Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 -- Elba and the Hundred Days, 1814-1815; Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815
The truth of this assertion will be best confirmed by briefly
enumerating some of the most important objects accomplished within the
limited interval of three months--from his landing at Cannes, to his
taking the Field against the Allies. Among them were--the complete
overthrow of all obstacles in the way of his reascending the throne;
the reconciliation, to a very considerable extent, of the several
factions whose discordant views and interests had distracted the whole
nation; the suppression of the insurrectionary movements in La Vendée,
and the establishment of his authority over every part of the Empire;
the projection of various public measures, laws, and ordinances; the
remodelling of the civil and military administrations; the restoration
of the Army to its previous organisation under the Imperial Regime;
the placing of the numerous Fortresses of the kingdom in an efficient
state; the erection of fortified works around Paris, Lyons, and
other important points; the reorganisation of the National _Guard
d'élite_, to the extent of 112,000 men, divided into 200 Battalions,
and destined principally for garrisoning the Fortresses; the adoption
of the most active operations in all the arsenals, and the employment
of vast numbers of additional workmen in the manufacture of arms and
ammunition. Before all these we ought to place the raising, clothing,
arming, drilling, and organising of 410,000 men (including the National
_Guard d'élite_), which, in addition to the 149,000 men of which the
Royal Army consisted on the 1st of March, formed, on the 1st of June,
an effective force of 559,000 men, available for the national defence.
Of this number, the effective force of the troops of the Line
amounted to 217,000 men, and the Regimental Depôts to 146,000 men:
the remainder, consisting of 200 Battalions of the National _Guard
d'élite_, of 20 Regiments of Marines, of 10 Battalions of Marine
Artillery, of Coast Guards, Veterans, and Organised Pensioners, and
amounting to 196,000 men, constituted the _Armée extraordinaire_, to be
employed in the defence of the Fortresses and of the coast.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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