Napoleon

"A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights." This is a statement made by Napoleon. Little did he know it was being applied to his life as his advanced further along. He has a short family life at home, an extensive education, great military training and experience, and married a beautiful, strong woman.

Carlo "Charles" Maria Buonaparte and Letiza Ramolino were married in 1764. Together they produced eight children. Napoleone "Nabulio" Buonaparte was born on August 15, 1769, as the second child. When he decided to come in the world, he made a quick appearance. Letiza had barely reached her house, after attending mass, when he was born. His siblings include: Joseph, 1767-1844, King of Naples, brother Lucien, 1775-1840, Prince of Canino, sister Elisa (Anna Maria), 1777-1820, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, brother Louis, 1778-1839, King of Holland, sister Pauline (Paola Maria), 1780-1825, Duchess of Guastalla, sister Caroline (Maria Annunzeata), 1782-1839, Grand Duchess of Berg, and brother Jerome, 1784-1860, King of Westphalia. Napoleon's childhood was short. At the young age of nine, he was put upon a ship headed for France. It was his only chance for a good education. Charles Buonaparte was a member of a small ruling noble class. He was the "royal assessor," serving in law at Pisa. Here, he had secured a full scholarship for Napoleon at Brienne.

On May 15, 1779, Napoleon entered the walls of the Royal Military School, which was run by priests, known as Minimes. He learned French, history, geography, mathematics, and other courses he would need in order to enter Ecole Militaire of Paris. Napoleon was a serious person. He had no friends at the school. His name sounded like, "la paille-au-nez,' or "straw in the nose." This led to extreme laughter among the boys and great humiliation for Napoleon. He knew that if he was going to succeed, he must take full advantage of schooling.

Napoleon made a different type of friend through reading. He became an avid reader at Brienne. He liked the classics of ancient Greece, Rome, and the Renaissance. His favorite, however, was Plutarch's The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. It gave him the imagination to dream and worship the exploits of empire building heroes such as Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. Napoleon read to expand his knowledge, to intellectually improve himself, and to find out what was wrong with the current French Society.

On October 19, 1784, fifteen-year-old Napoleon entered Ecole Militaire in Paris. This was to be his first military training, which after only two years, would lead to a Kings Commission in the Royal Army. Louis XVI founded Ecole Militaire in 1751. The cadets were assigned to divisions. The wealthy were readily groomed to be Calvary officers. With his strong background in mathematics, Napoleon was one of fourteen selected for the unaristocractic and unpopular artillery. Every morning, the cadets were to rise at the crack of dawn, in the chapel by 6 a.m.. Prayers were to be said at every meal and drills were held all day long. The day ended at 8:30 p.m., with the boys in their rooms. During the drills, Napoleon was unconcerned and was often caught slacking of. His attitude lead to poor recommendations by the inspectors. One recommended him for a career as a naval officer. However, the final report of September 1784, recommended an army career. At the age of sixteen, Napoleon received commission in army artillery of Ecole Militaire on September 28, 1785, ranking 42 of 56.

Napoleon's military career began at the La Fere Regiment at Valence where he spent an intensive five years. He became preoccupied with four things: the development of his career as a gunner, financial problems encountered by his mother and family, continuing with his private studies, and the liberation of Corsica from the French yoke. Between November 1785 and September 1786, he read about the English Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, wrote a total reorganization of the Regiment de La Fere, four essays on the technical aspects of modern artillery and development, an analysis of Plato's Republic, plus many more folio pages were filled from 1786-1791.

With events in Corsica, Napoleon rigged his own election as lieutenant colonel on the 2nd battalion of Corsican volunteers, even though he was meeting strong resistance because of anticlerical measures taken by revolutionary government in Paris, including the closure of islands monasteries, infuriating many countrymen.10

Napoleon and the National Guardsmen failed to seize the Ajaccio citadel from the French garrison n April 8, 1792. He had misjudged the situation and everyone was against him. To further complicate matters, Napoleon had neglected request to request an extension of his leave, which had expired in December. On January 1, 1792, he was marked AWOL and the war ministry took his name off the list of serving officers. He set off to Paris on May 28 to undo the damage he had done to his career. After schmoozing for weeks, he finally got all charges dropped and was fully reintegrated in his artillery regiment, with a promotion to captain. Events were quickly rising in Paris from June 20 to August 10, resulting in public humiliation of Louis XVI and the killing of the Swiss Guards. These events made Napoleon impatient to gain higher rank. He went to Gaspard Monge, naval minister, at Place de la Revolution, requesting an appointment as Lieutenant Colonel of Artillery in the French Navy.11 He resumed his duties as Lieutenant Colonel and took part in an attempted invasion of Sardinia, at Maddalena, following the successful French conquest of Savoy and Nice. On February 23, 1793, the fleet overwhelmed San Stefano. The expedition commander ordered a return to Corsica.

Again, Napoleon was looking to advance his intelligence. On November 30, 1793, he began a study on 13 batteries overlooking the harbors of the French Mediterranean naval base of Toulon. Now promoted to major, he was appointed to two batteries of about eight to ten guns, half with no ammunition or with the wrong caliber. He returned to his artillery regiment in June. General Jean du Teil assigned him to organize convoys of munition from Avigunon to Nice. As he approached Marseilles to rejoin with his regiment, he stopped to visit two "representatives," sent by Public Safety to clean up all the royalist pockets in the city.12 The two were Cristoforo Salicetti and Gaspari. Salcetti asked him to temporarily transfer from his regiment to replace the wounded artillery commander at Toulon.13 This was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

Napoleon scouted the Toulon region. Everyday he would return with mutitions, guns, junior artillery officers, heavy beams, and