Dictating His Legacy
As Napoleon Bonaparte sat aboard the creaky old warship Northumberland, sailing towards his final exile on the remote island of St. Helena, he knew his days of military conquest and political power were over. But the exiled emperor was determined to shape his legacy—one last time.
Forced into a lengthy period of inactivity, Napoleon soon began dictating his memoirs to his closest companions. This was no casual recollection, but a meticulous effort to control the narrative of his life and actions. As historian Philip Dwyer notes, Napoleon “had always worked with an eye to posterity” and saw this as an opportunity to “massage his legacy and shape the way in which he was to be remembered.”
Napoleon’s daily dictation sessions, which could last for hours, covered pivotal moments from his meteoric rise—the siege of Toulon, the first Italian campaign, the expedition to Egypt. But the exiled emperor was selective in his recollections, glossing over his failures and mistakes. As one historian observes, Napoleon had “an ingrained habit of presenting events to his advantage” and a tendency to “forget painful elements of the past.”
Constructing the Myth
Napoleon’s memoirs were not simply an autobiography, but a calculated effort to rewrite history in his favor. He cast himself as a liberal reformer, a defender of the French Revolution, and a reluctant conqueror—rather than the ruthless, power-hungry tyrant his critics had painted him to be.
The exiled emperor enlisted his most trusted companions, dubbed the “Evangelists” by historians, to spread this revised narrative. Men like Count Las Cases, General Gourgaud, and Count Montholon dutifully recorded Napoleon’s dictations and later published their own memoirs, further cultivating the Napoleonic legend.
As these works began circulating in France and across Europe, they had a profound impact. Historian Natalie Petiteau notes that Napoleon’s memoirs “significantly influenced both the French and the English publics,” with Las Cases’ “bible of the nineteenth century” going through 16 editions.
A Fallen Hero’s Passion
Napoleon’s self-portrayal as a “martyr” on St. Helena also played a key role in shaping his legacy. The exiled emperor deliberately cast himself as a tragic, Christ-like figure, using his confinement to generate sympathy and paint his downfall as the unjust persecution of a great man.
This narrative of “suffering and torment” would be further developed and cultivated long after Napoleon’s death, as his companions continued to publish their memoirs and accounts. The discovery of Napoleon’s remarkably well-preserved body during its exhumation in 1840 only reinforced the sense of his saintly, almost supernatural status.
In the end, Napoleon’s memoirs and the cult of personality that grew around them proved to be his ultimate victory. Though he could no longer conquer the world with his armies, he had succeeded in conquering history itself—rewriting the past to suit his vision of the future.
What other secrets might still be hidden in the archives of Napoleon’s exile? The emperor’s quill may have had the final word, but the full story of his remarkable life and legacy continues to captivate historians and the public alike.
