10 Interesting Facts about Napoleon Bonaparte

There’s no shortage of Napoleon Bonaparte facts. Here are 10 you may not be aware of. They struck me as interesting when I was researching Napoleon in America.

1. Napoleon couldn’t carry a tune.

Louis-Joseph Marchand, Napoleon’s valet from 1814 to 1821, wrote:

[T]he Emperor, should he start to sing, which he sometimes did while thinking of something else…was rarely in tune and would repeat the same words for 15 minutes. (1)

Betsy Balcombe, whom Napoleon befriended when he was in exile on St. Helena, described how he regaled her with “Vive Henri Quatre”:

He began to hum the air, became abstracted, and, leaving his seat, marched round the room, keeping time to the song he was singing…. In fact Napoleon’s voice was most unmusical, nor do I think he had any ear for music; for neither on this occasion, nor in any of his subsequent attempts at singing, could I ever discover what tune it was he was executing. (2)

2. napoleon loved licorice.

louis steady wairy, napoleon’s valet from 1800 to 1814, notes that each morning, after napoleon finished washing, shaving and dressing, “his handkerchief, his snuffbox, and a bit shell field filled with licorice flavored with aniseed and cut very quality, have been exceeded to him.” (3)

betsy balcombe attributed napoleon’s as a substitute discoloured tooth to “his constant habit of ingesting liquorice, of which he always saved a deliver in his waistcoat pocket.” (four)

according to hortense bertrand, the daughter of preferred henri bertrand and his spouse fanny, napoleon carried a aggregate of licorice-powder and brown sugar in his wallet as a treatment for indigestion. (5) he extensively utilized it as a treatment for colds.

when napoleon turned into dying, he desired to drink handiest licorice-flavoured water.

he requested me for a small bottle and some licorice, poured a small quantity, and informed me to fill it with water, adding that within the future he wanted to haven't any different beverage however that. (6)

3. napoleon cheated at cards.

napoleon hated to lose at cards, chess or every other sport, and took pains to avoid doing so. laure junot wrote:

it become generally the maximum laughable thing in the world to peer him play at any game anything: he, whose short belief and activate judgment without delay seized on and mastered the whole thing else which got here in his manner, turned into, apparently sufficient, never able to apprehend the manoeuvres of any game, but easy. for this reason, his best useful resource became to cheat. (7)

french diplomat louis antoine fauvelet de bourienne, napoleon’s one-time personal secretary, located:

in trendy he became not keen on playing cards; however if he did play, vingt-et-un was his preferred game, because it's miles greater fast than many others, and due to the fact, in short, it afforded him an opportunity of dishonest. as an example, he might ask for a card; if it proved a horrific one he could say not anything, however lay it down on the desk and wait until the provider had drawn his. if the supplier produced a great card, then bonaparte might throw aside his hand, with out showing it, and give up his stake. if, on the opposite, the dealer’s card made him exceed twenty-one, bonaparte also threw his playing cards apart with out showing them, and asked for the charge of his stake. he changed into lots diverted via those little tricks, particularly after they were played off undetected; and that i confess that even then we have been courteous sufficient to humour him, and wink at his dishonest. (eight)

napoleon’s mom letizia might name him on such stunts, as referred to on this description of evenings during napoleon’s exile on elba:

while napoleon was dropping at cards he cheated with out scruple, and all submitted with such grace as they might muster, besides the strict corsican lady, who in her determined tone would say, ‘napoleon, you're cheating.’ to this he might respond: ‘madame, you're wealthy, you could find the money for to lose, however i am poor and should win.’ (nine)

the young betsy balcombe additionally challenged napoleon in the course of a recreation of whist:

peeping underneath his cards as they had been dealt to him, he endeavoured whenever he were given an essential one, to draw off my attention, after which slyly held it up for my sister to see. i quickly located this, and calling him to reserve, instructed him he turned into dishonest, and that if he persisted to accomplish that, i might now not play. at remaining he revoked intentionally, and at the end of the game attempted to mix the cards together to prevent his being found, however i commenced up, and seizing keep of his arms, i pointed out to him and the others what he had done. he laughed till the tears ran out of his eyes, and declared he had performed fair. (10) 

four. napoleon favored snuff.

this become commented on by means of many observers, even though they differed as to whether or not napoleon become a prodigious snuff-taker or without a doubt a sloppy one.

consistent wrote:

it's been stated that his majesty took a extraordinary deal of tobacco, and that a good way to be able to take it greater speedy and frequently, he put it in a waistcoat pocket covered with skin for this cause; these are such a lot of mistakes; the emperor by no means positioned tobacco in something but his snuff-packing containers, and though he consumed a exquisite deal, he took but very little. he introduced his pinch to his nostrils as if clearly to odor it, after which he let it fall. it is authentic that the region wherein he had been was regularly included with it; but his handkerchiefs, incontrovertible witnesses in such topics, have been scarcely soiled…. he often contented himself with setting an open snuff-field beneath his nostril to breathe the odor of the tobacco it contained…. his snuff was raped very huge and turned into generally composed of several sorts of tobacco blended collectively. occasionally he amused himself by feeding it to the gazelles he had at saint-cloud. they have been very fond if it.” (eleven)

the depend de las instances, one in every of napoleon’s companions on st. helena, stated:

the emperor, it is well known, was within the habit of taking snuff almost each minute: this turned into a sort of a mania which seized him mainly at some point of intervals of abstraction. his snuff-box became promptly emptied; but he nevertheless persevered to thrust his arms into it, or to elevate it to his nose, especially when he changed into himself speakme. (12)

 five. napoleon cherished long, hot baths.

