NAPOLEON’S DOWNFALL
On 21 June 1815, three days after his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon left his army for Paris. As a letter written from Philippeville to his brother Joseph demonstrates, the Emperor believed that his position was not entirely compromised:
“All is not lost. I suppose that if I gather my armies I will have 150,000 men. Federates and National Guards can also provide 100,000 men. Depot Battalions, 50,000. I should therefore have 300,000 men to oppose the enemy. I will carry the artillery with luxurious horses and raise 100,000 conscripts. I will give them royalist weapons and the muskets of the weak National Guards. I will launch mass conscription in the Dauphiné, the Lyon region, Burgundy, Lorraine, Champagne. I will harass the enemy but I need to be helped and not distracted. I will travel to Laon. I will probably find other men. I have not heard from Grouchy. If he is not captured as I fear, I could have another 50,000 men in three days. With them, I will keep the enemy busy and will gain time to let Paris, as well as France, do its duty. Austrians are slow. Prussians fear peasants and dare not go
