It's 5:49 p.m., Napoleon is dead
Representation of the death of Napoleon, painted by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse in 1843, exhibited at the Musée de l'Armée, at the Hôtel des Invalides, April 7, 2021. AFP - THOMAS COEX
Text by: Lou Roméo Follow
7 mins
With historian David Chanteranne, editor-in-chief of
Napoléon 1er, the review of Souvenir Napoléonien
, immersed in the last days of Napoleon I, exiled on the island of Saint Helena, 200 years after his death, on May 5, 1821.
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It is 5:49 p.m., Napoleon is dead. This May 5, 1821 marks the end of an era. Louis-Joseph Marchand, his first valet, approaches his bedside. All are gathered around the four-poster camp bed of the fallen emperor. His companions in exile, the Bertrand couple, their children, General Montholon, Chaplain Vignaly, and his servants, Swiss Guard Noverraz, Mamluk Ali, Pierron, the Chinese, all are there around him.
This is not a surprise: Napoleon, aged 51, has not left bed since April 22, 1821. His will is ready, he carefully dictated it to General Montholon, his faithful companion in exile.
It is especially Aiglon, his son exiled in Austria with his mother, Marie-Louise, that he cares about.
Moreover, an engraving representing the child is placed very close to his bed.
He stares at her for hours during her agony.
►
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He dies isolated in Saint Helena
He had received Extreme Unction four days earlier, on May 1, administered by Chaplain Vignaly, when the delirium began.
General Bonaparte for the English, Napoleon 1st at the time of his glory, is no more.
His stomach cancer got the better of him.
But it is also the isolation in Saint Helena, this island lost in the middle of the Atlantic between Namibia and Brazil, thousands of kilometers from Europe, which has accelerated his illness.
Longwood, the last residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, in Saint Helena.
© AFP / Gianluigi Guercia
"
The climate of the island is deleterious,"
recalls David Chanteranne, historian and editor-in-chief of "
Napoléon 1er, revue du Souvenir Napoléonien"
.
His
residence, Longwood, was originally designed to be occupied only in the summer.
Located on the high plateau of the island, the trade winds sweep it constantly, and the humidity is very high
.
"
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Rats and wild goats
The house, not very large, overlooks on one side a tropical nature, and on the other a lunar landscape. The place is also named "Deadwood", recounts David Chanteranne. The wild goats that infest it got the better of the vegetation. Basins full of water are placed at the foot of the children's beds, to prevent rats from climbing there during the night.
“
Napoleon sank into a terrible depression since his arrival in Saint Helena on October 17, 1815, after a two and a half month journey,”
continues David Chanteranne.
When he died, he suffered from several things
: an ulcer turned into cancer, but he was also anemic because he had refused to eat properly for years.
The meals are very alluring, the etiquette practiced at the Tuileries is still in order, but it does everything very quickly.
"
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If the table of Longwood is provided with South African wines, meats, fish, vegetables and fruits, even if they are rare on this remote island, Napoleon has indeed retained his military habits.
A bacteria that had been in her stomach for years thrived on a brine and low-fiber diet.
His moral state does not help matters, and those who care for him can do nothing.
Ingestion of caromel, a form of mercury
On May 3 and 4, on the advice of English doctors first, then on the order of his Corsican doctor François Antommarchi, he was made to ingest calomel, mixed with cream and rice, and a broth of 'Orange tree Flower water.
It is a mineral, the natural form of mercury chloride.
Toxic, it was used at the time as a laxative.
But its ingestion by Napoleon, very weakened and already suffering from internal bleeding, accelerates the agony.
Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's first wife, at his coronation, December 2, 1804. Detail of the painting by Jacques-Louis David.
AFP - JOEL ROBINE
Since April 24, he has hallucinations.
His ex-wife and great love, Joséphine, appears to him in a dream, although he has not seen her since 1811, two years after having repudiated her, because she could not give him a child.
Still conscious, he tells it to those around him.
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Napoleon, usually so strict, is bearded
A slight improvement, on April 27, allows him to inventory and seal boxes and snuffboxes that he intends for his son. But he quickly sinks back into a restless and painful sleep. On May 1st, his entourage resigns himself, the delirium does not stop, he does not recognize anyone. Only Fanny, the wife of his Marshal du Palais, General Henri-Gatien Bertrand, manages to exchange a few words with him. She comes out of the interview troubled. Napoleon, usually so clean and meticulous, wears a beard of several days.
“
Napoleon was very focused on hygiene
, reports David Chanteranne.
He was almost manic.
His life in Saint Helena continues to follow a very strict rhythm.
He shaves alone every morning, and takes a bath of sometimes boiling water every afternoon at two o'clock
.
But since the advance of his illness, the former emperor has neglected himself.
This May 5, 1821, his relatives washed and shaved him, to prepare for his death.
The death masks that are cast on this day feature the smooth face so known to the whole world.
Josephine
He said his last words in the morning, around eight in the morning. His entourage reports having heard "
head
" and "
army
" emerge from his delirium, perhaps also "
Josephine
", once again. Life has stopped for several days already in Saint Helena. Everyone comes to say their goodbyes. On May 2, Louis-Joseph Marchand believed him dead, he knelt at the foot of his bed, but Napoleon emerged a few moments, he said “
My God, my God
!
Before being overwhelmed by fever again.
The next day, it is his Swiss Guard, Noverraz, who visits him, while he himself recovers from an illness.
His dying master recognizes him and tells him to go and rest.
May 4 is the day of his last meaningful exchange.
He asks Marchand: "
What's my son's name?"
".
The servant replies: “
Napoleon
.
And he goes back to sleep.
Everything is over on May 5, 1821, 200 years ago today.
The cannon sounds soon.
Doctor Arnott, eye of the British governor of the island, counts the seconds between breaths.
Three sighs, one last breath.
It is 5:49 p.m., Napoleon is dead.
It was not until 1840 that his remains were brought back to France and installed in the tomb of the Hôtel des Invalides.
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