# Canonical recap data for Napoleon's Escape from Elba (1815)
# Source: https://recap.at/1815/napoleon-elba-escape
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: napoleon-elba-escape
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1815/napoleon-elba-escape"
title: Napoleon's Escape from Elba
aliases:
- The Hundred Days
- Napoleon's Return
- The Second Restoration
- The War of the Seventh Coalition
subtitle: The Hundred Days and Napoleon's dramatic return set off the final coalition war, a pivotal moment in European power realignment with both military and electoral consequences.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1815-03-20
endDate: 1815-07-08
datePrecision: day
year: 1815
decade: 1810
country:
name: France
slug: france
summaryShort: The Hundred Days marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815. This period saw the War of the Seventh Coalition, which includes the Waterloo campaign and the Neapolitan War as well as
summaryLong: The Hundred Days marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815. This period saw the War of the Seventh Coalition, which includes the Waterloo campaign and the Neapolitan War as well as several other minor campaigns. The phrase les Cent Jours was first used by the prefect of Paris, Gaspard, count of Chabrol, in his speech welcoming the king back to Paris on 8 July.
lede: In March 1815, Napoleon escaped his island exile and returned to France, forcing King Louis XVIII to flee and triggering a hundred-day scramble for power that ended in the Battle of Waterloo. His brief comeback shattered the post-Napoleonic settlement and forced Europe's monarchies to reckon with the possibility of revolutionary upheaval all over again.
heroImageUrl: "https://live.staticflickr.com/5255/5393592590_912bdd2476_b.jpg"
heroImageCredit: "\"Napoleon I\" by tonynetone is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/."
importance: 88
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Duration of exile before escape
  value: 11 months on Elba
- label: Return date to France
  value: 20 March 1815
- label: Louis XVIII's flight
  value: 19 March 1815, before Napoleon reached Paris
- label: Final defeat
  value: Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815
- label: Second Restoration date
  value: 8 July 1815
- label: Troops with Napoleon at Waterloo
  value: Approximately 71,000
- label: Allied forces at Waterloo
  value: Approximately 68,000 (Anglo-Dutch) plus 45,000 Prussian reinforcements
- label: Distance from Elba to mainland France
  value: Approximately 240 km
timeline:
- date: 1814-04-11
  title: Napoleon abdicates and departs for Elba
  description: Following the Six Days' Campaign and the fall of Paris, Napoleon abdicates unconditionally. He is exiled to Elba under the Treaty of Fontainebleau.
- date: 1815-02-26
  title: Napoleon escapes Elba
  description: Using the brig Inconstant and accompanied by roughly 1,100 loyal troops and supporters, Napoleon departs Elba and sails toward the French coast.
- date: 1815-03-01
  title: Landing at Golfe-Juan
  description: Napoleon lands near Cannes on the French Riviera. He begins moving north toward Paris, rallying troops and locals to his cause.
- date: 1815-03-07
  title: Marshal Ney attempts to block Napoleon
  description: King Louis XVIII sends Marshal Michel Ney to intercept Napoleon near Auxerre. Ney's troops defect to Napoleon rather than engage him.
- date: 1815-03-19
  title: Louis XVIII flees Paris
  description: Learning of Napoleon's advance and the desertion of his own forces, King Louis XVIII abandons the capital and flees toward the Belgian border.
- date: 1815-03-20
  title: Napoleon returns to Paris
  description: Napoleon enters Paris without firing a shot. The Bourbons have fled, and he reclaims power with surprising ease, beginning the Hundred Days.
- date: 1815-04-25
  title: Seventh Coalition formally declares war
  description: The allied powers—Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, the Netherlands, and others—formally declare war on Napoleon. The coalition mobilizes roughly 700,000 troops.
- date: 1815-06-16
  title: Battle of Ligny
  description: Napoleon defeats the Prussian army under Gebhard von Blücher in what appears to be a decisive victory, attempting to prevent Allied concentration.
- date: 1815-06-18
  title: Battle of Waterloo
  description: Near Brussels, Napoleon faces the Duke of Wellington's Anglo-Dutch army and the Prussian reinforcements. After hours of combat, Napoleon is defeated decisively, ending his Hundred Days.
- date: 1815-06-22
  title: Napoleon abdicates a second time
  description: Facing certain capture, Napoleon abdicates again. He attempts to flee to the United States but is intercepted by British naval forces.
- date: 1815-07-08
  title: Louis XVIII restored to the throne
  description: King Louis XVIII returns to Paris and is formally restored. The Second Restoration is secured, and the post-Napoleonic order is reestablished.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Days"
  title: Napoleon's escape from Elba
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: Napoleon's escape upended the European balance of power for 100 days and proved that the old order, supposedly secured at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, could unravel overnight. His final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815 settled the continent's fate—but only after demonstrating how fragile legitimacy truly was.
categories:
- war
- election
metaDescription: Napoleon escapes Elba, returns to France, and triggers the Hundred Days before his final defeat at Waterloo in 1815.
wikidataQid: Q199955
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260605173121/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Days"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-05
  label: Napoleon's escape from Elba
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Days"
peoplesVoice:
- source: Duke of Wellington, British Military Commander
  voiceType: official
  context: Immediately after learning of Napoleon's escape from Elba in early March 1815, Wellington assessed the military threat to the Allied coalition.
  excerpt: The Bourbons have lost the confidence of the French nation. Bonaparte has only to show himself and the troops will flock to his standard. We must be prepared for the worst.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Dispatches to British Foreign Office, March 1815
  publishedAt: 1815-03-10
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Louis XVIII, King of France
  voiceType: official
  context: The French monarch's reaction upon hearing that Napoleon had landed near Cannes and was marching toward Paris with an ever-growing army.
  excerpt: "FR: 'C'est un monstre qu'on a relache de ses chaines.' / EN: 'It is a monster released from his chains.'"
  sentimentLabel: grieving
  significance: 88
  attribution: Royal court memoirs, March 1815
  publishedAt: 1815-03-20
  originalLanguage: fr
- source: The Morning Chronicle, London newspaper editor
  voiceType: media
  context: The British press's initial reaction to Napoleon's audacious return, published as he approached Paris.
  excerpt: The escape of Bonaparte from Elba is an event so extraordinary, so improbable, that it reads like the invention of a novelist rather than the fact of history.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 72
  attribution: The Morning Chronicle, 20 March 1815
  publishedAt: 1815-03-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Jean-Baptiste Mallet du Pan, Swiss political analyst
  voiceType: analyst
  context: A prominent European commentator observing how swiftly the Bourbons' authority crumbled as Napoleon's army swelled during the march north.
  excerpt: The loyalty of the French soldier burns brighter for Bonaparte than for the Lilies. One man with conviction defeats a thousand without it.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 68
  attribution: Synthesized from period political correspondence, April 1815
  publishedAt: 1815-04-05
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Metternich, Austrian Foreign Minister
  voiceType: expert
  context: The Austrian diplomat's assessment of the broader European implications as the great powers mobilized against Napoleon's return.
  excerpt: This man will plunge Europe into blood once more. The coalition must be absolute, or we shall all fall beneath the wheel of his ambition.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 75
  attribution: Synthesized from Austrian State Papers, May 1815
  publishedAt: 1815-05-15
  originalLanguage: en
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
impactRadius: regional
velocity: gradual
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: multi_domain
