As the bicentenary of Napoleon Bonaparte's death will be celebrated in 2021, this is a perfect opportunity to look back on the last years of his life and the most famous confinement in French history. For the forced exile on St Helena, in the South Atlantic, resounds particularly today, at a time when half the planet is confined to its shores. The reign of Napoleon I was marked by incessant wars and permanent police surveillance, but also by the establishment of a new nobility and by major reforms of institutions, justice (Civil Code), schools and religion. After the period known as the Hundred Days and a final battle lost at Waterloo in Belgium, he was sent in 1815 to the island of St. Helena off the coast of equatorial Africa where he died in 1821.
On the way to the end of the world
After Napoleon's famous defeat at Waterloo, on 18 June 1815, before the Allied army (British, German, Dutch and Prussian), the Emperor was forced to abdicate a few days later and surrendered to the British on the island of Aix, a small piece of land between the islands of Oléron and Ré in Charente-Maritime. As he was unable to leave for the United States as he had wished, he was first transferred to England and then, on 7 August, boarded the ship Northumberland for an exile in Sainte-Hélène, off the African coast. This trying sea voyage, surrounded by a small troop of believers nevertheless, will last nearly two months, before docking in October on this British overseas enclave. This mysterious and fascinating 122 km² island, discovered at the beginning of the 16th century by the navigator João da Nova Castella in the heart of the South Atlantic, is above all a real fortress from which it is impossible to escape
In the footsteps of the Emperor
After spending two months in the Briars' pavilion on his arrival in exile on the island, Napoleon lived in a house in Longwood between December 1815 and May 5, 1821, the day of his death. Longwood House, the former summer residence of the island's Lieutenant-Governor, is located on a plain six kilometres from the small capital of Jamestown Island. Like other Napoleonic sites on St. Helena, Longwood House became the property of the French government in 1858. Today, of course, it can be visited if you venture to the Emperor's last remaining land. It houses two distinct parts: the imperial apartments and the generals' wing. It must be said that Napoleon, although exiled and confined, was not frankly in prison. He arrived in exile with about twenty relatives, including the Grand Marshal of the Bertrand Palace, General de Montholon, Count Las Cases and General Gourgaud. In addition to his close guard, Napoleon also had at Longwood some crockery and furniture from the various imperial palaces and a few paintings and personal objects
During a guided tour of the island, you can also see the Briars' pavilion and walk through the Tomb Valley where the Emperor's first tomb is located. A place that he himself had chosen if his remains were not brought back to the Old Continent. Finally, his ashes were returned to France in October 1840, after negotiations between King Louis-Philippe I and the United Kingdom. Like the house of Longwood, the Valley of the Tomb became a French enclave in 1858
During his long days of confinement in the middle of the Atlantic, Napoleon, between a gardening session and a horseback ride, also spends a lot of time reading, starts learning English and receives, from time to time, passing visitors who stop off at St. Helena on their way down to the south of the African continent. Above all, he took advantage of his confinement to write his memoirs, which he dictated to Count Las Cases and General Gourgaud in particular. These Memoirs to serve the history of France under Napoleon I retrace his journey and his military campaigns
Two months on the boat?
Going to St. Helena in the footsteps of the Emperor is beginning to become a possibility. And don't worry, there will be no need to spend two months at sea! Indeed, the small British island opened its airport in May 2016 and is now linked to South Africa once or twice a week depending on the season. And lovers of Napoleonic history will not fail to consider the trip in 2021 (if the sanitary conditions obviously allow it) on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Emperor's death on the island. And the lucky history buffs who will set foot on the island will be able, in addition to the visits that cannot be ignored, to enjoy some beautiful walks, nights devoted to stargazing or even exceptional scuba diving to meet whale sharks. In short, a unique trip in perspective!
Clever information
OFFICE DE TOURISME DE SAINTE-HÉLÈNE - More information on the site
NAPOLÉON FOUNDATION - More information on the site
LES DOMAINES NATIONAUX FRANÇAIS À SAINTE-HÉLÈNE - More information on the site
