Principality of Elba

• 1. Introduction

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  The Principality of Elba existed for well under a year, and it had exactly one ruler: Napoleon Bonaparte. On the 11th of April 1814, the Treaty of Fontainebleau turned a small Mediterranean island, previously just a French département, into his personal property. France agreed to pay him an annual stipend of two million francs to cover the costs of his new, miniature kingdom. Instead of a lasting reign, he returned to France to retake power before his final defeat, and the principality dissolved. What did Napoleon actually do with his island, and who helped him run it?

• 2. Terms Of Exile

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  Before the treaty, Elba had simply been part of France, absorbed into the département of Méditerranée. That status ended when Napoleon I abdicated at the close of the War of the Sixth Coalition. Article 3 of the Treaty of Fontainebleau spelled out exactly what he received. Elba would be, in its own words, 'an independent principality possessed by him in complete sovereignty and as personal property.' The arrangement had a built-in end date. Napoleon could reign only for the remainder of his life, and his death alone would trigger the island's handover to Tuscany.

• 3. Building A Kingdom

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  Iron mines were among the first things Napoleon moved to develop once he settled on Elba. He also set up a small navy and army, oversaw construction of new roads, and issued decrees pushing modern agricultural methods onto Elban farms. He overhauled the island's legal system and its educational system as well.

• 4. Two Houses In Portoferraio

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  Napoleon split his time on Elba between two residences in and around Portoferraio. The Villa Napoleonica, also called Villa San Martino, served as his summer residence outside the town. His other home, the Palazzina dei Mulini, sat in the historic center of Portoferraio itself, about 3.5 kilometers northeast of San Martino.

  In 1839, the Russian industrialist and patron Anatole Demidoff commissioned an addition to the villa. Demidoff, an admirer of Napoleon, had married the emperor's niece, Princess Mathilde Bonaparte. He hired the Florentine architect Niccolò Matas to build the Demidoff Gallery at the foot of the original building.

• 5. A Government In Miniature

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  General Antoine Drouot served as Governor of Elba, one of several officials Napoleon appointed to help run the island. Count Henri-Gatien Bertrand acted as Grand Marshal and chief of staff. General Pierre Cambronne, commander of the Elban Guard, would soon see far bigger battles. Locally, Carlo Paoli held the title of Gonfaloniere, or mayor, of Portoferraio. Pietro Traditi took charge of civil administration, and Giuseppe Balbiani managed the treasury and finances.

• 6. An Island Under Arms

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  The Treaty of Fontainebleau capped Napoleon's personal force at 870 men, all of whom he brought over from France. Of those, 566 came from the elite Garde Impériale, split between infantry and cavalry, while the remaining 300 formed a battalion of grenadiers. Drouot supervised the army overall, with Cambronne and the staff headquarters handling command.

  At sea, the small Elban navy numbered 66 men, centered on one ship: the brig Inconstant, which carried 18 guns across its two masts. A flotilla of two sloops escorted it. Lieutenant François-Louis Taillade commanded the fleet at first, but a storm nearly claimed Inconstant. Afterward, he was replaced by Lieutenant Jean François Chautard, the officer who would go on to carry Napoleon away from the island in 1815. On land, Paoli Filidoro took the post of Captain of the Gendarmerie, working under Giuseppe Balbiani, who held the title of Intendant General. By 1815, the combined Elban forces numbered about 1,000 men, a burden that swallowed more than half the island's treasury in pay, equipment, and food.

• 7. The Guard's Commander

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  Pierre Jacques Étienne Cambronne commanded the guard protecting Napoleon throughout the entire exile, from 1814 to 1815. His guard was small but devoted, tasked with protecting the emperor and keeping order across the island. When Napoleon escaped and returned to power during the Hundred Days, Cambronne rejoined him and fought at the Battle of Waterloo. He also became known for a defiant reply he supposedly gave when ordered to surrender. The story has stuck to his name as a mark of loyalty and nerve.

• 8. Escape And Aftermath

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  On the 26th of February 1815, after ruling Elba for close to ten months, Napoleon slipped off the island and landed in southern France. He moved to retake power there, touching off what became known as the War of the Seventh Coalition. That campaign ended in his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. Britain then transported him to the remote island of Saint Helena, where he remained a prisoner until he died in 1821. Back on Elba, the Congress of Vienna settled the island's fate without him: sovereignty passed to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.