The Memorial of Saint Helena
Emmanuel de Las Cases began his journal on the 20th of June 1815. This date marked two days after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. The former Emperor waited aboard the ship Bellerophon for transport to Saint Helena. Napoleon suggested finding comfort in suicide during their early talks. Las Cases insisted they would live on the past instead. He told Napoleon that Caesar and Alexander still possessed life within them. They agreed to write memoirs together as a shared purpose. Las Cases started transcribing daily notes of these conversations shortly after. He left the task of producing fair copies to his son Emmanuel. Sometimes he gave excerpts to Napoleon for review. This process ensured the Emperor approved the written record.
British authorities arrested Las Cases on the 25th of November 1816. The arrest occurred because officials found personal letters he tried to send secretly to Europe. A month later Hudson Lowe ordered his expulsion from the island. British officials seized the original manuscript of the Memorial immediately. Henry Bathurst held custody of the document as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The text remained in England for five years without returning to its author. Only after Napoleon died did the manuscript finally come back to Las Cases. This long absence prevented him from publishing the work sooner than 1823. The delay shaped how history remembered the final days of exile.
The book appeared in print less than a year after Napoleon's death in 1823. It became one of the bestselling books in France between 1826 and 1840. Translations quickly followed into English, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish. Readers treated the journal as Napoleon's own political testament despite being written by another man. The work entered popular imagination as a direct voice from the exiled emperor. New editions continued appearing throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. Its immediate success proved that public interest in Napoleon remained intense decades after Waterloo.
Charles de Gaulle used this text as inspiration for his own memoirs during World War Two. He served as Leader of Free France before becoming President from 1958 until 1969. The Memorial became a foundational document for the political movement known as Bonapartism. Historians trace the development of the Napoleon cult directly to these transcribed dialogues. Las Cases presented Napoleon not merely as a fallen ruler but as a martyr figure. This framing helped transform military defeat into enduring political legacy. The ideology relied heavily on the personal conversations recorded aboard ship and on the island.
A copy of the memorial sat in the British Library collections deposited in 1965. These papers came from the family of Lord Bathurst who had held them since 1817. Thierry Lentz, Peter Hicks, François Houdecek and Chantal Prévost prepared a new version published by Éditions Perrin in 2017. They worked with the Fondation Napoléon to present the original manuscript text. The work entered the French classics series La Pléiade in 1935 under Gérard Walter. A boxed set will appear in that same collection to mark the bicentenary of Napoleon's death in 2021. Modern scholarship now treats the original manuscript as superior to earlier printed versions.
Up Next
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When did Emmanuel de Las Cases begin his journal about Napoleon?
Emmanuel de Las Cases began his journal on the 20th of June 1815. This date marked two days after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo.
Why were British authorities arrested Emmanuel de Las Cases in 1816?
British authorities arrested Emmanuel de Las Cases on the 25th of November 1816 because officials found personal letters he tried to send secretly to Europe. Hudson Lowe ordered his expulsion from the island a month later.
What year was The Memorial of Saint Helena published and how many years did it stay in England?
The book appeared in print less than a year after Napoleon's death in 1823. The text remained in England for five years without returning to its author before publication.
How did Charles de Gaulle use The Memorial of Saint Helena during World War Two?
Charles de Gaulle used this text as inspiration for his own memoirs during World War Two. He served as Leader of Free France before becoming President from 1958 until 1969.
Where is a copy of the original manuscript of The Memorial of Saint Helena currently held?
A copy of the memorial sat in the British Library collections deposited in 1965. These papers came from the family of Lord Bathurst who had held them since 1817.