon on this small rock in the backwater of the Empire. I don't recall his name but he was there at several of Napoleons defeats. He was in charge of Corsican detractors against the French goverment, which infuriated Napoleon. Bonaparte also considered him sadistic and dimwitted, even removing some of the people who was close to Napoleon on the Island, including the Irish doctor which had gotten a very near friendship with the man himself.
In 1823 Napoleon would then die of the same disease that claimed his father, stomach cancer.
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