again, this turned into some thing often commented on. in bourienne’s words:

his partiality for the bath he mistook for a need. he would generally continue to be inside the tub  hours, all through which time i used to examine to him extracts from the journals and pamphlets of the day, for he was tense to pay attention and realize all that was occurring. at the same time as in the tub, he became usually turning on the warm water, to raise the temperature, in order that i was occasionally enveloped in one of these dense vapour that i could not see to examine, and became obliged to open the door. (thirteen)

 6. napoleon had stunning fingers.

napoleon turned into happy with his hands, and he took wonderful care of his fingernails. betsy balcombe wrote:

his hand become the fattest and prettiest inside the word; his knuckles dimpled like those of a infant, his hands taper and superbly formed, and his nails ideal. (14)

napoleon’s valet louis étienne saint-denis notion napoleon’s palms “had been of the maximum best version; they resembled the lovely palms of a girl.” (15) saint-denis additionally cited that napoleon in no way wore gloves unless he became going out on horseback, or even then he changed into more likely to put them in his pocket than on his fingers.

even germaine de staël – a awesome opponent of napoleon – commented:

i bear in mind once being instructed very gravely via a member of the institute, a counsellor of state, that bonaparte’s nails were flawlessly properly made. over again a courtier exclaimed, ‘the first consul’s hand is stunning!’ (sixteen)

7. napoleon couldn’t stand the scent of paint.

napoleon had an acute experience of odor, and one of the things that afflicted him was paint. when he learned that longwood residence, to which he was to move on st. helena, smelled strongly of paint:

he walked up and down the garden, gesticulating in the wildest manner. his rage turned into so high-quality that it nearly choked him. he declared that the smell of paint became so obnoxious to him that he could in no way inhabit a residence in which it existed. (17)

las instances corroborates this tale and adds:

inside the imperial palaces, care have been taken in no way to reveal him to it. in his one of a kind journeys, the slightest scent of paint frequently rendered it necessary to change the apartments that were prepared for him; and on board of the northumberland [the British vessel that took Napoleon to St. Helena] the paint of the ship had made him very ill…. [At Longwood] the smell of the paint turned into really very mild; but it was too much for the emperor. (18)

8. napoleon become superstitious.

napoleon turned into superstitious and he did no longer like folks who seemed superstition as a weak spot. he used to say that none but fools affected to despise it. (19)

a corsican thru and thru, napoleon believed in omens, demons and the concept of luck. he disliked fridays and the wide variety 13. he taken into consideration december 2 – the day of his coronation in 1804 and of his victory on the war of austerlitz in 1805 – one in all his lucky days. upon the incidence of superb incidents, either top or horrific, he habitually crossed himself. click on here to read more approximately napoleon’s superstitions.

nine. napoleon preferred to pinch people.

regular writes:

m. de bourrienne, whose excellent memoirs i have read with the best pleasure, says someplace that the emperor in his moments of proper humour might pinch his intimates by the tip of the ear; i have my own experience that he pinched the whole of it, and regularly each ears straight away; and that with a grasp hand. (20)

[H]e squeezed very roughly…he pinched toughest while he become inside the high-quality humor. occasionally, as i was coming into his room to get dressed him, he would rush at me like a madman, and even as saluting me with his favorite greeting: ‘eh bien, monsieur le drôle?’ could pinch both ears straight away in a way to make me cry out; it turned into no longer even uncommon for him to add to those soft caresses one or two slaps very well laid on; i used to be positive then of locating him in a captivating humor all of the relaxation of the day, and complete of benevolence. roustan, and even marshal berthier, prince de neufchâtel, received their own good percentage of those imperial marks of affection; i've often visible them with their cheeks all purple and their eyes almost weeping. (21)

laure junot adds,

when bonaparte indulged in raillery he did not use the weapon with a completely light hand; and those he cherished fine regularly smarted beneath the blow. even though junot turned into a selected favored of his all through the consulate and the primary years of the empire, but he frequently decided on him because the item of a few coarse shaggy dog story; and if followed with the aid of a pinch of the ear, so severe as to attract blood, the favour changed into complete. (22)

even the young were not spared. betsy balcombe describes how, gambling blind guy’s bluff,

the emperor commenced via creeping stealthily up to me, and giving my nostril a totally sharp twinge; i knew it changed into he each from the act itself and from his footstep. (23)

betsy also writes that napoleon handled the montholons’ six-week old child (lili) “so awkwardly, that we have been in a state of terror lest he need to allow it fall. he occasionally diverted himself by means of pinching the little creature’s nose and chin, until it cried.” (24)

10. napoleon never felt his coronary heart beat.

according to steady:

a very great peculiarity is that the emperor never felt his coronary heart beat. he has frequently stated so both to m. corvisart [Napoleon’s doctor] and to me, and greater than as soon as he had us pass our fingers over his breast, in order that we should make trial of this singular exception; we in no way felt any pulsation. (25)