This first defensive campaign of 1814 is one of the most brilliant defensive tights in military history. The military genius of Napoleon never shone inure brightly, though the dulling of his political sense node his failure inevitable. With a little army of worn out and defeated men, reinforced by a few- hastily collected and un trained eons•riyts, he thrust himself between two vastly superior fo•ees against which lie hurled himself alternately with such swiftness, skill, and violence as to shatter the hostile armies and frustrate the plans of the opposing generals. Finally, worn out, he haul to succumb to the over whelming numbers of the foe and to the in separable obstacles of time and space.
Napoleon, who had refused to accept the pro posals of Frankfort submitted by the Allies on November 9, 1813. now sent Caulaincourt to meet their representatives in the Congress of ('hatillon ( February 3-Alarch 19. 1814). but with instructions to 'sign nothing.' Ile Allies once defined their relations to one another in the Treaty of Chaumont (:\ larch 1st), brought up new troops. and prepared to crush Napoleon. Napoleon's second defensive cam of I811 was a brilliant failure—a stubborn struggle against the inevitable. The first blows were struck at Iltieher on March 7th and flth at ('raonne and Limn. but failed to interrupt Bliicher's campaign seriously. An attack upon a tart of Sehwarzenberg's army at Areis-sur Aube met with no better success. and so Napoleon turned to the eastward to threaten Schwarzen berg's line of communication. But the great dis parity of forces enabled the Allies to neglect this movement and to eon cent rate on Schwarz enberg and Bliieher arrived before P:1 r om March 30th, and after hard fighting with IMarmont, Mortier. and Moncey, neenpied the French cap ital. The Emperor arrived just a few hours ton late to strike a blow in defense of his capital. and could only make an obstinate attempt to re DPW the struggle smith of Paris. but Ney and the other marshals finally forced him to listen to reason (April ttli) and to bring the campaign to a close. In the southwest, Soult had been driven from position to position and was about to lose Ids last battle at Toulouse. Snehet had withdrawn from Spain too late to help Soult; Angereau at Lyons had failed to disturb Schwarzenberg's left flank. In Italy Alurat had deserted to the enemy, negotiated with Austria, and turned the Neapolitan army against Eugene 1kouliueoais, the Vieeroy of Italy, who faith fully and ably faced the triple danger of :Murat's treachery, the invasion of the Austrians, and the ocenpation of 14enoa by an English force under Lord William Bentinck. On April 11th Napoleon, the Emperor of the French. formally abdicated at Fontainebleau in favor of his infant :AM the King of Rome.
In the stipulations with the Allies, Napoleon was allowed to retain the title nail state of Emperor, loll was to be detained as a prisoner on the island of Elba. The relations between the newly restored Bourbons and the Allies were settled by the First Treaty of Paris on lay 30th. The changes which had taken place
in Europe since the outbreak of war in 1792 had been such that the old order could not he restored, and accordingly a Congress of thu Powers was summoned to meet at Vienna to make the necessary new arrangements. These were completed on June 9, 1815. But in the meantime Napoleon had left Elba, landed in France on March 1st, made his way to Paris, reestablished his power, gathered a new army and advanced to attack the Allies, whose representa. tives at Vienna planned at once to place new armies in the field and overthrow him a second time. (See DAYS.) The eampaign, whieb lasted only a week, included Napoleon's defeat of Mitchel. at Li;:my (q.v.) on June pith, Ney's light with Wellington at Quatre-Bras on the same day, and the final overthrow of Napo leon on the field of Waterloo (q.v.) by Welling ton and Bliicher on •June IS, 1815. After this last battle Napoleon fled to Paris, where he abdi cated a speoml time on June 22d. For a few days he hesitated between dreams of again playing a part in France and plans for an escape to Amer ica. The first was preposterous, the second im possible. and on July 15th he surrendered him self to Captain Maitland on board the English ship Mlicrophon. The Allies. under Blucher Lad entered Paris a second time on July 7th and made the final adjustments for the settlement of Europe in the Second Treaty of Paris on No•emmber 20th. Napoleon was taken to England, and after sonic deliberation his request to be permitted to settle in England was refused. Ile was transferred to the ship Northumberland and on October Ifith landed on the island of Saint Ilelena. In his captivity he was accompanied by his faithful friend Bertrand, and by (;our gaud. Month()Ion, Las Cases, and a number of other individuals of minor importance. In 1816 Sir Hudson Lowe, a British soldier, ar•ived as I:overnor of the island. Napoleon's chief occu pations as a captive were his quarrels With Lowe, and his monologues with t:ourgauil and Mont ho which they wrote ont and submitted for cor rection to the Emperor. These documents form a partial autobiography, valuable not for its faits, but for the light which it sheds upon Napoleon's eharacter. Napoleon gave himself up to long periods of gloom and humored himself in the most inexeusable obstinaci cc When a more ra tional behavior would have improved his health and rendered his surroundings more agreeable socially. Cancer of the stomach. which bad n ed his father, and which was to cause the death of two of his sisters, was slowly under mining his health, and on May 5, 1821, he breathed his last at the set of sun. He was buried with military honors upon the island, hut in accord with his own request, his remains were in 1840 taken from the island, attended by the faithful Bertrand, and under the direction of Louis Philippe placed in a magnificent sar cophagus beneath the Dome of the Betel des In valides in Paris.