11 June 2015, 12.30pm
Hosted by the Army & Navy Club
36-39 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5JN
This talk will cover the period from Napoleon's night time escape from Elba on 26 February 1815 to the eve of the Battle of Waterloo on 17 June.
It will include the story of his voyage across the Ligurian Sea during which he was almost intercepted. And how a live firing demonstration of Congreve rockets on Cap Noli had to be called off as an unknown ship sailed across the danger area.
His journey overland to Paris will be described, including Napoleon's surprise at the popularity of his return during which thousands of his former veterans, some sent to arrest him, eagerly rejoined their emperor – on one occasion refusing an order to fire on his person.
It will outline the problems, both civil and military, he faced on assuming power again, and how within a few weeks he overcame them, at least temporarily, and marched into Belgium with 125,000 men to attack the Allies under Wellington and the Prussians under Blucher.
It will also explain Napoleon's problems with the appointment of senior officers and his masterly operational plan of campaign, and how by the eve of Waterloo it had unravelled.
Mark Adkin, a former Army officer, is the author of The Waterloo Companion, The Trafalgar Companion and The Gettysburg Companion. He has also written the bestselling Sharpe Companion to accompany the TV series.
To book tickets and for more information, click here.
Langue(s) : English