Napoleon Bonaparte Biography

Essay by PoloCollarsup69A, May 2005

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The most famous Frenchman in history was born at Ajaccio, Corsica on 15 August, 1769. Consequently Napoleon Bonaparte was not, in fact French. He was, though, a French subject as a result of the ceding of Corsica to France by the Genoese in 1768. His family was upper-middle class. His father Carlo was a political opportunist who gained acceptance into the French aristocracy. At the age of 10 Napoleon entered the military academy at Brienne, France. In 1784 he won a place at the prestigious Ecole Militaire in Paris. A year later he graduated and was commissioned a second lieutenant of artillery. He was stationed at Valence. He spent the next six years there. Napoleon's regiment was stationed in Auxonne when the French Revolution broke out. Napoleon approved of the Revolution in principal but he disapproved the violence of the common people. Napoleon both hated and feared the common people of France due to him witnessing the second storming of the Tuileries and the arrest of King Louis XVI .

Due to this Napoleon took a break from military life. In 1793, he rejoined his regiment who were stationed in Italy. He was here given his first military command at the siege of Toulon. In 3 days Napoleon bombarded the city into submission, gaining control of this important Harbour city . He was rewarded by a speedy promotion to brigadier-general and an appointment as commander of planning for the army of Italy. In 1795 he was recalled to Paris to help quell mobs under royalist leadership that were preparing to storm the Tuileries. This act established Napoleon as a hero of the Revolution and gained him entrance into Parisian society. Through these connections he met Josephine de Beauharnias. On March 9, 1796 the two were married. His bride's connections were...